Here are 30 ways you can increase your sales and effectiveness on eBay starting right now.  If you have questions, don't hesitate to email!

1.  Keywords really are KEY.  Take the time to use the right ones and bidders come.  Study the best ways to optimize your sales through search engine optimization (SEO) and integrate some of the best keywords into your item titles and desciptions to assure your sales are found by buyers looking for what you are selling.  Use only words or phrases that really pertain to the item for sale (customers are really turned off by keyword spamming - which is, bottom line,  misrepresentation of your product).  Use words and/or phrases that potential buyers might type in as search words or phrases.  I routinely use the manufacturer, item type, size, color and condition abbreviation.   It pays to take an extra few minutes to do a thorough description of your item.  Many times, when I see an item with a single line or short paragraph description, I am disappointed that I must ask a lot of questions or move on (I usually move on).  There are some keywords that are easy draws including old, vintage and sexy.  If relevant – use them, they build traffic to your sales.  If not, don't go there.

2.  Draw more traffic to your store and auctions by writing and posting an “About Me” page, blog every now and again, and write reviews and guides.  Join eBay Groups, set up your Blog, write reviews of movies, books or guides (or all three).  Ebay users are often sociable and curious.  If you provide valuable information that peaks their interest, users often want to know more about you.  They are especially interested to know more about those with whom they share a key interest (eBay, a particular style or a particluar collecting hobby).  So, people spend some time reading about their favorite things – if you are diligent and engaging in what you write, they will be looking through your store and auctions in no time.

3.  Be seasonal.  You may personally dislike holidays but don’t let the "Grinch or Scrooge" lurking within make it into your ads or auctions.  If there's a holiday coming, recognize it in all its forms, and do sales and/or promotions related to it.  I thought I would try a Red and Green sale on Thanksgiving weekend – in which my subscribers can take 50% off any red or green items in my store.  My newsletter subscribers have fun with it and they know they are special, because I do it for them.  If you are able to feature your sale with a hot seller holiday item or two, do so to draw holiday browsers who are begining the holiday season shopping.  During the holiday season, put a special holiday greeting in your invoices and auctions (add keywords relative to your store for extra keyword exposure in searches). 

4.  Know the power of a newsletter and do one occassionally.

5.   Use shortcuts and templates for descriptions.  A template is an already created ad into which you just plug in the specific information.  Develop a series of them to cover whatever you sell.  When filling in the information use numbers rather than spelling out numbers (i.e., use "11" rather than "eleven.")  This works for two reasons.  A buyer has many ads to go through and the more accurately they can scan (and the faster they can do so), the happier your customers will be with the shopping experience you provide them; and 2) Potential bidders do searches for single items not sets.  Customers key in the item name and search for what they want.  Generally, they want something far more specific than a set.  It is entirely possible to catch potential buyers who were not looking for your item but happened upon it while browsing (often brought there by the numbers (numerals match).  The idea is to maximize exposure any way you legally and appropriately can.

6.  Be wise about what it costs to list and sell.  Stay away from $10.00 as a start price because it costs more than $9.99.  The same is true of any other even number such as $25, $50, or $200.  Bricks and Mortar storekeepers long ago learned that $9.99 looks less expensive than $10.00, while the difference is not truly relevant.  While on the subject of start prices, I will never understand how people can routinely sell things at 99 cents on eBay and not loose their shirts.  I have read that some folks use the 99 cents sales as "loss leaders" to get people into their online store.  I have not yet tried this technique and will be VERY careful when and if I do.  I also believe that most buyers are well tuned in on the "if it sounds too good to be true -- it is" axiom and will not buy anyway.

6.  Specialize in what you have a great deal of interest in on eBay.  Are you an avid antiques or doll collector?  Do you know good jewelry from across a room?  Do you know the baseball statistics on your favorite teams since the turn of the century and have the baseball cards or memorabilia to prove it?  Are you an old movie buff with an attic full of posters, or are you a theater person with a million Broadway or West End programs from the last 30 years?  If so, these are obviously a passion.  When you follow your passion into a hobby and then on to what you sell or deal with on eBay, you never resent the time spent doing it.  When you turn that hobby into online auctions (and eventually, a business), you have followed the dream and can work and still love what you do.  In fact, you have done as every motivational speaker recommends….you have followed your passion into doing what you love to make a living.  So, even if you are dabbling now (and dabbling is good for learning and experimenting), work toward specializing in what you know and love.  When you specialize, you take knowledge into the effort and you constantly (and painlessly) learn as you grow, too.  If you learn enough and work at it hard enough, you acquire expertise that is useful in selling, buying AND teaching others.  Specialization has other key benefits, too. When you are an expert, you get repeat customers who look to you for guidance and knowledge.  Happy customers share sources in clubs and hobbyist meetings, spreading the news about a great source (YOU).  You inspire and acquire customer loyalty.  I have several customers who have been coming to me for many years now, who like the suggestions I make based on my experience with them personally and my taste generally.  One informed me she regularly reads my quarterly newsletter and visits my site once a week – whether she needs anything or not!

7. Communicate!  Get those invoices out soon after the auction (the best idea is to set up the automatic invoicing on eBay).  Make sure the greeting is a positive, informative and grateful.  If a buyer has questions, answer them.  If you don’t already use the US Postal Service’s “Click and Ship" (where you can copy in an email thanking customers for their purchase and letting them know you have mailed their item), set it up soon.  It will save you time and make your operation more effective and efficient.  If you don't use the integrated mailing system, do send customers a quick canned email through Ebay that you sent the item (and when), provide a tracking number if you have one.  With Click and Ship, customers can track their package as it crosses from you to them.  People love knowing when their item is likely to arrive. For you as a seller, it is a couple of keystrokes to have a canned message and to copy and paste it and hit “send.” You will be amazed at how important this type of customer care can be (and it is free!).  It can bring plenty of business your way through repeat customers and resultingh positive word of mouth because you are efficient and you communicate. 

8.  Although PayPal is now required it alays was a pretty good idea.  As a seller, you save postage and your customer saves wasted time sending a payment through regular mail.  As a seller you get your payment sooner and can move the merchandise faster.  Fast is GOOD on Ebay.  However, I confess that not being able to accept ALL types of payments hamstrings Power Sellers BADLY.  Unfortunately, this is one of the many really bad calls eBay has made that has resulted in their sellers and customers to go elsewhere in droves (including me).  This sort of autocratic greed is amazing.   There are some folks who will NEVER link their bank accounts to PayPal or eBay and will simply buy elsewhere because eBay has become so autocratic and greedy.  Net result, decreased customer and seller base, decreased stock value....etc.  So, that is forcing sellers to operate elsewhere.  I hope they see what they have done before they are out of business, but with history as a guide -- probably not.

9.  Check out the competition!  There is no worse feeling than to have sold a very expensive item for a very low price because you did not know its value.  If a brand is unfamiliar to you you might also not know how to draw bidders to your site to bid on it.  Do searches for items similar to yours. Take a critical look at the ads and pricing – especially if there are more bidders and higher prices with the competition.  You can learn much from your competition.  Shamelessly steal good ideas or take a reasonable idea and make it even better. 

10.  If you can’t write well or spell, rest assured, you are in good company.  However this is where you copy and paste (control + C and control + V) your ad into a word processing program, check it for grammar and spelling (the computer does it for you in seconds with tools > “Spelling and Language”).  Then copy (control + C) and paste (control +V) , it back into the ad.  This is important because, when a potential buyer clicks the tiny search box beneath the main search box, ("Search in title & description,"), that single choice turns EVERY word in your description into a keyword!!!  A misspelled keyword is a squandered opportunity to bring bidders your way.

11.  When possible, use coupons, discounts or buy in large lots to save money.   I have seen many clothing sellers who routinely comb the discount ladies clothing stores to find great merchandise on sale.  Each penny saved on the purchase is more profit at the end.  Buy in lots (more than one item per auction), if you routinely go to auctions and they have an interesting box lot – buy the box lot if there are one or two treasures you are sure will make at least the money you spent on the box lot back for you.  Then the sale of other items becomes pure profit.

12.  Get a “Logo” and a “Look” for your stores and auctions.  Consistently use it throughout your paperwork (invoices, receipts, business cards, packing slips, etc.) You can do it yourself by learning a little hypertext mark up language (HTML) and Photoshop or PowerPoint.  There are tons of cheat sheets on the web that can help you “professionalize” your listings. It is an adventure that, to some, is great fun.  If you don’t want to do it, there are lots of folks on eBay who will do it for you in the colors and types of font you want for a set price.  My Blog Banner was only $19.99 from a fellow Ebayer.

13.  If you sell your merchandise in lots, make sure your ad extols the virtue of buying a lot (savings on postage, etc.).  If you can demonstrate the actual savings a buyer makes buying by the lot in your ad, that draws buyers too. 

14.  Believe it or not, there are some sellers who actually make a hobby and/or a living reselling what was not listed well to begin with!  THAT shows you how important a well written listing can be.  It is so hard to imagine that one could buy an item, pay to have it shipped and resell it for a bigger profit still!  Yet -- they do it everyday.  There are many methods for doing this but a fellow Ebayer shared her process with me for this article, since she does it as a hobby.  She goes to Ebay search and simply searches on "old."  That brings up an unlimited list of things for sale that might qualify for purchase and resale.  Then she just starts browsing through.  She looks for items that have resale potential being sold with poorly written ads or by new sellers.  When she finds something interesting, she will ask questions about the item before bidding if there is time. Then, she will research similar items recently sold before making a decision on the potential purchase for resale.  This research also discloses the maximum that  her high bid should be to leave room for profit on the resell.  Of course, sometimes snap decisions are necessary when she finds items with only a few minutes left in the auction.  This leads us to how to check to see if you might have the deal of the century for resale…..(see next item)

15.  Your eBay search has led you to what you think might be the greatest buy for resale of all time.  You want to snag a bargain and resell for a fine profit.  The question remains -- can I make a profit on it?  You can check into it instantly.  Open the Ebay home page and do a search for the item “St. John Jeans.”  The results returned will offer those for sale now, but the final likely value won't be there because they are not yet completed sales.  This doesn't give me the bottom line I need to make a decision on resale, but it does show me the numbers of interested buyers and bidding rythym for the item.  I need to also know how much they went for in recently completed sales.  So, I look down on the left column of the page and click on "Completed Items."  Here, I can see a list of similar items and what they sold for.  This information gives me a pretty good look at what I can expect to make if I pick up this pair of St. John Jeans and and resell them in the present market. 

16.  Keep it all friendly and upbeat – be approachable – love what you do.  It shows, and people come back for more.  I happen to love the old Annandale counter that Ebay used to have that said simply “Thanks for Looking.”  It was functional and was a nice simple message that is exactly what I would say if I could talk to each visitor to my sales. 

17.  Pictures are important.  Don't let anyone convince you otherwise.  Many will not bid on items they cannot see first.  A good picture often holds up a less than perfect ad.  People can see what they are interested in.  Items with images get more hits because there are many Ebayers who will search on those ads with galleries only.  The exposure a gallery gives you is very valuable for your sale and profit potential.  So do get a camera and learn to use it -- simple is better and a cheap camera is fine for the internet.  Remember the first photo is free now so be sure to use it.

18.  If your asking price supports it, use additional or packaged listing features.  Just be careful that you are aware and keep track of additional costs to sell the item.  Obviously, a gallery picture is a must because there are some bidders who never take the time to look at ads without them.  The exposure to the market place ones gets with a gallery is an essential in my book.  The only exception I can think of for using Gallery photos is something that costs less than five dollars.  However, I always use them.

19:  There is no denying that feedback is critical.  However, don't let a seller's few feedback with only a few successful sales or a lot of feed back with a few negatives in a year deter you.  All sellers run into that customer who is impossible to please, no matter how far they will go to try.  We all get to the point where we recognize that a few negatives come with the territory.  There are those who use feedback as a bargaining chip (bad) and the seller may have been the victim of vengeance feedback, which is bad feedback having nothing at all to do with the actual transaction.  I am truly convinced there are people out there who just plain delight in negativity and feedback spoiling.  Don't be bullied by them and don't be turned off from a seller who has been a victim of it -- look at the feedback profile as a whole to decide whether or not to deal with a seller. 

20.  I have said it before, and I say it again – don’t hide profit in the postage.  It is now against Ebay policy, but more importantly, buyers really resent it.  The lower your postage, the more bidders you will have.  Give bidders an option to buy insurance (recommending it for fragile items).  I make it clear (without being nasty) that I cannot be personally responsible for items not insured.  This is simply to put both the risk, the cost and the choice to insure or not to insure -- with the buyer -- where it belongs.  

21.  Accept returns, the little hassle you have with them is well made up for by the additional customer base you get from it.  People work hard for their money and if they are trying to save using Ebay, they really don't want to take a chance on something that might possibly be a waste of their money.  Making sure you won't have to deal with returns very often is simple.  Provide good descriptions, good measurements, note all flaws, and leaving nothing out that may be important to a potential owner.  To omit facts about the item just frustrates customers and paints a seller as being not trustworthy.  At one time, I even paid return postage on returns until I realized that rather than take accurate measurements of themselves to determine if the item I was selling would fit, customers had nothing to loose by buying it trying it on and sending it back on my dime. I equalized the deal when I changed my policy to allow returns with return postage being the responsibility of the buyer.  Seems to be working fine.

22.  One of the best tricks on Ebay (when you have time to do it) is to search for items you have an interest in that are misspelled in the listing.  This is a true internet treasure hunt and some folks make it a hobby.  Since the item manufacturer or name is misspelled, fewer people will find it, there will be fewer bidders and less competition for the item. That saves the winner money!  Here's how to do it:  Let's say we are looking for a Ralph Lauren Cashmere Sweater.  Type "Cashmere Sweater, Ralph L* -Lauren" into the search engine.  One may misspell Lauren any number of ways and they will all turn up in this search in addition to the correct spelling.  You can also imagine misspellings and try them too.  There is third party web based software on which you can look up possible misspellings and search for them too.  

23.  Do search for auctions of shorter duration, such as those for three days only. Your searches might be: 3-day, 3 day, Three day or Three-day.  You can also add an s to anyone of these searches too.

24.  Insomnia??  If you just can't sleep and it is 3 a.m. -- check out Ebay!  When most of America is asleep is a great time to find super deals.  Go to ebay.com. Search for the item you want.  A list of items will be returned on the initial search. Click one of those links, beneath the item title and number is a link to a more broad category to which your item belongs. Click here and you get another list of links.  Look near the top of the page for a link that says "Going, Going, Gone." Clicking on this link takes you to merchandise that is ending soon.   Bids are usually fewer and generally much lower due to lack of traffic.  That means big savings for you.   Or you can just click on "ending soonest" -- but scan quickly!

25.  There is much out there about auction timing.  Try hard to have your auctions listed (and therefore they will end) in Prime Time (9-11 pm Eastern through 6-8pm Pacific). To have items ending outside of those times is costing you bids and higher sales prices.  The closing moments of your auction are when your item listing "bubbles up" to the top of more eBay searches, even searches not directly related to the item you have up for bid.  So, try to avoid having your auctions ending while the majority of your potential customers are sleeping or are at work.  As discussed earlier -- there is little competition when an items ends in the wee hours of the morning. 

26.  College education or not -- use a simple rule everyone knows -- the KISS rule (Keep it simple stupid)  Use simple words that everyone knows.  One rule I learned in journalism is to write to an  8th grade audience if you want to be understood by America...strangely as insulting as it sounds (which is not my intent) it works.

27.  Shop Ebay stores when you visit auctions.  You will find more great bargains and get combined shipping.  Look for stores with "Best Offers" and name your own price too!  If you would like to know what kind of a break you would get if you buy a number of items, -- email the seller for more information. 

28.  Keep up on online security matters, use the ebay tool bar, answer only email relative to eBay in eBay's own "My Messages." PLEASE don't be a victim! 

29.  Today's customer is tomorrow's seller.  Take opportunities to "pay it forward" and help new people in the eBay community.  We are a welcoming and fun community made up of (mostly) great folks.  Good always comes from helping others.

30.  Have fun....it is a great new world out there with so much to learn.  It will keep you sharp while keeping you connected with those things that interest you.

Please stop by my sales for great old eBay style bargains every day!  Please visit my store (The Write Place Ladies Clothing) where you name the price you pay every day!

Happy Ebaying!  Pepper120851