Cell Phone Cracked Screen on Ebay

I have a company provided HTC Hero, one of my clients pays for it (it's part of my pay, I'm a sub contractor doing the website for this company and part of my pay as a subcontractor is to get this phone)

Well, I dropped the phone, the screen cracked... it's amazing that the touch screen still works, what sucks is that I did NOT get the repair plan. (the damn phone costs over $400, even on ebay)

I'm looking to give the phone back and get my own phone service, discovered since I am a company now (Frederick Web Promotions) having a phone in my name rather than my customers name, helps build my credit.

OK... well, it turns out there's a BUNCH of people who have cracked screens, I'm not the only one!

Cell Phone Cracked Screen on Ebay

You Sell On eBay And You Don't Have Your Own Website? Are You Crazy?

Whether you sell items on eBay as a hobby or for a part time income or even if you earn a full time living on eBay, not having a Website of your own to augment your eBay sales is like throwing money down the drain.

Look at it this way.

Lets say that over a 10 day auction, 200 people visit your eBay Sales Page and one of those visitors buys your item.

Then what?

What do your 200 visitors do now? Where do they go?

Well, if your not directing them to another buying opportunity then you have probably lost them for ever.

Now, if you had a Website that promoted products similar to those that you sell on eBay, you would be able to direct them to that site and give them another opportunity to make a purchase.

And it's so easy to do!

On your eBay Sales Page you place a link to your AboutMe Page.

On your AboutMe Page you add a link to your Website.

eBay wont tolerate you sending visitors to a Website from your Sales Page, but they are perfectly happy for you to direct visitors to your AboutMe Page.

eBays's policy on the use of the AboutMe Page is that you can direct visitors to a Website outside of eBay as long as that site provides further information on the item you are auctioning or selling.

More information about eBay's AboutMe Page and Sales Pages can be found at http://pages.ebay.com/services/index.html.


So, lets go through a brief scenario!

Let's suppose that your selling "How To" CDs and DVDs on eBay.

You set up your Sales Page for a particular "How To" CD or DVD .

Let's assume in this example that it's a CD or DVD that teaches people "How To Grow Award Winning Roses".

After describing the DVD you would add a line or two to your Sales Page explaining that the visitor can find out more about gardening "How To DVDs" by visiting your AboutMe Page . Then you would include a link that will take them to your AboutMe Page.

It's a good idea to include this information at the beginning, middle and end of your Sales Page.


AboutMe Page

Ok. So you've set up your AboutMe Page to briefly describe some of your other product titles.

You could include an opt-in form here to help build your mailing list. You would definitely include a link to your Website.

Hopefully your eBay Sales Page has done it's job and you have sold the "Award Winning Roses" DVD at a good profit.

But what about those visitors that didn't buy? All 199 of them in this example.

Perhaps that particular DVD wasn't quite what they were looking for.

Not to worry!

You have offered those visitors an alternative and some will visit your AboutMe Page to see what other products you have,

Some will click on your link and visit your Website.

Some of these visitors to your Website will see products that they are interested in and buy.

Even if this only happens with 2 out of your 200 visitors you will have made more money than you would have done if you didn't have a Website.


WEBSITES and DOMAIN NAMES
How do I get a Website?

It couldn't be any simpler to get your own Domain Name and Website than it is nowadays.

WYSIWYG
You could go for a WYSIWYG EDITOR (What You See Is What You Get) site builder where you fill in the "blanks" with your information. See www.ephox.com/default.asp for a WYSIWYG Editor

LEADING EDGE EDITORS
You could use one of the leading edge brand products such as Dreamweaver at www.macromedia.com or MicroSoft FrontPage at www.microsoft.com/frontpage/.

DIY CODING
You could learn to write HTML (Hypertext Mark Up Language)if you wanted to.
A good tutorial can be found at www.htmlgoodies.com/.

A good HTML Editor can be found at http://www.evrsoft.com/1stpage2.shtml (this is what I use and it's free).

OUT SOURCE
You could pay someone else to do it for you and a good place to find someone is www.elance.com/


DOMAIN NAMES
You will want to choose and register your own Domain Name.

A word of warning here. Don't use a free hosting account for your Website.

You will not be able to use your own domain name and if you want your business to look professional and be taken seriously you must have your own Domain Name.

You can buy a unique Domain Name for as little as $8.00 per year and you can find out if the name you want is available by carrying out a search at most hosting sites for example Namecheap at www.namecheap.com


HOSTING
There are many hosting sites to choose from and a search on your favourite search engine will bring up many.

The most important thing here is that you get what you pay for.

By now, most people are aware of free web space. I'm all for getting something for nothing but a time may come when you choose to promote products or services belonging to you and this is where the need for you to own your own Website becomes paramount.

A Website belonging to you is a must if your business is to be taken seriously.


WHAT WILL IT COST
Website hosting can cost from nothing to upwards of hundreds of dollars but I would suggest that a good average fee would be about $20.00 a month for Hosting.

The monthly fee will largely be dependent on what services and optional extra's you need, my advice would be to start out with an inexpensive package and upgrade when you need to – but remember, you "get what you pay for".

If you think that you may need technical help, or you might have questions that you need answering, be sure to pick a hosting company that can provide that level of support.

You will have to decide how important this is to you.

My minimum requirements of a hosting company would be one that backed up it's servers on a daily basis (that way my precious information is protected) and provided secure server access so that my customer’s details such as credit card details etc were kept confidential.


FREE WEB HOSTING SERVICES
Why pay for hosting when there are so many free Websites?

The main problem with free Website providers is that you will not be able to use a Domain Name belonging to you, and as we have already discovered, your very own Domain Name is a must if you are considering running a business on the Internet.

Other problems are:

1) Unreliability:

Your Website could be off-line for days or even weeks.
Complaining won't do much good; you're not paying anything for it after all.

2) Short life span:

Free sites are notorious for closing down after a few months and all of your hard work disappears along with them.

3) Other people advertising:

Your Web Host will earn money from putting other peoples adds on your site, something which you have no control over.

Do you enjoy visiting Websites that bombard you with advertisements that are not relevant to your needs and then send you off to another site just when you think you have finished?

I don't think so and neither will your visitors.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

We all like something for nothing.

But, in the long run, when it comes to promoting your business via "your" WebPages, you’re better of paying.

My advice, if you’re really serious about owning a Business Website, be prepared to spend about $14.00 per month on hosting.


So.

Don't let the visitors to your eBay auctions pass you by!

1. Get your Domain Name

2. Decide how your site will be created.

3. Get a Hosting Account.

4. Enjoy all that extra money you will be making.

For further information on modifying your ebay Sale Page and AboutMe Page including the HTML coding required visit www.ebayvisitorvalue.com

If your thinking about creating a website, I can highly recommend KIOSK.WS

Go check them out at:-

http://www.ebay-articles.com/

Ian D Major is the creator of www.eBay-Articles.com, the one stop resource for information, reports and articles about all things eBay.

To subscribe for free to eBay-Articles and get Articles, Reports and Bonuses delivered to your inbox weekly, just visit : -

http://www.ebay-articles.com

and fill out the form.

CopyRight 2005 Ian D.Major

When To Bid... That Is The Secret

My Kids Taught Me How To Buy On Ebay

I'm a little embarrassed, I shouldn't be, there is so much to IT that no one person can know it all.

The IT field (which I am not in) has fields that are related but not the main thrust of, IT does not mean applications but IT people are asked to know what it is, Ebay is a website and I do deal in websites but...

The "talent" is not in KNOWING everything but knowing where to go to ask for help.

My daughter taught me how to bid on stuff, I work 80 hours a week meaning I've got my head buried in certain stuff so deeply that the obvious just passed me by:

How To Bid On Ebay To Get What You Want At The Price You Want It For.

1. Look for an auction that doesn't have much time left on it
2. Bid at the last few minutes of the close of the auction
3. Know when to walk away

I got into bidding wars and got so frustrated I simply threw my hands up and bought only from "But It Now" buttons.

The same thing you just lost a the bid on will probably go up for auction again, perhaps in a few hours!

I'm looking for a couple of Windows XP Cds with the serial number, still in the package.

I do NOT want a used copy.

So I'm going to have to order from a computer store, one that also has an Ebay Store (you can do that, if you want to sell stuff, you can open up an Ebay Store online, and you don't even have to have a "real store", you can do so from your coffee table or basement)

Now I get it.... wait until the last half hour of an auction (auctions have time deadlines) and hope the next highest bidder isn't watching their computer screen.

It was that simple (and I missed the obvious)

Be a Buyer Before A Seller

I want to sell stuff on ebay.

I want local (to me) Frederick Maryland people to ask me to sell their stuff on ebay.

I don't yet know what I'm doing

My first thought is to learn my way around ebay by learning what it's like to be on the other end.

... strategy:

Be a buyer before I'm a seller.

To date I've been buying stuff for my computer(s) that I'd normally shop for at tigerdirect.com

Here's what I've learned:

Buy It Now button

If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. When you shop on ebay, which is to say when you search for stuff on ebay, the search page is divided into "top sellers" at the top and other listings that may not have the rating "top seller"

Once you scroll down you'll see similar items listed with not very much to help you tell them apart, save the seemingly low prices.

don't waste your time on the low prices... as soon as you bid, the price will go up

I find this infuriating.

I just look for the "buy it now" button and buy it

Amazon.com Putting Pressure on Ebay? Ebay Responds

A couple of posts ago I reported what I'd learned from my newbie experiences delving into the Ebay world. I reported that to offer something for sale on Ebay meant you had to pay Ebay up front. Amazon.com on the other hand let's you offer something for sale and you don't pay until it sells.

You see, Amazon.com has moved aggressively towards using it's juggernaut book seller/ electronics seller, Kindle selling super power and moved to take over a substantial portion of Ebay's auction business. Amazon certainly has the clout and extensive user base to pull this off.

I bought some stuff on Ebay, I bid on stuff, got confused, learned a bit and bought what I'd wanted and paid what I thought was a decent discounted price for it. My merchandise came on time as promised and over all I'd say I had a pleasant experience using Ebay for the first time.

What I learned: People put stuff up for auction and let you *think* they're willing to sell it for pennies on the dollar, or at a tiny fraction of what they really intend to sell it for.

Bait and switch?

Every time I bid on something that was so cheap I just couldn't pass it up, I got outbid... Every time, I mean within seconds. At first I thought someone in another state was bidding at the same time I was. I learned that the seller set a price that he refused to sell it for less, the too good to be true price listed was a ruse.

That pissed me off, I gave up for a time, I belong to a respected online marketing forum or bulletin board and posted a question. That's where I learned most likely the above minimum price point concept. Some one graciously told me about a "Buy it now" button.

I went back to the auction of the computer hard drive, licensed copy of Windows XP that I was after and "bought it now" for a price that I believed was lower than the store but not too much higher than I'd wanted to pay.

====

I'm wanting to offer for sale ebooks I've written and plan to write on Ebay. Digital or Intellectual Property. Downloadable digital informational ebooks that have no delivery costs what so ever, no shipping costs at all, a *virtual product*.

I also found that Ebay now offers blogs, well I'm a professional blogger with well over 100 blogs under my belt.

Will post again soon as I learn more

Ebay in Frederick Maryland -Now I'm Buying on Ebay Left and Right

Ebay in Frederick Maryland

Now that I'm comfortable with Ebay I find myself buying software and computer hardware often.

I had to fix my daughter's computer, she managed to get a nasty virus and did not have the recovery disk as she bought her laptop used (and it didn't come with one)

Purchased a copy of Windows XP, with licence, still in the wraper: $61

Purchased an adapter to hook up an older IDE hard drive into a newer computer that uses the SATA format - $4.97 (did not see that it came from a Hong Kong distributor, that will take a while to get here I imagine)

Purchased an IDE hard drive (got it to replace an older computer so we have a spare in the house AND to serve as storage for our back ups, gonna network the computers) $42

Now I'm looking for an older version of Adobe Acrobat, which I'm looking to pay less than $100 for (the latest greatest version probably goes for $300 - $400 or more)

Looking for an older version of Jasc Paint Shop Pro, looking to pay $40 if I can, not worth it to me if it costs more than that.

I will soon get into learning the ropes on selling stuff on Ebay, but I felt it important to observe the Ebay expirience from the buyers view point first.

Last year I saw a store in East Frederick, across from the Sheetz, not far from the Fairgrounds that offered to sell your stuff on Ebay for you. Apparently there wasn't enough interest to generate enough cashflow to cover the rent on store front real estate...

Will see how easy it is to do this for Frederick Marylanders from this virtual platform.

I'm thinking you send me a digital pic of what you want sold on Ebay, I won't bother if you can't send me the pic, pics can be from a cell phone, I wont do it without a pic

more coming...

Just started buying on Ebay

Try it before you sell it

I can't in good conscious write about selling on Ebay without actually testing to see what the expirience looks like from the customers point of view.

Since one of my computers had a virus on it and I needed to reinstall (and said box did not come with a recovery disk because I got it used) I made my first Ebay auction purchase.

A legal (not bootlegged) copy of Microsoft Windows XP ($60.00, with free shipping)

A description of the expirience:

I searched on Ebay for "windows XP"

kept seeing low prices... low enough to make me wanna buy RIGHT NOW

each time I seem to have been outbid within 5 seconds of my bidding... it's as if someone KNEW what I was going to bid as soon as I knew???

This went on for days... I figured that the person or company offering the product had set a pre determined price that was the lowest they would accept.

I saw XP on amazon.com for $80, I saw the same thing on Ebay for $30 (but could never get that price) 3 days running I bid up a dollar and was outbid within milliseconds

What gives?

I gave up... the next day I saw it "offered" at $20... that whetted my apetite!

got outbid again (wonder why I thought it'd be any different???)

Then... I got smart (or the person offering the product got smart, haven't figured out which one of us "got smart" first)

I spotted a "Buy It Now" price... more than I'd wanted to pay but less than I saw it on amazon.com

Presto Chango: my first sucessful "bid"