Work for the Long Term People are what make eBay run well, but when it comes to making sales, you need to look to the numbers. Various numbers can induce shoppers to place bids: the number of items you have for sale at one time, which tell bidders that you’re likely to be a professional and not a “fly by night” seller; the reserve price and opening bid prices you set; and the most important kind of number that directly affects your sales your feedback rating. The eBay sellers who are able to earn a steady supplemental income or who sell on eBay full-time tend to be the ones with high feedback.

Go Retail What, exactly, constitutes “high feedback” these days? As eBay grows and becomes more established, the amount of feedback displayed by the Power Sellers goes up as well. Right now, according to the sellers I interviewed for this article, there’s a threshold in the 1,000 to 1,200 feedback range. If you have feedback in the range of 200 to 1,000, you are certainly doing well, and customers are certain to know you are an experienced eBay merchant. But when you reach 1,000, something happens. “I call it ‘going retail,’” comments Bob Kopczynski, a longtime eBay seller who is profiled later in this article. “When my feedback rating went over 1,000, I started getting more bids and higher prices for what I was selling. It was like people recognized me as a retail businessperson, not just a part-time seller. It’s the difference between someone who has been running a brick-and-mortar store for ten years and someone who just opens a store down the street. The store that’s been established is going to get the most business.” I’m not suggesting that you need to shoot for a feedback rating of 1,000 specifically before you can be a successful eBay businessperson. Not at all; however, this is a article about running an eBay business, not just selling on eBay once or twice a year. A feedback rating of 100 or 200 is great in its own way. If, however, you want to make all or part of your regular income through selling on eBay, you need to set your sights higher the higher, the wider your perspective will be, and the better your chances of success.

Go By the Numbers You need to establish a long-term “numbers goal” for your eBay sales. The moment you declare to yourself, “I’m going to have an 800 feedback rating by the end of the year,” or “I want to be making $1,000 a month on eBay by the end of the year,” your perspective changes. Individual sales become less important than your cumulative sales figures. Turning sales around quickly and keeping your customers satisfied becomes the top priority. Rather than focusing on this or that individual sale, you start thinking of coming up with a system, and building volume, with the ultimate goal of building profits.

Build Your Credibility Most consumers have needs that are pretty straightforward. They want a reason to buy from you as opposed to all of those other sellers that populate eBay’s auction listings. They want to feel they can trust you; they want to get what they pay for quickly. Above all, they are looking for a bargain. To some extent, you can’t control whether they get a bargain or not. You put an item up for no reserve, or you set a modest reserve, and the market takes care of the rest. You can, however, control how much trust your bidders can place in you. In many professions, service providers go to school to add some significant letters to their names, such as Ph.D., M.D., J.D., or C.P.A. You can do the same in auction sales. Bob Kopczynski, who’s profiled later in this article, went to school and became a licensed auctioneer. You don’t have to do that, yourself, but you can demonstrate that you know something about what you’re selling. You can

- Operate a Web site or online store devoted to your area of interest. Bob Kopczynski, who goes by the User ID maxwellstreetmarket on eBay, also has aMaxwell Street MarketWeb site (http://www.maxwellstreet.market.com ), shown next.

- Moderate a discussion group (popularly called a newsgroup) devoted to what you buy or sell. It’s relatively easy to set up a newsgroup in the Alt category, though groups in other areas are difficult to establish and maintain. The Web page editor Microsoft FrontPage helps you set up a discussion group on your own Web site.

- Answer questions on eBay’s message boards.

- Answer questions in Internet newsgroups about your area of interest.

Prove You Are a Professional You can boost your sales if you are able to show people that you are professional in your manners and your behavior. Being professional doesn’t mean you need to sell on eBay full-time, or that you need to run your own online business. Rather, it has to do with how you communicate how quickly and completely you respond to questions from bidders, how well you deal with problems, and how promptly and carefully you pack and ship what you sell.

Be Honest, Be Thorough The more information you provide about your auction item, the better your chances of getting bids. Honesty is certainly the best policy when it comes to selling online in any venue, including eBay. At the very least, it lets buyers know about any defects or flaws your merchandise has before they even bid, so they won’t be surprised when they actually receive what they’ve purchased. Accuracy shows your customers that you are making every effort to be honest and up-front with them. Some sellers go into a lengthy bit of detail about defects in their sales items, especially for items that they know are desirable in and of themselves. Once again, you can look to Bob Kopczynski’s listings. The description shown in is honest about defects, but plays up the parts of the package that are in exceptionally good condition, too. Keep in mind that many of the individuals who buy your eBay items are professionals themselves. Often, they’re longtime collectors or antique dealers who hope to resell your wares in their own stores. You can’t fool people who are “in the trade,” nor should you try to.

Attract Bids with Information The more information you include with your auction descriptions, the more likely you are to make a sale. That doesn’t mean you have to spend acres of valuable computer screen real estate getting around to the point. You need to state, in the very first sentence, what it is you are selling and what qualities make this item stand out from the crowd. Be sure to mention that it is a one-of-a-kind piece, in perfect condition, or in a rare color. Try to get a one- or two-word mention of the item’s most desirable quality in the auction title, if you can. Auction bidders are in a hurry. They might only stop in at your sale for a short period of time before moving on to your competitors’wares. Suppose you’re trying to sell something that might not seem desirable at first, like a pair of used sneakers. How, you ask, could you make sneakers seem attractive? Here are a few suggestions:

- Lead with a hook Hook your bidders’ attention with some quick statements that show why your item is exceptional, such as “Rare 1967 Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars, Size 12.”

- Be a historian Describe your item’s provenance which, in auction-speak, means the history or origin of an item. Tell where you got the object, how old it is, who used it, and so on: “These classic high-top Chuck Taylors, in the hard-to-find red color, had only one owner the seller’s cousin. They show very little wear and even come in the original box.”

- Don’t overlook the downside Once you’ve gotten everyone interested by gushing about the item’s good points, be sure to avoid surprises or misunderstandings by describing any problems: “Although thoroughly dry cleaned, a subtle basketball odor remains. Some wear on right heel; laces have been replaced.”

- Finish on a high note Don’t end on a problem note; provide a closing sentence that reminds people why they should be buying this wonderful item. You might even provide a note about payment options or shipping costs, or restrictions (you don’t take personal checks, or you won’t ship overseas, for instance). You’ll find some of these approaches in the brief sales description shown next. Notice how the description starts with a good mention, then describes some flaws (“brassing” means the gold overlay has worn off), then finishes on a positive note. Attempts to get attention for auction listings by using the @@@ or !!!! keys multiple times are overused. I don’t think they grab anyone’s “eye space” because so many others use them. Let your description speak for itself.

Build Your Volume What does it mean to build a lot of sales? How do people build the volume that enables them to earn a steady income on eBay? You can find indications on eBay itself. Just find a seller you regard highly who has a high feedback rating, and look up the sales that have been conducted recently by that seller. For instance, to look up the completed sales by Bob Kopczynski, do the following:

1. Go to the eBay Basic Search page (http://pages.ebay.com/search/items/ basicsearch.html).

2. Click By Seller.

3. Enter the seller’s User ID (maxwellstreetmarket) in the Single Seller box.

4. Next to “Include completed items,” click the button next to the option that describes the number of auction sales you want to retrieve: Last Day, Last 2 Days, Last Week, Last 2 Weeks, or All.