Ebay Shenanigans

Love it, hate it or can’t be bothered with it, there is no denying that EBay is a force to be reckoned with. Millions of people log onto it and it’s various sites all around the world everyday, nay, every hour to hunk their unwanted crap to someone else for a price that seems too good to be true.

I am a member of the first part. I love it and think it is one of the best sites there is. As an avid film fan, I can get hold of many obscure titles that I would never be able to get in regular shops. Or if I could, they would cost an arm and a leg to import.

A lot of people dislike it because they feel that it is putting up barriers between people; stopping us from going to a real shop and getting something from a real person. But that is too bad. If there is something I want on EBay I don’t care that I don’t meet the person selling it. A lot of the time when I’m shopping in real shops I don’t care for the store clerk (ive worked as one and know they don’t care for the consumer either) so, cutting out the middle man seems a blessing. I guess one reason why people don’t like it is trust. Because we don’t know who we are getting it from we can’t trust them. But I don’t see why people don’t have faith in mankind. If you get screwed over on EBay, just email EBay and tell them and you’ll get your money back and they’ll get booted off.

For about 3 years I was always a buyer. I built up a huge feedback rating and was told I would lose it if I set up a sellers account. This turned out to be a lie; I could have been selling for 3 years and raking in the money. But never mind that, I’ve got my sellers account and am happy with it. Well, I am now. When I first got it I found that I wasn’t really selling much. After speaking to some people that have been selling a long time, they gave me a few pointers and my stock was being snapped up.

They gave me a few pointers on how to maximise the money I made from my auctions. Though they may be a bit cheeky, they do seem to work. Here are a few of them:

• Finding the right product. There is something out there that will sell like hot cakes. Before I went to Uni, I bought a lot of movie action figures and kept them in their boxes. These went for a hell of a lot. People always say they’ll be worth more in the future and they’re right. Even if you keep them a year or two before selling them, they’ll increase in price.
• Bid yourself higher. Set up another EBay account under a new name and bid for your own things. If you notice people are watching your items and you only have 1 bid on it, put in a bid 20p more then the bid and see how high it raises it. If you can keep doing you can get the item at its highest possible price. If the other person doesn’t outbid you when you are the highest bidder, it doesn’t matter. Just email them and say the winner didn’t want it and you’re offering it to them at their highest price bid (20p under your own bid)
• Subliminal text. There has been a lot of research into subliminal messaging, and it does work. All you need to do is write your description and highlight a few, spaced out letters into bold (using Ariel Font) and spell out things like; Bid, Buy me etc. when you read them you don’t notice them, but your subconscious mind does pick up on them.

Like I said before, those last 2 are cheeky, but not illegal. They will boost your profits by a huge amount meaning you will get more money for your loved ones or to save for a rainy day ?