Here are 10 tips to guarantee you will fail on eBay. And, the great thing is you don’t need to devote time to all then. Concentrate on just two or three and you will do just fine.
1. Never set goals - Having clear, well thought out goals in place is a total waste of your time. If by chance you should bother to set a goal or two, don’t bother to create a plan to reach them. And, if you get caught up in all the hoopla and do create a plan, there’s still hope. Just make sure you never implement it.
2. Don’t take PayPal - PayPal’s fees are astronomical and there’s no reason you should pay them. Besides that, think of all those buyers who won’t even consider bidding unless they can pay with PayPal. If you had to deal with all those people, you wouldn’t be able to spend hours on various eBay forums whining about people not bidding on your items; how low your items that did sell went for; and how you can’t make eBay work.
3. Make sure your terms of service (TOS) is at least eight paragraphs long - You need to make it crystal clear to potential customers that your interests come before theirs, you don’t trust them, and you view them all as scammers. If your TOS doesn’t automatically exclude at least 25% of potential bidders from bidding, you are doing something wrong. Above all, be absolute positive that you drill into their heads that if you make a mistake, you expect them to pay for it, not you.
4. Never think of eBay as work - It’s okay to sit down to the computer each day, but don’t do anything that might be productive. Rather, spend time with your friends on forums and in chat rooms. If you find nothing else to do, there is always PopIt.
5. Never spend valuable time doing research or market analysis - You’ve already got something to sell. It’s not your fault no one is buying it. There’s more important things to do.
6. Buy and read every “How I Make $10,000 A Month On eBay” book you can put on your credit card - Believe everything you read in them. Read and re-read as often as possible. That way you won’t have time to do anything really productive. Once you have read every one can get your hands one, wash, rinse, and do the same thing with wholesale and drop shipping lists. After all, someone is making money with these things.
7. Never take risks - There’s never a good reason to spend $20 of your hard earned money on something that might bring a $400 return. Stick to the tried and true things that you pay pennies for and consistently sell for $3 to $5. Don’t accept personal checks. One out of every 2000 buyers might bounce a $15 check. Don’t allow international buyers. We all know that they are all intent on scamming you.
8. Never answer questions from potential bidders - If they are too dumb to understand what you wrote in your description, you can be sure they will be difficult to deal with post-auction. If you do feel compelled to respond to one of their questions, make sure you wait at least two days before responding. Better yet, wait until there are only three minutes left in the auction.
9. Never diversify what you sell or where you sell it - You’ve found an endless supply of brand new left peddles for the 1862 Michaux Velocipede at only $.50 each. If there’s no one on eBay interested in them, that’s their problem. And god forbid you should every try selling them on the Michaux Velocipede collectors forum.
10. Never invest a penny in your eBay business unless you absolutely have to - If a service or piece of equipment is either free or dirt-cheap it will do just fine. Under no circumstances invest in anything that might help your business grow. Rather, wait until it’s grown and then consider it.
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February 25th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
Gary,
Two Thumbs WAY Up!!
February 26th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Gary,
You hit the nail on thr head in this article. Great Job !!
March 7th, 2007 at 12:54 am
Hey Gary,
What if I do all these things and I still make money? What should I do then?
March 7th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
You would have two options.
First, keep doing all those things and keep making money.
Second, stop doing all those things and start making a whole lot more money.
I didn’t say someone wouldn’t make money. I said they wouldn’t be successful. There is a difference.
Gary
March 13th, 2007 at 10:51 am
This is so similar to my own top ten list that I just had to add mine to yours!
(Mine are from December 22, 2006 and were posted to eBay Establishings)
—
Here are some things that have
a very powerful potential for keeping a seller’s income low.
1. Extreme frugality–Don’t invest in your business unless you absolutely have to. Work with poor or no services and poor equipment if it’s “free” or cheap. Avoid the practices of big, successful buyers. Assume that “they can afford ‘x’ because they make so much.” Never consider the possibility that they make so much because they sacrificed to invest in “x” early on.
2. Don’t work with the very best goods that you possibly can–Sell it because you have it. Sell it because it was free. Decide that you “have to” sell it because it cost you $10 when you usually spend $2 on an item. If you have a lot of iffy $5 items to sell, don’t go looking for any better $20+ items until you’ve sold all of the $5 ones. Always
put space, time, and sunk cost considerations ahead of future income considerations when deciding what to sell. And whenever possible, spend an hour collating, sorting, cleaning or repairing a low value item, just because you have it now and “have to” sell it.
3. Give up your time cheaply–Focus on any other measure *but* your hourly income. Focus on “recovering your investment” for every business cost, paying no attention to the time/opportunity cost. Whenever possible, spend 3 or 4 hours on the ‘net finding a way to save $10 on some business (or personal) item vs. 15 minutes buying it at full retail and the rest of that time creating the potential for income far in excess of your “savings.” If possible, write award-winning auctions for $10/hour vs. clear and informative barebones auctions for $30/hour. (And when the former end 50% higher at 30% of the hourly income, call that a good thing!)
4. Take no risks–exclude international buyers, don’t take checks, don’t take money orders, don’t list on “less secure venues,” limit your visibility, don’t make a name for yourself and your business. Believe every word of eBay/PayPal marketing and take their advice, even when it puts their interests above your own. Make protecting one dollar bills more important than attracting hundred dollar bills. According to PayPal records, data I can find, and personal experience the risk of taking a “risky” payment is less than 1%. At a risk level as high as
1%, a seller can expect to make $10,000 for every $100 loss with “high risk” payment acceptance.
5. Push away buyers–let them know that all of your policies are in *your* best interest and for *your* convenience, not theirs. Let them know that you don’t trust them–and they’ll wonder if they should trust
*you*. Hint that auctions, payment options, and the Internet in general are high-risk, and your buyer will find himself wondering if you and your business are risky too! Believe that and act as if only scammers ever request returns. Above all, don’t show much interest in your
customers as people.
6. Spend time cleaning your office, decorating your office, arranging your stuff, griping about buyers, engaging in feuds with buyers, protracting returns, and fretting about the occasional cranky person. DON’T invest the bulk of your time into research and finding so that you can work with more and more profitable goods. And pick *any* remotely business-related job over listing more items.
7. Don’t beg, borrow, or hire help when you need it. (Refer to #1. If it costs money, don’t do it.)
8. As much as possible, think along these lines: “I have a small business, and I can’t afford that…. That’s for people with successful businesses…. My business will always be small because _______…. I’ll never make decent money as long as so-and-so has such-and-such policy…. I’ll never be able to compete in this buyer’s market…. There’s no point researching or looking for better goods; I won’t find anything decent.” Pessimism really helps a seller not to try too hard. Tell yourself not to think, decide or act like a successful seller “until you are one.”
9. Don’t go to work every day. Go to the computer yes, but don’t go to work.
10. Don’t set goals. Or, if you do set goals, don’t create a plan to reach them. Or, if you do make a plan, don’t implement it.
Great minds think alike! When I posted the above, some other E_E members added similar suggestions. You should have added yours! They’re great!
Valerie
March 13th, 2007 at 11:00 am
(I guess this doesn’t like links ’cause mine was bleeped out. My top ten were posted to the Yahoogroups eBay_Establishings in December and other members added similar suggestions to my original ten at that time. Fun and worthwhile discussion.)
March 13th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
Valerie,
Thank you for your contribution.
I don’t understand why your link was eaten by the link gremlin, but I’ve edited your original comment to include a link to your post on eBay Establishings.
Gary