Entries Tagged 'eBay' ↓

6 Quick Tips to Making Attention-Grabbing Photos on eBay

Since customers can’t see your items first-hand, it is essential to provide them with quality pictures.  Doing so lends credibility to your listing that words alone can’t come close to.

Pictures of your items should show as much detail as possible.  But it’s also important to make the pictures stand out.  This can be accomplished in a number of ways.

* Make your photos look professional.  With a little practice and the right equipment, you can take pictures that are almost as good as professional ones.  You don’t need thousands of dollars worth of camera accessories and lighting.  You can do a reasonably good job with just a run-of-the-mill digital camera and good natural light.  Simply using a solid-colored background and making sure the lighting is right can go a long way toward making your photos look more polished.

* Clarify the size of your items.  If the size of your item is an important consideration, include another item in one of the photos for easy comparison .  Common items of standard sizes, such as coins, are good for smaller items.  You could also use a ruler to show the size.

* Crop your photos so that the item takes up most of the picture space.  This makes the item more prominent, and it eliminates any distractions from the background.

* Make sure that your photos are large enough to show detail.  eBay’s standard picture service limits the size of your photos, but you can have them Supersized for an additional fee.  You could also host your photos elsewhere and make them as large as you like.  This has the added benefit of eliminating the extra cost for additional pictures.  Flickr is a great source for free photo hosting, and it’s easy to resize your photos.  They also provide copy and paste code that you can use on your eBay pages.

* Add attractive borders to your pictures.  This will make them more pleasing to look at and draw the eye to them.  Just make sure that the border isn’t too overwhelming, so that it doesn’t detract from the photo itself.

* Pay the small fee for a gallery photo.  This will put a thumbnail of your main photo with your item’s description in the search results.  Items with gallery photos get more views and bids than those without.

Your product photo can make a big difference in your auction’s outcome.  Listings with high-quality, attractive, and detailed pictures often bring in higher bids compared to the same item listed with blurry pictures with poor lighting.  You don’t have to hire a professional to take your eBay photos to make them effective.  A little attention to detail can make them everything they need to be.

Are you exhausted from weighing, packaging and shipping items for your eBay customers? 

It’s possible to make money on popular auction sites without handling a single product yourself.  How?  By having items drop shipped for you!

Drop shipping is an arrangement whereby you get orders for a company’s products, collect the money, then send the customer’s order and the price you pay for it to the company.  You keep the profits, and the company sends the product directly to your customer.  It’s that simple.

How Do I Get Started With Drop Shipping?

There are lots of companies that will drop ship products for their distributors.  You can find them by doing an online search for “drop shipper”.  You may also be able to get recommendations from friends or business contacts.

*WARNING* It’s important to do some research on any company you consider becoming a distributor for, and this is especially true if they will be drop shipping the products.  If they don’t deliver the items as promised (or in a timely manner), you are left holding the bag. Your reputation as a good business dealer will be damaged.  So it is a good idea to check the company out with the Better Business Bureau before signing up with them.

If everything checks out and you decide to become a distributor, you’ll need to make sure you meet their requirements.  Most require that you have a wholesale license in order to get the best prices, and some have further requirements.  Some also put restrictions on how you can promote their products, so be sure to read the fine print.

How Can I Sell the Products?

Most drop shipping companies will allow you to sell on eBay.  When selling on eBay, it is important to make sure you make enough money from each sale to cover your costs.  This requires a clear understanding of the company’s shipping and handling charges, as well as how much you will be paying for the items themselves.  Setting your starting bid at a price that will ensure a profit is crucial.

You can also set up your own website to promote products in most cases.  If you don’t want to do it yourself or hire a web designer, many drop ship companies offer website packages to their distributors.  Some companies offer mail order as an option as well.

Getting the Best Prices

Some drop ship companies offer products to all distributors at the same price.  But most give discounts to distributors who have higher sales volumes.  This results in more money for both the company and the distributor.

Some companies charge monthly fees for membership in their drop ship program.  Others offer free memberships, but give bigger discounts with paid ones.  It is up to each seller to determine whether or not these fees are worth it to him.

Many eBay sellers do very well with drop shipping.  It gives them a way to make money without physically handling the products.  If you are considering eBay but would rather not deal with inventory, drop shipping could be the answer you’ve been looking for.

Product Name: My Silent Team Membership
Rating: 7
Where to buy:   MySilentTeam.com

Description: A private members only mentoring website for those who run an eBay or Internet business.

Review:  If you’ve run an online business for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard about the various mentoring groups out there.  This is one of those groups, but it’s set up specifically for eBay and other Internet business owners. 

My Silent Team is made up of a ton of experts in various areas of online business, most specifically, eBay businesses.  Here are just a few of the many well known experts you’ll gain information from when you join My Silent Team.

Jim Cockrum - eBay author and speaker
Mike Enos - Expert powerseller
Skip McGrath - If you know about eBay, you know about Skip.  Powerseller and author of over 7 books on eBay.
Jenni Hunt - Kid’s items eBay expert
Kristine McKinley - CPA & eBay tax expert 

Here are some of the benefits members of the group receive:

Member’s Only Forum
A huge list of bonuses only for members (worth over $1,000)
Hot selling items list
Step-by-step videos created specifically at the requests of members
Conference calls
Free subscription to Secrets of their Success newsletter (Non-members pays a monthly fee)

You get immediate access once you’ve signed up as a member and your price will NEVER go up as long as you remain a continuous member.

The amount of information and the willingness of all the experts and other members to help is amazing.  If you want to run a business online with eBay, you definitely don’t want to miss out on this membership.

 Click Here to View More about My Silent Team