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In my last article I discussed various promotion strategies for your eBay store one of which was using your eBay About Me Page. Your About Me Page is one of the best ways to promote yourself on eBay. It allows you much more freedom than other eBay pages and there is a link to it beside your eBay User ID so every time you buy an item, place a bid etc, people may click on it. Despite this it is one of the most underutilised pages for the majority of eBay sellers. In this article I will discuss how you should be using your eBay About Me Page to effectively promote your eBay store:

1) Describe yourself and your EBay Business:- At the top of the page you should describe yourself and your eBay business. Say a little about yourself, how you got into selling on eBay, and what you sell. Also say why people should buy from you instead of the competition. Examples could be that your eBay store is updated every week, your prices are low etc.

2) Link to your Feedback:- To prove that you are a trusted seller you should link to your feedback rating from your About Me page. Just include a simple sentence like "Click Here to view my feedback."

3) Provide a Contact Address:- Buyers viewing your About Me page may want to ask more questions so it is only logical that you provide a contact address. Make it clickable for maximum ease to the customer. For example "You can contact me at any time at: sales@theeBaycavern.co.uk."

4) Provide a direct link back to your eBay Store:- Not all the visitors to your About Me page will have found it through your eBay store. Some may not even be aware that you own an eBay store. The only way to make sure that everyone viewing your About Me page knows that you have an eBay store is to provide a clickable link to it. For example "Click Here to visit my eBay store."

5) Other Links:- If you have a specific auction which you want to promote, or a specific page you want to link to then do it here. For example "You can visit my super duper auction by Clicking Here."

If you follow the steps in this article then you should be well on your way to maximising the effectiveness of your eBay About Me page. Many customers will use your About Me page to assess whether to buy from you so it's essential that yours is effective.

Lastly, if you want to be successful selling on eBay, check out The eBay Fortune! This is how I started my first eBay sales 2 years back by applying what I learned from The eBay Fortune. Today I'm selling full-time on eBay and making a very decent income. You too can make it, you just have to do it right!

Technorati Tags: auction, Auctions, Business, ebay, ebay selling, internet business, internet marketing, online business

Tags: auction, Auctions, Business, ebay, ebay selling, internet business, internet marketing, online business

EBay has moved offline. Several companies, like Snappy Auctions and I Sold It On EBay, offer sellers franchises for brick-and-mortar eBay stores. These drop-off spots take customer items, evaluate, photograph, and list them online, collect the payments, and ship the items to their buyers. In other words, they do all the work - for a percentage of the selling price, of course.

Beginner Strategies If you've contemplated jumping on the bandwagon and opening a physical drop-off location, fellow store-owner and eBay University instructor, Christopher Spencer has some advice for you:

* Location is key. Get a good broker to help you identify convenient retail sites. It's important to be in a high traffic area, such as a strip mall or a facility near good anchor stores, anyplace frequented by upscale individuals. To get high-quality merchandise, you need a higher level of clientele.

* Take store layout into account. As your business develops, you'll need exponentially more storage space. Advises Spenser, "Consider whether a building will fit your needs for future expansion, so you can avoid growing pains."

* Be careful what you accept. Don't waste your time with items that won't be worth the research and energy you'll invest in them. Patrons sometimes bring in boxes of junk, or items with very little value. Be realistic with your clients, and counsel them what will and won't bring in money. That way they know what to expect, and they aren't disappointed by their final prices.

* Charge a reasonable amount for your services. Keep yourself in line with what others are charging, rather than trying to undercut everyone in order to compete. Instead, add value to your services by focusing on areas at which you excel. If you have a staff member who specializes in a certain area, encourage your customers to bring in items in that field because you'll be able to get them the maximum prices on eBay.

* Concentrate on customer service. Exceed your customers' expectations. Says Spencer, "Building a reputation and getting good clients is a matter of word of mouth and referrals, and that's something people build over time."

Help Me Help You! People want help with things they don't know how to do, or don't have time to do - that's why there's such a need for this sort of service. It provides the convenience and ease of being able to just drop off an item and pick up a check. Though users have to pay a commission, they'll typically get more for their item by using an experienced, knowledgeable seller, than they would by selling it themselves.

Lastly, if you want to be successful selling on eBay, check out The eBay Fortune! This is how I started my first eBay sales 2 years back by applying what I learned from The eBay Fortune. Today I'm selling full-time on eBay and making a very decent income. You too can make it, you just have to do it right!

Technorati Tags: auction, Auctions, Business, ebay, ebay selling, internet business, internet marketing, online business

Tags: auction, Auctions, Business, ebay, ebay selling, internet business, internet marketing, online business

It's surprisingly easy to kill your eBay business, if you're not careful - sure, you can start over from scratch without it costing you anything, but do you really want to? Still, if you want your business to end up dead in the water, here are some simple ways to do it.

Lie about an item: Say it works fine when it sometimes doesn't work. Say it's in perfect condition when it has a scratch. Your customers will hate you!

Post whenever you feel like it: Make sure to leave your customers hanging around, wondering when their item is going to turn up. This makes sure they buy from someone else next time.

Let items end anytime: Few people will be around to care about your auction if it ends in the middle of the night. Why go to the trouble of working out whether auctions will end at a good time?

Don't bother with email: Customers are just timewasters anyway. eBay businesses are supposed to run themselves! Never give informed responses to questions about your item.

Sell rubbish: Really, it's just eBay. You can just sell any old tat from the market for a 200% profit. Let quality be someone else's concern - I mean, really, what do they expect for that price?

Refuse to give discounts: You know what your items cost, you know what your profit margin is going to be, and you're not going to negotiate. Remember that giving customers special deals might make them feel good and come back to you again.

Make your listings ugly: As many colours, flashing lights and animations as possible will really give those customers a headache. Write as much in CAPITALS!!!! as you can. Preferably big, red capitals. Be sure to use the fonts Impact and Comic Sans. For an extra special touch, see if you can figure out a way to add some music.

Don't take photos: It's such trouble, after all. If buyers are picky enough to actually want to see items before they bid on them, then screw 'em, that's what I say.

Write short descriptions: Be as brief as possible, and use lots of mysterious abbreviations. This obviously makes you look very cool. You can even just write the title again in the description box. Think of the effort you'll save!

Use reserve auctions: Now, this is a fairly controversial final choice, but it really is one of the best ways to scare away your customers. They'll see 'reserve not yet met', and click that 'back' button before you know it. Luckily, they can always bid in a normal auction for the item somewhere else.

Now that you know the ten ways to kill your eBay business, how about we explore what to do if you want to do the opposite, and make a success of it?

You got to check out The eBay Fortune that will show you exactly how to run a successful business on eBay. I have really benefited from it & now selling full-time on eBay making a decent income.

Technorati Tags: auction, Auctions, Business, ebay, ebay selling, internet business, internet marketing, online business

Tags: auction, Auctions, Business, ebay, ebay selling, internet business, internet marketing, online business