Pros and Cons of Global Penny Auctions

As global penny auctions gain in popularity, one cannot but stop and think - is it good for me, as a bidder? Sure, it seems it is a great idea for the site because it can now reach out to bidders all over the world without having a critical mass of bidders in each country. But what about bidders? How good is it?

Here, by global penny auctions, I mean those sites where people from all over the world compete on the same auctions. This means if there is a gift card that I am bidding on, chances are, the other bidder I am competing against is from a different country and time zone as me.

Pros The biggest advantage of global penny auctions is that it helps you with variety of products. This is accomplished in two distinct ways. One, there are certain products that are popular in the US and not the UK or Australia and vice versa. This means you get to pick and bid on auctions that you wouldn't normally see in your country. This sure is exciting.

Secondly, bidders get to see more auctions throughout the day because now people from different time-zones are competing. This is actually a good deal for many bidders who don't get to bid during the peak product times, like afternoon (because you are working) and instead want to bid at night when there are not enough products. Yes, it is true, almost all penny auctions have fewer auctions during the night.

Cons Of course it is not all a bed of roses. There are times when you don't want to be bidding globally. One immediate concern is to do with competition. Will the penny auction scale up the number of auctions in proportion to the number of bidders who have now increased? The answer of course depends on the site but the usual answer is no. This means more competition because of increased bidders on same number of slightly increased number of auctions.

Global bidding may also render some bidding strategies obsolete. This would mean bidders need to reevaluate everything, especially strategies based on best bidding times.

It is definitely exciting to be bidding against people from all over the world, but at the same time you should remember why you are on the site - to win! Some penny auctions can pull it off well and others cannot. BidRivals, the most popular site at one point of time throughout Europe is struggling today with significantly fewer auctions and bidders than at its peak.

How to Avoid Untrustworthy Penny Auction Sites

Participating in penny auction sites is a popular pastime because not only is it fun, but it can also be lucrative when you know how to do it right. Who can resist the idea of owning items at a much lower price with the thrill of winning the bids over your competitors? But in order to win bids successfully, you should learn how to avoid being tricked with online penny auctions. Unfortunately, while there are reliable and trustworthy websites, there are also many of those that take advantage of people who are eager to win bids and end up getting fooled. Here are some ways you can learn how to avoid these unreliable sites.

Research on the website's age, because most of the reliable penny auction sites have been around since 2009. The general rule of thumb is the older the website, the more legitimate it is. Be wary of those that have been operating for just a few months because they don't provide much basis for legitimacy and you have higher chances of getting fooled. Popular and reliable penny auction sites are able to survive long enough because they run a good, honest business.

Reliable websites have high traffic statistics, because they are receiving more visitors. Popularity of a website is a stable indicator of whether or not it's legitimate, as you'll find that sites which receive low visitors have a tendency to be unreliable. You can also do extra research by joining chat forums as they can also provide good insight on which sites are reliable.

If the site features testimonials from participants and they can vouch for the site's reliability, it's an indicator that you can trust the website. People nowadays can be very picky about products and websites, and they are more than happy to share their experiences online to help others. It will be easy to spot a dishonest penny auction website if you find that people are complaining and writing negative reviews.

Scour the Internet for additional feedback on particular websites. Apart from joining chat forums as mentioned earlier, you can also find video discussions such as those found in YouTube and blogs of participants. Feedback from real people count the most so you know which sites to avoid.

Participating in penny auction sites are a lot of fun and can provide decent savings as long as you can avoid untrustworthy sites. All you need to do follow these tips to avoid being fooled in the future, and you'll find that joining trustworthy sites is a lot of fun and you can win items at a fraction of the price. There are few things that come close to winning bids over your competitors and enjoying savings at the same time.

Online Entertainment Auction Sites - How Do They Work?

So you need a certain product, but don't want to pay full price? Are you looking for something new to do online? Online entertainment auction sites may become your new hobby. Getting started can be exciting because there are so many things you can bid on and score awesome deals with! Finding those holiday gifts will become so easy, you'll never stress out about it again. So how do you start, how does it work, and what do you need? Read on to find out!

The first step to becoming a bidder on any online auction site is to sign up and follow the confirmation email link to activate your account. Once in, you are ready to buy your bids. Bids will usually be around the price range of $0.60 per bid, and sometimes come in big packages for greater discounts. Now that you are signed up and have buckets full of bids, you're all ready to go!

Next, you will choose the products that you wish to bid on. Online auction sites organize their products in categories, and pretty much have almost anything you are looking for. Browse through the list of products available for auctions ranging from electronics to gift cards, and start to plan your bidding strategy. The amount of times you can bid depends on the amount of bids you bought and have left in your account. Every time you press the "bid" button, 1 bid will be deducted from your bundle and time will be added to the clock. This allows other users to bid and keep the auction going until the very last bid is sent and the time runs out. To increase your chances of becoming a winner, watch the actions of the other bidders and find patterns you can break in their bidding strategy.

The next step? Well you win, walk away, or buy now! If you are the last bidder when the timer has reached zero, you are the winner! If someone has outbid your last bid, and you don't wish to go any higher before the timer is out, you lose. However, you can still walk away with the product. If you wish to buy the product for its original value, you have the option to "buy now" anytime after you have placed your first bid on the product. The dollar amount of your bids is added up, and subtracted from the original product price to give you a buy now value. You will never pay higher than the market value price for a product on an online auction site.

Online auction sites can be a lot of fun and really exciting when you score those awesome deals! If you are busy and don't have time to sit at the computer all day, there are various tools that are designed to help you. They act as an autopilot and place bids for you when you are away from the computer. You can set certain customization to the tool to bid the exact way you would be if you were sitting there. This allows you to go about your daily chores, and still score amazing deals with barely any work put into it! Who would of thought?

There have been many successful bidders that are determined to keep going. One enthusiastic bidder says, "By bidding on items that my family picks out ahead of time I am able to get big ticket items for them and be a hero to my grandsons. It is so easy to win the best items and it is very invigorating. I have won 3 TVs, coffee/espresso machines, gift cards, jewelry, watches, sunglasses, and many other items." Another bidder says, "Not only have I provided electronics for my family, we also are enjoying updated appliances that we would never had otherwise! I can't wait to prepare holiday meals this year." As we can see, many people enjoy the activity of online auction sites. So if you have some free time, and want to try holiday gift shopping, or just regular shopping online in your cozy pajamas without leaving the house, give online auction sites a try.

Top Tips For Happy Bidding

When it comes to using online auction sites, many first time bidders can find it difficult to make sure that they structure their bids in order for them to win the auction successfully. All of us here, whether you are a first time bidder or an experienced and highly seasoned pro, will testify to the buzz you get from taking part in an online auction. As we sit by out computer screens and watch that clock counting down to the close of our auctions, we feel an adrenalin rush feeling inside of us that only comes from the excitement of securing yourself a bargain.

But the fun and enjoyment of taking part in the online bidding process can only carry us so far. The auction is fun and we are excited, but we are excited at the prospect of winning the auction, not at the joys of taking part in it. So if we continue to lose out on our prized lots when we visit these online auctions, we will soon lose interest in taking part in them.

For this exact reason, we here have put together a short guide which consists of some top tips for happy bidders. By the time you have read to the end of this article, we hope that you will have a much clearer understanding of how to go about winning your next auction, and making your experience with the online auction sites that little bit more worthwhile.

The biggest tip we can give to people who are serious about wanting to win their next online auction, is that you need to keep on top of your bids. This is a vital part of the auction process. We encourage you to check back regularly on our lots to see how the bidding process is coming along. By regularly checking back - and by regularly we mean a couple of times a day ideally - this will allow you to make any necessary changes to your bid quickly. Remember, you need to be proactive, not reactive! We cannot stress enough how important this is to securing a win at your next auction. Those bidders who find a lot they are interested in, set their maximum bid, and then sit back and wait to see what happens, are the very people who end up being upset and disenfranchised from the auction process. The key aspect in making sure you come away from these online auction sites a winner, is making sure you are an active part of the auction in the first place.

One final tip that we can offer for prospective bidders is a widely known and accepted strategy within online bidding circles. And the tip is a simple one... wait. Waiting until the closing minutes or even seconds of an auction before placing your bid, can help to make sure that yours is the last bid placed, and therefore deemed as being the winning bid in that auction.

Discovering How People Make Money On eBay

For those who want to learn how to make money on eBay it is important to note that there are a lot of areas to cover. Although getting started can be very easy, building a strong image as a reputable seller takes time. There are also many nuances to this process that can impact both your profits and your ability to make regular sales.

Great sellers always have feasible and affordable ways to maintain impressive inventories. The way in which you get your goods is one of the most important considerations that you will have to make. This is especially true when you will be primarily auctioning your products off rather than selling them at fixed prices. With this type of selling you have no real way of gauging or controlling how much you will get. Thus, the cheaper you can build your inventory, the more likely you are to maintain consistent profits rather than losses.

The best merchants on this auction site are the ones who stand behind what they have to offer. These are people who offer full money back guarantees to dissatisfied buyers without batting an eyelash. In order to do this, you must be sure to list only goods that you truly believe in, in terms of quality and value.

Maintaining a good seller rating is vital for having consistent sales. People rarely feel comfortable working with sellers who have consistently bad ratings. Each sale that you close will earn you a new rating from the respective buyers. This means that you must work consistently hard to impress the people who win your goods or who purchase them flat out.

Posting listings that are dense with the right keywords is vital for having your goods become visible. eBay searching systems, much like those of the typical search engine, base their results upon the keywords that are present in listings. If you use ambiguous wording or phrases that people are not likely to search for, your wares will probably not get a whole lot of attention.

Start participating in more shorter auctions. As you learn how to make money on eBay you will start to recognize the different patterns in how people search for and find specific types of auctions. Many buyers are eager to jump in at the last minute so that they can secure the most optimal price before the auction is driven up. Learning how to strategically influence short auctions will help you to start getting paid fast.

Common Misconceptions Of Auction Websites

Users new to online auction websites often require some time and help before they completely understand the auction platform and start winning auctions. It's not any fun for a new user to struggle on indefinitely. You should enjoy yourself while taking part in online auctions. It's natural to feel daunted going into your first couple of auctions, so here are some common misconceptions of auction websites, as well as some tactical advice for you beginners that you should consider when devising your plan of attack.

1. Setting unrealistic expectations

This can't be stressed enough, but users need to set realistic goals when participating in online entertainment auctions. If someone is new to an online auction, he or she shouldn't expect to win a laptop on the first try with only the cheapest bid pack available. Not saying it couldn't happen... it definitely could and it has happened. BUT, it is highly improbable. Know and expect that you'll be bidding against users with far more experience.

While everybody loves an underdog, we encourage new users to start using auction sites by participating in smaller auctions first. After all, you've gotta crawl before you can walk, right?

2. Going for the big catch

It's not wise to immediately go after the most popular item on an auction site. There are a lot more competitors vying for the popular products, and many of them are our highly skilled veterans. Once acquainted with the site, you'll then understand that going after popular products warrants certain measures to protect your bid investment. It is recommend that you commit to only one such auction at a time and that you don't get too involved without considering using the "Buy Now" feature (if you don't win, that is).

Don't spread yourself too thin when bidding on the big-ticket items. Be willing to devote more time and money to increase your winning. It's been found that any participant willing to spend about 1/3 of the value of the item in bids greatly increases his or her odds of winning the item.

3. Jumping right in

By limiting your understanding of the system, you are setting yourself up at a severe functional disadvantage. As with anything you invest your money in, do research before jumping into entertainment retail auctions. Each auction is going to be different from the others, so read and understand the Terms & Conditions on the site, familiarize yourself with the "Buy Now" option, the automatic bidding tool, and pricing structures. We also recommend carefully watching other auctions to see how they unfold. All this will help you to understand "the nature of the business" and to help build your overall bidding strategy.

Online auctions should be a fun and exciting experience for customers. A stronger grasp on the online auctioning system will help enrich your experience and facilitate a better, more fun shopping experience.

Using eBay Classifieds

A relatively new feature to eBay is eBay classifieds. Formerly known as Kijiji, eBay decided to drop the Kijiji name back in 2010.

So what is eBay classifieds?

Well, by now you're probably more than familiar with Craigslist. Craigslist is a worldwide classified ads site where you can buy and sell practically anything. If you have the time to invest, Craigslist and any of the classified ads are a great place to source products. eBay has their own version of Craigslist. While nowhere near the size and scope of Craigslist, this eBay version is still a nice place to pick up items for sale or even sell items.

Since it is a free service, you can often find things which would otherwise not show up on eBay. Local sellers which are more comfortable dealing with buyers directly post their wares for sale on Craigslist and are now using the eBay version as well. This way they can get a lot more exposure for whatever they have for sale. There are often things listed that are either to large or fragile for conventional shipping methods.

How to use eBay Classifieds for sourcing products.

The ONE THING you have to have when sourcing products on eBay's version is a cell phone. That's because you need to sign up for their alert feature for new listings. It's called eBay classifieds alerts. With this feature, you can get an alert sent to your cell phone anytime a new item is posted. It's very simple to set up an alert. Just follow the following steps:

Search for your item on eBay classifieds Click the green and white icon at the top right of the page. It says "Subscribe To Alerts" Sign into your account Set up your alert

That's it! Now every time a new listing is posted, you will receive a text.

The key to using any of the classified ads sites for buying items it time. You're usually competing with other buyers which also sell on eBay so timing is key. The sooner you know about an item for sale, the sooner you can make an offer and purchase it.

How to use eBay Classifieds for selling products.

If you have things that are too troublesome to pack and ship or items which you feel better dealing with local buyers, eBay Classifieds is great for that. Increase your exposure and list the same items on Craiglist at the same time.

Finding Reliable Wholesale Drop Shippers

Wholesale drop shipping is profitable as you buy products at low price and sell them at high price. Drop shipping makes your job easier as wholesale supplier will be taking care of product creation, storage, shipment and in some cases customer service too. You can run an online business of selling products in any niche market very easily, if you have an access to reliable wholesale drop shippers.

Your first step is to make connection with suppliers, once you are ready to take advantage of the opportunities in wholesale drop shipping. There are several ways to connect with wholesale suppliers such as trade shows, by sourcing the internet or through private solicitations. However, with an increase number of scams, there are chances that company might be misrepresenting as a wholesale provider. It is hard to trust anyone nowadays.

The best way to find legitimate wholesale supplier is by contacting drop shipping directories as they verify the repute and legitimacy of every wholesale supplier before entering it to their database so that you have no fear of being scammed.

Here is an overview of top three directories which can help you to find reliable and legitimate suppliers:

1-Worldwide Brands:

Worldwide Brands is the largest, most complete and most trusted directory in which every supplier is tested for legitimacy and there are never any questions marks surrounding on their listed suppliers.Besides that, they offer top-notch education to clear up all confusions related to selling products online and dealing with suppliers. They offer professional video tutorials to provide complete drop ship and wholesale education.

2-SaleHoo:

SaleHoo is another good and reputable directory for both beginners and experienced drop shippers as they connect their members directly with wholesale and drop ship suppliers. This drop shipping directory works very well for people looking to dabble in the wholesale arena and need a gateway into the industry to prove themselves. It would not be wrong if we say, SaleHoo is a small version of Worldwide Brands.

3-Doba

Doba is a simple, legitimate and solid company that simplifies this business mode, although the profit margins are much smaller as compared to other directories. The best thing about Doba is; it allows you to sell wholesale items in single units and have them shipped directly to your buyer to reduce the most of hard work which is normally there in drop shipping.

I hope above-mentioned overview of different drop shipping directories will help to find reliable wholesale drop shippers easily and other tips will assist you to grow your online business.

Drop Shipping - Benefits and Risks

If you are looking to start an e-commerce business, finding a reliable drop shipping companies would be your primary concern. In order to find the right company, we should understand the this process and the risks it may involve. In this article, you will get to know the basics of it as it is very important for any e-commerce business along with the benefits and risks involved in it. This way you will not only understand this process but will be able to maximize the benefits involved in it and minimized the risks.

It is a process in which retailer's transfers customer orders and shipment details to either the wholesaler or a drop shipping company, who then ships the good directly to the customer. Retailers do not keep goods in stock and the difference between the retail price and wholesale price is a profit for retailers. However in some cases retailers earn an agreed percentage of sales in commission, paid by the wholesaler.

Some retailers provide only a catalog or a website of their customers to inspect an item similar to those that they can purchase. However in some cases retailers may keep display items to display in store to give the customer a confidence about the product they would be buying. In order to hide this fact that the product is delivered via wholesaler and to keep the wholesale source secret, some retailers that drop ship merchandise use "private label shipping" or "blind shipping"

Now let's talk about some benefits and risks involved in it:

Benefits:

As there would be only one warehouse pick, pack and ship the product, it eliminates some duplication of efforts. This approach can minimize the total shipping and inventory management cost which subsequently reduces the price to the customer.

It also helps to eliminate the upfront inventory and a positive cash flow cycle. Now you must be wondering how a positive cash flow cycle can occur here. It can take place as the seller is paid when the purchase is made using a credit card or credit terms and there is a time frame in which the seller has the customer's money but has not yet paid the drop shipping company to deliver the goods.

Risks:

As there are some benefits, some risks are involved in drop shipping too. For instance, it has featured prominently in home based business scams or internet-based scams. They normally promote it as a lucrative work from home opportunity, easy money-making opportunity or making money online opportunity to sell a directory of businesses from which they can order drop shipping products to be delivered to the customers. In most cases, these businesses are not wholesalers but middlemen between retailers and wholesalers, with no product of their own to sell. These middle men often charge higher prices that leave low profit for retailers

Back-ordering is another big risk involved in drop shipping business. It may take place when a product is sold out and seller places a shipment demand with a wholesaler. Back ordering may come with a long wait to deliver a product as wholesalers wait for new products to be manufactured or to get it into a stock, which may leave unsatisfied customers for retailers. It is the business owner's job to be aware of the quantities that the wholesalers has available but reputed wholesaler always keep retailers updated about the inventory.

If you will keep the above mentioned points in your mind, you will be able to find a reliable drop shipping company for your e-commerce business.

Things To Make And Sell On eBay

Are you handy at arts and crafts? Do you have a passion for making something? Do you like to work in your workshop building things? Guess what? Those are things to make and sell on eBay!

I wouldn't recommend getting involved in making huge things like furniture or sheds. Unless of course, you have a shipping method in place. Selling big items can be extremely profitable especially if you're the one making them.

However, it's probably best to stay with smaller items which you can make easily and ship easily.

You would be amazed at the creativity of people and the ideas they have on things to make and sell on eBay.

I've seen everything from handmade candles and country crafts, to jewel encrusted cell phone cases! eBay isn't just about selling used electronics or antiques. It's becoming a marketplace for amazing people with great minds creating useful things to make and sell on eBay for handsome profits.

What Are Some Things To Make And Sell On eBay?

Where to start? I'm not nearly as creative as most people but these are just a few you could start with:

Candles Wood crafts Pet accessories Tshirts Hats Jewelry Art works

You get the idea. Those are just a few of things to make and sell on eBay. Practically anything you find at a craft show, you can probably make yourself and sell on eBay.

Of course, some things will sell better than others. For example, a neat little house for hamster probably won't sell as well as a bird house. A candle that smells like cheese, won't sell as well as one that smells like cookies.

The most successful things to make and sell on eBay are things that compliment something which is already being sold. For example, golf clubs are very popular, consider club head covers. As I mentioned before, iPhones are popular, consider creative cell phone cases.

Jewelry is another popular item. You can create your own unique jewelry and sell it on eBay. It doesn't have to be gold or silver, it can just be inexpensive costume jewelry. People enjoy buying things which are unique. Be creative.

Whatever you come up with, do some homework. Check if there's anyone else selling similar items. How much are they selling them for? Are they selling them frequently or just once in awhile? Is your item an accessory to something being sold already such as cell phones?

Once you do some investigating, you may find out that you can make something and probably earn a nice profit on each one you make.

Guide to Selling Antiques Online

Selling antiques online is a great way to make some money without leaving your home. eBay, uBid, Amazon, and Craigslist are some great areas to showcase your items. It is important to keep a record of the items as an inventory and keep track of which ones have been sold and for how much.

Before you get started with this process, it is important to do some research about the antiques that you are selling. One great way of doing this is by looking around and finding the items that you are selling. Odds are, if you have a valuable antique you are looking to sell, it has most likely been sold before on one of the online marketplaces out there. Find a few auctions of your item on eBay and see how they ended up. Check out some of the key information that the most successful auctions provided in order to make it a successful one. Check out their listing procedures in general that made them successful.

A super important aspect of selling items on eBay is having perfect feedback. In order to make this happen, a seller needs to provide great service to anyone who purchases their product. Exceed the customer's expectations in the amount of time they expect it to take for their item to get to their home. Make sure the packaging is done in a very safe, professional manner. Make it to where it would be virtually impossible for the valuable antique to become damaged. If a seller wants to take it a step further they can take a look at the buyer's feedback and only allow certain buyers to be able to bid on the product. While this could limit the amount of potential customers if establishing perfect feedback is the most important goal, then this is an option.

If there are thousands of dollars to be made from an antique collection, then a strong camera needs to be used. Not only does the camera need to be of high quality, but the angles they photos are taken from need to be strong as well. These angles can be learned by looking at sites that sell antiques professionally.

With the popularity of the Internet, it is very difficult to ignore the amount of buyers that can be reached there. It is not like in the years past when people were hesitant to pull out their credit card and make a purchase online. Now people get online for that specific reason. It is time to take advantage of it.

Should You Give A Penny About Penny Auctions?

You see the ads on TV. You see stuff online about it. You hear co-workers, family members and friends talking about it. What is it? Penny Auctions. No doubt you, like most folks have asked questions like these: What in the world is a penny auction? How do they work? Are they legal? Are suckers just being scammed out of their hard-earned money or is it a legitimate enterprise?

Well, to start, auctions have been around since people have had stuff to sell away to other people. Rather than just selling something for a set price, an auction lets everyone who wants something determine how much it is really worth by individually bidding up the price. It's very competitive and a lot of fun to watch. Auctions are even used for some types of assets bought and sold on Wall Street!

The use of the internet has fueled the boom in penny auctions because it allows people all over the world to participate and remain anonymous. The other bidders could be your next door neighbor, someone in a neighboring state or completely on the other side of the world. With the click of a button they can be bidding on cash, jewelry, TV's, and even iPads. Just about anything legal is usually put up for bid..

Penny auctions function pretty much like any other type of auction. You have an item for sale and everyone bidding wants to get that item. Some more than others. Bids are usually purchased ahead of time so that the auction runs smoothly. People use up their bids by simply clicking on the bid button with their mouse. Each time someone bids, the price on the item goes up by, you guessed it, one penny. Thus the name, penny auctions. A timer is running on each auction and every time someone bids the timer resets another 15-20 seconds or so. The last person to bid before the timer hits zero wins the auction.

Now why would anyone want to bid online for something that they can simply drive down to their local retail store and get it with no fuss no muss? Two words: Price and Fun. Auction winners usually pay around 50% to 90% less than what they would pay at a retail store. Plus the competitive nature of it is a lot more fun than taking a drive down to your crowded local retail shop and standing in line for checkout. If what you wanted is even in stock when you get there.

Is it gambling? Some think so, but the government has ruled that it is not. The illegal ones are quickly shut down by Uncle Sam. Usually they have something else going on with theirs, totally unrelated to a real penny auction. Because a bidder's skill is usually a key factor in them winning and most penny auctions place limits on the number of times any one person can win in any one month, that's enough to keep the government happy.

So as you can see, penny auctions are here to stay. As Martha Stewart famously said: "And that's a good thing".

Why Are My Wholesale Prices Below eBay Prices?

Here is my list of guidelines to follow when comparing your wholesale prices with prices found on eBay.

Compare prices with brand new products only

As you know eBay is a place where you can sell just about anything and in any condition. Many people make the common mistake of comparing prices found on eBay for used or "like new" items.

When you compare pricing found on eBay always make sure to choose products that are brand new only and in the original sealed box. You can also look for a confirmation of a manufacturer warranty, which is typically for 1 year. This is will confirm that the item is indeed brand new. Comparing prices with used or "like new" items will not be an accurate price comparison.

Many sellers also sell refurbished products, which may be confused as brand new products. Refurbished products are defective products that were returned to the manufacturer, then fixed and repaired and put on the market again for a lower price.

Compare prices including the shipping

Many eBay sellers will attempt to lure you into their auction by advertising a lower selling price however will inflate the shipping cost to compensate for the difference. When you compare prices, always make sure to look at their shipping and handling cost as well. Simply add the shipping and handling to the selling price of the item to get an accurate total cost. The import price that you need to compare is the actual total cost.

Compare prices with the BUY IT NOW only

Many sellers will make the mistake of looking for auctions on eBay to compare prices without specifying searching for auctions with BUY IT NOW prices only. This can lead to confusion, as some people will compare the current bid price with the wholesale price of the supplier. This is not an accurate way of comparing prices since auctions may well have reserve prices on their auctions which may result in the auction to not sell if the reserve price is not meet. To avoid this confusion simply compare prices with auctions that have a BUY IT NOW price only.

Compare the wholesale price with the average prices only

When you compare your wholesale cost with the prices found on eBay, please always look at the selling prices of at least 4 or 5 items and calculate the average selling price of those auctions. Many people make the mistake of looking at the lowest prices only. These can be very misleading because not everyone will buy the absolute lowest priced items on eBay. In many cases those auctions are placed by people that already bought an items and changed their mind and are trying to get rid of the item by selling it below cost on eBay. The fact of the matter is that in such cases those low priced items will no longer be available once the auction is sold. You need to look for auctions that sell the same product over an over with a consistent selling price and always keep in mind that not everyone will buy the cheapest items on eBay.

Buying in large bulk

If you have applied the technique mentioned above and you still find auctions with prices lower than your wholesale cost, then those auctions might originate from sellers that are buying the item in large bulk at a discounted price. This can definitely provide you with a market advantage however this requires an up front investment as opposed to selling dropship products.

Suppliers liquidating their products

There are cases when you simply cannot compete. In some cases you might find that the prices are simply not possible to beat and this may occur in cases when a large store decides to liquidate their products. Have you ever walked into Walmart to find that DVD player at 70% discount? This happens all the time. In cases like this unfortunately there is no way to compete and you should simply move on to a different product to sell however always keep in mind that such liquidations are always temporary and will last only until the inventory is depleted.

Avoid Products from China

These days many people sell products from China, which are very difficult to compete with. In my personal experience I have seen a large number of return requests for products that are shipped directly from China and in some cases custom charges may apply at the time of delivery.

When you compare prices with items sold on eBay please always make sure that you are choosing auctions for products that are physically located in the USA. Avoid comparing prices with items shipped from China or any other country other than the USA.

Case Study

One time I knew of a lady that made tons of sells on eBay selling a very simple product. Out of all the millions of products available from drop ship supplier, this lady had chosen to sell one single item only. The item she had chosen was a "fish aquarium heater" which was something I had never head of before. It turns out that this item was in very high demand and her sales kept pouring in for a several months. She then moved on to a different item and kept the sales momentum going by choosing a different item every 6 months or so.

Making Money Online Out of Auction Websites - Moving Your Business Online

An introduction

First of all you need to know why is important that your offline business is to be moved online or enhanced by making an online side of your business. The main reason for moving your business to the online mode is that you can reach a whole new range of customers and you can reach them much faster and easier. This will give a boost to your business and your profits will grow.

Getting your tools together

For this you need to get hold of the proper tools. First of all you need a domain name for your website. Think on a good name, something to represent your business, your auction business maybe. You will have to get this domain, from a domain registrar, and there are tons of them out there. They usually sell the domains, at around 10-20$ a year.

The second thing you will need to is to get a hosting space for your website. For starters you can get a shared hosting, though a vps would be better. The best and most expensive is to get a dedicated server, but at first you don't really need it. After this you have to link your domain name to your hosting. Either do that yourself or hire someone at 10$-30$ an hour to do this.

The last part is to get an online auction software. There are plenty of resources available for this already. There are free scripts, which work good until you bump into a problem and since they are free you don't have where to complain when that happens. Also there are paid options available which work better since you are getting a lot of support for your payment. This second option is better for non technical users which just want their auction website to be online without any technical knowledge.

They usually look for turnkey solutions, something ready made. Here is how WordPress comes in hand. Its a very good cms, and basically these days all sites are migrating to it. You can use an auction theme for WordPress and you will be amazed on what this can do. By using WordPress you can also forget about seo, because it does that automatically as opposed to classical auction scripts. By only using a plugin (you should know WordPress benefits from thousands of free plugins) you can maintain your website at high seo standards. The plugin will do this for you.

You can see more in the resource box about WordPress auction themes since they are the php auction scripts of today and of the future. And they come with a bunch of monetization features, like taking a percent or a fixed fee out of the final price and many more.

Launching your website

After all of that you can just launch your website and expect visitors. Don't forget marketing and publicity is also important on these kind of online businesses. Also paid web advertising is a solution for that.