EbaySteve would never even CONSIDER an auction without checking out the competition first! Oh yeah! This gets us to ebaySteves next super tip - decide on your price now. As you kiddies will know, you might set a Buy it Now price on your auctions - this is almost always what you think an merchandise is actually assessment of value (at least to you - ebaySteve often wastes a happy Friday afternoon searching the Bay for "domain" auctions - some of these wutangs think a 90-letter domain in greek is value millions! Hah! call the dumbo police!).

Remember, ebaySteve says that your opening bid (the price you want to initial the auction off at) should be MUCH lower, or every one will think you are Pennywise the Clown. Dont ever lose your memory , once an auction gets going, it can take on a life of its own, and setting a low start price is the easiest way to stimulate that initial excitement, especially on an item in mucho grande demand (like ebaySteves used socks, for example!). While we are on this one, do not bother with secret reserve prices. If you do not know what your item is assessment of worth , you shouldnt be selling it!

EbaySteves next tip? How are your potential buyers gonna find your auction? They will search for it. That means you have to get your keywords into your auction title! No point having a title that bangs on about sizeably efficient opportunity, never to be repeated bargain etc etc if yo let the memory slip to say 1967 Ford Mustang too! EbaySteve super-tip - do not bother with punctuation, or silly characters - if you waste your title with that stuff, theyll never find you in the first place! Only mis-spell if it is likely to be searched for, because Ebay search finds exact matches. If you need more space, use a subtitle. These cost a cool 50 cents, so ebaySteve says utilize em on items below about $25.

When they find it, will it scare them away? There are, unfortunately, a number of auctions on the mighty Bay that scare ebaySteve! Choose your colors and font sizes carefully - the one thing you do NOT want is for every one else to think you are a fruitcake. Even though ebaySteve likes fruit, and cake, he doesnt like em together. OK? Oh yeah! You will also absolutely need at least 1 sizeably good quality photo of your item. Try and make it a little different from similar auctions - if everybody chooses the stock photo, how do potential buyers differentiate between you? BUT, contruct sure it aint bigger than 40 or 50k - plenty of people are still on dialup, and they will not bother with you if the page takes more than 10 seconds to load. And fer crying out loud, build SURE you allow payment via Paypal - it is Ebays very own payment method, and by far the best. They charge only a TINY commission on your sales, and you will find buyers take you MUCH more seriously if you do. No harm in other payment options too, just start off with Paypal! (Super more important tip - only allow Paypal payments from members with a CONFIRMED address. Helps to cut down on fraud and refund requests).

Payment tip - ebaySteve has in the past had problems with spam filters - theres nothing more annoying than to get an offer but miss it because your darn electronic mail system binned the mail! Have a special email account for auctions (if you start taking too much spam, open up a new one). Its also worth mentioning in the text of your auction that potential buyers should whitelist your e-mail address. In the worst case, you might always contact other ebayers with the Contact Member form.

Auction timings - choose to beginning and end an auction during daylight hours (for your target audience!). These auctions statistically contruct higher prices because bidding continues right up to the final bell. Use http://pages.ebay.com/turbo_lister to list your items quicker - it costs, but only a tad, and will help you get the whole process moving fast. Thats about it fer now, Bayers! Keep it real!