EbaySteve would never even CONSIDER an auction without checking out the competition first! Oh yeah! This gets us to ebaySteves next super tip - decide on your price now. As you kiddies will know, you can set a Buy it Now price on your auctions - this is generally what you think an merchandise is actually assessment of worth (at least to you - ebaySteve fairly often wastes a happy Friday afternoon searching the Bay for "domain" auctions - some of these wutangs think a 90-letter domain in greek is worth millions! Hah! call the dumbo police!).

Remember, ebaySteve says that your opening bid (the price you want to beginning the auction off at) should be MUCH lower, or everyone will think you are Pennywise the Clown. Dont ever lose your memory , once an auction gets going, it might take on a life of its own, and setting a low beginning price is the easiest way to stimulate that initial excitement, especially on an product in mucho grande demand (like ebaySteves used socks, for example!). While we are on this one, dont bother with secret reserve prices. If you dont understand what your product is assessment of value, you shouldnt be selling it!

EbaySteves next tip? How are your potential buyers gonna find your auction? They will search for it. That means you have to get your keywords into your auction title! No point having a title that bangs on about dazzling opportunity, never to be repeated bargain etc etc if yo forget to say 1967 Ford Mustang too! EbaySteve super-tip - dont bother with punctuation, or silly characters - if you waste your name with that stuff, theyll never find you in the first place! Only mis-spell if it is likely to be searched for, because Ebay search finds exact matches. If you need more space, utilize a subtitle. These cost a cool 50 cents, so ebaySteve says utilize em on items below about $25.

When they find it, will it scare them away? There are, unfortunately, a number of auctions on the mighty Bay that scare ebaySteve! Choose your colors and font sizes carefully - the one thing you do NOT want is for every body else to think you are a fruitcake. Even though ebaySteve likes fruit, and cake, he doesnt like em together. OK? Oh yeah! You will also positive need at least 1 grand quality photo of your item. Try and contruct it a little different from similar auctions - if every body chooses the stock photo, how do potential buyers differentiate between you? BUT, contruct sure it aint bigger than 40 or 50k - plenty of everybody are still on dialup, and they wont bother with you if the page takes more than 10 seconds to load. And fer crying out loud, build SURE you allow payment via Paypal - it is Ebays very own payment method, and by far the best. They charge only a TINY commission on your sales, and you will find buyers take you MUCH more seriously if you do. No harm in other payment options too, just initial off with Paypal! (Super excess important tip - only allow Paypal payments from members with a CONFIRMED address. Helps to cut down on fraud and refund requests).

Payment tip - ebaySteve has in the past had problems with spam filters - theres nothing more annoying than to get an offer but miss it because your darn e mail system binned the mail! Have a special electronic mail account for auctions (if you initial taking too much spam, open up a new one). Its also value mentioning in the text of your auction that potential buyers should whitelist your e-mail address. In the worst case, you may always contact other ebayers with the Contact Member form.

Auction timings - choose to start and end an auction during daylight hours (for your target audience!). These auctions statistically generate higher prices because bidding continues right up to the final bell. Use http://pages.ebay.com/turbo_lister to list your items quicker - it costs, but only a tad, and will help you get the whole process moving fast. Thats about it fer now, Bayers! Keep it real!