Entries from March 2008 ↓
March 30th, 2008 — eBay News and Talk
Can't find what you're looking for on eBay?
A lot of people are complaining about eBay's new default sorting method for search results - Best Match. The eBay discussion boards are peppered with buyers who say they cannot easily find what they want. Those boards are also full of sellers wringing their hands, complaining, and worrying that buyers won't be able to find their items.
Best Match takes many things such as the title keywords, user Feedback and Detailed Seller Ratings, shipping cost, and time left to determine which items will appear to the searcher. The idea is to place before shoppers the items most likely to result in a sale and subsequent good buyer experience.
In all the hub-bub there hasn't been much discussion of just how to reset the way searches are sorted. It's very simple, here is a step-by-step guide to changing search sort on eBay:
- Perform a search for (anything) on eBay
- Follow the "Customize Display" link on the far right near the "Sort by:" drop-down box
- Under the "Advanced Settings" at the bottom of the page choose your preferred sorting method for: Search; and for: Browsing
- Apply changes
If you find your settings will not stick, first try a hard refresh of your browser. Then try the steps again. (In most cases you can do this by pressing CTRL + F5 keys.) If that try removing eBay specific cookies from your browser.
If you still cannot get it to work after that, it's very likely that eBay has singled you out to be miserable. They have probably tapped your phone lines and bugged your car and home. It's probably not safe to speak out loud without a loud stereo or water running in the background. Move to Amazon.
photo credit: Ma1974
Popularity: 6% [?]
March 22nd, 2008 — Worth, eBay Questions and Answers
Here is an easy way to search across all of eBay's Forums. There are dozens of discussion groups, and eBay gives you no central way to search them all at once. While I was researching my newest book, "Selling on 'the River' - The eBay Seller's Guide to Amazon.com", and I found an easy way to locate eBay sellers, who also sell on Amazon.
Use Google's site-specific search command to search eBay's groups.
- Start at www.Google.com
- type "site:forums.ebay.com" in the search box (no spaces) followed by a space and your search term
Let me know if you find it helpful.
Here's a clickable screenshot:
Popularity: 67% [?]
March 18th, 2008 — Recommended
There are lots of people writing, and selling ebooks these days. There is also a lot of advice about what to write and how to write. If you want to know how to create an ebook and sell it, I have found a great resource.
Think: Embarrassing Problems and Pain
People will pay money to have a problem solved. They will pay to have that problem solved privately, quickly, or without much work. If you have ever solved a problem for yourself or someone else, you may have a perfect subject for an ebook.
People will pay you for your knowledge on:
- making money
- curing an embarrassing itch or rash
- solving an urgent financial situation
The sky is really the limit.
If you haven't had experience in any of the above areas, this book also tells you how to do research on a topic of your choice. It is really amazing, and I've already made money by applying the things I've learned.
Desperate Buyers Only
I bought Desperate Buyers Only last month and read it in a day or two. The author is Alexis Dawes, and she lays out a simple system for choosing a topic that will sell, writing your content, and creating a "sales letter" webpage. Her system is very easy to follow. This is a solid product.
I used what she said and created my ebook "Showroom Secrets." Granted, it was a bit of a niche product, but I have recovered the purchase price of Alexis' book many, many times over. And that's after just one month! Visit Desperate Buyers Only and get started on your ebook today.
Popularity: 14% [?]
March 17th, 2008 — Selling on eBay
I've just listed an interesting book on eBay. It's by [tag]Merle Armitage[/tag], who evidently was a book designer, author and concert impresario. He passed away in 1975 - but apparently not before befriending a certain "Betty and her squid."
The book is "Pagans Conquistadores Heroes and Martyrs." It's a special edition (1 of only 1500) from 1964 and it is all about the history of the southwest United States and how the bad Europeans came in and took over. In any case, the inscription is the interesting part. Just inside it says, "To dear Betty and her squid remembering our delightful orgy of June 14. -Merle" Wow.
If you are a thrift store buyer, do you look inside to find signatures and inscriptions? It could raise the value of your find considerably. I have found lots of signatures in the past few months, none earth-shattering, but I keep looking.
If you're an author - be careful what you say in your inscriptions. Your dear one's squid just may stick that old book in a rummage sale some day and news of your delightful orgies could be on display for the world to see...
Popularity: 5% [?]
March 13th, 2008 — eBay Motors, eBay News and Talk
Members may begin registering for eBay Live! 2008 now at: http://pages.ebay.com/ebaylive/
eBay is expecting between 10,000 to 15,000 attendees this year in Chicago. The event will be held at McCormick Place, June 19-21, 2008. Could this be the last eBay Live? Rumors are flying - but we'll have to wait.
I'll be speaking this year on Blogging to Boost Your Business, along with my friend Mikal Belicove. We had a great big packed room last year and hope the interest will be high again. We'll also be covering Choosing a Niche for your business which should prove to be very interesting as well.
More later. Gotta go sign up!
Below you can check out Chicago Posters on eBay now.
Popularity: 5% [?]
March 11th, 2008 — Popular, Turbo Lister
eBay's free listing tool, [tag]Turbo Lister[/tag] offers an import / export feature that sees little use by sellers. Granted, it can be frustrating to use at first. But there are occasions where it can be a lifesaver. No one wants to recreate every listing one by one. Here are a few situations I've found while scanning discussions on eBay:
- You want to move your Turbo Lister program onto a laptop or new [tag]computer[/tag], along with all your current [tag]inventory[/tag]
- You'd like to sell identical listings, under a different eBay ID
- Your eBay account has been suspended, and you're listings ended with no way to relist them once things are resolved
- Your eBay account is suspended, and you want to sell under another ID (This is against the rules - but people are looking for the answer)
Well, you get the idea. Keeping your listings on Turbo Lister, and keeping them current, is a way to recover from all kinds of problems, large and small. So how is it done?
In this post I'm only going to show the procedure for exporting listings to a [tag]CSV[/tag] ([tag]comma-separated value[/tag]) file, then importing them back into a different eBay account. The process works the same for any of the scenarios listed above. There are many other ways to manipulate the file, once it's exported, but for this video demonstration we won't even open the file.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://genuineseller.com/wp-content/themes/copyblogger/video/TL_CSV.swf" height="300" width="400" /]
[tags]turbolister,listing tool,move listings,ebay suspension,two ids[/tags]
Popularity: 14% [?]
March 4th, 2008 — Niche
Uranium glass or Vaseline glass? Tomato or to-mah-to? This is one of the most interesting things I've ever seen on eBay. I found it by accident one day years ago and have searched for it ever since just to look at the pictures. It sells well on [tag]eBay[/tag], and can still be found in antique stores and even some thrift shops and estate sales if you have a sharp eye.
What is uranium glass?
[tag]Uranium glass[/tag] is a type of soda-lime glass made with a small proportion of uranium oxide. It was usually made with a very low percentage of uranium, usually 2%, but pieces from the 19th century could contain as much as 25% elemental uranium by weight.
The uranium glass you can find on eBay is primarily antique or retro glassware. Uranium became scarce during the Cold War, and that led to a sharp downturn in production of this amazing glass.
The color of uranium glass depends on the oxidation state of the glass. Colors range from yellow to green, although other colors may occur if additional coloring agents are used. One of the coolest things about this glass is that it fluoresces bright green under ultraviolet light. It looks so nuclear!
Isn't this stuff dangerous?
There are some pieces that can actually register higher than background [tag]radiation[/tag] on a really sensitive geiger counter. But most uranium glass is harmless.
Vaseline glass
The most typical color of uranium glass is pale yellowish-green, which in the 1920s led to the nickname [tag]Vaseline glass[/tag], since it kind of looks like Vaseline. The name has a decidedly unromantic ring to it though, in my humble opinion.
In any case, some people now interchange the term "Vaseline glass" for uranium glass. They are not completely accurate though, because the term Vaseline glass has become common for any translucent, greasy looking glass. But without the uranium, it's just greasy looking glass and you won't get that impressive "glow" under the UV light. Go for the real thing - I've added the most current eBay items below so you can see what I mean.
photo credit: JanneM
Popularity: 13% [?]
March 3rd, 2008 — eBay News and Talk
eBay is going to begin "masking" all bidder IDs on auction-style listings beginning this week. It's hoped the move will increase security for bidders by lowering the chances they'll be contacted by criminals. ID masking was implemented last year for items over $200, and according to Matt Halprin, Vice President of eBay's Global Trust and Safety, it has served to reduce the number of fraudulent Second Chance Offers.
What does this mean for you? If you're a seller, you can still see the entire high bidder's ID on your own items.
If you're a buyer, you will not be able to track your competition as easily, or really at all. When clicking on the Bid History of an auction, you can see the masked ID, and you can see other bids that bidder has placed in the past 30 days, and the category for each. The Bidding Details page also shows the bidder's feedback percentage, and a 30-day summary including:
- # Total bids
- # Items bid on
- Bid activity (%) with this seller
- # Bid retractions
- # Bid retractions (6 months)
When the over-$200 masking was instituted, people worried about shill bidding, and eBay does rely on reports from members to catch some shill bidders. But eBay has some very sophisticated tools to catch shill bidders on their own, and although it may seem easier to shill with a masked ID - the scoundrels will get caught if they try it, and likely suspended.
Trading the ability to look over another member's shoulder and see what they're buying for a more secure experience is fair. In the end it should make more people feel comfortable about buying on eBay and put more money in the seller's pockets. At least it's not costing more.
The official announcement also gave some very good advice about the email address used on eBay accounts. eBay members can help themselves by having an email address that is somewhat hard to guess. The scammers often use an eBay ID, along with a common email extension such as @gmail.com or @yahoo.com to guess the email addresses of eBay members and send a phishing email. If you have such a combination, it's suggested that you change it for your own safety.
photo credit: RYN TMRW
Popularity: 6% [?]
March 1st, 2008 — Education Specialists
I just got back from my 19 hour visit to Orlando where I spoke at the [tag]Rocketplace[/tag] Conference presented by [tag]AsWas[/tag].
The one day I was able to observe made me wish I was able to attend the entire event. It was full of good content and great people. My favorite part of the day was having lunch with fellow eBay [tag]Education Specialist[/tag]s Sharon Ware and her husband John, Marlene Gavens, Marcia Cooper, and Harvey Levine. I got to hear Harvey, Marcia, and Sharon speak about the "A-Ha" moment that occurs when a person finally realizes they may be on to something with eBay. It was actually quite inspiring.
As usual, listening to others talk about [tag]eBay[/tag] really gets me pumped up. I'm usually the one talking, so it's nice to hear it from other people. It's the same reason why my sales spiked after sitting through the 54th eBay University class in a row. I knew the material, I presented it, but listening to Marsha Collier or Griff, or any of the eBay U presenters was an affirmation and encouragement.
Maybe as Education Specialists we should hear each other teach from time to time. It has a nice effect.
As for AsWas and the Rocketplace: small beginnings this year. But Debbie Levitt did a great job of organizing the event and keeping it on track and I hope they do this conference again.
photo credit: the eMotionBlogster
Popularity: 5% [?]
