Fun Facts About eBay

While doing some research online about eBay and e-commerce I found some great things and facts about many of the companies. So today for a change I thought I would share some of the Fun facts about eBay.

@ Did you know that eBay was once called “AuctionWeb” and the name change from AuctionWeb to eBay took place back in 1997.

@ The first item to be sold on eBay was a broken laser pen that was owned by Omidyar, and when the auction had finished to everyone’s suprise the pen sold for $14.95 – and as they say the rest is history.

@ There are seven main building at eBay HQ, and all of these are named have some of the main areas on eBay – Collectables, Motors, and toys to name a few of the seven buildings. And then in each building the conference rooms are named after for example in the Motors building the rooms are named after cars etc. and so on. And in the Community building the conference rooms take on names such as About Me, Buy It Now, Powerseller etc.

@ Jack Sheng was the first person to reach a feed back of One million.

@ The use of the mobile phone is always growing on eBay and since the introduction of the Mobile Phone App – One item every two seconds is bought using the phone app.And more recently someone bought a plane worth $265,000 using the phone app.

@ The most expensive item so far to be sold on eBay was a Jet that sold for $4.9 Million Back in 2001

I hope you enjoyed these fun facts about eBay, if you know of more fun facts please share them below.

Thanks

I would guess as you are reading this article you are either interested in or already have an eBay or e-commerce business. You are doing this to make some part time or full time money to pay those bills. And even if you are not and are just doing this for a bit of fun, you should always go that extra mile in who you service and delivery the orders that you get online.

We are all humans and as humans we like to be treated with care, love and respect, this is just natural and when we do recieve this we talk to our friends and co-workers about it for days. For a minute I want you to stop and think about the last time you went to a shop and bought something. Did the cashout people pack your bags ? Ask how you were, give you a free gift ? Or you stopped in a hotel and each night you had a chocolate on the pillow. Now unless there was a promotion on they did not need to do this, and again I would guess when this happened you told many people. You see by this one person going the extra mile many people heard and came to that shop.

Ok I know you are sitting there and thinking yeah I can see that working for a shop, but how can I apply this extra mile principal in my on line store ? Well believe it or not there are many ways in which you can go that extra mile, and below I have just listed a few :

@ In your item listing you say you post second class, well leave it at that and send the item 1st class your customer will be happy.

@ Keep your customer up to date from the second they buy to the time you send the order out, this will impress them and keep them up to date with what is happening.

@ Include a small hand written note saying “Thank You” for the order. Customers will love this.

@ If you sell things like perfum etc, you may have boxes of samples, just add a few in with the order, this will not add to the shipping costs and may get you more orders.

@ Another way you can go that extra mile is someone buys something from you and email and say look I know it says you only ship on the day, but it is my daughters sweet 16 party at the weekend, please can you send the item out a bit sooner, and we will pay the extra. You email back and say it is Ok, the item has been sent straight away by 1st class and no extra cost. And in the box you include a sweet 16 card.

With all the above apart from time and a small cost, you have gone the extra mile and people will remember this and will buy from you time and time again and will tell all their mates and family why they should buy from you.

A child’s future is one of the most important things in any parents life and as the child gets older, they too start to think about the future and what the future holds in store for them. Sadly for many a college or university path is out of the question due to the high costs involved.

Yes there are the funds and savings plans you can pay into as soon as your child is born, but these cost money and to many families it is just not practical for them to do this. You can add small lump sums into a plan in the hope that once your child gets to the college age there will be some money in there, buy will this meet the many thousands that will be needed to fund them, guess not.

Another way is for the child to take out student loans, and once they have finished college and get a job they start to re-pay them back. While this is a solution and does work, the child is starting adult life in massive debt and may not pay off all the fees for many years. Not a very good start to adult life.

So what is the answer? Well they could get a job while at college, and work before and after college, but what about college work and exams. It can be fitted in but most part-time jobs take up many hours. Let us think out side the box we are in the 21st century and the age of computers. Teach your child and show them how to use sites such as eBay, Amazon etc, and how they can make money by buying low and selling high.

There are a few steps that you need to take to start with.

@ Show and help them how to open an eBay and PayPal account.

@ Maybe show them hot to open an Amazon Account.

@ Take them through the whole process of how to list items on both platforms and how to offer good customer service.

Once this has been done you have done that old saying “Tell someone how to fish and feed them for a day, but show and explain how to fish and feed them for life” You have just shown your child how to provide for all their college and living fees. Plus they will have a business when they leave too.

Now it is best to start this process a few years before college so your child can build by money before they go, and their online business will be up and running. As for stock I know some parents who will buy the child a few pallets of items to sell, and then teach them how to re-invest some money and use profits to pay bills.

Another way you can teach them to buy from thrift shops, estate sales, car boots, and buy cheap and sell high. But what you sell does not matter that much as long as a profit is made, and the child can attend college and university debt free and live there debt free, and not worry about cash. And if they need a new laptop etc, they will know what to do…………… Sell more stuff.

Hope this has helped you see how just thinking out side the box can let your child attend college, by using eBay and other ecommerce sites.

Each day we all need to make decisions, things like do we get up in the morning, what we eat, what we wear, and if we go to work. For most this is a daily routine which we never think about. But there are days when we say out loud or just in our head, “I have just had enough of this daily lifestyle I want a change.”

To some they just say this and carry on with their lifestyle. To others they decide enough is enough, and each day they do something different to bring their life style to where they want.

Now it is to these people that I want to talk with, there are going to be days when you just do not feel like spending that extra few hours working or learning something new. Please do not give up !!!!

There is going to be times when people laugh at you and say stuff like “You do something like that” please do not listen to them, carry on and make that dream you had come through. And you know what, those people who laughed at you will soon have to say sorry for you will be living your dream lifestyle.

So make a decision today to take steps to make that dream come true and please “Never Give Up”

Another thought and resource bought to you by Andrew Milburn and My Auction Empires.

As we approach the end of another year and thoughts turn to 2010 and all those New Year   resolutions, something that a lot of people think is, de-clutter and lets get rid of all of those items I no longer use, we put them in a black black or several and to the tip we go.

Well stop right there, by all means de-clutter your home but do not go to the tip with those items you could be throwing away hundreds of pounds in cash. Sell your items on eBay. Spend the Christmas period when all the parties are over and start to list.

Very soon your home will be de-cluttered and you will have some extra cash in your pocket to help pay all those bills that will soon be dropping through your door.

Guess some of you may be saying oh yeah, but I know nothing about eBay and how eBay works………….. do not worry if you live in the Lichfield area of Staffordshire I run regular classes or even one to one classes you can find out more about my eBay Education Classes here.But also am willing to help anyone anywhere via email, phone, skype.

Now some of you will say oh I just do not have the time for all this, so sadly to the tip it must go. Stop right there again, I have been selling on eBay for well over 10 years now, and I can help you with your problem. I am also an eBay Trading Assistant and this means I will sell your items for you, I take all the pictures, handle everything and when all the items have sold and the customer is happy, you get a nice paypal or cheque in the post less of course our commission. Sorry we do have to charge a commission I mean we all have to live and eat.

But that aside why not give it a go yourself, I did and I loved it. It is easy, It is Safe and selling on eBay is fun and can make you good money. 

So if you need help in selling your items when you have de-cluttered and you live in the  Lichfield area give us a call.

Another resource bought to you by Andrew Milburn and My Auction Empires

We all want to sell the greatest and hotest items on eBay, but as I want to be honest here and although you will see the latest gadget selling on eBay, this is not a route for the average seller to take part in. But I hear you say well I seebrand new  Ipods or mobile selling all day long on eBay. Well yes you do, but most of the time these latest gadgets are being sold by major companies, and main retailers who can buy in volume and get the right price.
What a lot of new sellers do not know is the fact that items like Ipods some mobile phones, have contracts and they are approved to sell these items and it does not matter how much money you have, if you are not approved you cannot sell.

To get you started selling on eBay sell second hand items or sell in niche areas, but again with these niches drill down deep and you will see your sales go through the roof.

Once you have a very good feel by selling second hand items then you can start to look for new products, but more about that tomorrow.

Happy Selling.

Another resource bought to you by Andrew Milburn and My Auction Empires

Well if you have not noticed we are now on the final countdown for the Christmas holiday’s. For seller’s on eBay you need to know the last days for posting items.

• The last day for posting overseas
• The last day for internal mail

Once you have been able to do this, you need to check that you say this on all your eBay auctions and buy it now’s. It will take you a little while to do this, but it is well worth it in the end as you do not want to have upset customers and buyers saying the gift they had just bought never turned up.

eBay 101 is back with another ebay tip to help you get started with selling on one of the worlds best ecommerce sites. With eBay you need to learn the basics before you can move onto the more advanced steps. It is like when you begin to walk, you need to learn little steps first before you can start to run and do marathons.

So todays eBay 101 tip is that you need to learn how to sell on the site before you start to do any real listings and selling.

• You do this by looking at different auctions and buy it now’s in the niche that you are looking to sell in.
• Read the help files, and it is helpful to print these off and put them into a ring binder so that you can refer to them time and time again.
• Look at the eBay messages to see if there are an special listing or free listing days coming up, as if there are you can learn for free.
• Be prepared to learn from your mistakes and yes you will make mistakes, but you will learn from this.

Back soon with another eBay 101 tip

eBay Confidential

How many times have you wished that there was a real magazine that talked about eBay and online selling – (by real one that comes in the post). Well there is, it is called eBay Confidential.

eBay Confidential is written by a real person who has been active selling both at offline auctions, flea markets, markets, car boots, and then she found eBay. Avril Harper
who is the editor is someone who walks the talks and has multiple Powerseller accounts. (And her powerseller accounts are high volume ones. Also she has taught her daughters well as they too are powersellers.

I have known Avril Harper personally for a good many years, years way before eBay and the internet, and I can tell you with a hand on heart that she is a genuine person who cares for her readers and her clients, and everything that she writes gives you 110% over what you pay for.

Avril has taken her writing and her experience and she was approached by Nick Laight a very well known publisher and was asked to edit an eBay magazine. And eBay Confidential was born

“If you think making money on eBay is
something other people do, then read on…
Give me 90 days and I’ll show you the
easy-to-follow home-based plan that could
make you £1,000 a week – in fact I’ll guarantee it!”
Click here to find out how:

Each month (apart from July and December) you get an action packed magazine, full of helpful hints, tips, ideas and sources to help you take that next step in your eBay selling. Although the magazine is written by a British person and has a British publisher all the hints and tips can be used by other eBay users in other countries.

i suggest if you want to take that next step on the eBay ladder and learn from a person who walks the talk then eBay Confidential , is for you and after the first copy or two you are not happy then you have a 100% money back guarantee. What more could you ask? So go on and give it a go, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

The name again is eBay Confidential

Happy selling

Andrew Milburn and My Auction Empires

In this post I want to give you some tips how you can you use pictures to boast your eBay or online sales. And the simple way to do this is to use before and after pictures.

How do you do this…….. Well for example you sell on eBay a Teeth whitening product, well show a picture of someones teeth before they use your product and one of them afterwards.

Or you might be selling a special car wax polish, again do a picture of the car before and the car afterwards.

Please make these real pictures and not fakes……..because it is wrong, illegal and will harm your business.

Another posting from Andrew Milburn and My Auction Empires.