Online Guide to Auctioning   

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Selling on Internet Auctions

Introduction

Selling on online auctions can be fun and profitable! People will pay good money for things you might consider junk! You can sell anything eventually - somewhere, sometime, someone will want it

Selling items on internet auctions is very easy. More convenient than the local paper, warmer than a car boot sale, you can sit at home and sell anything you don't want anymore!

What You'll Need

There is very little equipment necessary:

• Things you must have for selling online
  1. Computer/WebTV with internet access(I don't know of any sites allowing you to list items using WAP currently)
  2. Some stuff to sell (I know, obvious!)
  3. An email address
• Things it would be useful to have but not essential
  1. Scanner - most auction sites allow you to submit pictures of your items
  2. Digital Camera - for the same reason above (you could use a normal camera and scan the photos)

Which Auction Site?

There are many auction sites around, you are probably wondering which should I use? That is really personal preference, but the most popular is eBay. I will include a more comprehensive list on the links page (for a comparison of sites, take a look at my comparison page)

If you are unfamiliar with online auctions, I'd recommend a free auction site as they don't charge to sell items so you can try it out without fear of it costing you anything

You will need to sign up for an account with the site you choose. Each site will have its own criteria for accounts, which usually has some kind of fraud prevention measures - this often means having a current credit card. This may seem a little daunting, but it is merely to prevent fraud

What to sell?

Sell whatever you want, within reason. Each site will have things you are not allowed to sell. Check the site, they will tell you what you can and can't sell.

• Things not to sell:
• Illegal items such as drugs; copyrighted software, CDs, games, DVDs, videos etc
• Alcohol
• Live animals
• Porn or offensive material
• Nazi or fascist memorabilia

There are probably others, so it pays to check. If you fail to observe the rules of the site you may have your auctions cancelled or be banned from the site

Provided the site allows you to sell it, anything goes really! Anything old or collectable will almost certainly sell well (such as Star Wars figures or Barbie dolls). Failing that, people will buy most things. You will probably be surprised at the things people would rather have than money! So go for it!

How much?

Having decided on something to sell, how much do you sell it for? This is slightly more complicated. The starting price depends on how much you think the item is worth and how many people will be interested in buying it. If you think a lot of people will be interested, a low starting price means that people will get enthusiastic at bidding for the item and it will get lots of bids. However, if not many people will be interested then a low starting price might mean that it sells for that low price.

Possibly the best way to find out how much to start an item for is to check the auction site's auctions for items the same or similar to yours. That way you can see if it is a popular item and the sort of prices people might pay for it. Often the site will allow you to search items that have already finished so you can see what has been sold and how much for.

There are also other things you can do to increase your chance of selling for the price you want:

• Reserve prices - You can often set a reserve price on your item so that it won't sell for less than you want it to. There is mixed reaction about reserve prices among auction buyers and sellers. Some sellers swear by them as it creates an attitude of "I'll just bid a bit more and I might make the reserve price". However, some buyers will just ignore the auction completely for one without a reserve price
• Buy Prices - You can often set a buy price using the site's Buy Now or Buy It Now feature. This means you can set the price at which your auction will end the and bidder will win the auction. The buy price can either be the same as the starting price or can be higher so that a bidder can either bid the current amount or the higher amount and know he will win. Using this feature will almost certainly mean that your item will be sold more quickly

If you still aren't sure, just put it on for the amount you think people would be prepared to pay :o)

Dutch Auctions

A dutch auction is one where you have more than one of the same item to sell. You simply choose the number of items you have for sale when listing the item. This means that bidders can bid for more than 1 item, or that they have more of a chance of winning one. You can usually combine a dutch auction with a buy price if you want so that people can simply buy multiple products by entering the quantity they want.

Points to remember with dutch auctions:

• The items MUST be identical, if they aren't list them separately
• If the auction site charges a listing fee or final value fee you will be charged for each item

Pictures

Should you include pictures on your auction?
I would strongly advise you to do so if you can. Buyers like to see what they are buying and adding a picture will greatly increase your chance of selling the item. You can either scan the item (if you have a scanner), take a photograph of it (either with a digital camera or scan a normal photo). Alternatively you could attempt to find a picture of it on the internet, however, please don't take other auction seller's pictures without asking first, people don't like it.

It isn't the end of the world if you can't put a picture of the item on the auction. Just try to describe it as best you can, people will still bid without pictures

What to say

So, what do you put in your auction description?

The auction title

• Try to describe the item in the space you have for the title without being too general. For example "Lord of the Rings paperback book First Edition" will certainly get more interest than simply putting "Lord of the Rings book"
• Avoid putting things like "WOW" or "L@@K" It won't make anyone anymore interested and wastes the space you have for more important information
• Include anything that makes our item better or more valuable than other similar items people might be selling eg "mint condition" or "first edition"

The auction description

• Be as accurate as you can and describe it
• Don't assume people will know what the item is; just because you know all about something it doesn't mean everyone else does
• Describe it in as much detail as you can, your potential buyer may not be using a device that means they can't see the picture
• Be honest about the condition of the item, If it has a scratch, say so. They won't thank you for saying it's in good condition if it isn't
• You may also want to include:
  • Methods of payment (whether you take Postal Orders, cheques etc). See the payments section
  • Postage charges (people like to know how much it will cost them to get the item)

If you want to know how to make your auction descriptions more interesting to look at using HTML, see my HTML Guide which also includes examples you can download and use

During The Auction

Hopefully by now your auction has attracted some interest and has bids etc. If not, don't worry, sometimes it takes a while before people bid, some people wait until (literally) the last second before placing their bid. I have known auctions go up in price considerably during the last 20 seconds!

Questions

You may get asked questions from potential buyers during the auction. These might range from simple questions regarding postage or payment methods to specific questions regarding the item. It is a good idea to respond as soon as you can as then they have more time in which to decide whether to buy your item or not

After The Auction

If your item didn't sell

If you didn't sell your item, you might consider re-listing it for less or using a buy price. Of course, if you are using a site that charges a listing fee then you might want to consider if it is worth the expense or not. Some auction sites such as eBay.co.uk will refund your listing fee if you sell the item the second time around

If you sold your item

Then congratulations!
Now there are number of things you will need to do:

1. Contact the buyer advising them of the amount to send you and your address
2. When you have received the payment, you might like to let them know it has arrived so they know what is going on
3. If they have paid you by cheque the banks advise waiting 4 working days after you have paid it in so you know it has cleared (tip: the payment will probably appear on your account straight away. That doesn't mean they have cleared. You must wait 4 working days)
4. When payment has been received and cleared, package the item and post it! You may like to let them know you have posted it. It is advisable to at least get a Certificate of Posting
5. You can then rate your buyer by using the auction sites feedback system (see feedback section below). Hopefully they will leave you a rating also

If you don't receive payment

It is an unfortunate fact that some people won't send you the payment. If you haven't received it within a few days, there are a few things you can do:

1. Remind them - people do genuinely forget and will be happy to post it on to you
2. If your reminder doesn't work, a second reminder might be in order. Give this one a final date when payment must be received by
3. If payment is still not received you probably aren't ever going to receive it. You might need to leave negative feedback (see the feedback section below). Re-list the item (you may also be able to offer it to the next highest bidder, although they may no longer want it)

About Feedback

Feedback or Ratings are an important part of Online Auctions. It is your way of telling if a buyer or seller has had successful transactions before. You will start with a rating of 0 or 'new'. The higher your rating, the more likely people are to trust you as a seller. Someone with many negative ratings will not be trusted and people won't buy from them. It is therefore in your best interests to describe items accurately, charge reasonable postage costs and generally be as friendly and helpful as you can. All of this will earn you good ratings and improve your status as a seller on auctions.

Similarly, it is also in yours and everyone else's interests to rate other buyers and sellers accordingly as you deal with them. As a seller, if your buyers pay promptly then they deserve to get a good rating from you, and they will probably do the same in return. If however, they don't pay you, they deserve to get a negative rating so that other sellers know they are not to be trusted to send the payment. But don't be rude - leaving abusive feedback can get you banned from the auction site. A simple 'Never sent payment despite sending reminders' will do

Payment Methods

There are a few different types of methods of payment you might consider:

Cheques

The most obvious choice - personal cheques or business cheques, it doesn't really matter which as even if someone writes their cheque card number on the back you have no way of verifying it so it's a bit irrelevant

Many people don't seem to be able to get them or know about them (especially people from the USA)

Credit/Debit Cards

Unless you are a business it is unlikely you will be able to accept Credit or Debit Cards. However, there are services available on the internet that can allow you to do just that! I only have experience of 2, so those are the ones I will tell you about

PayPal

PayPal, located at www.paypal.com allows you to accept credit cards for your auctions. They only deal in dollars (so you would need to convert pounds to dollars) but it is widely used throughout the world which means people from many different countries can pay you using their credit cards. It is quick and efficient, and you can download the cash to your bank account (although they charge a percentage fee). There is also a small fee for accepting money this way

Nochex

Nochex, located at www.nochex.com is an excellent alternative to PayPal for users in the UK and allows you to accept Debit Cards on your auctions. Unlike PayPal, Nochex deals in Pounds Sterling and doesn't charge you to accept payment using their service. You can download the cash to your bank account (for which they charge a fixed fee). Quite a lot of people use Nochex in the UK, but it is not as widely accepted as PayPal

Payment Methods Overview

Put simply, the more types of payment you accept, the more likely you are to sell the items you have for sale. However, you do have to bear in mind the complexity and expense of accepting too many different types of payment

Most people will expect you to take at least cheques and Postal Orders, although I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to risk taking cash. Not taking money orders, cash or PayPal may limit your sales to buyers outside the UK. PayPal and Nochex are well worth checking out, in my opinion, as many people like to pay by these methods and you receive the payment immediately

If you are taking payments from buyers outside the UK, you might want to limit the currencies you will accept, as you will have to exchange them (this is why the bank charges to pay in money orders) for Pounds Sterling and each currency will have a charge. Personally I only take US Dollars and Euros as these seem to be the most widely available currencies and most foreign buyers you will get will either be from the USA or Europe. Anyone else doesn't seem to have a problem getting either US Dollars or Pounds I have found

There are, of course, others who provide similar services. I will try to add any I find to the links page

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Summary

Now you should know all you need to know in order to start selling on internet auctions. So get selling and have fun!

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