One of the greatest and best internet stores out there is EBAY. In case you were burrowed under a ferret for four years, EBAY is an online marketplace similar to that of auctions. People can sell or buy everything including, video games, toys, collectibles, mugs, rugs, cars, and pretty much anything. You could pick some deer shit off the road and sell it on EBAY. That's why, I've decided to dedicate a section of my site to this online marketplace of excellence. The system is pretty simple. People sell items at a starting price, then other interested buyers can bid on the item. There is a closing date for every auction and the highest bidder on the item wins. Of course, bidding isn't as easy as it sounds.

One of the problems I've discovered with EBAY is that many people don't know if they should bid on a certain item. Some items may or may not be worth the price the buyer is bidding. Thus, many people do research before bidding or selling anything on EBAY. So in a sense, EBAY is similar to a business. You have your sellers which try to estimate the value of their item, and then you have the bidders trying to bid the lowest possible amount while winning the auction. It's a very complex process. There are also many dealers on EBAY who constantly sell items during a day-to-day process. Many of these smart traders have special techniques they use to win auctions. While they may not be cheating, they certainly know a few tricky ways to bid/sell past the other competitors. In this section, you're going to find tips and secrets without having to pay $20 for one of those stupid EBAY secrets books. Don't worry, it's entirely free. Below, the headers are split into For Buyers, For Sellers, and For Everyone.

For Sellers
As with any profitable business, eBAY can be a very, very profitable business. You can put up just about any item you want and watch the bids raise the value of your item. You only have to pay small fees and you can reap in huge profits based on what you sell. Below, you will find a few techniques to help you sellers out there. This section will be expanded very soon.

• Choose your starting bid wisely - A starting bid can be what makes or breaks your auction. Always make the price reasonable to the buyer, so that the item will raise in value, while netting you a profit one way or another. I know how there are many sellers out there who start their auctions off at .99, but it's not offering you any security in case only a few people bid on your item. It would be smarter to start an $80 item at a $40 starting bid rather than starting it at a $1 since you're already guaranteed a portion of the value on the first bid. Play it safe, don't expect millions of bidders to bid on your items unless you have that much confidence.
• Provide original pictures - There are many sellers out there who forget or don't have the abilility to post pictures in their auctions. If you have your own web server, then you can put as many pictures as you want. However, I'd recommend you use eBAY's free picture option in every auction you sell. More original pictures lets the buyer know that the item they are bidding on is the real one, and not another taken from another auction. Try to take your pictures in a setting that would seem typical. Make sure all your pictures are taken in the same place to build up a setting so the buyer knows your a legit seller.
• Get Boxes - Yes, this is another conflict that may interfere with selling things on eBAY. You must have boxes to ship your items in. The free way of finding boxes is going into dumpsters, but that's usually not very sanitary. What you can do is call up your local grocery, food, department store and ask them what they do with their boxes. Some chop off the tops to save space in dumpsters while others leave them intact. Then after you get permission, you can go in their dumpster or drop-off station and pick up as many as you will need.
• Weigh the total package - Always weigh the entire package including the item, box, and stuffing. This way you have an idea of what the actual shipping will be. You can enter the data in the USPS website and figure out what the exact costs will be. This allows you to enter a fixed shipping rate in your auctions.