Over 163 million people visited eBay in March 2010 (Nielsen.com). That makes eBay the fifth most visited website globally. While you probably don’t want to make your living off of eBay, it’s the largest pool of potential buyers on the internet, and a useful way to earn a little money. Learn how to get started.
DECIDING WHAT TO SELL
Collectables are the most popular items on eBay by category. They represent 17% of all eBay sales. Coming in second is Clothing/Shoe/Accessories at 11% and Entertainment at 11%. Find out the details at popular.ebay.com and pulse.ebay.com.
Still not sure about what to sell? Search amazon.com for product research. Amazon.com includes a Sales Ranking in the Product Details section. This incorporates current and historical sales data to indicate a product’s popularity. In the Amazon rating system, the lower the number the higher the sales.
PRICING YOUR ITEM
Press the “Sell an Item” link at the top right menu on eBay.com to get started. The What’s it Worth section helps you determine the average price for your item.
Need more detailed information? Use the advanced search to find all listings that have completed. (Under the Search Including section, check the Completed Listings box. Results include both sold and unsold listings including their prices.
I’ve sold textbooks, and DVD’s. Textbooks in their most recent addition are popular. Pick a time around the beginning of the quarter. I listed 3 textbooks a week before the University of California schools were about to start and sold the books with out any problem.
LISTING AN ITEM ON EBAY
How do you make your used product sound good and still be honest about the items condition? Here are a few descriptive terms that are useful:
Good condition with some wear.
Shows signs of wear.
The edges of the cover are slightly curling.
No highlighting. No markings.
Book comes without a book jacket.
DVD has been watched only once.
SHIPPING YOUR ITEM
One key to success on eBay – Keep your shipping costs down. USPS media mail provides an economical option for sending DVDs, CDs and books. Just buy your packing material in bulk.
Ebay and PayPal prints online shipping labels for USPS priority mail flat rate packages. There is a slight discount for online transaction. Payment comes out of the PayPal account automatically. It’s easy and fast. USPS include tracking with their online orders through PayPal.
Be careful though. Sometimes the flat rate can be more expensive than using Priority Mail by weight.
Now that you have a professional-looking Picasa Photo Gallery, you want to add the headers and menus to complete the look. Here is a simple solution to make this happen.
Generate a Picasa photo gallery. Add the gallery to your web site. Check that the photo gallery displays properly. VIEW GALLERY WITHOUT HEADERS.
Create a web page that contains all of your headers and menus. Make sure this page displays properly and has plenty of space for the photo gallery. Save it anywhere you like on your server. (It doesn’t need to reside in the same directory with your Picasa gallery.)
Edit your webpage from step 2. Add this line to the html:
Now that you have a professional-looking Photo Gallery, you want to add the headers and menus to complete the look. Here is a simple solution to make this happen.
Generate a JAlbum photo gallery. Add the gallery to your web site. Check that the JAlbum displays properly. VIEW GALLERY WITHOUT HEADERS.
Create a web page that contains all of your headers and menus. Make sure this page displays properly and has plenty of space for the photo gallery. Save it anywhere you like on your server. (It doesn’t need to reside in the same directory with your JAlbum gallery.)
Edit your webpage from step 2. Add this line to the html:
SimplePhotoBox includes a gallery with a page of scrollable thumbnails and a slide show. Switch between small thumbnails, large thumbnails and detail photo slide show. Click here for installation instructions.
DarkGallery is a simple photo album that includes a gallery with scrollable thumbnails and a slide show. The slide show starts automatically on load. Stop the slideshow by clicking the pause button. Click here for installation instructions.
WhiteGallery is a simple photo album that includes a gallery with scrollable thumbnails and a slide show. The slide show starts automatically on load. Stop the slideshow by clicking the pause button. Click here for installation instructions.
Picasa provides an option to export your photo album as an HTML webpage. For a more polished look, use one of the free Picasa templates available on the internet. Learn how to use Picasa to generate a photo gallery on your website.
CREATE A WEB ALBUM IN PICASA
Use the Picasa application to create an album, or choose an existing album. Make sure the album is selected before you start the export. You can select individual photos or the entire album for export.
Picasa comes with a slideshow utility that can be embedded into any webpage. Setup is easy and the photo album maintainance is handled by Picasa. Learn how to display a Picasa slideshow in your website.
CREATE A WEB ALBUM IN PICASA
Use the Picasa application to create an album, or choose an existing Picasa album. Make sure your album is synced to the web. I set the Visibility to Public so anyone can view the photos.
RETRIEVE THE SLIDESHOW LINK FROM PICASA
Open the Web Album in your favorite browser. (You can use the link “view online… ” from within the Picasa application.)
Select “Link to this album “. (Found on the right column of the Web Album page.)
Broken Links, Miss-spelled addresses, Unauthorized access, and Server Errors. Turn these errors into opportunities. Capture and keep visitors on your website after an error has occurred by customizing the error reporting page. Provide links, a search box, a back button and a fresh opportunity to explore your site. (more…)
When you want to display and share photography, it’s important to find a solution that is organized and professional. I like JAlbum because it transfers photos from my computer hard drive onto my website. I specifically chose JAlbum for one of my websites because it included a Flash slide show, and a Flash gallery on the same page.
WordPress, the popular blog software, can be used as a content management system. Use the Post facility to write articles, just like bloggers. When you want to create an entire site, create Static Pages instead of Posts. These pages can be customized in php just like a traditional web page. Otherwise, use basic word processor features to design and update your web pages in WordPress. Create your own web site maintenance within the WordPress interface. (more…)
Picasa is Google’s solution to photo sharing. Create albums online that friends and family can view and download. They don’t even need to create a Google account to view the photos. Choose between three sharing options: make your album public, allow access by invitation, and allow access by login only. (more…)
