Reply #10: Pictures are important. [View All]

[Gold Metal Flake]

A good description is also important. Adding "keywords", words that will be pickup up on in searches helps get eyeballs on your auction. But, don't just post a bunch of words, use them in the text so that they are relevent and not just keyword spamming.

Host your own pix. Use Geocities or other free website hosting just for the pix. Ebay will host a single pix for free, good for those things that a single pix is good for. But for multiple pix, use free hosting. I don't use gallery pictures unless the item is a high demand thing. Basically, I try to make my up-front fees small. You will have to use a little HTML code to put your pictures in the body of your auction text.

There will be problems. But, I have completed maybe a thousand transactions and have had few problems.

Keep in contact with your auction customers. Let them know when you got the funds, when you shipped, tracking numbers and such. You may need to gently needle folks for feedback, but you need to build feedback so do it. I am careful with feedback, but I generally give it to everyone. I like to get mine first.

On your first auction, go ahead and say that it's your first auction. Say it's the second, third etc. so folks can see why you don't have feedback yet. Let folks get a sense that you are a regular person and not a scammer with a fresh account.

PayPal does help, but if someone wants what you have, not having PayPal will not stop them from bidding. On high-dollar items I do not use PayPal because I don't want to give away that much in fees. But I do take personal checks. I prefer USPS money orders.

I sell internationally. The Post Office ships everywhere. Airmail Parcel Post is oretty cheap for things like audio vacuum tubes, so I have no problems selling into Hong Kong or Japan or Australia. Very good luck with that.