Customer Reviews

eBay Secrets: How to create Internet auction listings that make 30% more money while selling every item you list

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I was a little bit skeptical of this book at first since it seems like there are so many "get rich quick" schemes out there that are hoaxes. But a friend recommended this book to me when I mentioned that I was doing some spring cleaning and wanted to try selling some of my stuff on eBay. Honestly, the techniques in eBay Secrets are awesome. This book doesn't make radical promises. What it does is help you create the best auctions possible to maximize bids, and consequently, the amount people are paying for your stuff. White's methods are really easy to use, and best of all, they work. I got twice as much from my items as I'd hoped, and several of my old handbags that I had up for auction sold for MORE than I originally paid for them! All of my items sold for way more than comparable items that were listed, too. Basically, the way I see it, you are throwing money away if you are selling things on eBay and you don't buy this book because you will get so much more from your auctions if you use the strategies from eBay Secrets.

At first I felt uneasy about buying a PDF based book that is comparitively short. I had a couple of items to sell and wanted a guide to getting the best price.

The advice in this book is counter intuitive, sell for less to generate more bids. It works. The reviewer who gave the guide one star and started selling at a $ should re-read. The guide says start low, I'm new to ebay but have attended real world auctions - this is a valid technique. It's based on starting with a low price, not a $.

This book doesn't fully address buyers with bid sniping software (relatively new) which will impact the technique suggested.

The advice on writing descriptions and marketing is very sound. These apply to almost any type of sale and can be considered good marketing practice.

Great checklist for selling, however, I did not like the suggestion the author makes for using multiple eBay accounts (to make it appear someone is selling as an individual rather than as a business)- this is crossing the line and the ethics of this are questionnable. Very good guide, but on eBay, like any other market, you wont get repeat business if you are dishonest.

This ebook describes the eBay of yesteryear. Today, when it comes to pricing your items, this ebook's mandate to start every auction at $.99 or less is a prescription for disaster. It's a buyers market on eBay and unless you know the demand for your item you may well be giving it away. That might be fine if you're just clearing out the closet but not if your buying merchandise to resell.

There's some good basic info in here but nothing you couldn't find at eBay and its many forums for free.

If your going to buy and resell product on eBay skip this book and read "eBay Strategies : 10 Proven Methods to Maximize Your eBay Business" buy Scott Wingo. It explains what sells and what doesn't sell well on eBay.

I used this system when starting my business on Ebay and have found it to be absolutely outstanding, and, most importantly, VERY PROFITABLE.

Ignore the ignorant negative reviews of people who either didn't read the whole book, used it once and didn't get perfect results the first time so they quit, didn't use it properly, or tried selling something no one wanted (the best auction in the world won't sell something that doesn't have enough demand).

Most importantly, practice and use it enough times so that you get good enough at it so that you're doing things as the author intended, and also so that you see the results of enough auctions that you have an idea of the OVERALL effectiveness of this strategy (nothing is perfect and works 100% of the time--I've done auctions with this system, done EVERYTHING perfectly, and ended up with a very disappointing winning bid, BUT the point is that such a result is very UNLIKELY, not impossible).

Now, I will say, as a disclaimer to those wanting to start a business on Ebay, that the hardest thing to do, by far, once you have the essentials down (this book will handle that) is finding a SOURCE for what you want to sell--I have yet to read any book that adequately addresses this issue, and I've read just about all of them. Figuring out what to sell is easy (hmm..what's really hot right now? Apple IPods!! I'll just sell lots and lots of Apple IPods!! Ok, sooo...where ya gonna get'em from there, Zig Zigler??). Figuring out where you can consistently get items from, at a consistent per-unit price that's far enough below their average selling price on EBay so that the difference between what you paid for it and what you sold it for consistently covers all expenses and leaves you with a respectable profit, is THE problem.

EBay authors PAY ATTENTION--you can make a FORTUNE if you can accurately advise people on how to find good, consistent sources for high-demand products to sell on EBay without having to jump through hoops with Federal Tax ID numbers, palates, lots, contracting with wholesalers, driving to every pawn shop/yard sale/garage sale/salvation army store within a 50 mile radius, etc, etc. Finding a decent low-to-medium volume source of goods, readily available without a bunch of the BS I just mentioned, that can be used to get a part-time, home-based EBay business running is VERY difficult for most people and there is a huge niche that could be filled if someone could write a book on that.

The only advice that I can give you on that is this--trust your gut. I had a hunch on a very simple, and blantantly obvious, source of high-demand items (I sell laptops), and I ran with it despite doubts that it was just too obvious. Having been the unfortunate victim of Econ-101 in college recently, I let theoretical, academic crap put doubt in me because of the efficient market theory (any economic opportunity will quickly be snatched up and the 'balance' restored), but, thankfully, ignored that and ran with what I saw to be real with my own eyes, and I was RIGHT. I listened to reality instead of theory and ended up with an almost unlimited source of high-demand name-brand laptops going for WAY under market value that were online and could just be delivered right to my door. So, now I just wait for the mailman, get the laptop, and run an EBay auction using THE system and make $50-$150 profit AFTER expenses--now I just need to get my volume up so that I'm doing this 8 or 10 times a week and I'll be living quite nicely compared to my peers (next semester will be the start of my Junior year in college), and I never even have to leave the house, let alone wait tables or run a cash register like most people I know my age.

And, NO, I will not tell you what my source is. DON'T ASK. You will find that if you talk to people who have a business on EBay on the forums, or in person--it doesn't matter where, they will give you any and all of the advice you could possibly want, EXCEPT they will guard their sources as fiercly as they would their own children! They do this because they know how very valuable a reliable source is, and how very hard it is to find a good one.

Best advice on sources for a beginner? Rifle through all your worldly possessions and make a big pile of crap you don't absolutely need anymore, sell it all on EBay using the system described here, and then take the money and use it to start trying potential long-term sources.

You can go on Ebay and check the theories of this book before you start selling and prove them correct. I see it every day with my auctions and auctions I am watching. Just yesterday 11/11/04, I watched a rare 1 day auction start at $1 (no Reserve or Buy It Now) and because of the photos and a brief, "to the point" description, the slightly used item sold higher than brand new items with Buy It Now. It is fascinating to watch 29 bids go for a used item and seeing it sell for more than a retailer. I am a veteran Ebayer of 6 years and was about 90% of the way there on this theory, but this book pushed me over the edge. So, if you want to save some time after you have learned the basics of Ebay, buy this book. Almost, all other reviews have given it 5 stars. The ones that did not have no idea what they are talking about. One 3 star review says it is a "get rich scheme" like, I guess, something you see on late night TV. It is not, you have to do research on an item, take excellent photos, and write an excellent description etc. Another reviewer wrote, use a Reserve, that gets expensive and you do not need a Reserve. You are telling the customer that the item is only worth a certain amount when you use a Reserve or Buy It Now. You can get much more for the item. Never tell someone what something is worth, let the auction decide the items worth. Good Old Fashioned Capitalism, let the market decide! If the item does not sell correctly you did something wrong or that is actually what the item is worth and you did not do the research. A one star reviewer wrote the author did not respond, I got a detailed e-mail from one of the authors, Byron Krug, the next day. I have read many books and like to get to the "meat" of the book so I skip around. This book is all "meat" so read it several times. It is less than $10 and you can download it from Amazon right now. On the flip side, I see almost everyone else gave it five stars including the #4 Reviewer on Amazon. So, get a camera, set up a small photo studio, study other Ebay auctions (research), head out for Estate sales, yard sales, sell items in your home, buy in lots on Ebay and from retailers getting rid of stock etc. etc. I do not like thick socks but for some reason I have "collected" many sets of them. I got all 40 pair and sold them on Ebay for $30 plus shipping and handling. I even use this theory on rare items. I had a rare comic (my specialty) I bought for $1800, started the auction at $1 and sold it to a gentleman in Sweden for $3800. You might make mistakes in the beginning but remember you have something wrong 99% of the time. Do not blame the book? Just go back and read it again! When you see an item with alot of bids and identical items are not getting bids, take a look at the auctions and see why. The item that is selling started there auction out with a low starting bid using the Bid Multiplier Theory. I know many Ebayers across this country and in many other countries, they agree this is the way to go. Do Sotheby's and Christy's of New York start out auctions with what they want from the auction? No, they begin with a lower starting bid. It is like fishing you have to get the right bait out there before you can get the hook in the bidders. They become attached to the item and will not let it go. If you are a collector or have trouble letting items go, become an expert on items you do not like and start selling them. My ex took off with all the Christmas ornaments 2 years ago. I like a big tree with alot of ornaments but I do not collect them. I started buying new Hallmark ornaments in large lots back in February for an average of $2 per ornament, right now I am selling them on Ebay for Christmas with a starting bid of 1 cent. I was so upset that I had lost all my ornaments it gave me the idea to buy large lots on Ebay off season. I will sell these at a profit and if I have any left over they will go on my tree until next year when I will sell them. I have a Real Estate business and Christmas is slow so it is great for me. See you can get ideas from everywhere. Hey, they should pay me for helping sell the book! I hope you buy the book and good luck on Ebay.

-----Most important, I want to say that I'm so glad I read this book. I got some amazingly useful tools (Microsoft front page, Andale and Auctiva) which I use wholeheartedly.
-----The only problem I've been having is the advice about starting your bids below one dollar. Based on my very painful experiences, I would not suggest doing this unless you have a very popular product. For me, this advice only worked 50 percent of the time and it failed the other 50 percent, meaning that I lost some serious money. What happened is that I would put up nice stuff for sale that (for some reason) nobody wanted. Right before that auction ended, someone would see it and snatch it for a penny (I put all my auctions at one penny). This happened to me so much that I ended up making no money. Before I tried this, I was doing fine, so I'm back to putting a higher starting price on my Items. But, to be all fair, this method does work for a lot of people, so, perhaps it will work for you.
-----Other than that one piece of advice, Steven White is right-on about everything else, and this book should be read by all Ebay sellers. It will give you a bag full of useful tricks that will make your Auctions look more attractive to bidders, and therefore, will earn you more money on each product.
-----In a nutshell, take everything he says very seriously, but beware about the below 1 dollar starting bid, because unless you are a really good seller, that method will only work for really popular products that draw in a lot of bidders.

I bought this book in desperation. I had not been getting what I wanted for items that I was selling on eBay. I realized that I was making some very serious mistakes - especially regarding the titles and descriptions that I was using. Further, the method that I was using (or, rather, not using) to tell the user what shipping would cost, and using reserve auctions was truly hurting my final prices. I really appreciated the practical tips on where to find items to sell. Steve gave me some ideas that I really would not have thought of on my own. I would highly recommend this book to those who want to improve their eBay selling success. However, the buyer should make sure that they have a basic working knowledge of computers, a photo editor, and an HTML editor. These skills will help you to implement the author's suggestions. These are not mandatory, but will definitely help.
This book is written in an informal, easy-to-read and pleasant manner. I read it in under an hour and learned at least 40 new things. That's money well spent.

Not more than two days before reading this book I bought a book at a local book store for $26 and it was supposed to have everything I needed to know about eBay. After thumbing through it when I got home I realized that this book had nothing I needed to know...I returned the book the next day and went hunting on Amazon for something to better satisfy my cravings for eBay knowledge. I mean, really good eBay knowledge, not just the stuff I could get off of their help pages. I found eBay Secrets and decided to give it a try. For less than 1/3 of the price I got 1,000 times the knowledge!

Steven Ellis White gives good, practical tips that ANY eBayer, old or new, can use. I have read it twice now and took notes the second time around. I plan to implement the guidelines listed in this book as soon as possible. I can't wait to give it a try!

Get this book. I don't care if you are a newbie to selling or have been around for years, get this book. I was introduced to eBay by a dear friend a little over a year ago. She's a Powerseller and has done quite well for herself. After she showed me the ropes, I was off and running.

My sales were decent. Not overwhelming, but decent. There were good months and bad months, but overall, I did well enough that I started thinking about continuing to sell on eBay even after I got rid off all the excess clutter in my house.

I came across eBay Secrets and since it was reasonably priced, I thought I'd give it a quick look-see to discern if there was anything new to be learned.

Every auction except for one I have listed since applying the principles in the book has sold. Every one. What's more, I ended up making a VERY nice profit on a lot of them. My time online has gone down and my profitability has gone up.

My sales have actually SURPASSED those of my friend, the Powerseller. My colleagues who also sell on eBay are BEGGING me to let them read the book. The mess in my house has gone down. down, down while my PayPal account is going up, up, up. What's more, my posting fees have decreased as well. What's not to love about this book?

The book is easy to read and pretty much takes you by the hand and leads you step-by-step through the process. The only concern I have is that they talk about Mr. Lister, which is no longer in use by eBay. They use Turbo Lister now. Other than that, this book is a definite must-have for any beginning or advanced seller.

I learned very little from this book, and some of the material is over-simplified. The "Bid Multiplier Method" works better for some items than others -- for example, some rarer items such as books that have limited appeal but are still hard to find will not sell for top dollar using this method -- if you only have one or two potential bidders your item will not skyrocket. Also, ebay is different that it used to be -- people are savvy to high shipping charges, especially on cheaper items, and ebay now can calculate shipping charges based on ZIP, which is not mentioned here. There is no mention of using search items inside the deciption for more experienced buyers. That being said, this is a great primer for beginners -- it will tell you how to avoid a lot of the mistakes that novices make and it will also give you some useful tips. Worth the money if you're new to selling -- especially if you just want to sell your own personal items -- but if you're already a sucessful business seller I'd give it a pass.