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"EBAY SELLING" EZINE

February 8, 2004

In this issue:
* Changing Your Email Address?
* Great Reader Feedback:
1. Too Hard On Spammers
2. Maybe Spammers Aren't So Stupid After All!
3. Auction Gold Readers Fooled By Scam
* FEATURE ARTICLE: Is Selling Services On Ebay A Profitable Notion?
* Wanna Buy A State From The Emperor Of West Virginia?
*News From eBay:
1. eBay's New Fee Structure (Groan)
2. Mutual Withdrawal Of Feedback
* From Our Humor Department: Signs You're So Burned Out You're Only A Smouldering Heap!

Changing Your Email Address?

Changing my email address is one of the biggest hassles in the whole net thing. I always forget several ezines – and lose them for months, or even permanently. To make it easier for readers, we have a new feature - if you're going to change email addresses, simply go to this page and the software will handle it for you. That's what computers do best – making our lives easier, not harder.

http://www.auctionknowhow.com/cgi-bin/links.cgi?l=1

Great Reader Feedback
1. Too Hard On Spammers

In our last issue, I mentioned spam titles like this brilliant one “digjuubpjjs” and asked if anyone had a clue what this was about, (other than spammers being stupid, that is). I received this wonderful response:

You are just too hard on these poor spammers!

I say "Thanks very Much, you do a great job with these new titles".

It makes it much easier for me to identify trash can fodder. Subject lines like "Hi there" or "I was just saying to Mark the other day" or a blank subject line have the problem of maybe looking 'normal' and I might just open an e-mail like that.

But these new titles are Wonderful! I don't need to worry about deleting a real e-mail in mistake for a Spam one again. Subject line - digjuubpjjs, means Delete.

So, be kind to these hard working considerate people ;-)

Paul Doig

Thanks Paul for those humorous, and to-the-point comments.

2. Maybe Spammers Aren't So Stupid After All!

Another guess of mine about the spam above was that it is an attempt to avoid spam filters.

Sydney,

Re. strange characters in email:

Your first guess is the right one - avoiding spam filters. Those characters in the subject, and sometimes on the bottom of emails, are randomly generated by spammer software.

The ISPs have detection mechanisms, and if they see thousands of duplicate emails going out at once, they may consider it spam and take action. The random generation of these characters tries to make it appear that each email is unique so that the spam will bypass the detection mechanisms.

Of course, spammers are stupid too, but we don't need email from them to know that :)

Best,
Jeff Hope

Thanks to you, Jeff. Now when we see those ridiculous subject headings above, we will understand them better.

3. Auction Gold Readers Fooled By Scam

We have said it often in this ezine, and will say it again: NEVER!!! respond to an email request for information by going to a site from the email! NEVER!

These wretched emails constantly appear in our mailboxes that are nothing but scumbags and thieves taking advantage of the anonymity of the net. A couple of times every week I get emails saying my eBay account has been suspended. Then I am directed to a page where I am supposed to fill out a form that will “update” my information and my account will then be clear.

It's a trick! eBay and other reputable companies will not do this! A couple of readers have fallen for this recently, so beware!

Dear Ebay user,
It has come to our attention that your eBay Billing Information records are out of date. That requires you to update the Billing Information If you could please take 5-10 minutes out of your online experience and update your billing records, you will not run into any future problems with eBay's online service. However, failure to update your records will result in account termination. Please update your records in maximum 24 hours. Once you have updated your account records, your eBay session will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Failure to update will result in cancellation of service, Terms of Service (TOS) violations or future billing problems.
Please click here to update your billing records.
http://cgi1.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MyEbay=accountupdate/
Thank you for your time!
Happy New Years,
eBay Billing Department team.
As outlined in our User Agreement, eBay will periodically send you information about site changes and enhancements. Visit our Privacy Policy and User Agreement if you have any questions.
Copyright 2002 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.
eBay and the eBay logo are trademarks of eBay Inc

If you get any of these ridiculous emails, always go directly to the REAL site, and check it out. Do not fill out online forms directed by an email.

FEATURE ARTICLE: Is Selling Services On Ebay A Profitable Notion?

The overwhelming majority of the items sold on eBay and other auction sites are physical goods. There are a small number of exceptions, though, and one possibility that is usually overlooked is that of services.

Selling services on eBay may have some great advantages:

1. Depending on what service you are offering, there may not be any necessary inventory or equipment for you to store, unlike the space challenges of hard goods

2. Best of all, there is no advance expense. Unless your service sells, you have no responsibility. In other words, the only risk is your listing fee.

An important point is that you should only sell only those services for which you are already equipped. For example, one service on eBay involved selling personalized cartoons. There were a large selection of choices, in both professions and sexes, so if you were a woman school teacher, for example, you could buy a cartoon of a lady teaching a class, and it would have various personalized information on the cartoon, such as your name, titles of favorite books, and more.

The problem, though, was that the seller had to buy some VERY expensive software to make the cartoons (in excess of $1,000), plus the pictures themselves required special paper. He already had a business selling the cartoons, so eBay was a natural extension of his main business. However, spending this kind of capital just for eBay would probably be a risky proposition.

How can you know if your services will sell?

Like everything else, demand is the #1 consideration. One of my students tried unsuccessfully to sell Bible verses that he was personalizing with his own caligraphy. Apparently, the demand simply didn't exist.

But, there are some services that do well. Here are a couple of “ordinary” ones.

Example 1: (seller's ID removed)

http://auction-genius-course.com/listings/service.shtml

With this auction, the seller is offering to transfer your old video treasures to DVD. Most people know that old movies and tapes fade over time and that DVD offers a way to preserve them indefinitely.

This auction offers this company/seller a way to sell “extras” outside the $24.99 mentioned in the auction. Want a customized introduction? Add $5. How about a 10 chapter navigation menu? That will be an additional $20.

Auction #2:

http://auction-genius-course.com/listings/service3.shtml

A similar service involves having a photograph transferred to artist canvas. The seller wisely mentions that this service was sold on QVC for over $100, giving legitimacy to this idea. (Of course, it is very possible that it wasn't HIS service that was sold on QVC, but only a similar one).

I checked out the company information on google and located this seller's business:

http://vinyllettering.com/photo.htm

As you can see, selling on eBay is a terrific way to support an existing business and help grow your customer list.

Auction #3 and #4:

http://auction-genius-course.com/listings/service2.shtml

http://auction-genius-course.com/listings/service1.shtml

Now we get into some more creative areas. Our first example capitalizes on a trend for “mobile” advertising. He is offering the services of his car as an advertising billboard for the period of one year. This is a goofy sort of listing because the seller will move anywhere in the US, depending on the desires of the buyer (or so he says). But, he does illustrate that with a little creative thinking we can all come up with some auction items that require zero money.

Our second example is much more likely, because the seller is a pro bowler who tours on the women's pro bowling circuit and is seen by many people. To make her offer credible, she mentions that she has had coverage by such well known media as ESPN, USA Today and Sports Illustrated for Women. Again, it would cost her absolutely nothing to wear a logo by her buyer.

Services are a low cost way to have something to sell on eBay, especially if your offer goes along with any existing business you already have. As always, do your homework before committing to spending any money on equipment or necessities for the service that you offer.

Wanna Buy A State From The Emperor Of West Virginia?

An attempt to auction off the state of West Virginia drew 56 bids and nearly enough promised dollars to fill the state's projected budget hole before eBay learned of the joke.

By Tuesday evening, with five days to go in the sale of item number 2372779353, "Entire State of West Virginia," bidders had bumped the ante up to just $1 short of $100 million.

"As an eBay consumer myself ... that's a heck of a bargain!" joked Amy Shuler Goodwin, spokeswoman for Gov. Bob Wise, who's projecting a $120 million deficit for fiscal 2005.

The seller, identified only as "fishstuffnthings," did not immediately respond to e-mails late Tuesday. Nor did "nosnam1488," who was the high bidder.

Within minutes, the auction was unplugged and the state was "no longer available."

"Obviously, this buyer doesn't have the goods to sell," said Chris Donlay, spokesman for the San Jose, California-based online auction company.

But for "fishstuffnthings," it was fun while it lasted, despite some misspellings:

"I, as emperor of West Virginia, have been appointed as steward of this sale," he wrote. "You are bidding on the ENTIRE STATE of West Virginia. Please note that this auction does not come with governing rites, nor the inhabitants of said property. You also may not change the state flag, bird, or so on. This is merely for bragging rights, or to hang a sign in your garage that says, 'I own West Virginia.' Also please note, you will have every right to succeed from the union, but that has been tried in the past without much success. I am also willing to relinquish the seat of 'Emperor' FOR FREE!"

News From eBay: eBay's New Fee Structure (Groan)

As of February 2, eBay is raising their fees. Here they are ... at least store owners are getting a break.

Store Inventory Insertion Fees:
Duration: 30
Current Fee $0.05
New fee $0.02

60 days
Current $0.05 + .05 surchg
New $0.02 + .02 surchg

90 days
Current $0.05 + .10 surchg
New $0.02 + .04 surchg

120 days
Current $0.05 + .15 surchg
New $0.02 + .06 surchg

*GTC (*Good 'Til Cancelled)
Current $0.05 + $.05/30 days
New $0.02 + .02/30 days

Seller's Assistant Pro Subscription Fee:
Current Fee
$15.99 / Month
Fee as of February 2, 2004
$24.99 / Month

For a complete listing of fee changes, go here:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/announcement/1.html?ssPageName=CMDV:AB0402023

You can always find the fees for "regular" auctions here:

http://auctionknowhow.com/resource/fees.shtml

From Our Humor Department: Signs You're So Burned Out You're Only A Smouldering Heap!

10. You're so tired you now answer the phone, "Hell."

9. Your friends call to ask how you've been, and you immediately scream, "Get off my back, jerk!"

8. Your garbage can IS your "in" box.

7. You wake up to discover your bed is on fire, but go back to sleep because you just don't care.

6. You have so much on your mind, you've forgotten how to eat.

5. Visions of the upcoming weekend help you make it through Monday.

4. You sleep more at work than at home.

3. You leave for a party and instinctively take your ID badge.

2. Your Day Timer exploded a week ago.

1. You think about how relaxing it would be if you were in jail right now.