* NEVER respond to an e-mail from Paypal that asks you for your login information, or asks you to follow a link to a login page. This is a scam known as "phishing." A typical message might include scare tactics such as "We have noted an illegal login attempt to your account" or "You have added a new e-mail address to your account." If you follow the link, you will be directed to what LOOKS like a Paypal login page, but your login information will actually be sent to crooks, who will promptly use your info to clear out your account. Paypal will NEVER send you an e-mail asking for your login info. If you receive a suspicious e-mail, you should forward it to: spoof@paypal.com and they will reply to let you know if it is authentic or not.
* Never respond to an e-mail from eBay that asks for your login information. Some bogus messages appear to be from interested buyers. For example: "Is your product still for sale? Let me know!" or "I sent payment 2 weeks ago! Where is my product?" Another common message is: "Update your eBay information within 48 hours, or your account will be suspended!" Again, your login info will be forwarded to scammers who will use your eBay ID to artificially drive up prices on their own auctions, or use your eBay ID to run a fraudulant auction in which they collect payment for an item that doesn't exist. If you receive a suspicious e-mail, forward it to spoof@ebay.com and they will let you know if it is authentic. If you want to respond to a question from a buyer, it is safer to login to your eBay account, and go to the "My Messages" section, and reply directly through eBay.
* When buying from a wholesale supplier, ALWAYS pay through a credit card, or Paypal. NEVER pay for products through Western Union. Many Western Union clerks do not require ID for the seller to pick up the money. It is too easy for a wholesaler to collect the money and not send your order. If a wholesaler insists on Western Union, simply look for another supplier.
* If you pay a wholesaler through an escrow service, use only escrow.com. If a wholesaler insists on another escrow service, simply look for another supplier.
* Before buying from a wholesale supplier, be sure to check eBay for similar items and calculate if you can sell for a competitive price and also get a profit. Each and every day, an average of $86 million changes hands through eBay(R) auctions. Every day, an estimated 2 million people use eBay(R) to buy things they can not find in stores, or to get rid of things they do not use any more in order to make room in their house. But did you know that 430,000 eBay(R) run a full or part-time business from their homes? Of course, there are the big product sellers, who auction off things like new cars, real estate, or computers. However, there are also normal people running eBay(R) business from their homes, not only selling things that are no longer needed around the house, but selling everyday consumer goods, and making a full-time income from it.
The secret of eBay(R) success is finding products to sell that match your interests and lifestyle, locating a reliable wholesale supplier, and mastering the system of putting up auction pages on eBay(R) in order to keep your seller fees to a minimum while maximizing your profits.
Here are some tips for selling on eBay:
* Remember that eBay users will buy based on cost as well as reliability of the seller. If you have a relatively low feedback score, and you are selling the exact same item at the exact same cost as a seller with feedback of 3000 or more, you are not going to make many sales.
* Create e-mail template message to communicate with buyers. You should make at least three messages: one for when you receive payment, one for when you send the order, and one to send approximately two weeks later, to check if everything is OK. Good communications are essential in building good feedback ratings.
* Feedback is very important. Always leave positive feedback for buyers as soon as payment clears. If a buyer has not left positive feedback by two weeks after the close of the auction, send a follow up e-mail. Be very careful about leaving neutral or negative feedback. Even if you have a valid reason for leaving negative feedback,once you leave negative feedback, the buyer is likely to retaliate with negative feedback, harming your reputation. Instead, use eBay's "Send an invoice to buyer" or "Report an unpaid item" functions.