There are a plenty of free e bay.com free auction template services out there and I would like to help you find the service that will best suit your needs by comparing what i feel is the top two contenders. FoamTemplates.com and Auctioninsights.com.

In the left corner… we have www.auctioninsights.com with the number one ranking website in google for the coveted search phrase, “free auction templates” This site contains a large amount of helpful information but the Template Designer does lack customization options. You can enter a title, description, and shipping details like most template makers, but are limited to 3 full size pictures, and there is no easy way to change your color scheme without diving into Html. I would say this site does have an edge on reach because of the helpful e bay.com related information and the site age is much greater so there is a slight reputation boost as well.

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Liquidation Dot Com (lcom) is an online-auction site for surplus goods. One of the best features of lcom is that you have high visibility with any of your auctions. Unlike eBay, where there are thousands of listings per category, lcom categories generally have 2-3 pages of listings. You will definitely get eyeballs viewing your product.

The lcom process works as follows: you submit your product information to lcom, including the description, pictures, weight, etc. The staff will then put up an ad for you. I have found them to be both helpful and friendly. After the auction has closed, a third-party shipping company will contact you to arrange the pickup. You can view all of this progress at the lcom Web site. The customer and seller have no direct contact - questions are answered online, but are filtered through lcom.

All lcom auctions start at $100 with no reserve. Normally I can sell a whole pallet of product and receive a price equivalent of what I would receive selling them on eBay one at a time. The fees for your auction are 15% of the winning auction price with a minimum of $150. The $150 minimum may seem high, but the exposure and ability to move a large load of product at eBay-type pricing makes it very attractive. Payment usually takes 7 - 10 days after the auction closes, depending on the shipping times, etc.

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One of the keys to being successful on eBay is know what items are the top sellers and which ones have too much competition. There are several ways to search eBay to find out what is on fire and what you should be selling.

Go to eBay and look for eBay Pulse. This page allows you to see what products are most searched for on eBay. You will also see the top eBay stores for this product. If you want you can select a category such as home and garden and see what terms are being used most frequently. This is a great way to see what is in demand on eBay and what product is being supplied. Once you know the high demand products then it is a matter of finding a wholesale supplier of that product.

Most successful eBay sellers are ones who have found reliable wholesale suppliers and drop shippers. I started selling on eBay back in 1997 and it took several months before I found someone I could trust to supply me with wholesale items. There are several ways to look for wholesale suppliers. The obvious way is to search the internet for suppliers. If you are selling bedding then go to Google and type in “wholesale bedding suppliers”. Now the hard part starts. You will have to weed out the bad guys and hopefully find the one or two good wholesale companies. Another problem you might run into is that you will need a wholesale license or business license before the wholesaler will send you product.

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eBay selling is a challenge year round. For s successful holiday selling season, make sure you are taking advantage of all of eBay’s features to boost your holiday sales. Here are a few tips to help you increase sales and stay organized during the busy holiday selling season.

Add Best Offer to all inventory items. You never know what people will purchase once they have already bought something from you and are browsing your store for deals,or to take advantage of your combined shipping rate. Adding Best Offer will result in more sales. You don’t have to accept the offers, but you will give your customer more options, appear to be a more flexible seller, and be able to capitalize on more opportunities to sell your items.

Use Buy It Now on all auctions from now until Christmas. Decide on what you will accept for a BIN price. As the holiday gets closer, people procrastinate, sometimes even panic, and don’t want to wait for an auction to end. Offering BIN will result in more sales. (Just do your research and make sure you have your BIN price set high enough.)

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This morning, in my Google Alerts inbox came a question from a small business owner about eBay…

This is not unusual because while eBay wants to create the impression that the entire process of setting up an eBay selling account is a simple 123 affair, in reality it can be quite a challenge. There are numerous decisions to be made and each one is important.

Nothing could be more important as an initial decision for a small business when setting up an eBay account,than the choice of a name for your eBay ID.

Plan ahead and think about this vital decision.

The eBay ID name can be changed at a later date, but for the sake of continuity and because when you change your name, you lose links and possibly your customers, it is best to research and select the name you will stick with.

I hope I answered the question adequately for crhodes113 on the Marketing Profs Know How Exchange… (See text below)

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