Qualifying For Success

eBay has become a household name for shoppers. A lot the buyers on eBay are not regular internet shoppers but they still shop on eBay. Such is the power of eBay giving simplicity of shopping and top bargains. From time to time, there is some fraud on eBay about fake fashion items, event tickets that do not exist, some expensive electronic items that do not exist.

eBay does its best to intervene and resolve such disputes. As a shopper, you can follow these 10 safety tips to avoid being conned.

1. Check the seller’s feedback. Positive feedback rating of over 95% is good. If there are many recent negative feedbacks, then this is not a good indication. Also, read all the negative feedbacks. Are these negative feedbacks reasonable? What type of response does the seller have for these feedbacks? Does the seller’s defense sound reasonable? Sometimes new members who buy items on eBay are paranoid and they leave a negative feedback in a haste so make sure if the seller has defended himself/ herself in a reasonable manner. If there are too many complaints of the same nature, then it is probably true.

2. The sellers must have some kind of identification or recognition seal like Paypal verified, or Square trade or a Powerseller seal on the auctions. Such sellers are more reliable. This is especially a good check when you buying an expensive item.

3. Ask seller a question before bidding on the item. Responsible sellers reply promptly to questions. Also, if the seller actually has the item, he/ she maybe able to answer a valid question otherwise not.

4. If you are buying something expensive, then get the contact information of the seller at http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQtZvbQQsofindtypeZ9. You have to login to your eBay account and send a request. You can get the seller’s address and phone number. In doing this, your address and phone number will also be emailed to the seller.

5. The items must have pictures unless it is a service that is sold on eBay. If there is no picture, then the items is probably not there. Almost all sellers will put at least one picture of the item. Let’s assume that the item is there but the seller has been lazy in not putting the picture in the auction ad. Would you like to deal with someone who is so careless? It just shows that the item may not be in good condition, maybe defective or broken.

6. Check description of the item. Research other websites for the same item. Some of the shopping websites to research would be shopping.yahoo.com, overture.com and shopping.msn.com. These sites are adequate for researching items and get the description that you need. The eBay description should match item description on other sites.

7. Research prices for the item on sale. If the item on sale is Gucci handbags, then search for this model of handbag on shopping.yahoo.com. If it retails for $800 on Yahoo and seller on eBay is selling a brand new one for $90, then this item may not be authentic! Large wholesaler are able to sell items for around 50% of retail but something like an original Gucci handbag, it is unlikely that a seller would let go for $90 because these items sell like crazy. Just a note on fraud items - a lot of fraud eBay occurs on fashion items. This is very unfortunate and eBay has taken a lot of steps to eliminate fraud.

8. If the seller has not mentioned any shipping and handling terms, then ask before bidding. There are many auction ads, where the seller mentions that shipping and handling will mentioned to the winning bidder. Surprisingly, there are bids on that item! If you start bidding on the item, then it means that you agreed to the terms and condition of the sellers and there is less room for you to dispute later so ask for the clear instruction on shipping and handling.

9. Reliable sellers have clear description on their refund policy. If it is not there, then ask the seller for it. If the seller has no refund policy, then do not bid on the item. If the there is no refund policy in the auction description, then make sure you get the refund policy in an email from the seller. In this way, you have a document of the refund policy.

10. Do a search for the sellers past items on eBay. Check to see if the seller has sold similar items in the past. To search on the past auctions, go to the Advanced Search page. Here click on the items by seller link and type in the sellers ID and check the box for Include Completed listing. It is always good to check this especially if you are considering buying something expensive.

The author Guillermo Jalil owns several businesses including eBay business and other internet businesses. For more Ebay shopping tips on how to find great bargains visit www.startbuyingonebay.com. For tips on how to make on the internet from multiple sources of income visit www.internetandmoney.com.

How Pop Culture collectibles can increase your Online Auction profits

With the increasingly competitive environment for products to sell in the online auction arena, sellers are getting more creative as to the items they purchase for re-sale.

While some of the Dutch Auction items that are frequently sold on eBay will always maintain their commodity status and always sell well, Pop Culture collectibles will usually generate a higher profit-per-item simply because of a combination of two forces.

Scarcity and Desirability.

Pop Culture collectibles can run the gamut from a special early edition pair of Levis to a rare Coca Cola collectible.

However, when I discuss Pop Culture items in this article, I will limit the definition to only the types of collectibles that I’ve managed to have any experience with and that would be T.V., Movie and Toy collectibles.

Obviously, the category of Pop Culture collectibles is much bigger than this limited definition, but in the interests of keeping this a knowledgeable article, I will focus on the limited definition here.

One of my first experiences with Pop Culture collectibles was with a box of unused “The Fonz” posters that I found at an antiques swap meet a few years ago.

I came across this box at a seller’s stand. It had one poster taped to the outside of the box and the price tag on the box said $5 each.

I asked the seller “How much are the posters?”, not ever assuming that the price on the box was the current price.

The seller replied with “Three bucks each.”

Being new to eBay and wanting to experiment, I counted the posters, which were still in shrink wrap material. There were 25 posters in the box. The box looked like it had been loaded and unloaded too many times, but the posters were in perfect condition.

So I asked the seller, “How much for the whole box?”

He asked, “How many are there?”

I told him, “25″.

He said, “How about $40 for the box?”

I said, “O.K.”, and handed him $40.

I posted an auction for one of the Fonz posters that week. It was a large photo of “The Fonz for Prez”, sort of a campaign poster with Fonzie in his traditional Leather jacket, thumbs up and a “Sit on it” button on his jacket.

The auction was set to close on a Sunday, and when I checked it on Friday, it was up to $22 !

I was shocked and happy at the same time.

On Sunday, I took my family out to dinner and got home to see that the auction had closed at an astonishing $42.50 !

That experience was the one that cemented me in the area of Pop Culture collectibles!

I continued to sell the Fonz posters, one at a time (so as not to “flood the market”) at prices from the $42.50 high to a low of $12.50.

My estimate for gross sales is somewhere around $450 for that box of posters.

This type of profit exists in the area of Pop Culture collectibles, but it does take some guts to seek out and “gamble” on these types of deals.

I had no idea what the posters were worth when I purchased them, but I had a good hunch, which proved to be correct.

Other Pop Culture deals I’ve made, most found at antique swap meets:

M.A.S.H. action figures - purchased a box of 28 of them for $50, sold them individually for between $9.00 and $15.50

Star Wars Figures - purchased a box of special limited edition figures for $120 at a regular swap meet, sold the box to a Star Wars dealer for $2,100.

Evel Knievel figure, mint in box, purchased for $10, sold for $115.

Alien 3 movie theater poster (massive, about 4′ tall by 12′ wide), found at a yard sale for $10, sold on eBay for $50.

Bionic Woman action figure, mint in box, purchased for $30, sold for $85.

In each of these cases, I had no idea what the value was, I just went with my gut. But the fact that they were Pop Culture collectibles made it much easier to take that chance and buy the items.

Another solution many sellers use is to have their spouse at home, ready at the computer to do price research on unknown items!

Armed with a cell phone and a significant other at home doing research, your results will be less of a risk and more fun, too!

About The Author

David Espino is the author of “Beyond eBay - How to build a Home Based Internet business and make more money, working from home”

To receive a FREE sample from this breakthrough book, click here: www.HomeBasedBusinessowner.com

Email: dave@HomeBasedBusinessowner.com