by Marsha Collier
Filled With Tips and Tricks Top Sellers Use to Streamline and Grow Business
Buying for Successful Selling
Selling Shortcuts
Prettying Up Your Auctions
Finishing Off Your Auctions
Operating Efficiently
Shipping Made Simple
Working the eBay Community
Running an Efficient
Acting Like a CEO 299
The Scary (or Fun) Stuff
Selling Shortcuts
Prettying Up Your Auctions
Finishing Off Your Auctions
Operating Efficiently
Shipping Made Simple
Working the eBay Community
Running an Efficient
Acting Like a CEO 299
The Scary (or Fun) Stuff
 |
| Ebay Timesaving Techniques For Dummies |
Marsha Collier spends most of her time on eBay. She loves buying and selling — she’s a
PowerSeller — as well as meeting eBay users from around the world. As columnist, author
of four best-selling books on eBay, television and radio expert, and lecturer, she shares her
knowledge of eBay with millions of online shoppers. Thousands of eBay fans also read
her monthly newsletter, Cool eBay Tools, to keep up with the changes on the site.
Out of college, Marsha worked in Fashion Advertising for the Miami Herald and then as
Special Projects Manager for the Los Angeles Daily News. Upon the birth of her daughter,
she founded a home-based advertising and marketing business. Her successful business,
the Collier Company, Inc., was featured by Entrepreneur magazine in 1985, and in 1990,
Marsha’s company received the Small Business of the Year award from her California
State Assemblyman and the Northridge Chamber of Commerce.
More than anything, Marsha loves a great deal. That’s what drew her to eBay in 1996,
and that’s what keeps her busy on the site now. She buys everything from light bulbs to
parts for her vintage Corvette to designer dresses. Marsha knows how to apply her business
acumen to eBay, and in this book, she shares that knowledge with you.
Author’s Acknowledgments
This book was a challenge due to the many subjects I had to cover. Everyone who
worked on this book went over and above the call of duty to be sure we covered the
tips, secrets, and business-smarts needed to build a successful eBay business.
I must first thank my husband and daughter, who put up with my 7-day workweeks and
long hours at the computer while writing this book.
Then, of course, I thank the gang at Wiley. My publisher, Andy Cummings, without whose
continued personal and business support, I don’t think I could have ever succeeded. My
acquisitions editor, Steven Hayes, is tops. He’s a charming, intuitive, and humorous guy
with great ideas who holds my hand when things get squirrely and steps up to help me
in times of trouble. Steve pulls out all the stops when there’s a job to be done, and he
always goes the extra mile to make a project number one.
I was lucky enough to have some of the best at Wiley to put together this book. If you’re
ever lucky enough to work with this brilliant woman, Leah Cameron, you’ll know the
true meaning of commitment. Sharp as a tack, she’s always there to lend an ear or make
a comment that will enormously improve the project at hand. I also must thank the editors
who worked with her: Kyle Looper and Nancy Stevenson. Without their help, we
might have gone crazy, and this book would have never made it to the printer on time.
Barry Childs-Helton is the bestest copy editor a writer could have. His command of the
language is immense, and his devotion to the project at hand is unswerving. Plus, he’s
really funny, and his edits bring a smile to my face at the most stressful of times.
Louise (eBay ID: aunt*patti) Ruby is still my friend (even after acting as tech editor for
three of my books). She takes my calls at all hours and snaps me back to reality when I
go off on some bizarre tangent. Louise’s devotion and knowledge of eBay really helped
me center my focus and helped make this book (what I consider to be) the best book for
advanced eBay sellers.
Introduction
Thank you for taking the time to look over eBay Timesaving
Techniques For Dummies, my latest For Dummies book about eBay.
This book is loaded with advanced tricks, effective methods, and
clever tidbits of information aimed at helping you take better advantage
of your time and potential on eBay. When you started out on eBay, you
may have had the inkling that perhaps you could actually earn a living on
the site. Then reality set in, and you recognized how all the facets of buying
and selling on eBay take a bit more work than you previously
expected. Of course they do!
Remember, an eBay business is e-commerce. Many people who start selling
on eBay with the idea of creating a successful home-based business
have no background in running their own business — and no background
in retailing. Understanding how a business works takes some study and
practice (some people even spend four years at college to learn about
running a business). So don’t be disappointed if (at first) all your eBay
activities don’t just fall into place. There’s a definite learning curve, and
that’s why I write my books. I pull from my years of marketing and advertising
work and my current full-time occupation — writing and teaching
about eBay — to offer insights and help you through the rough spots.
By buying this book, you’ve invested two things I truly respect: your
money and your time. In return, this book gives you lots of information
for your money, and the time you spend reading it and putting this information
into practice will be invaluable.
Saving Time with This Book
There are over 100 million registered eBay users. Luckily for us, the
majority of them are buyers. But there are a growing number of sellers,
too. The simple fact is, to be a success on eBay, you need to know more
than the competition.
My entry into the Timesaving Techniques For Dummies series focuses on
some high-payoff eBay techniques that save you time, either on the spot
or somewhere down the road. I’ve written this book
so you can get to the meat of the subject in a hurry,
with step-by-step instructions when necessary, without
the fluff (or sales pitches) you don’t want.
I’ve identified more than 60 techniques that eBay
users need to know to make the most of their time.
Many of the ideas may be new to you, but they all
will help your business take care of its bottom line.
Decide for yourself how to use this book: Read it
cover to cover if you like or skip right to the techniques
that interest you the most.
In eBay Timesaving Techniques For Dummies, you
find out how to:
Take your eBay business up a notch. Discover
how top online retailers know what goods to buy
for resale and when to buy them. I’ve included in
these pages the straight goods — the information
that all those get-rich-quick e-mails claim to
give you — except here you get the real facts.
Check the techniques that will help you customize
these theories for your own mercantile transactions.
Customize your eBay business to suit you.
Learn about the third-party tools that can work
as an adjunct to the best (I’ll let you know which
ones) of the excellent tools that eBay supplies.
Tame time-draining tedious tasks: I try to
demystify the inner workings of running an
e-business and let you in on more than 60 tips
and tricks along the way. When you’ve got a handle
on the tedious tasks, you can spend more
time creating great results and less time fiddling
with a feature to make it work correctly.
Foolish Assumptions
I assume you’ve been trading on eBay for a while.
You may be selling on eBay part time and feel that
you’ve become successful enough to take your business
up a notch. Perhaps you are running a business
on eBay, and know how to use the site to your
advantage; but there are still certain things that
escape you. I’ve unearthed some of those unknown
features for you in this book.
Everyone out there — especially eBay — has some
advice on how to best sell on eBay. I assume you’ve
seen past some of the propaganda and want to
quickly weed through the rest to find out what’s best for you.
I also assume you want to know some solid retailing
and marketing techniques for your business. I’ve
made a point to put those in this book, too.
From what I’ve heard from the eBay community,
you’re probably comfortable with the site, but want
to make more of it. That’s the basis of this book.
Making more of eBay without wasting time and money.
What’s in This Book
To save time, this book is separated into techniques.
(This really confused me at first — since I’m used to
writing full-on chapters.) A technique tackles just
one subject and lays it out succinctly and swiftly. It’s
a way to get your answer quickly, without a lot of
extraneous information — or too many of my editorial
comments. (Hey, focus is good, too!)
Some of the techniques go into advanced ideas
about selling on eBay. If they’re not relevant for the
work you do now, just skip ’em and come back when
you need those nuggets later.
This book follows in the tradition of the Timesaving
Techniques series. There are lots of visual cues that
make it easier for you to enter a technique at the
placing giving the information you need. No need to
read this book cover to cover — jump in wherever
you see something interesting. It just may answer a
question you’ve had for a while.
When I come to an idea that cross-references
another, I’ll give you a technique number to flip to
and check out if you want. Also, if an idea comes to
you while reading, check out the index in the back of
the book. It helps you zoom directly to your question’s answer.
Part I: Buying for Successful Selling
I know you’re going to love this part. Aside from
refreshing you about the updated nuances of buying
product on eBay, I bring you the straight truth on
sourcing merchandise for your eBay auctions. Read
this part, and you’ll have the information you need
to be buying at wholesale and below. After you put
this information into play for your business, you’ll
be hip to those hokey “wholesale list” e-books and
other gimmicks — and harder for them to tempt!
I’ve also included some information on saving yourself
from buyers who waste your time. Everyone
seems out to protect the buyer — and that’s fine —
but here’s where I show you how to protect yourself as seller, too!
Part II: Selling Shortcuts
In the Selling Shortcuts part, you get more information
from the brick-and-mortar retail world to adapt
to your eBay auctions. I show you how the pros set
their product price points, as well as how to make
your shipping expense into a profitable cost center
(rather than the losing proposition that it often is).
You’re also going to get the scoop on what I call the
eBay seller’s “killer app,” Sellathon. Never before
have eBay sellers had access to the type of information
this program supplies — used with some savvy,
this product can help all sellers improve the bottom line.
I also show you how to use some handy eBay tools —
such as Turbo Lister — that offer an effective, inexpensive
help with organizing sales.
Part III: Prettying Up Your Auctions
Here it is — in-depth discussion of photographing
the goods for eBay and handling your own image
hosting. I take you step-by-step through professional
(but doable) photography methods for getting quality
images. You also get an HTML tutorial that
answers your questions about setting up your listings
to foster good, clean, high-bidding auctions.
With the techniques in this part, you find out how to
save a mound of money by setting up attractive item
pages yourself and not having to pay for “services” at every turn.
Part IV: Finishing Off Your Auctions
“Finishing off” sounds sort of morbid, but it’s what
auctions are all about. Think of this part as the place
where you find out the best ways of tying up loose
ends at the end of your transactions. Figure out
(finally) which mode of leaving feedback (who leaves it first?) works the best.
Also, when transactions do go south, check out
Technique 27 and find out how to keep track of them
and get your appropriate credits from eBay.
Part V: Operating Efficiently with PayPal
PayPal’s got a lot more going for it than merely
accepting your payments for you. It has some truly
robust tools that can help you increase the bottom
line for your online business. This part explains the
tools and shows you the simple way to use them.
Before you leave this part, don’t forget to read the
technique about setting up your PayPal Shop. Its
free — so why not have another connection to your online enterprise?
Part VI: Shipping Made Simple
Finally! I did buckets of research so you wouldn’t
have to. With this part, you’ll be ready to figure out
the best shipper for you. Discover the strengths and
weaknesses of UPS, FedEx, and the Postal Service.
I also give you the inside story on the hows and
whys of carrying your own package insurance for
your eBay shipments (the way the big guys do!).
When things go bad — you’ll still be ready. I’ve
checked out the claims process for all the major
shippers and here is where I let you know which
claims process involves the most hassle.
Part VII: Working the eBay Community
Okay, it’s a community. So what — what can it do for
you? In this part, I give you the lowdown on the community
and some ways it can boost your bottom
line. For instance — how to make the most from
your eBay store (cross-promote your little heart
out!), and why you should keep up your reputation
as a Power Seller.
I also describe working with SquareTrade and show
you how to really become a Trading Assistant (with suggested contract ideas).
Part VIII: Running an Efficient Back Office
Back office is what its all about. Here’s where I
explain the full-on information on running your own
business successfully. Business has certain standards,
and in order for a business to succeed, you
need to follow the rules. (Just ask the tax man!)
Why reinvent the wheel? In this technique, you find
out the professional and easy way to handle your
bookkeeping and office feng shui. (Okay, maybe no
feng shui — at least not yet — but you will find out
some important things you need to do in your business
to protect the most important asset of your business — you.)
I’ve also included a technique to help those with disability
issues. Many of these tips may help you even
if a disability isn’t an issue. (For example, enlarging
your screen after a long day’s work can sometimes
be a blessing for tired eyes!)
Part IX: Acting Like a CEO
CEO? Who me? Yes, you. You are the Big Louie for
your eBay enterprise. Part IX has some great information
that you can hand over to your head of
marketing. Of course, that’s probably you, too — so
why not read this information on how to target your audience?
If big business can apply marketing principles to
generating online sales, so can you. The information
is really going to be an eye-opener — it’s there to
make you think about your customers.
Also (finally), I’ve found a viable alternative to
escrow. Escrow’s reputation has taken quite a hit in
the media — that, plus you have to wait for your
money. Now there is a clean way to put your customers
at ease when you’re selling high-dollar items.
Part X: The Scary (or Fun) Stuff
Scary? Fun? I’m not sure which, but this part gives
you some good ideas that can help you expand your
business. Also, I go into depth on how to keep your
online security up to snuff.
Conventions Used in This Book
Conventions? Wow — funny hats, late cocktail parties,
free samples! I love conventions. But this isn’t
what the publisher has in mind (at least not yet).
Here conventions means the varied ways we’ve used
typefaces to make things stand out for you while you read this book.
The online experience has lots of abbreviations:
GMS, NWT, URLs. If I come across an abbreviation
you need to know, I give you the definition
and the abbreviation together. That way, if you
see the abbreviation again, you know what it means.
To show you things you have to type, I put them
in boldface text. That way, you can type the commands
exactly as needed.
If I show you Web site or e-mail addresses,
they’re set in monospace text. For example, my
Web site can be found at www.coolebaytools.com.
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Product details
Price
|
|
|---|---|
File Size
| 11,042 KB |
Pages
|
418 p |
File Type
|
PDF format |
ISBN
| 0-7645-5991-5 |
Copyright
| 2004 by Wiley Publishing, Inc |
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Saving Time with This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 2
What’s in This Book 2
Part I: Buying for Successful Selling 3
Part II: Selling Shortcuts 3
Part III: Prettying Up Your Auctions 3
Part IV: Finishing Off Your Auctions 3
Part V: Operating Efficiently with PayPal 3
Part VI: Shipping Made Simple 3
Part VII: Working the eBay Community 4
Part VIII: Running an Efficient Back Office 4
Part IX: Acting Like a CEO 4
Part X: The Scary (or Fun) Stuff 4
Conventions Used in This Book 4
Icons Used in This Book 5
Where to Go from Here 5
Part I: Buying for Successful Selling 7
Technique 1: Efficient Searching to Find the Best Deals
Finding Deals with eBay Search 9
Taking the eBay price-comparison shortcut 10
Refining your search without
missing important data 11
Finding Your Item in eBay Stores 12
Saving Time with Favorite Searches 13
Marking Favorite Sellers for Speedy Return Visits 15
Technique 2: Gearing Up for Savvy eBay Buying
Recognizing the Many Faces of eBay Transactions 16
Scanning through traditional auctions 16
Homing in on Multiple Item (Dutch) auctions 17
Saving time at auctions with the
Buy It Now option 18
Buy it quickly with Fixed Price sales 18
Making eBay’s Shipping Calculator Figure Your
Shipping Costs 20
Paying Quickly and Seamlessly through PayPal 20
Winning and paying 21
Paying for multiple wins from the same seller 21
Paying for items from your My eBay page 22
Technique 3: Bidding to Win
Sniping Your Bids in the 21st Century 23
Sniping by hand — the 3-window way 24
Sniping with an online service 24
Bidding to Win at Traditional Auctions 25
Bidding to Win at Multiple Item (Dutch) Auctions 26
Technique 4: Researching to Save Time andMoney
Assessing the Seller Before You Shop 28
Examining the Seller’s Box 28
A Quick Way to Evaluate Feedback 28
Checking Out Current Transactions in the Seller’s
Recent Ratings 31
Saving Time with Free GutCheck™ Software 31
Using a SquareTrade Seal for More Information 33
Finding Discount Pricing on the Web 34
Technique 5: Real-World Sourcing
Strategies for Your eBay Business
Finding Out Where Stores Buy Their Merchandise 36
Finding merchandise locally 36
Newspaper auction listings 36
Regional merchandise marts 37
Wholesale trade shows 39
Figuring Out Who’s Who in the Industry 40
Technique 6: Qualifying Your Merchandise and Methods
Know the Lingo of Merchandisers 41
Staying Safe when Buying Liquidations 43
Internet Shopping for Resale Merchandise 43
Liquidation.com 44
Wholesale Central 44
Big Lots Wholesale 44
Dealing with Drop-Shippers 45
Finding a good drop-shipper 46
Coping with the inevitable “out-of-stock” 47
Technique 7: Getting Action When Transactions Go Wrong
Knowing Fraud When You See It 48
Yikes! You’ve Spotted the Fraud: What Now? 49
Reporting questionable items on eBay 49
Taking action if you feel you’ve been defrauded 51
Filing a fraud-protection claim with eBay 53
Filing a claim with PayPal 53
Getting Outside Help 54
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 54
United States Postal Inspector 54
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) 54
The National Fraud Information Center 54
Part II: Selling Shortcuts 55
Technique 8: Building Strategies for Your Sales
Knowing What Day to End an Auction 57
Planning your auction end day by the calendar 58
Deciding how many days to run your auction 59
Figuring out what time to start your auction 59
Finding eBay’s Soon-to-Be “Hot” Sellers 61
Hot on the Home page 61
eBay’s Monthly Hot Sellers 62
Checking Out the Buzz on Yahoo! and Elsewhere 62
Technique 9: Setting Profitable Price Points
Keeping an Eye on Where Your Pennies Go 64
Minimizing eBay Listing Fees 65
Using Reserve Fees to Save Money 65
Adding Listing Upgrades 66
eBay Picture Services 67
Adding In the Final Value Fees 68
PayPal Gets Its Cut of the Action 68
Putting All the Fees Together with FeeFinder 69
Forewarned Is Smart 70
Researching with eBay PSP Software 70
Technique 10: Setting Sensible Shipping Costs
Figuring the Hidden Shipping Costs 72
Using a Shipping Calculator in Your Listings 74
Technique 11: Using eBay’s Free Listing Tool: Turbo Lister
Checking the Minimum Requirements 78
Downloading Turbo Lister 79
Starting Up Turbo Lister 79
Preparing an eBay Listing 80
Designing your listing 81
Getting down to specifics 82
Organizing your listings 83
Uploading items to eBay 84
Technique 12: Making Multiple Sales
without Multiplying Your Work
Relisting after a Win 85
If at First You Don’t Succeed 86
Okay, Time to Relist 86
Relisting from your My eBay page 87
Relisting from Selling Manager 87
Making a Second Chance Offer 88
Relisting from Your “Item Did Not Sell” Notices 88
Technique 13: Tracking Your Auction Action
Using My eBay to Manage Your Listings 90
Active listings 91
Sold items 92
Unsold items 92
Ramping Up with Selling Manager 92
First glimpse of Selling Manager 92
Pending Listings 93
Active Listings 93
Sold Listings 94
Archived listings 94
Seller Tools 94
Cross-Promotions 94
Technique 14: Boosting Sales through
Dynamic Research
Knowing What You Get from Sellathon™
ViewTracker™ 96
Checking Out Your Data 97
Getting Additional Information from Your Listings 99
Part III: Prettying Up Your Auctions 101
Technique 15: Getting Great Images for eBay
Choosing Your Digital Camera 103
Choosing digital media — You can have
more than one 104
Battery life and bargain shopping 104
Scanning for Images 105
Getting Ready to Take Your Best Shot 105
Trudging through the eBay Gallery of Horrors 106
Mistake #1 106
Mistake #2 107
Mistake #3 107
Mistake #4 107
Mistake #5 108
Technique 16: Prepping and Photographing Clothing
Cleaning and Pressing Essentials 110
Assembling Your Fashion Photo Studio 111
Technique 17: Photographing the Tuff
Stuff: Coins and Jewelry
Photographing with Ambient Light 114
Shooting with the Cloud Dome 115
Tips for Taking Cloud Dome Pictures 117
Technique 18: Touching Up Your Photos for eBay
Viewing Images on a Monitor 118
Choosing an Image-Editing Tool 119
Getting Your Image eBay-Ready 120
Knowing what image elements to edit 120
Perfecting your picture in Paint Shop Pro 120
Technique 19: Uploading Your Pictures to a Server
Using eBay’s Picture Services 125
Uploading your picture 126
Editing a picture on the eBay server 127
Using Your Free ISP Space 127
Obtaining an FTP program 127
Uploading your picture to an ISP server 128
Uploading images to AOL 129
Technique 20: Listing Touchups and HTML
without the Headaches
Writing Your Title and Description 133
All CAPITAL titles 133
Wasted titles 133
Negative comments 134
Getting Friendly with HTML 134
What HTML can do 134
How HTML works 135
Using Tables 136
Technique 21: Creating Your Own HTML Templates
Setting Up Your Templates 140
Getting CuteHTML 140
Adding text and graphics with CuteHTML 140
Adding HTML formatting 141
Getting Quick, Basic Templates Online 143
Part IV: Finishing Off Your Auctions 145
Technique 22: Notifying Winners and Sending Invoices
Notifying Winners 147
Thanking them kindly 148
Thanks for the money! 149
Auto-sending invoices from Selling Manager 149
Sending Out Invoices 150
PayPal invoicing 150
eBay invoicing 151
Technique 23: Tracking Payments
Tracking Payments through My eBay 153
Tracking payments on your My eBay page 154
Tracking payments from eBay’s
Selling Manager 154
Tracking Payment Info with PayPal 155
Payment notification via e-mail 155
PayPal’s Post-Sale Manager 155
Technique 24: Tracking Your Shipments
Tracking the Mail 157
Tracking with Delivery Confirmation 158
Tracking for users of endicia.com 158
Finding Out Where the Brown Truck Went 159
Finding Your FedEx Package 160
Technique 25: Leaving Feedback Quickly and Gracefully
Using the Feedback Forum 162
Posting Feedback from Selling Manager 163
Entering Feedback from My eBay 164
Leaving Feedback from an End of
Transaction E-mail 164
Technique 26: Downloading Your eBay Sales Reports
eBay Selling Manager’s Reports 165
Customizing a Works or Excel Spreadsheet 168
Your eBay Stores Sales Reports 169
Technique 27: Reporting Failed Transactions to eBay
Knowing When a Transaction Has Gone Wrong 170
Filing a Non-Paying Buyer Alert 171
The Next Step: Your Final Value Fee Credit 172
Part V: Operating Efficiently
with PayPal 173
Technique 28: Understanding PayPal Accounts and Options
Here Comes eBay 175
Understanding How PayPal Works 176
Sending money through PayPal 176
Figuring out the payment types 176
PayPal’s Protection Plans 177
PayPal Buyer Protection 177
PayPal Seller Protection 178
Getting qualified for a Protection Shield 179
Comprehending PayPal’s Accounts 180
PayPal Personal Account 180
Business and Premier Accounts 180
Technique 29: Generating Income from
Your Web Site with PayPal
Making the PayPal Payment Option Available
on Your Site 181
Creating a button from the PayPal Web site 182
Setting up your payment page 183
Coding for Do-It-Yourselfers 184
Paypal coding — the stripped-down version 184
PayPal coding with all the bells and whistles 185
Adding a PayPal Buy Now Button to Your AOL
Hometown Page 186
Technique 30: Downloading Your Payment
History from PayPal
PayPal’s Downloadable Reports 187
Starting the Download from PayPal 188
Customizing your Download 188
Doing the Actual Download (Finally!) 190
Saving and Editing Your Reports 190
Technique 31: Arranging Shipping Directly
through PayPal
Shipping Directly from PayPal 192
PayPal Shipping with the USPS 193
Shipping with UPS 195
Technique 32: Expanding Your Business
with PayPal Shops and Tools
Joining PayPal Shops 197
Your PayPal Seller Reputation number 197
PayPal Shopping invitations 198
Featured Shop consideration 199
Site statistics 200
Spending Your PayPal Balance with a Virtual
MasterCard 200
Cashing In on the PayPal Referral Program 201
Technique 33: Using PayPal’s Little-Known Tools
PayPal’s Merchant Tools 203
Using the Post-Sale Manager 204
Updating Payment Status 205
Using search filters 206
Taking Advantage of the Outlook Payment
Request Wizard 206
Part VI: Shipping Made Simple 209
Technique 34: Selecting the Best Packing Materials
Using Void Fill 212
Air packing pillows 212
Plentiful packing peanuts 212
Bubble wrapping by the roll 213
Plain old white newsprint 213
Mailing Envelopes 213
Getting It Boxed 215
Buying in bulk 215
Buying boxes on eBay 215
Free Priority Mail boxes 215
Technique 35: Picking the Right Shipper
Meeting the Front Line 216
Location, Location, Location 217
Compare the Costs 218
Technique 36: Shipping with the U.S. Postal Service
Understanding the Costs 220
Getting Free Delivery Confirmations 220
Online Delivery Confirmation Services 221
Print Your Own Postage and Get Free
Confirmations 221
Mechanizing Your Shipping 222
Getting Free Package Pickup from the Post Office 223
Private Postal Package Insurance 223
Technique 37: Getting Brown with United Parcel Service
Using UPS Today 225
Timing your shipments 226
Comparing the costs 227
Checking Out UPS Rates 227
Saving Big Money with Package Pickup 228
Technique 38: Absolutely, Positively FedEx
Saving by Shipping with FedEx Ground 230
Signing up with FedEx 230
Saving on your shipping costs 231
Shipping Your Packages Online 232
Technique 39: Insuring Against the Worst
Self-Insuring Your Items 234
Insuring through the Major Carriers 235
Getting Private Shipping Insurance 235
Technique 40: Making a Claim When Shipping Goes Bad
Mistyping Addresses Means Losing Parcels 237
Making a Claim with the Post Office 239
Filing a Claim with UPS 240
Filing with FedEx 241
Part VII: Working the eBay Community 243
Technique 41: Opening an eBay Store
Making the “Store” Decision 246
Choosing between store types 246
Knowing the fee structure 247
Setting Up Your Store 248
Setting up your store content 249
Designing your store’s “look” 250
Designing a custom store home page 252
Technique 42: Building Your Reputation by
Becoming a PowerSeller
PowerSeller Tiers 254
Benefiting from the Program 254
Technique 43: Becoming an eBay Trading Assistant
Becoming a Trading Assistant 255
Promoting Your Business 257
Adding the Trading Assistant logo to your
eBay listings 257
Posting flyers 258
Handling Your Business Professionally 259
Technique 44: Getting the Stamp of
Approval from SquareTrade
SquareTrade Stretches Beyond eBay 261
Making SquareTrade Work for You 262
Getting Your Own Seal 264
Technique 45: Meeting Other eBayers
Navigating the eBay Community 266
Participating in talk 267
Checking out what’s news 268
Understanding the differences in posting
between the boards 268
Visiting the events 269
Joining a Group 270
Part VIII: Running an Efficient Back Office 271
Technique 46: Going Legit with Your Business
Giving Your Business a Name 273
Deciding Your Business Structure 274
Sole proprietorship 274
Partnership 274
Corporation 275
Limited liability company (LLC) 275
Joining the Feds 276
City and State Business Licenses 276
Technique 47: Simplifying Your Bookkeeping
Dealing with a Professional 279
Keeping Your Books Accurately 280
Using QuickBooks in your eBay business 281
Posting sales in QuickBooks the easy way 282
Technique 48: Monitoring Your Financial Reports
De-bewildering Your Balance Sheet 285
Tracking Your Accounts Payable 285
Knowing Your Sales Tax Liability 285
Analyzing Your Profit & Loss Statement 286
Technique 49: Keeping Your Records and Data Safe
Backing Up Your Data — Just Do It! 289
Saving Your Business Records 289
Knowing How Long to Keep Your Paperwork 290
Technique 50: Avoiding Sick Days by Staying Healthy
Keeping Your Eyes Clear 291
Watching Your Back 292
Practicing Safe Mousing 292
Technique 51: Overcoming Accessibility Challenges
Helping Others through DOUA 296
Setting Up Windows for Easier Accessibility 297
Finding Tools to Meet the Challenge 298
Part IX: Acting Like a CEO 299
Technique 52: Building Business Buying Plans
Understanding the Six-Month Merchandise Plan 301
Getting the Data 302
Formulas That Calculate Your Data 302
Technique 53: Knowing Your Customers
Marketing to the Generations 304
Technique 54: Marketing Your eBay Listings
eBay Cross-Promotions 307
Smart cross-promoting 308
Setting up cross-promotions 308
Checking the status of your cross-promotions 309
Editing your individual items 310
Using an eBay Marketplace 311
Technique 55: Using Google to Build Your Business
Finding Out What the Zeitgeist Is 313
Catching Attention for Your eBay Store on Google 315
Get Found in a Hurry with AdWords 316
Technique 56: Bonding Your Sales: Raising Bids and GSM
Learning About Bonding 319
Seller Bonding on eBay 319
Bonding items 320
What happens when something goes wrong? 321
Technique 57: Flying Your Banner on eBay
Getting the Click-Throughs 322
Making Your Banner 323
Making your own 323
Finding someone to make it 323
Designing to eBay style 324
Setting Up Your Banner Campaign 324
Signing up 324
Playing the links 325
Targeting with keywords and phrases 325
Bidding for exposure 326
Uploading your banner 326
Paying for your campaign 327
Technique 58: Co-oping with eBay
to Lower Advertising Costs
Getting In on the Gold 329
How much will eBay pay? 329
How do you get your money? 330
Advertising Basics: Choosing Where to Run
Your Ad 330
Creating Your Ad 331
Part X: The Scary (or Fun) Stuff 333
Technique 59: Raising Money for Your Favorite Charity
Finding Out About Giving Works 335
Starting Small and Buying 336
Raising Money for the Little Guy 337
Getting Your Nonprofit on the List 337
Technique 60: Organizing with Auction Management Tools
Choosing Your Auction Management Tools 340
Looking for the Essential Features 341
Exploring the Advanced Features 342
Technique 61: Networking Your Office
Using a Powerline Network 344
Going Wireless 346
The types of wireless 346
Setting up your wireless network 347
Using a Hybrid Network 347
Technique 62: Keeping Kosher: Staying Away from Spam
Keeping Your E-mail Address Quiet 349
Recognizing Spam 349
Finding spam before it finds you 349
Checking out nefarious e-mail 350
Fighting Back! 351
Technique 63: Keeping Password Accounts Secure
Reporting Messed-Up Accounts 353
Choosing a Good Secret Question 355
Selecting a Good Password 356
Technique 64: Letting the World Know
All About You, er, Me
Getting Your About Me Page 358
Setting up the page 359
Using little-known, eBay-unique HTML tags 360
Checking Out Some Pros! 361
marsha_c 361
cosmiquemuffin 361
preservationpublishing 362
listingrover 362
aunt*patti 363
Shoetime 363
noblespirit 363
Technique 65: Glossary of eBay Sellers’ Business Terms
Index 371
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