How To Stop Ebay Buyers From Sniping Your Auction For Less Than It’s True Value

There are many savvy eBay buyers who use automated bidding programs, which are referred to as sniping software. Sniping allows the eBay buyer to place an unseen bid in the last seconds of an eBay auction allowing them to win the ebay auction at a very low price if there was no reserve.

This simple method I will now outline to you in detail can be used in a variety of ways. I have even seen eBay sellers use this as a low cost advertising tool.

By preapproving your buyers, it will flush out any eBay snipers. The interested buyer will need to email you to get approval even to bid on your auction.

One of the advantages of this procedure is that it allows total control over the eBay auction, you decide who gets to bid on your ebay auctions.

Step 1 set up your eBay auction as you would normally

Step 2 Click this Link to add an eBay User to you preapproved buyer List
(Note, you can approve anyone you know with an eBay user ID that does not mean they have to buy it) http://pages.ebay.com/services/buyandsell/biddermanagement.html

Step 3 View you eBay auction it will state in Large Bold print this auction is only open to preapproved bidders).

Use this technique to gauge response on any new item you have for sale. Once an eBay Buyer emails you asking to be placed on the approved list, You should then go and check their bid history and feedback.

You can check to see what they purchased and for how much, it will give you the information needed to price the item correctly. This will also give you a profile of what the bidder buys and some great ideas of other successful ebay seller’s techniques.

Example
Start you eBay auction at 1Cent with no reserve. Immediately approve an eBay buyer you know with the link I supplied. To even bid on your auction the eBay buyer will need to email you, at which point you can check their feedback and decide if you want to let them bid or not. You listing Fee for this auction will only be 30 cents and you never have to sell the item, do not approve any bidders, it is your choice.(this is great for building inquiries to your sale, then once you have established you have some interest for your item relist without any approval requirement, you will have a bidding war ready to start!

Example 2
I have a laptop computer; I wan to generate some lost cost page views for this item.
I list the laptop in a 3-day auction format with 1 cent starting bid and no reserve. I then set up my pre approval with an eBay buyer.

Add bidders at any time up until your listing ends. Remember: It’s generally better to add bidders earlier rather than later for the best bidding results.
Do a Bidder Search – This will allow you to understand the bidding history of the potential bidder.

Any bidder who is not on your list will be asked to contact you by email. Once the bidder has been pre-approved and added to your list, the bidder will be able to place a bid.

You will be amazed at the opportunities that present themselves to you from this simple technique, Remember you can not solicit sales outside of eBay but if someone emails you regarding items you may have in stock, you get the picture!

How to Pre-Approve Bidders/Buyers

Add Item

1. Enter the item number you’d like to restrict to pre-approved bidders/buyers. You can copy your item number from my eBay in the Selling tab or from your item page.

2. Add your approved bidders/buyers in the box below. View tips to pre-approve your bidders/buyers.

Simply Enter each bidder’s/buyer’s User IDs. Place a comma between each User ID or just press the Enter key on your keyboard to display each name on a separate line.

Here is the link to preapprove buyers

http://pages.ebay.com/services/buyandsell/biddermanagement.html

Tim Gilberg is able to provide information and insight from a unique
perspective - that of someone who is actually doing what others just
talk about. Ebay Power Seller Platinum Status was Attained by Tim Gilberg, which is one of the highest sales levels attained selling on eBay. Tim is active on Ebay and liquidation.com as well as consulting
and working with other Top ebay Power Seller’s to give you real life
in use insight, not theories.Visit Tim Gilberg at his website Make Money on eBay

Dropshipping! The Easy Way To Sell Hundreds Of Items On Ebay Without Ever Buying Or Holding Stock!

Imagine having top companies invent, design and buy products, test the market, employ world class copywriters to describe their products, hire top-notch graphic designers and photographers – and give you the whole lot FREE OF CHARGE! Well, that’s exactly what you can do when you start using dropshipping as part of your eBay business.

This article reveals the inside strategies for getting this to work for you.

‘Dropshipping’ describes a process whereby a manufacturer or supplier delivers products directly to your customers without you ever needing to stock or pre-purchase goods.

Typically you list products on eBay, using your own or supplying companies’ graphics and descriptions; you take payment, give the supplying company your buyers’ names and addresses, and they send the product.

That’s your part done; now you can go back to selling.

That’s the theory, in practice it can be so different. Dropshipping is a wonderful way to make big money fast, and about the best way to lose money, too.

Sadly, it’s a fact that many business owners - including dropshipping companies - care more about money than customer care and this can reflect badly for you, in the form of buyer complaints, poor quality products, long delays between customers paying and receiving their goods.

The onus is on you to take care of your business, and your customers, so be as careful picking dropshipping partners as you are planning all other aspects of your business.

MORE ABOUT DROPSHIPPING

* Some so-called dropshipping offers border on scams, asking a high fee to access a site, where you’ll find more firms offering dropshipping information who in turn ask payment to access their sites, and so on, and so on. Where products are accessible with graphics and sales materials for your eBay listings, oftentimes the goods are rubbish, sometimes they’re grossly overpriced. They might be seconds, end of line, customer returns, damaged… you get the picture!

* That said, there are many excellent paid-for membership sites offering sound contact details for worldwide dropshipping companies. Some membership sites continuously scrutinise their recommended suppliers, and score entries 1 to 5, acceptable to excellent, based on member feedback. The best we found, Worldwide Brands, is eBay acknowledged and operated by Chris Malta, Product Sourcing Editor of eBay Radio. The company has a team of researchers on constant lookout for new dropshipping and wholesale suppliers to add to their directory.

* Find dropshipping companies yourself via their own advertisements in local newspapers (not national; too competitive), at trade shows, by word of mouth from sellers of non-competing products. Search for them online via search engines such as www.google.com (our preference); use appropriate keywords like ‘manufacturers dolls (or other product) New York (or other location)’.

* Look for firms selling lots of different products, on a related or unrelated theme. Within hours of deciding to sell dog featured jewelry, we searched www.google.com and found two firms willing to dropship their wide ranging products to our customers, with no minimum order, and a CD of graphics and sales materials arriving next day. Another firm, based a few miles from us, has more than twelve different products for over 100 breeds of dog, and no one currently selling their products on eBay! No graphics either, so we checked their products, bought one of each, and created our own unique listings.

* Typically you pay the supplier an agreed amount per shipment upfront, although some will invoice you later. For local firms you can pop down, offer their share, hand over delivery labels. When you have a good supplier, ask permission to pack goods yourself at their premises so you can insert special offer flyers, money-off vouchers. For distant suppliers keep close tabs on how well they serve your customers. See the next paragraph.

* Negative feedback is much more likely using dropshipping and other partner companies than where you handle all customer transactions direct. With the wrong partners you could generate bad feeling, requests for refund, negative feedback, dismissal from eBay. Check partner companies by reading feedback from your customers. Look for problem delivery times, product quality concerns, poor customer service. Mounting negatives with similar complaints signify problems you must correct or seek new suppliers.

* My experience of dropshipping has been exceptionally good. I have companies posting products to my customers minutes after they get my faxed order and they always put my company details into the package, never their own. They don’t poach my customers, they’ve never asked payment from me up front, they’re better than I’d hoped for. Getting them was remarkably easy and all down to good communications. I telephone every potential dropshipper before promoting their products. I get to know the other person, determine how serious they are about their business, how approachable they are. Those I have chosen for my business talked more about customers and products than money, they were considerate and caring, keen to please. That first impression has always served me well. Do the same, you won’t be disappointed.

* If problems ensue, don’t blame the dropshipper without checking first. It could be you haven’t explained your requirements properly, they may have serious business or personal problems, it could be coincidence or a batch of particularly difficult customers to blame for those negatives. Be careful, check thoroughly, and have an emergency plan for major problems. Have plenty of eggs in your basket: use several dropshippers, not just one, and have quality replacements waiting in line.

* Sales materials and graphics are normally provided by larger suppliers or can be downloaded from their web sites. Some have printed catalogues from which you can scan product pictures, others have CDs containing digital pictures. Using their pictures and descriptions makes life a lot easier for you; you won’t spend time and money buying products, taking pictures, creating descriptions. But typically, the bigger the company, the more aggressive their marketing, and the more likely their products are known to other eBay sellers. The moral is to not rely solely on these bigger companies. Very often firms without sales materials and graphics are small companies, probably unknown to most other resellers, with fabulous products, and closer control over quality and communications. Of three companies providing my entire dog jewelry stock, two are one man set ups, the other a father and son business.

* Good organizational and communications skills are needed, especially where you sell hundreds of different products from numerous dropshipping and supplying companies. I’ve seen PowerSellers listing hundreds of thousands of products at one time, all totally different, and obviously from lots of individual suppliers. Imagine taking just one thousand orders a month (many eBayers take tens of thousands), where you must ensure each order reaches the correct fulfilment company, with accurate customer details, and proper payment. Complicated and very time-consuming! Far better sell a smaller range of high
profit items from a few select suppliers.

* Check competition on eBay for your dropshipping company and their products before planning to sell. I found a wonderful dropship firm for CDs, there were hundreds of different titles, their graphics were bright and colorful, a more professional organization was difficult to find. I joined their program, downloaded their graphics and sales materials, created and uploaded my listings, and waited, and waited, and nothing happened. Soon afterwards I checked for others selling similar products on eBay and found dozens of them. I should have checked first as in the next tip.

* Search competition for your product by keying the name, title or maker’s name into the search box top right on eBay’s home page. No entries for similar products might be good news for you, might because others might still be selling these products, just not right now. Bad news too because others might have tried selling similar products with little success. Lots of entries signals lots of competition, but view listings first to check similarity to your product. Where you find just a few people selling similar products, see how much they charge, check completed listings for how many sold and how many second chance offers were possible. More than five firms selling similar products worldwide, I’d say is one or two firms too many, except where they sell through auction and you choose shop only listings. If overseas firms sell similar products, but not internationally, consider selling in other countries.

NOT QUITE DROPSHIPPING BUT EVERY BIT AS GOOD

* Artists and craftworkers are keen on making, not so keen on marketing, and are my favorite source of quality products. I make a point of visiting local craft fairs at least once a month where I find exhibitors selling stunning creations at a tiny fraction of eBay prices for similar items, if any exist. Many items are unique or limited edition and never get seen beyond a few miles of their makers’ homes. My eldest daughter obtains designer jewelry this way, my youngest opts for hand-made dolls and teddies, and I take watercolor paintings on hand-made paper from a young Chinese artist whose work I sell exclusively on eBay. She dropships for me direct to my customers. Visit these fairs once and you’ll return time and again. You don’t have to buy items, most craftworkers and artists will work on commission, rather like a dropshipper who takes payment and delivers the product when you make a sale. Most will dropship to your customers. Find craftwork fairs advertised in local weekend papers, usually under ‘Items for sale’, ‘Fairs and auctions’, ‘Days out’, or similar.

Avril Harper is a triple eBay PowerSeller and editor of eBay Confidential and webmaster of http://www.publishingcircles.com. She has produced a free guide - 103 POWERSELLER TIPS - which you can download with other freely distributable reports and eBooks at http://www.toppco.com.

Where To Find Products To Sell On Ebay

One key for business success using eBay is sourcing products to sell. The first questions eBay sellers should ask themselves are: “What can I sell?” and “Where can I buy?”

There are two kinds of sellers on eBay, garage sellers and business sellers. Garage sellers are people who sell products they are not going to use any more and that are usually not new. Garage sellers are not profit driven, their main objective is usually to get rid of some stuff they don’t need. They will be happy to make some money by selling something that is no longer useful to them. On the other hand, business sellers are people who will buy and sell products for profit, they consider eBay a business and need to earn profit on the products they sell.

The first key to success for business sellers is an old marketing rule, RESEARCH. The products you need to sell are products that eBay buyers will want to buy. Apart from being a massive market place, eBay offers you a cheap source of research that you can conduct without moving from your computer.

If you are a business seller, it is fundamental that you spend some time researching before you decide which products you want to sell. Follow these research guidelines:

1. Search for the categories that are most popular. The first index is the number of listings that exist under each category. In addition, you need to look at how many bids the products have.

2. Look at the ratings of the sellers who are listing products in each category and study their profiles. See how many products they are selling and how many products they have sold in the past.

3. Analyze prices. You need to become an expert in your category and you need to know at which price a product is worth buying as well as the expected final winning price of your auction.

4. Select no more than one or two categories. “Specialization” is another basic rule of marketing. It is better to become an expert on something, as this will inspire confidence and trust in your potential customers. Online marketing is all about trust.

For conducting good research, you need time and organization. There are different software programs in the market that can help you save time as well as optimize your research.

Now that you are becoming an eBay expert and have conducted a proper search, you are almost ready to start your business. Before starting to sell, you need to buy! Here are some ideas from where you can source products:

1. Write your own e-book and sell it. If you have any passion or are an expert on a subject for which you can find a niche in eBay, do not hesitate to spend some time on writing your own book. The advantage of this is that after your initial time investment, you can sell and sell copies of the book without having any additional costs. Selling information products is one of the most profitable businesses. Even if you are not an expert writer, you can find other people who can write the book for you.

2. Use drop-shipping. There are wholesalers that will sell you products and send them to the address that you tell them. The advantage of this source is that you do not need to carry inventories, so your investments are minimized. After your auction is finished, you send them your customers address and they will do all the shipping. If you decide to use this kind of source, you need to make sure that your auctions winning price can be higher than the price you will pay for the articles. At minimum you should expect to double your costs.

3. Buy from eBay. Many eBayers success comes from knowing how to buy well on eBay and sell the same products at a higher price. If you know your category very well, you can easily find opportunities that will allow you to buy and resell making profit. Again, solid research is fundamental.

4. Buy Asiatic products. If you are willing to carry some inventories, you can invest on Asiatic products and buy them for a very cheap price. You can easily start importing Asiatic products from the Internet at www.alibaba.com.

5. Sell local products. If you live in an area that produces local products which can be bought at a cheap price and shipped to other areas where people would pay more, you should take advantage of the situation.

Best wishes for your success

Discover 101 Ebay Auction Tips in this FREE ebook www.push-button-online-income.com/ebooks

12 Easy Ways to Maximize Your eBay Product Photos

It’s a fact. Clear, high-quality photos will greatly enhance your chances of selling your products on eBay. Here are 12 simple tips that will help you make the most of your eBay product photos.

1. You don’t need an expensive, high-resolution digital camera for your eBay photos. You just need a digital camera that will produce a 640×480 pixel image (which includes just about all digital cameras on the market.)

2. Before you buy a camera, handle it to feel how comfortable it is in your hands. Make sure the camera controls are logical, and that it’s easy to transfer photos from the camera to your computer. The camera should be able to focus within four inches or less.

3. When taking a photo for your eBay product, generally select the camera’s smallest photo size. If you are going to crop the image or upload it to eBay’s picture services, however, select at least a 1024 x 768 image size.

4. Disable your camera’s built-in flash when taking a photo. The built-in flash produces a glare on the photo and makes your products look two-dimensional.

5. Use your camera’s “Macro Focus” feature to take close-ups of your product. (“Macro Focus” is usually indicated by a tulip flower symbol.)

6. The key to effective product photography is lighting, and the key to effective lighting is control. You can control the strength, size, position, color and number of lights you use. And each of these controls changes how the subject looks. Review your camera’s manual to understand your camera’s “white balance” symbols ( i.e. a light bulb for indoor shots with incandescent lights, a sun symbol for outdoor photos, etc.) You’ll use the white balance control to get accurate colors. You can preset the white balance to match the type of light you’re using (daylight, shade, tungsten, fluorescent).

7. Use the “Exposure Control” (EV) to correct light and dark photos. A plus number lightens the image, a minus number darkens it.

8. Use a tripod when taking pictures of your product. The tripod stabilizes your camera and eliminates blurry photos.

9. Photograph your products at an angle.

10.Take more than one photo of each item. For example, if you are selling clothing, take one full-length photo; one photo of the tag showing size, fabric, content, brand; and one or more close-up photos showing the texture of fabric and any details or flaws.

11.Use photo-editing software to make final adjustments.

12.Host your pictures on your own website. You will save money and be able to use as many pictures as you need to adequately show eBay bidders your products. It’s simple, and yet 70 percent of eBay sellers don’t do it.

Adding high-quality product photos that enhance your eBay listings will greatly increase your sales. Try it today!

When And How To Cancel An Ebay Auction Early.

One day, you might decide that you want to end an auction early. Before you do, though, you should consider why you want to do it: cancelling auctions upsets buyers and upsets eBay, and there might be a better to way to get what you want.

I Want to Change my Listing.

If you just want to revise your listing, you don’t always need to end it. For listings that have more than 12 hours left to run and haven’t received any bids, you can revise almost everything. You can remove the Buy it Now price or reserve price, change the duration of the listing, or add listing upgrades.

If the listing already has one or more bids, then you can still add upgrades, or add to the description. You add more pictures too, if you want to. Once the listing gets into its last 12 hours, however, what you can do becomes far more limited, even if it has no bids: you can only really add to the description.

It’s a very bad idea, by the way, to cancel one listing and ask bidders to bid on another listing for the same item instead. The chances are they’ll be annoyed with you, and won’t bother.

The Item is No Longer for Sale.

Perhaps you sold the item to someone else, you lost it or it got broken. Whatever happened, if you no longer have the item to sell, you should remove your listing – in fact, this is just about the only situation when eBay allow you to.

However, you need to make sure you get the listing removed quickly – if you leave it to the last 12 hours, eBay will refuse to let you remove it, whatever has happened. This might seem cruel, but it’s there to stop people from backing out in the last few hours because they want to try again for a better price.

So How Do I End My Listing Early?

You can do it at this page: http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?EndingMyAuction. Just type in the item number and hit ‘Continue’.

Now, be very careful. The option you almost certainly want to choose is ‘Cancel bids and end listing early’, NOT ‘Sell item to high bidder and end listing early’. You’ll be asked to choose a reason why you ended the listing, and then it will end. Your bidders will be emailed to let them know what happened.

Note that ending a listing early because it looked like it wasn’t going to get a good price is against the rules, and eBay could come after you and get upset.

Speaking of breaking the rules, if you’re selling software on eBay, did you know that there are special rules that apply to you? Plenty of sellers have no idea, and are being caught out every day – that’s why our next email will explain the rules clearly for you, just in case you need to know.

Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet auction enthusiast from Nashville, TN. Visit www.auctionseller411.com/ for more great tips on how to make the most from Ebay and other online auctions.

Here’s What I Use to Help My eBay Selling

I get many requests about the systems I use in running my own eBay and internet business.

To give you the answer in one place, here is the software which I use daily in my own business.

I should point out that much of my own activity is now to do with selling digital information via eBay and from websites i.e. ebooks and software, which is why some of the software programs I use are concerned with this activity.

General productivity

1. Shortkeys
This is lovely utility which saves me hours of time each week. It is perfect for those occasions when you are required to key in information to websites. For example, how often do you key in your name and address, or a username and password, or an email address?

With Shortkeys, you associate 3 or 4 unique keystrokes with a string of frequently used information. Let’s suppose I want to have a shortkey for my email address, and I set this as ##z1 in Shortkeys. Whenever I am required to key in my email address, in Outlook, on web forms, in Word documents etc, I just type in ##z1 and Shortkeys instantly replaces that with my email address.

There is a free version called Shortkeys Lite which has a limit of 30 items. The full version of Shortkeys allows you an unlimited number of items.

You can get it here: http://www.shortkeys.com

2. Download Accelerator
If you regularly download ebooks or software, and it seems to take forever, you will find Download Accelerator is a useful addition to your portfolio. Download Accelerator increases download speeds by up to 300%, regardless of the speed of your internet connection. I don’t know how it does it, but I guess 110 million users can’t be wrong!

You can get Download Accelerator here:
http://www.download-accelerator.com

eBook production

1. Adobe Acrobat
I use Adobe Acrobat to create all my ebooks in pdf format as this file can be read by anyone with the free software Acrobat Reader - and this includes Mac users too. The way I create an ebook is to write it in Microsoft Word first. Once I’m happy that the Word version is exactly how I want it, I use an integrated converter which takes the Word file and converts it automatically into a pdf file. This conversion preserves everything which appeared in the Word document, including headers/footers, page numbers and web links.

Whilst I use the full Adobe Acrobat product, there are several free services and software which enable you to convert documents into pdf format.

http://www.pdfonline.com

http://www.primopdf.com

http://www.fastpdf.com

If you are considering developing your own ebooks using Acrobat, and want to be able to use all the facilities which are available, you can see if Adobe Acrobat is for you here:
http://www.adobe.com

2. ebook Covers
It is a fact that showing your ebook in 3D form so it looks like a physical book really helps to boost sales. Compact Draw is the software I use to create my ebook covers. You can try it for 30 days here:
http://www.compactdraw.com

Website creation and maintenance

1. Website design
I use Macromedia’s Dreamweaver to design websites, and indeed to create eBay auction description pages. Dreamweaver is a premium web design product, and unless you’re going to do serious website design I wouldn’t advise you to acquire it.

You can learn about Dreamweaver here:
http://www.dreamweaver.com

As an alternative, you could consider using this free option. NVU is a free web design software package. You can get it from here:
http://www.nvu.com

2. Image Manipulation & Optimizing
I use Paint Shop Pro for picture manipulation and for optimizing. This is important for auction pictures, as eBay have a size limit of 50KB on any pictures which you want to upload to their Picture Service.

Now owned by Corel, PaintShopPro is relatively expensive.

Alternative free image editors include:

http://www.irfanview.com

http://www.drawplus.com

3. Website upload
Cute FTP is probably the best known FTP software. I have used it for several years and have been very satisfied with the software. You can find out about Cute FTP here:
http://www.cuteftp.com

4. Website hosting
ProWebSpace are excellent and reasonable web hosts which I have now been using for over a year. I transferred to them from another host with whom I was having lots of problems. Now, I have a better service, and it’s at one third the price!

You only need companies like ProWebSpace if you intend to “go commercial” in your internet activities. If you do, it’s important to have a paid service as this gives you the right to kick b**t if ever you experience hosting problems. If you’re looking for professional hosting at a very reasonable price, this is definitely where I would start. http://www.prowebspace.com/?id=491

If you’d like to get free web hosting, you can get web space for nothing from a variety of ISPs. Take a look at:
http://www.freeisp.com

Newsletter and other Mailings

1. Newsletter Management
As my newsletter has grown, I’ve tried various ways of managing my mailing lists. I currently use Press-Manager, and have found their service to be very easy to set-up and to use. It’s a web based service, and all mailings are performed from their site. This means there’s no software to be installed, I can manage my mailings from any PC and my ISP no longer bears the mailing load of my newsletter.
http://www.press-manager.com

2. Autoresponding You may know that the use of autoresponders is one of the keys to marketing on the internet. I use Promasoft, and have found it can easily handle everything I want. http://www.autoreplying.com

Those are the the services and software which I use regularly. If you decide to try some of them, I hope you find them to be equally useful for you.

Brian McGregor is an eBay and internet entrepreneur. He recently created the ‘eBay Master Class’ for eBay sellers. For your free copy, please go to http://www.workwinners.com/ebm-request.htm

Ebay Business Opportunity - Man or Mouse - Get Out of the RAT RACE

What is it about running a business that fears many people - is it the initial start up cost, is it not knowing the business basics or is it the thought of the financial freedom that comes with it because that is exactly what you get after involving yourself with the Ebay Business Opportunity. Financial freedom is there for the taking if you want it.

Two of the fear factors mentioned above are partially behind why people choose to ignore the Ebay Business Opportunity. Not knowing how to run a business and worry about start up costs can be put to the back of your mind right now if you crave financial freedom. This is definitely a win win situation if you want it to be.

There are no large amounts of money to hand over to start up and as for knowledge - well you learn as you go along. This is exactly how other Ebay entrepreneurs began and are still reaping in the rewards
The Ebay Business Opportunity is not just for the hungry who have decided enough is enough and wants out of the rat race - it is also a second income for many people on a budget.

Remember the Ebay Business Opportunity is a risk free venture so what are you waiting for - all that is required from you is sheer determination and a little time. Any knowledge on how to run your Ebay business can be found through the Ebay support system or from fellow Ebay members. Beginners gather information by visiting the forums. You will find many Ebay entrepreneurs willing to share what they know with you but remember if you are competition for them then you may not get the help you need. The internet is larger than life so what you need to know can be found elsewhere online.

If you are new to the Ebay Business Opportunity and money is your biggest worry then fret not - have a trial run selling second hand goods that you may have stored in the loft, attic or garage. What you see as trash will bring in cash. So before you go discarding any old items for the refuse man think on how it may be of use to someone else.

The cost to list items on Ebay can vary thus depending on the size of the item you are selling - for example if it be a car then expect to pay more than that of a salt and pepper set. Your dummy run at selling for the first time can include book sales even an e-book on a hobby of yours - the list is endless as to what you can sell. The Ebay Business Opportunity will have restrictions and guidelines on certain articles or items they allow to be sold on the auctions - as in i.e. offensive materials etc.

What other business besides the Ebay Business Opportunity gives you the chance to change the way you live without taking away your second income if you are already holding down a couple of jobs to make ends meet.

Secrets are best kept to yourself but not at http://www.ebay.webinputbiz.com
Lifes a laugh a minute http://www.jesterminute.com

A New Definition of Buyer Beware

“Who’s Suzie?”

My wife Katrina had been acting strangely ever since I had returned home from my Native American cultural class, not to mention the weird phone call I received just before I left, full of little pauses instead of our usual fast-paced communication. Now that I was home she had been pretty much ignoring me completely, then comes this strange question. Katrina was calm but I could tell there was something under her skin as she chopped up the vegetables for the night’s dinner.

“I don’t know anyone named Suzie.” I replied. “Well come to think of it, there’s my old friend Peter’s wife Suzie.”

My wife remained calm, ” Do you want to tell me anything?” she replied.
“There is nothing to tell Kat.”

Katrina was heating up; her trademark rosy cheeks had evolved to boiling teapot. Still however, no steam or whistle had been emitted from her pretty spout.

She looked at me thoughtfully, “Well, I looked at your cell phone today. It seems you’ve been sending text messages to a woman named Suzie. I’ve read around thirty of her texts in the archive; they’re all like “I love you heaps” and “Thinking of you right now”. Who is she Tom?”
A strange feeling overcame me. Katrina seemed absolutely sure that I was guilty of something. Accused yet innocent, her eyes spoke of the obvious evidence that was piled against me. The thing is, we were really having serious relationship problems at the time, with many arguments and rarely seeing eye-to-eye.

Katrina was on the brink of tears and I simply didn’t know what she was talking about. Looking down I could see the cell phone gripped tightly in her hands. Funny, I hadn’t thought about the fact that I own two phones and she was holding the one that I rarely use. A few months back I bought it off eBay as it is extremely small and I don’t want to have to carry my big expensive “computer” phone on me when I am riding my mountain bike. It was actually my second ‘extra’ phone as my wife had killed the first when she had put it through the washing machine.

“Are you talking about that phone Kat? Give me a look at it.” She handed the phone over reluctantly, as if it were evidence in a murder trial. I looked at the messages and sure enough there were a whole bunch from someone named Suzie. Some of the messages were quite raunchy indeed.
Straight away I started to search for the dates of the archived messages, as they would surely prove my innocence. “Look Kat, the dates of these messages were several months ago. I’ve only had the phone for a couple months. They are obviously someone else’s.”

Her look of disbelief was starting to rattle me. It is a really horrible feeling when somebody you love so much doesn’t have trust in you. I then searched and found the receipt from eBay for when I bought the phone. After showing the date on the form to her I could tell she was starting to see that I was telling the truth, but the wall of disbelief still hung over, clouds covering her bright face.

Finally I decided to search for the guy who sold me the phone. If this didn’t prove my case nothing would save me from eternally sleeping in the doghouse. Using the email address he had used in the sale proved fruitless as my message kept coming back
‘Return to sender.’ Let me tell you I was really beginning to panic! Then, bang! The sound of the gun rang in my ears…just joking. It didn’t get that serious! No, the bang was the sound of the flash of inspiration that suddenly entered my mind. I went back on the Internet and eBay and searched for the guy’s name. I found it with a different email address, as he must have changed his Internet Service provider. A huge feeling of calmness rushed over me like the first wave at the beach when you have been in the heat all day.

Next I sent him a message asking him about the archived messages to ‘Suzie’ and asked him to ‘Carbon Copy’ (Cc) his response to my wife’s email address so she would see that it was authentic.

The man then replied with a message that said he was very embarrassed about not deleting the messages on the cell phone. All right, pay dirt! He also went on to say that his wife was named Suzie and gave her address so Kat could then contact her if necessary. He seemed especially nervous about the content of the messages and said that he hoped nothing too x-rated was there as he and his wife often used risqué language to keep their relationship’s fire ’stoked up!

O.K. So there’s my story. My main message to you from the whole experience is that if you are buying or selling a product on eBay, make sure you clean up any unwanted information. It can really cause problems! Let me also tell you that now I am back searching on eBay as my new phone has also been sent on a mission back to the creator as it too has been on the ‘Quest for the spin cycle’!

*This story is based on a true story of someone (not the author) with names changed.

Jesse S. Somer
http://www.m6.net

Jesse S. Somer is a creative writer working at M6.Net: ‘The web-hosting company for humans.’ M6.Net is working hard to help humanity experience the power and freedom to develop their own part of the Internet, to share their information and connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime.