Originally published at tblog.com; The Auction Board is in the process of migrating its blog. Buyers are seeing a practice become increasingly common on eBay: closing an auction early to make a deal outside of eBay. Many sellers are looking for a quick close to their auction transactions. Although eBay discourages buyers and sellers from negotiating outside eBay, it is not illegal to do so. Be advised that both the buyer and the seller set themselves up for the added possibility of fraud an...

Newsletters and ezines can be a very productive way to promote your auction business. Establish yourself as an authority on a particular aspect of the auction business. Does your strength lie in marketing and advertising? If so, start an auction newsletter devoted to helping auction sellers fine-tune their advertising and marketing skills. Are you an expert at Search Engine Optimization? Many auction sellers fail to realize how important internet searches can be to their auction business. Develo...

Originally published at tblog.com; The Auction Board is in the process of migrating its blog. While cruising the newsgroups yesterday, I saw yet another disgruntled eBay buyer who had posted email communication between himself and an eBay seller who had angered him. This is a common thing. The email communication that was posted contained the seller's email address, the seller's eBay name, and a link to the eBay auction ad. What was missing was the buyer's email address and the buyer's e...

A Reserve Auction is one in which the seller sets a minimum price at which he/she is obligated to sell his/her product or service. Typically, these auctions start at a very low bidding price. The Reserve price is always hidden. How The Reserve Auction Scam works: Let's call the eBay scammer Ed. Ed lists an auction for a plasma TV with a Reserve Price of $6000 (yes, I know that's ridiculously high, but that's the whole point of the scam. Bear with me.). He starts the bidding at ...

The Key to Success with 1-Cent, No Reserve Auctions by Sherah Taylor Published at The Auction Board on November 25, 2003 We've all seen them: the Powersellers on Ebay who start their auctions at 1 cent with no reserve. .. and usually end up making a killing. So, how do they know if it will go high or not? And even worse, what if it sells for the starting bid of 1 cent? Let's dig a little deeper to see what really goes on behind the scenes. [ Read more of Sherah's article .]

On September 15, 2003, an eBay buyer in the US purchased a set of golf clubs from an eBay seller in the UK for the amount of $120.00. The buyer then paid an additional $78 for shipping and handling fees. Allegedly, the seller never fulfilled the contract and the buyer never received the golf clubs. The seller advised the buyer to use PayPal because of PayPal's security and ease of use. Three weeks after the buyer paid for his purchase, he had not received his golf clubs and could not r...

Originally published at tblog.com; The Auction Board is in the process of migrating its blog. Great Shipping Debate digitalproducts: as a seller, I dont see why we can't charge for shipping and handling. if we have to take the time to package a product and drive it to the post office we should be able to charge extra for it. all companies do it. i decide how much my time is worth. jvs458: WHat about customer service? You don't have to drive to the post office. you can just leave ...

Any auction seller who's been treated unfairly by eBay knows how difficult it is to detach from the online auction giant and go in search of new auction sites to do business. The problem isn't the lack of online auction sites. There are 100s of new online auction sites available for the disgruntled former eBayer. The question is: will that new auction site generate enough traffic and interest in order to produce revenue for your auction business? Many auction sellers will answer with a res...

Originally published on tblog.com; The Auction Board is in the process of migrating its blog. Survey says, "YES!" But, can you? Really? Yes, you can -- unless the Levi's corporation decides to pull rank and deny you the right to do so. Once the Levi's corporation contacts eBay and informs them that only authorized personnel are allowed to sell Levi's products on eBay, you can kiss those profits from selling vintage Levi's jeans goodbye. Levi's would have to first join eBay's VeRO (Verif...

Originally published at tblog.com; The Auction Board is in the process of migrating its blog.In a September article , eBay's Joseph Sullivan admitted that eBay routinely hands private information over to law enforcement officers -- even if those officials do not present them with a subpoena. The reason: eBay is so bogged down with fraud complaints, that the corporation gladly hands its problems over to the law, even if those officials do not present eBay with the proper paperwork. That mean...