1000 Best eBay Success Secrets: Secrets From a Powerseller (Paperback)

by Greg Holden (Author)
Key Phrases: sell your item, auction service provider, traffic reports, Turbo Lister, Priority Mail, Creating Descriptions That Attract Buyers (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Holden is an eBay pioneer, having joined the service back in 1997--ancient history in Internet time--and he has seen the site go through many changes. Increased fees, intense policing by site watchdogs, and complicated policies can make listing on eBay a landmine for inexperienced sellers. This stripped-down handbook provides answers to the questions that sellers new to eBay ask, starting with the biggest one of all: "What should I sell on eBay?" Although there is no definitive answer to that question, Holden provides tips on choosing a product that is right for you, and he offers suggestions on how to contact wholesalers, falling short of giving out any wholesale sources. He covers all the basics, like creating attractive listings, answering customer inquiries, dealing with the complexities of shipping internationally, and handling complaints and returns. Seasoned PowerSellers will appreciate his tips on purchasing keywords, working with an auction service provider, and migrating to one's own Web site. Although 1,000 tips is a lot for one sitting, this will make a decent addition to your eBay reference library. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description
According to an AC Nielsen study conducted in early 2005, as many as 724,000 Americans depend on eBay sales for all or part of their income. But it is becoming more difficult to run a profitable business on eBay, as its sales growth slows and fees increase. Sellers are being squeezed between these two factors.

In order to thrive in this unique marketplace, sellers need to spend their money wisely, buy goods that will sell at low prices, market those goods aggressively and develop a well-rounded business presence. 1000 Best eBay PowerSeller Secrets is packed full of insider secrets and strategies designed to help readers accomplish all this and more. Topics include:
--Researching items to maximize profitability
--Dealing with buyer questions
--Making the payment process run smoothly
--Confronting problems after the sale ends
--Boosting customer satisfaction through packing and shipping

1000 Best eBay PowerSeller Secrets provides tips, strategies and prescriptions for making any eBay business venture healthier, wealthier and wiser.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc. (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402208057
• ISBN-13: 978-1402208058
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #290,560 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #65 in	Books > Reference > Encyclopedias > Business
  #87 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Business & Culture > E-Commerce
  #88 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Business & Culture > eBay

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book covers everything about eBay. You won't be sorry parting with a mere $13 for this tome., July 2, 2007

By	Jeff Lippincott "www.Jlippin.com" (Princeton, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This was a wonderful book. I can't say enough positive things about it in this review. About a year ago I was asked to help put on a 2-hour seminar on eBay as a topic of interest to SCORE clients. I got a few publications and read a few books on the subject. Then I got myself a User ID for eBay and studied the site a bit. Everything I read, studied, and learned is in this little $13 book AND MORE!

This book is comprised of 22 chapters split into four sections:

1. Before the sale
2. During the sale
3. After the sale
4. Opening eCommerce Stores

Being an eBay seller can be so many different things. You could be someone who wants to sell things online rather than at a yard sale. You might be someone wanting to make some extra money by selling a small number of items for a reasonable profit considering the time you have to spend doing it. You might be a small business that has slow-moving or excess inventory you want to unload, but not through your storefront. Or you might be someone who wants to be a big retailer, but do it without a storefront. This book addresses all of those things - and it does it well.

I recommend this book especially to the person who wants to better understand the eBay site. Get a User ID and password and start exploring the site. Then read this book and take notes of things that interest you. Then go back to the site and explore the ideas and concepts you took notes on from the book. Repeat the process and you will really become an expert on eBay. So much so that you can have it do anything you want it to do for you.

This book was really a nice read. And the author definitely knows his stuff. It would be so nice if most of the other books on or about eBay were written with the amount of wisdom included herein. 5 stars!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars eBay Platinum Powerseller Reviews "1000 Best eBay PowerSeller Secrets", March 11, 2009

By	M. Nygard "MERMAIDMONKEYS" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Greg Holden's "The 1000 Best eBay PowerSeller Secrets," reads a bit like Cliff Notes in that it is a compact summary and commentary on the eBay experience, but he's crafted every nugget to perfection. Packed with wisdom, the 352 pages of essential advice for the eBay entrepreneur is a quick read. (If you want an eBay book with a bit more girth, then read his "eBay for Dummies," guide.)

On the topic of drop shippers, Greg Holden is on the mark. He provides an accurate account and yet neither dissuades or persuades the reader to take action either way. He simply presents an account of the facts. Well done! Incidentally, I don't believe in drop shipping.

On the topic of what to sell, again Holden presents the facts to simplicity, Yet nothing he presents is trite. There is a wholesome goodness of the truth about eBay when he advises to try to make a $10 profit on each sale, think small in terms of merchandise size, and don't sell too many different types things. In earnest, these are mistakes that almost every eBay seller has touched upon at one time or another, and yet it is Holden's gentle nudging that makes his words effective.

Finally, he presents a number of valuable Web sites to visit. That alone is worth the price of admission. Buy it now. It's available on Kindle too.

BRAVO! FIVE STARS!

M.C. Nygard
Former eBay Platinum PowerSeller

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book for eBay Beginners, January 17, 2008

By	Kerry Johnson-struif "kerrilyn22" (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book has many great tips for a beginner, but having been a member of eBay since 1999, there were only a few things in it that I hadn't learned the hard way. For someone just starting out, though, it provides a good overview of how eBay works, how to set up your account, how to integrate PayPal and postage, tips for selling and buying, etc. There are also some good resources listed in the book.

The author explains wholesale and drop ship options for sellers and tells what to do before, during and after the sale. With years of experience, he shows readers a very thorough overview eBay and its systems, with invaluable tips and tricks to save time and money.

One thing I thought should have been mentioned is for users to watch where they leave negative feedback. eBay allows retaliatory feedback, which isn't fair to the buyer who got the shaft. You might pay $300 for an electronic game for your child, for instance, immediately after the auction ends, and the seller might not ship it to you for two months (if ever.) In the meantime, your child misses out on his big birthday gift, you're out the money, and it's frustrating as can be.

If you leave negative feedback, even though you did everything the right way, the seller can leave negative feedback for you as well - for no reason other than to just be mean. If this happens and lowers your eBay feedback score, the only way eBay allows you to get it off is for the buyer and the seller to both remove the feedback for each other. This hurts other buyers out there who won't see the true results of the transaction and might ultimately be taken advantage of in the same way.