Your Auction Headline - The Most Important Part Of Your Auction

by Robbin K. Tungett

The words you select to describe your item will have a tremendous impact on the final price it receives or if it receives any bids at all. This is because no matter how great the item is you have up at auction, if you use words that don't lead prospective buyers to it, no one will ever see it. You have a total of 45 spaces to use for your auction headline to get people to visit your auction, so it's extremely important that you use each space wisely. The vast majority of buyers search through eBay listings by entering the item they are looking for into eBay's search engine. The main auction search engine only searches for words listed in auction titles. If a person selects a word that isn't in your auction title, your auction won't come up as a result of their search. This means that by far the most important task you have when composing a title for your auction is to use words that are relevant and specific to the item you are listing. While this may seem obvious, a lot of sellers don't do it (in fact, searching for listings in which people have ineffective or misspelled titles can often get you some great items which you can resell for a profit). If you are going to spend any extra time on your auctions, thinking through the best key words for your title is where you should spend that time. With a limit of 45 spaces, writing everything you want in the title just isn't going to be possible. For example, say you have a complete set of four bobblehead giveaways, sponsored by Mountain Dew, that the Minnesota Twins gave away at select home games during the 2002 season. Although accurate, that description is way too long for the allowable number of spaces. The key is to think through an accurate description that includes everything and then taking the most important words out of that and using them. A simple title might read "Minnesota Twins Bobbleheads". However, that title would be ineffective because it isn't specific enough. While there are many buyers who are looking for Minnesota Twins memorabilia and bobblehead dolls, the categories are too large and your auction will be lost among all the listings. You will have a very limited number of people who will ever see your auction. A better title might be "2002 Complete Set Minnesota Twins Bobbleheads". This title uses every available space and gives a specific description of what you are selling. It will also now appear in results for a narrower search. Another possible title might be 2002 Minnesota Twins Bobblehead Bobble Head". People searching for this item type bobblehead into the search engine, while others type bobble head. A search for one will not bring up any results for the other, so at times it's to your advantage to list two different spellings of the same word. Take a few minutes to think about who would want the item you are selling and, if they were searching for it, what words would they be most likely to type into the search engine. You will find many sellers using what some call Power Words. These are words such as RARE, LIMITED, VINTAGE, UNIQUE, WOW, GREAT, WONDERFUL and AWESOME. Many sellers seem to think that using words such as these will attract more bidders to their auctions. I''ll guarantee you right now, that no one types any of these words into eBay's search engine. The use of words such as these does nothing but take up valuable space that could be used for words buyers do search for. Avoid them like the plague. The same applies to the symbols so many sellers use in their headlines. They try to make their headline stand out by using symbols such as $,#, %, and @ in their auction titles. A particular favorite of many is L@@K!. Once again, all of these are a complete waste of valuable title space. The only symbols you should ever use are & or + when their use will save you valuable title space. Acronyms and abbreviations are another matter however. Collectors of certain items have developed their own abbreviations and acronyms for certain commonly used phrases within their specific collecting specialty. It is to your advantage to learn at least some of these. NR, for example, means "No Reserve." To a Star Wars collector ROTJ means "Return Of The Jedi." Becoming familiar with some of these that are common with the type of items you sell will allow you to get more key words into the limited space which will result in more people viewing your auction. Spend some time browsing the titles that others have created for their auctions. Look for both good and bad examples of titles. Just spending a few hours doing this and thinking about where the seller could have improved their title will help you enormously in writing titles for your own auctions. Never forget - the first step is getting buyers to your auctions because if they can't find them, they can't buy anything from you. About the Author Robbin K. Tungett is online marketing and eBay veteran of 8 years. She is most widely known for her eBay expertise and her website http://www.AuctionRiches.com. Please visit her blog at http://www.AuctionHerald.com.

eBay Thieves Make Auctions Tougher

by Sydney Johnston

The online auction world was shocked by the biggest eBay fraud in its seven year history. What made it even more astonishing is the fact that the crooked seller has a five history of successful sales on eBay, accompanied by thousands of glowing testimonials from satisfied buyers. Stewart Richardson, owner of a Michigan store called Retired Figurine Exchange Inc., sold small figurines to eBay collectors, some of them costing thousands of dollars. The heart of eBay's seller-honesty system is "Feedback", which allows buyers and sellers to rate each other. Mr. Richardson earned 6,185 positive feedback points since he started selling on eBay in 1997, with an additional 58 negative and 56 neutral ratings from buyers who bought from him. These scores mean that 98% of the sales Mr. Richardson made resulted in satisfied buyers. Richardson posted large numbers of auctions which concluded early in January, supposedly selling hundreds of figurines from an estate sale. He apparently sold items he didn't possess, listed the same item multiple times and even contacted losers in the auctions, informing them that the winners didn't pay and offering them the opportunity to buy. Then on January 17, he left for lunch and hasn't been seen since. Estimates of his stolen money range from $225,000-$400,000. Investigators later discovered that Richardson spent a total of about eight years in prison during the late 1950s and 1960s for a number of felonies, the most serious of which was assault with intent to commit murder. Nor is he the only high-profile crook. Brian D. Wildman was convicted of wire and mail fraud for selling valuable sports card sets ? but not delivering them as promised. Other sellers were indicted for attempting to sell a fake painting for $135,805. In another case, sellers themselves turned into a vigilante group, seeking justice from a 35 year old man who sold computers and then failed to deliver. The angry buyers apparently broke the law in their attempts to retrieve their money back from the dishonest seller. You and I are damaged by these reports. There are many people who are uneasy about internet sales in general, and these kinds of high-profile stories make it tougher for honest people. In truth, eBay claims that fraud includes only .01% of its transactions, but that isn't reassuring to a nervous buyer. What can we do? 1. Plaster your identity everywhere. Put full contact information where all potential buyers can see it. Give as many ways to contact you as possible. Include your picture (and perhaps the dog and cat. :-) Choose anything that will let buyers see you as a real person with a stable life. If you have testimonials and feedback from happy customers, tell the world. It's true that Richardson had these advantages, too, but he is newsworthy simply because he is an exception and not the rule. Generally, the feedback system works very well. If you have special credentials, let buyers know. For example, perhaps you are a nurse who sells nutritional supplements or you are an antique dealer who has been in the business for 30 years and can prove it. This kind of credibility is much more reassuring than a one page website and a free hotmail address. 2. Credit cards are the safest way to purchase anything. These days, it is possible for most entrepreneurs to accept credit cards through the auction sites or 3rd party processors, even if they don't have their own merchant account. Go even further and explain the safety of credit cards to your buyers. In my one and only personal experience with auction fraud, there were dozens of other sellers who never received their merchandise. Those who paid by credit card, like I did, received their money back. Those who paid with cash or cashier's checks simply lost their money. eBay has fraud protection, but it only covers $175. 3. Escrow is a great safeguard, although it is most practical for higher priced sales. It works like this: a. The buyer sends the purchase price to the escrow company, who then verifies the funds b. The escrow company notifies the seller who ships the merchandise to the buyer c. When the buyer is satisfied, the money is released to the seller d. If the buyer isn't satisfied, he can return the merchandise to the seller and receive his money back. These kinds of conditions are usually specified in advance. That is, "I changed my mind" usually isn't grounds for return of the merchandise. It normally has to be misrepresented in some way for a buyer return. According to news stories, one of Richardson's buyers sent a registered check for $20,000. That money is lost for good. If the buyer had been careful enough to use an escrow company that loss would not have occurred. If you sell expensive items, always mention this option to buyers. Even if they choose not to use it, they will know you have nothing to hide. About the Author Sydney Johnston, the AUCTION QUEEN, was one of the original sellers on eBay.com back in 1996. She is the author of Make Your Net Auction Sell!, published by Dr. Ken Evoy and sitesell. She is the originator and teacher of the famous Auction Genius Course, a powerful 16 hour seminar on the internet that teaches everything necessary to build a powerful and wealthy online auction, and includes software and numerous other aids. http://auction-genius-course.com

[CaRP] Can't open cache file.

[CaRP] Unable to create/open RSS cache file.

[CaRP] Failed to open file: /home/auctionp/public_html/autocache/aa999a137c96df9f3af8d5c323dd4fd2

[CaRP] Can't open remote newsfeed.