Customer Reviews

How to Sell Anything on eBay . . . and Make a Fortune!

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

With a title like "make a fortune....." I expected the book to be written by a guy who says "hey, I have been doing this for years, this is my primary income, I am a power seller, and here are some things that are helpful."

The book started out as "i don't want to waste my time or yours..." but that is exactly what he did. It was the most drwan out book on eBay ever. It was gearded towards people that :
1. Have never seen a computer
2. have never turned on a comupter
3. Have no clue what an auction is
4. Can't read a computer screen.
5. Can't navigate websites logically.
6. Don't have a clue on the very basic tools needed to operate a business or a P&L report.

I gave it two stars becuse there were a COUPLE of things that some poeple might find helpful, and it has an extensive index for a quick reference.

A COUPLE of the "tips" were mildly helpful.

I have only bought and sold about 10 things on eBay, so i am no expert on it, but 99% of the things in this book can be firgured out by any monkey with a 90 I.Q.

When I read an Ebay book, Here is what I want to read:

1. I want an author that has sold extensively on Ebay and makes a living at it.
2. Several Biographies of other people and the products they sell and why. not just "hey rare and antique items sell well!"...we know that already.
3. common mistakes that people make in key words and what key words are statistically more prone to "hits".
4. information on drop-shipping. is it realistic, who does it?
5. Real-life examples of things that consistently sell (new and used)and why.
7. The biggest mistakes that rookies make.


I will sum up this book

1. Experiment with key words
2. research what sells online
3. try to price it right
4. take care of your customers
5. If you want to make money..be serious about it.

DUH!

i found better material free online.

If you're looking for a guide that explains the basics of selling items around the house on ebay, this will do fine for you. However, if you're interested in starting a profitable ebay business, you won't find any great information in this guide. The market price for many items on ebay is extremely low, so in order to turn any sort of a profit you'd need a way to purchase items far below retail, and even below some wholesale prices. In order to make much money on ebay, you'll need to find some pretty good supplier connections - and this book gives you no insightful information on how to do so. The title of the book would be more appropriate if they left off the "and make a fortune" part.

I have read several books on "ebaying" and this is my hands down favorite ... From start to finish, the author tells you everything you need to know about ebaying in a clear, straightforward way ... no wasted pages on the history and philosophy of ebaying ... just informed and solid information and advice. For those of us whose lives are jam-packed with demands and responsibilities, this book doesn't waste our time ... it just gets right down to it and tells you what you need to know and what you need to do. It also tells you what things are a waste of time! If you're an ebayer [or want to be!], it's a steady reference to keep by your computer!!

This book was helpful for me. I am a beginner when it comes to selling on Ebay. I have no idea how helpful this book would be for the experienced Ebay seller. But for a beginner like me it taught me the basics of selling on Ebay and helped me get rid of some "junk" that was taking up space in my home and make a few dollars with it.

I read this book cover to cover in 3 days. I picked it up and could not put it down.It takes you through the ins and outs of a very complex website. We are going to start selling Jewelry and Gems on the web site. When we tried yo make our way through the site by ourselves before we read the book we were lost and did not know what to do to present our goods in the best way possible to increase our chances of selling them for a fair price. The book will take you through the sign up process to how many pixels you need for the best pictures for the site. I highly recommend it. You will not regret buyig this book if you are serious about multiple items on e-bay. We also bought The Dummies Book for E-bay. While I read one book my husband read the other. After we finished the book we were reading we switched and read each others book. By doing this the two books support each other and we feel very well prepared to start showing our items on e-bay.

This book was a complete rip off. It contains 237 pages six pages at the begining of the book filled with almost nothing . One page simply says the title , the second only states his other books, the third again only gives the title and includes McGraw-Hill`s world locations , impressive. The third page takes alittle more about McGraw-Hill and lets us all know the risks of online selling and that the author and publishers of the book cannot guarantee success and therefore disclaim any liability, loss, or risk sustained, either directly or indirectly, as a result of using the information given in this book,ect ect. Now the next page a whole long page which simply states in one line. To my wife, Diane- I`d be utterly disorganized without you in my life. One whole page. Even worst the next page, is you guessed it-blank.
Now you have four pages of the table of Contents which is just crowed with nonsense . It goes something like this " The phiosophy that makes ebay work", page one .next page 4 next again page 4 next page 8 , 9, 11, 13,14, 17, 17, 19,19,20,20,20,21,22, you get my drift on and on it goes and it even gets worst.
Now the sixth page is blank. Now you have 4 pages of the introduction along with a page on what you`ll find in this book, another about forms, formulas and simple summations, now the last page is a run over from the previous, about seven lines of print. Now we have about 81 pages about how to bid on e-bay. I thought the book was about how to sell. But the author states we must know how to bid first .
So he now teaches by diagrams and such, such simple things that any idiot or dummy would know. (By the way those two books on e-bay selling were very well done) Such as what does my personal account means,what is a main toolbar and the rules of e-bay ect ect. Alot of these pages are just downloads from e-bay itself ,with just a few arrows here and there to let us know such things such as if you click here at thie help toolbar on the e-bay page,guess what youll be able to get some help. Now with in those 81 pages of how to bid about 15 are just pages for your notes, along with a few worksheets and scattered pages with lines so you can write down such things as , get this -your favorite e-bay seller ect. Now the remaining 155 pages goes something like this You have 31 pages of forms and and lined pages for notes not to mention that a good number of those pages are simply blank. It has one chapter on fraud one chapter that the author seems to be very familiar with. I wonder why?
Then of course we have 4 pages of the index finishing off with the page abut the author . Now you do the math, 237 of what? Also the author has three other other books " How To Sell Antiques and Collectibles on eBay" , "How to Sell Music Collectables, and Instruments on eBay" and" Unleashing the Power of eBay."
Now this guy writes a book on how to sell ANYTHING on eBay now are not antiques
and collectibles anything? Then we have the two other books one on How to Sell Antiques and Collectibles on eBay then the other How to Sell Music , COLLECTABLES and Instruments on eBay. Now are not Collectibles, Collectibles? And are they not Anything. And one can bet ,since the books are not in a series that one will have to go though the same baloney again. How to bid,as well as forms and worksheets that you know us guys just don`t do. The author is just another guy who has just found another way to live and live and live and live off e-Bay. Don`t be fooled
It behooves me how anyone can be positive about this book.
Believe me its bad.

This book is great if you've never used ebay before and want to get started making money and buying things. While it may not get you to make a fortune, it does help you sell.

I highly recommend this book if you are new to ebay. In addition to helping you sell, it also helps you buy.

I also recommend eBay Secrets : How to create Internet auction listings that make 30% more money while selling every item you list if you want to make MORE money while selling!

This is not the book for you...or at least, that is how i felt.

I agree with the rating that said it was very drawn out...because it is. All i kept thinking was YAWN...when are we gonna get to the good stuff.

When I did arrive at the "good stuff"...for example how to title your listings, it was short, to the point and nothing enlightened me to something new.

Regret the purchase and hope that in the future the publisher will add that this is a very basic book for the beginner.

This is really a book to get you up to speed on the full range of eBay features. I got this book from my local library to checkup on how I'm doing on eBay, and see if I could improve results. The only thing I learned was a reminder to carefully write titles that increase search hits. The rest of the book tends to minimize or ignore the negatives about eBay while putting the best face on everything else.

For example, online sellers communicate in several venues such as Yahoo! Groups, to help each other sell more and solve problems (and many turn to Amazon Marketplace t oincrease sales with no up-front costs, and ease of collecting payments). One trend that has emerged in the last few years as opposed to early internet days is selling items in lots because postage and selling fees are too great on individual items, or because items just don't sell as well as they did in say, 2001. This book makes one passing mention of lots, on page 72.

The book also tends to subtly portray sellers concerned about eBay fees as a little off; some people seem to think people are growing rich off eBay tariffs is his basic argument. Well, Dennis Prince, more than a few sellers think that is very true! While he advises sellers to watch costs and minimize fees, and tells which he thinks are useful, if the reader doesn't pay attention to those sections he will have a lighter wallet listening to all the hype.

The book ignores sell-through rates, and sell-through rates in different categories, advising sellers to research past selling prices and to visit Vendio for online auction tools and statistics. Good advice before you decide to list a bunch of stuff from your attic that will never sell.

And that is the problem with this book. It's hype. The title itself "How To Sell Anything on eBay ... and Make a Fortune!" is consumerism and marketing disrobed. If Mr. Prince thinks he can sell anything on eBay, he is welcome to take my fifty worst items and have a go at them. A lot of items don't sell at all online, or don't sell quickly or profitably. You'd never know that from the title or through the rose-colored smog of corporate media marketing. Perhaps publisher McGraw-Hill should deflate this balloon and do a little down to earth editing.

It wasn't the best out there, but there was some ok tips in there.

If he was making a fortune on eBay, he wouldn't be writing this book he would be out on his yaht somewhere in the French Riviera. That is where I will be when my ebay store finally scores.

My store is almost 2 weeks old. I have made over $300 in sales and by years end hoping to add a few zeros to that number.

The thing is, I LOVE shopping on eBay, I love taking pictures, I love bargain hunting...and ofcourse passing on the savings to my customers and future customers. I have to be honest, some of the stuff I find, I like to much to sell and end up having to go for seconds. Then again, I love shopping, so this was totally up my alley.

I also have been a photo buff since I was 15, so I love taking pictures and editing them...it's like art work to me. I then get to share. I am still working on getting some more photo props and a tripod which will make life easier, and photography of merchandise more fun.

I am at an advantage, though; I live in NY so I have tons of wholesalers and manufacterers in this Metro area. It's just a matter of finding the right ones.

Right now, I am still in research phase. So far, so good.

Don't give up, if you like this sort of thing...it can really work for you. I am living it, right now and enjoying every minute.

You can check out how I added some of the tips to my store, and critics are welcomed.

www.stores.ebay.com/NYC-Trend-Setters-Outlet

Wish me luck and I wish you the same. Don't give up!!