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Featured Ebay Articles

5 Sure-Fire Ways to Make More Money on eBay
Have you ever dealt with a salesperson or a waiter who gave you unbelievably good service? How about someone who didn't seem to care about you one bit?Which of those people would you go back to the next time you needed to make another purchase or eat ...

Discover the Keywords Secret to Making Money on eBay
If there's one thing that dismays me, it's that so many sellers on eBay are simply throwing their listing fees away! First off, can we agree that there's little point in listing your item unless buyers are going to view your auction? Yes? In which ...

I Sold It On eBay!
If you are of the opinion that eBay is just a giant online flea market, then you could be overlooking one of the most powerful promotional tools your business could ever find. eBay is described as the world's biggest Internet auction site, and recent ...




Tips For "Knowing Your Ebay Buyer" Before You Ship.
 
Before you send anything to that buyer, you might want to get to know them, especially if you're selling them a high-ticket item that you couldn't afford to lose. Even if the buyer has paid, the PayPal transaction could still end up being reversed, leaving you out of pocket. So how do you figure out if you can trust your buyer?

Look at their feedback for others. Go to their feedback page and click 'Left for Others'. If they leave a lot of negatives for their sellers, then you should try to get away from them as fast as you can - if you do deal with them, make sure not to leave your feedback first. You should consider a negative someone has left to be just as bad as a negative left for them.

Look at feedback from sellers. Click 'From Sellers'. You might find that they have more complaints from sellers than from buyers - or, on the other hand, it might be the other way around. Some people really are just better at selling than buying, or vice versa.

Pay attention to bid retractions. If they have a high number of bid retractions, you should regard this as a red flag that something might be wrong.

See what else they've bought. When someone goes from buying items worth $1 to suddenly buying something worth $1,000, you might want to be a little suspicious of them.

See what they're bidding on now. If they've never shown any interest in your kind of item before, and now suddenly they're bidding on lots of them, then that's cause for concern. You should also be suspicious of someone who seems to be spending a lot of money all at once - few buyers have thousands at a time to blow on eBay.

Check their ID history. People who've changed their ID are often trying to get away from someone who's trying to find them. This is another warning sign - be especially wary of someone who changed their ID very recently.

Be nice to new buyers. Genuine new buyers will probably have a name ending in a number and a feedback score of 0 - don't always think these people are fraudsters. Somewhat counter-intuitively, people trying to commit fraud will almost never do it when they have a feedback score of 0 - they'll think it's too obvious. New buyers often have problems with being inexperienced on eBay, however, and you might have to guide them through things like opening a PayPal account.

Email them! If you want to get to know your eBay buyer, why not have a little chat with them about the item, what they plan to do with it? Say that how you know they're going to love it, and ask if there's anything else you can do for them. Few buyers who seem chatty and nice will turn out not to be in the end.

If you keep having trouble with buyers you don't want winning your high-value auctions at the last second, you might want to use eBay's 'pre-approved buyer' function. The next email will show you how.

About the author:

Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet auction enthusiast from Nashville, TN. Visit http://www.auctionseller411.com/ for more great tips on how to make the most from Ebay and other online auctions.


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San Francisco Chronicle

EBay’s Whitman Plans Run for California Governor, People Say
Bloomberg - 17 hours ago
7 (Bloomberg) -- Meg Whitman, the former chief executive officer of EBay Inc., plans to run for governor of California and may announce her candidacy as ...
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Exclaim!

Big Bopper Casket Likely Won't Go Up For Sale on eBay
FOXNews - Jan 6, 2009
After the Big Bopper’s son JP Richardson made headlines this weekend by saying he might put the casket up for bid on eBay, he is now changing his tune to ...
Big Bopper's coffin to be sold on eBay NME.com
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Some Positives, But Problems Persist at eBay
Seeking Alpha, NY - 11 hours ago
In a prior write-up on eBay (EBAY) (see eBay's Demand Problem Worsens), I quoted data from Jeffries & Co. analysts Youssef Squali that eBay's global ...

With Two Days Left, Gambling On eBay For BCS Title Game Heats Up
Casino Gambling Web, FL - Jan 6, 2009
eBay is just one of the outlets that people are buying the tickets from. On eBay, tickets for the game have been going for around $600 a seat. ...

Telegraph.co.uk

Report: Former Madoff Employees Selling Memorabilia on eBay
FOXNews - Jan 4, 2009
Duped employees and clients of alleged scammer Bernard Madoff are bitterly selling off the swag they received from his company on eBay. ...
Video: Congress Sounds Off Against SEC in Madoff Affair AssociatedPress
Madoff collectibles flood eBay AFP
Madoff victims selling memorabilia on eBay The Associated Press
International Herald Tribune - Minyanville.com
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Big Bopper's casket to be auctioned on eBay
LiveDaily.com - 1 hour ago
The family of JP "The Big Bopper" Richardson hope to keep his memory alive with a musical show that will be financed by selling the macabre artifact on eBay ...

Rumor: 'Hardcore Gamer' magazine being sold to ... highest eBay bidder
Examiner.com - 1 hour ago
The owner of enthusiast magazine "Hardcore Gamer" has seemingly decided to bid his hobby-turned-business adieu and ... sell it to the highest bidder on eBay ...

Tips For Improving Your eBay Business
Meadow Free Press, ID - 3 hours ago
The title of your ebay auction is what draws a potential customer to click on your ad. If the title does not catch their eye they will move on to the next ...

Hornby O Gauge Early 4-wheeled Goods Wagons
Auction Central News, NY - 6 hours ago
(4) As this is a live auction and will take place in either Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or British Summer Time (BST), Ebay's time remaining stamp will not be ...

The biggest thing eBay can do to make people happy
Examiner.com - Jan 6, 2009
Ebay, once the darling of the online auction industry has come under a lot of fire in the past couple of years for some dramatic changes it's made in it's ...
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