Ebay Video Game Selling Tips

Free Video Game Selling Reports Coming Soon

2012-01-19T15:29:00.000-08:00

As I stated in my last blog post eBay's RSS feeds can be used in countless ways especially when coupled with some knowledge of computer programming. One use I've devised is to use RSS completed item searches to build free market research reports by importing the results into a spreadsheet program. What this will allow me to do is create monthly reports on whatever types of items I choose. For the first month I will begin with Gaming Consoles not just the newest but also Classic Consoles as well. While this solution is not fully automated yet it should be pretty simple to complete and publish. The reports will be able to give statistics on the following:

The sale through rate of each item - the percent that sold.
The average sold price for each item.
The amount of competition - how many listings there were.

In addition there will be charts and graphs to clearly show which items did best for each category. I will begin collecting data for the first report in February so be sure to bookmark or follow this blog if you don't want to miss it. The report will be in PDF form but will not require any sort of email registration. As I get more familiar with how it works and try to automate more of the process more features may be added in the future. However this is just a one man part-time project so keep that in mind. If you need complete ebay market research this probably will not be quite enough.

Ebay RSS Item Feeds Creating Your Own Personal Buying Feed

2012-01-13T13:10:00.000-08:00

What are Ebay's RSS Item Feeds?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is a format that allows normal HTML pages to be shown in other ways. Most namely as a feed. A feed is a page that is dynamically updated each time it is called. Usually this technology is used with blogs and online newspapers. Once someone subscribes to the feed they can easily catch up on their favorite blog posts and news items. This is accomplished through various RSS Readers such as Google Reader. Now where it starts getting interesting is that eBay provides RSS Feeds for all kinds of searches that you could possibly think of doing. Next time your on eBay try conducting the most specific advanced search you can, go to the bottom of the search page. You'll see a little orange RSS button click the button and you can subscribe to your search in any newsreader. That's not all though RSS is more powerful than most realize. There are plenty of uses for eBay RSS Feeds if we get a little creative.

Ebay RSS - Create Your Own Custom Buying Feed With Yahoo Pipes

Scouring eBay for a great deal on products to resell can be a very time consuming and tiring activity. Imagine though if you could just open a newsreader and have all the deals waiting for you. Now you can by harnessing the hidden power of RSS. Let's say you buy and sell collectible video games on eBay. Normally you would probably be searching each day for deals on items. With eBay RSS you could create a list of games at the prices you want and open it in your reader each day. Here's how:

Login to eBay and go to advanced search.
Now narrow your search down as much as possible. In keeping with our example let's say the game we want cost $100 and we want get it for at most $50. So under price you would put $0 to $50. Now if an auction is just starting out and is already bid up to $50 you're probably not going to get a great deal. So something else you can do is check the box that says "Items Ending Within" and you can choose to see only items ending within an hour or two. This gives you a better chance of grabbing a deal.
Now go to the bottom the page and click "Search". Scroll down to the bottom of the results page and and click the orange "RSS" button.
A new window will open copy the address from the page we'll use it later.
Now go to Yahoo Pipes a web site for manipulating RSS Feeds and their content. (Don't worry it won't get too complicated for our purposes).
Create an account and click the "Create A Pipe" button. You should be taken to tool that looks like something for designing a flow chart.
On the left hand side of the screen under "Sources" find the "Fetch Feed" module press the "+" to add it. Paste your RSS address in the module.
Add as many more eBay Item Feeds as you'd like.
In Yahoo Pipes under "Operators" add the "Sort" module in the drop down menu select item.pubDate and descending. This will sort all your eBay Feed Items by the day that they were published the ones ending sooner appearing first. (in some cases BIN items may show up first before auctions)
Now link the modules together and save it under whatever name you'd like. There now you have a personal eBay Buying Feed. Run the pipe and save the new RSS address to your favorite reader.

You can also use eBay feeds to keep tabs on specific items and their prices by simply checking the completed items box during advanced search. This will show you the completed items which ones sold and for how much over time you should get a good idea of how much the items are going for. Ebay also has a new feature called "Products and Reviews" where you can select to sort items by "Bestselling" it's the fourth tab over when searching from within a category. However they have not offered an RSS feed for these results yet. If this is your first time using Yahoo! Pipes then you also may want to check out this informative book Working with Yahoo! Pipes, No Programming Required or if you have experience with programming there is much more that you can do with RSS using JavaScript and JQuery.

Free Terapeak Keyword Research Tool

2011-11-23T09:46:00.001-08:00

I came across this neat little tool on eBay the other day. You simply type in your listing title and it will show all the associated keywords and which ones are most popular. It also shows you the Average Price, Minimum Price and Maximum Price. Try out different listings to see which one is likely to make the most money. A very useful tool and it's free! Free Terapeak Keyword Research or Get An Instant Terapeak Membership.

Ebay Fees Explained 2011 - Learn How To Save On Fees

2011-11-19T17:53:00.001-08:00

eBay Fees Explained 2011

This is my first PowerPoint to video presentation so go easy on me. It explains exactly how all the eBay fees work together and what you should do to save money. It also touches on the new changes for 2011 (higher fees).

Top eBay Alternatives 2011 - eBay Vs. BigCommerce

2011-11-14T17:10:00.001-08:00

eBay Vs. BigCommerce

BigCommerce is not really a venue or marketplace like most of the other sites we have talked about today. Instead they are a hosted eCommerce provider. They handle all of the web hosting and shopping cart integration for your very own store. Let's look at some of the features:

A large selection of 96 drag and drop templates to customize your store.
You can export items from your store to eBay.
They help guide you through registering a domain name.
Lots of promotional tools including a Facebook Fan Page Store, Email Marketing, and Coupon Codes.
Inventory is automatically updated and even returns are processed easily.
Buyers can shop from their Mobile Phone.
Unlimited photos for items.

Since this is an all in one solution you also don't have worry about paying any Final Value Fees. Instead you will simply be paying to accept Credit Card payments and they guide you through the process of opening a merchant account. You can of course also open your own merchant account on your own as well. Of course their are some downsides as well:

You need to be somewhat computer skilled to get your store customized.
You pay a monthly fee for the store and the merchant account.
You will probably need to pay to promote the store through various Ad Networks and Paid Search.

eBay Vs. BigCommerce
Head to Head

Top eBay Alternatives 2011 - eBay Vs. iOffer

2011-11-12T12:59:00.001-08:00

eBay Vs. iOffer

When I was first researching this site I came across some forums claiming that the site was a scam. The truth is the site is not a scam but many of the sellers there are in fact scam artist. The site is just that a site it doesn't guarantee any transaction or do mediation in the way that eBay does between buyer and seller. Because of this many many have used the site to scam others listing big ticket items and never delivering the goods. Beyond that though iOffer has some interesting features not found on eBay:

Item listings are free with photos and even video.
You can use a wide range of payments including AlertPay, PayPal, Google Checkout & Amazon Payments
You get a customizable store with categories that you can promote.
They show you how to get listed on Google Products.
You can transfer items directly from eBay along with your feedback rating.
Allows you to negotiate a price with buyers or mark items "Make An Offer".

So it's great for those items that you are just not sure are going sell like say an attic of old comic books. Another good thing about this site is that you can upload tons of pics and even video for free. You can also give your buyers many options for checkout PayPal, Google Checkout, Amazon Payments and many more. They used to charge 7% for final value fees but have now switched to tiered fee structure. Lower price items get charged more percent wise than higher priced items. Also the price is the total price including shipping. Your items go into your own store that you can then promote in any way you like. The site does have some problems though:

Not as many buyers as eBay.
Search function doesn't work well because of the use of tags.
Fees are charged when the buyer marks the item paid leaving the seller filing many NPB claims.
You have to pay $20 up front to open your account which is then used to pay fees.

eBay Vs iOffer
Head to Head

Top eBay Alternatives 2011 - eBay Vs. Google Checkout

2011-11-10T07:48:00.001-08:00

eBay Vs. Google Checkout

The Google Checkout Store is a new web tool from google that allows you to place a store inside any blog or web page. The store inventory is managed using integration with Google Docs Spreadsheets. It is simple enough to set up and perfect for bloggers who want to sell niche products. The store is embeded in the page through simple html code which is easily copied and pasted. Let's take a look at some of the major benefits:

2.9% + $0.30 Maximum transaction fee is comparable to PayPal.
Google Docs spreadsheets automatically updates inventory.
Google Checkout cart allows for multiple purchases in one transaction.
You can specify calculated shipping by region automatically.

The Google Docs spreadsheets are set up to contain the following information:

Option name	Option definition	Examples
sku (required)	Any unique identifier (stock-keeping unit)	12345
title (required)	The title of the product you want to sell (supports HTML)	Flashing Yo-Yo
price (required)	The price of the item for sale	$10.00
description	Description of the product (supports HTML)	A Yo-Yo with LEDs inside
quantity	The number of products you have in stock	5
image_link	URL to a picture of the product When 100px thumbnails are clicked, 500px versions are displayed.	http://www.google.com/intl/en_ALL/images/logo.gif
option_name	Title for optional product categories	Color: ...or... Size:
option	Product options separated by commas	red,blue,green, ...or... small,medium,large
digital	Indicate if the product is digital. Buyers will expect you to email their purchased digital content. Leave blank if false.	true ...or... blank
weight	Specify item's shipping weight in pounds, used with carrier-calculated shipping. Do not specify units. Shipping methods	Example value for 8 lbs: 8 Example value for 2 oz: 0.125
shipping	Shipping rate per-item. Leave blank to default to shipping options in your Checkout account. Shipping methods	$5.00

As you can see there is no option for categories meaning the only way to make more is to create a new store for each category. Google is working on a fix but it is still in Beta Testing. There are some other notable disadvantages to Google Checkout as well:

You must rely on your own web traffic and promotions.
Google charges you a $10 fee for each credit card charge back.
No categories or sorting of items yet (search is available)

eBay Vs Google Checkout

Head to Head

Top Ebay Alternatives 2011 - eBay vs. eBid

2011-11-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

One of the major complaints about eBay is that they charge listing fees. That is even when an item is put up for bid and no one bids the seller must still pay just to list the item. Doesn't seem quite fair to me personally. This punishes items that may not sell on the first or second auction. Items that are rare but in low demand may take months to actually sell. Ebay is in fact punishing those types of items (and the sellers who sell them). It makes more sense that the auction company should profit when the seller does, that is after a succesful auction. Ebid is an online auction house similar to eBay in many ways however, they never charge a listing fee to any sellers. Some of the benefits include:

Free to list as many items as you'd like.
Only a 3% Final Value Fee on items that sell.
PayPal, Google Checkout Integrated (Seller+)
For $49.99 you can get a lifetime Seller+ membership upgrade.
Weekly, Monthly and Yearly Seller+ subscriptions also available.
Seller+ subscription eliminates the 3% Final Value Fee.
You get a free Store Front (5 for Seller+ accounts)

So as shown above their are two basic seller accounts on eBid: Seller and Seller+. Your basic seller account still allows for free listings but not some of the perks that go with Seller+. The biggest being that even the final value fees are dropped so you are essentially selling without any fees! Now there are some drawbacks here:

Not as many buyers as eBay.
No dispute resolution process.
Old feedback system where buyers and sellers leave feedback.
No refund guarantee for buyers.

There are two main faults with eBid the first is that there seems to be more sellers than buyers. Because of this a lot of auctions have reserve prices. This could discourage some buyers looking for a true auction experience. The second problem they have is that unlike eBay they have no system for resolving disputes among buyers and sellers. As a seller this may not bother you much but it probably will keep many prospective buyers from joining up. All in all though it looks like a promising site that while not replacing eBay could get some extra sales going and that's always good. Let's look at the two head to head:

eBay Vs. eBid
Head to Head

Top eBay Alternatives 2011 - eBay vs. Amazon

2011-10-27T16:13:00.000-07:00

It's no wonder amazon is one of the biggest companies on the web. They offer a huge selection of items integrating third party items with new merchandise. Amazon is not an auction site (they tried it for a while but it didn't last) but they are a great alternative to eBay. Some of the things they offer:

Amazon has a huge and loyal user base insuring high sales.
Amazon uses a catalog based approach making listing much less time consuming than on eBay.
No need to take pictures of every item, simply write a brief description.
Upload large amounts of inventory with spreadsheets or CSV files.
Once an item is listed it never has to be re-listed.

However, Amazon.com has it's fair share of complaints as well most are similar to those aimed at eBay.

Amazon fees are very high and include a $1 fee on each item sold which can be eliminated by upgrading to a premium account for $40 a month. This is on top of a FVF that can be as high as 15%
It is very easy to get banned as an amazon.com seller. Try as you might you will not get reinstated.
You don't get paid for your orders until you enter the Delivery Confirmation number.
The feedback and refund system greatly favors the buyer.

For twenty dollars more a month than the regular Amazon.com subscription amazon.com will help you set up a customizable Webstore that is not in direct competition with other third party sellers.

You can use their extensive catalog of items to quickly list items.
You can list unlimited items without any extra fees you pay only 7% when an item sells.

You can accept Amazon Payments which will make it familiar to buyers who have used amazon.

Also, when you don't have an item a buyer wants you can refer them to amazon.com and get an associates commission.

One drawback is that you have to have your own hosted domain and likely you'll want to know a little HTML to really make your site unique. Also you may have problems listing items that are not in amazon's catalog. A good way to promote a webstore by Amazon is to advertise your items on Amazon by using Product Ads By Amazon. A PPC advertising program that allows you to advertise directly on Amazon. This gives your products and store instant credibility. Plus, people who click the ads are more likely to be ready to buy since they have already visited Amazon. This option is probably good alternative for big sellers on eBay who already have built a brand for themselves and would like to save on fees.

Ebay Vs. Amazon

Head to Head

Wholesale Video Game Distributors Contact Information List - How To Find Playstation 3, Xbox 360 & Wii Games

2011-09-30T17:27:00.000-07:00

It has come to my attention that many people want to get into the market of buying and selling new video games but simply don't know how. You can search for days looking for genuine wholesalers online and probably not find one. All you'll find is retail stores using the keyword "Wholesale" to try to gain customers or drop shipping companies which is well and fine but how do you find the real wholesalers? Each software company has a different distributors that they work with and sometimes different distributors for different games. I've compiled some of the biggest and most well known video game distributors below and will be adding more to the list shortly. Now before you call or submit an inquiry you should have some basic info on hand. First you will need to supply them with your business name, location and license number. They want to know that they are dealing with a potential customer not just a curious individual. They will also probably want to know how many units you would be willing to purchase. People who don't want large quantities will probably not get approved. By large quantities I don't mean many different titles but a lot of the same new titles available. So you can see unlike used video games, buying new games requires much more of financial investment. For those with the resources though it can be quite successful.

Read more »

My New Ebay Video Game Selling Tips Squidoo Page

2011-09-23T19:01:00.000-07:00

My New Squidoo Page

This is just a small post on something new that I stumbled upon on the web: squidoo.com. Squidoo.com is a website that allows users to create quick and easy web pages and interactive articles. All monetization from the site is shared between squidoo.com and the users themselves based on how many hits and clicks the ads embedded in the articles receive. Actually they aren't called articles but instead are called "lenses" I suppose because you're sharing your viewpoint with others. It is pretty easy although mine is pretty basic right now. Anyway I have reorganized some of the articles from this blog into a beginner's guide to selling games on eBay. Give it a look.

Ebay Accounting Solutions - The Automated Solution

2011-08-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

Anybody who's sold on eBay for a while has learned that eBay doesn't make it easy to calculate how much money you are actually making or losing. With Final Value Fees, Listing Fees, PayPal Payment Fees, Shipping Costs and Returns it can get to be a bit much. Especially since eBay treats all these different fees and transactions in different ways. For example Final Value Fees and Listing Fees are added to your monthly eBay invoice. However, PayPal Payment Fees are take directly out of the payment itself. Returns are treated like a separate PayPal transaction altogether. Most people rely on Spreadsheets like Microsoft Excel or accounting software like Quicken or Quick Books to handle their accounting.

At first that's the route I went as well opening an Excel document and creating columns for all the eBay fees and Shipping Cost. When you have hundreds of transactions a month though it can become mind numbing to go back through all your PayPal and eBay records and manually transcribe the data. Plus, a simple error can throw off all of the data. That's when I came across an interesting solution: an accounting application being offered through an eBay third party developer. The application promised to do some pretty amazing things, namely to import all PayPal Payments and eBay and PayPal Fees. Fees would automatically go under expenses and Payments under income allowing you to only enter shipping cost and cost of inventory. It also said that it could create tax information for quarterly or yearly tax payments. I was skeptical but at the time the application was free so I gave it a shot. I must say I was amazed at how much they delivered on what they promised. It become very simple to keep track of expenses and to see how well I was really doing as a seller.

How To Survive Ebay's Dispute Resolution

2011-08-14T18:48:00.000-07:00

In my opinion the best way to survive an eBay dispute is not to have one in the first place there some simple things you can do to accomplish this:

Respond to all emails that the buyer sends you in a courteous manner. It's a good idea to say sorry and thank you even when you have done nothing wrong.
Send the item within two days and email the buyer with the tracking information. This will ward off many "Item Not Received" disputes before they even get started. If you are shipping with a method or to a country that doesn't allow tracking then you are inviting "Item Not Received" disputes.
Once the item has been delivered according to the tracking information send a reminder email about leaving positive feedback. Once you have positive feedback it will be very hard for the buyer to win any dispute.
Describe your item truthfully, don't exaggerate.
Have a clear refund policy and offer a refund according to the terms set out.

Now let's say that you've done all those things and the buyer still opens a dispute. What can you do to make sure you don't end up on the losing end, do the following to give yourself a chance:

How To Use Terapeak To Boost Ebay Auction Sales

2011-08-03T16:04:00.000-07:00

Terapeak, what is it?

Terapeak is eBay's Certified Provider of market research. What this means is that they have access to eBay's vast database of past auction transactions. Information that the average eBay seller is not granted access to. All the average user gets the completed item search which is only for very recent closed auctions. Terapeak's information goes back years and includes the following: auction sales prices, item sell through rate, item titles, item categories. Most eBay sellers do not take advantage of this opportunity instead they rely on completed searches and their own knowledge to make choices about which items to buy and sell and when. With Market Research by Terapeak you have the advantage over the average seller because you have information they don't, information that could prove very valuable. What do I mean? Well let's take a look at what Terapeak can do.

Getting Started On Ebay: Creating An Ebay and PayPal Account

2011-06-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

I thought I would write a how to for the absolute beginners out there just getting started on Ebay. I realized though that it has been so long since I set up my account that I hardly can recall the details. So instead I found these two informative tutorials that I would like to share.

I would like to add that when registering for PayPal you have the option of linking your bank account or adding a PayPal Credit Card. I suggest that if you are going to be selling over $500 dollars a month that you go ahead and either link a bank account (if you have a business account) or if you don't have a business account apply for the PayPal Credit Card. This will protect your PayPal account from being frozen which can happen if you have one too many policy violations or buyer disputes. This could leave you in the position of having to ship orders without the money in you PayPal account that you would normally use for postage. Ebay does this in an effort to stop fraudulent sellers however in can be a huge incovenience.

How To Easily Exploit Google's Plus One (+1)

2011-06-06T12:40:00.000-07:00

Google has recently announced their new innovation the Google Plus One sharing button. It basically acts in the same way as Facebook's like button except instead of creating a link on a social networking site it creates it directly on google search. If one of your friends or contacts has +1 on a site it will create a link to their profile from google search (assuming they have a google profile and have enabled +1). The idea being that you will be more likely to click on a site a friend has already approved. However, unlike Facebook where you must request to be someone's "friend" all you need on Google is a name and e-mail address. This brings up the question of how long it will be before someone figures out that +1 is only as powerful as the size of their e-mail directory. Anyone could easily build a huge directory of e-mail listings and add them to their g-mail account, exponentially increasing their own links from google search to their own profile or website. Bookmarking sites that already appear frequently in search results or their own website increasing the chances it will get another +1 and continue on. People could easily get e-mail addresses from a number of sources like past ebay transacations, contact forms, e-mail fowards and purchased e-mail list.

How To Brand & Market Your Ebay Business (No Store Required)

2011-05-19T17:14:00.000-07:00

There are many ways that you can brand your Ebay business many of which do not require an Ebay Store Subscription. Although Ebay is always touting their Store Subscriptions as a great way to brand and market your business most of the options available through the store can be implemented in other ways with a little extra effort. One thing that you gain by adding a store subscription is a searchable store with your own unique store name. However, your Ebay profile name can work in the same way. So first think about what kinds of items you'd like to sell. It is better for branding to stick to mostly one type of product. Once you have a catchy name in mind you'll have to change your user ID on Ebay which is quite simple:

First sign in to My Ebay>Click The Account Tab>Click Personal Information>Click Edit USER ID

Create A Unique Ebay Profile

Collectible Video Games Atari 2600 Rare Price List

2010-12-28T21:00:00.000-08:00

This post will serve as a price list and will also include links to search for each game. We have already taken a look at the NES system and today will look at the Atari 2600. In later post we'll explore more systems like the N64 and PS1. I will give an average price each game is selling for on ebay and for amazon.com the lowest listed price. I will also show the price with and without the box and manual. You can click through the links to check current ebay or amazon.com prices. This should be a good starting place for those researching rare games to buy and sell.

1. Scuba Diver

Amazon: $50 with manual
Ebay: $20 cart only

2. Rubik's Cube

Amazon: $45 cart only
Ebay: $60 with instructions

3. Montezuma's Revenge: Featuring Panama Joe

Amazon: $40 cart only
Ebay: $70 CIB $20 cart only
Read more »

Collectible Video Games NES Price List Part One

2010-11-30T19:46:00.000-08:00

In my last post we discussed collectible video games and how to buy and sell them for profit. This post will serve as a price list and will also include links to search for each game. For right now we will look at one system the Nintendo NES in later post we'll explore more systems like the Atari 2600, N64 and PS1. I will give an average price each game is selling for on ebay and for amazon.com the lowest listed price. I will also show the price with and without the box and manual. You can click through the links to check current ebay or amazon.com prices. Hope this is helpful for those looking for bargains.

Collectible NES Video Games:

1. Stadium Events w/Box Manual

Amazon Price: $2,200 PAL Version
Ebay Price: $400 PAL Version

Cart Only

Amazon Price: N/A
Ebay Price: $200 PAL Version

*Note: I couldn't find the NTSC version at all seems to be very rare.

2. Caltron 6 in 1 (Unlicensed Game) w/Box & Manual

Amazon Price: N/A
Ebay Price: $1,400

Cart Only

Amazon Price: $425
Ebay Price: $200

3. Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers 2 w/Box & Manual

Amazon Price: N/A
Ebay Price: $125

Cart Only

Amazon Price: $74.99
Ebay Price: $60
Read more »

How To Buy And Sell Collectible Video Games For Profit

2010-11-23T12:51:00.000-08:00

First off we need to understand what factors could make a video game collectible. A collectible game is one that shares a two factors: it has to be relatively rare and it must be desired by collectors. Now many games are rare but they aren't desired by collectors, why? Because they are rare because they simply weren't that good. They had low printings because they didn't sell well. We want ones that are rare and desired. This could be for a number of reasons the game is part of a popular series, the game introduced new gameplay, it was a really good game that was not well marketed, it was a imported game or it could be the least popular game in a popular series. Also for some reason many RPG games end up being collectible. It could RPG fans are natural collectors. Whatever the reason, how can you find out which games are collectible and buy them at a cut rate?
Read more »

Video Game Repair: How To Clean Game Cartridges NES, N64, SNES

2010-10-25T20:54:00.000-07:00

How To Clean Game Cartridges

Those great classic NES, SNES and Atari games we all love so much are getting pretty old. Most are over twenty years old and many weren't too well taken care of by their original owners. Cartridge games work with metal connectors and over time those connectors oxidize and become unusable. The good news is most cartridge games can be saved with a few techniques.
Read more »

How To Install A New 72 Pin Connector Nintendo NES Repair

2010-10-25T20:49:00.000-07:00

So you've found yourself a classic Nintendo NES in great condition only to find that none of your games will load. You try and try and you clean the games over and over but that little red light just keeps blinking back at you. The problem is most likely the 72 pin connector inside the NES system. The 72 Pin connector is what reads the information from the Nintendo cartridges. Because of a design flaw the Pins on the connector get bent out of shape over time and will no longer read the cartridges. This is an easy fix though all you need to do is replace the existing 72 Pin connector with another one. They are pretty cheap and you can find one here: NES 72 Pin Connector they are only about $5 dollars. Now that you have your new part lets install it:

Step #1: Opening Up The Nintendo NES Case
Read more »

Top 5 Essential EBay Selling Resources & Tools - Save Time, Sell More.

2010-09-18T10:33:00.000-07:00

Sure when you're selling one or two items a week on eBay then you probably don't need any extra resources or tools. Just the main eBay site but if you're listing and revising hundreds of items a week then you will definitely need some extra tools beyond the main eBay website. Here are some of the best:

1. Turbo Lister 2.0

This stand alone program allows you to list, duplicate and revise many items at once. It also eliminates the need to schedule listings because you can save up all your listings and upload them all at once. It is not without it's problems however it is very buggy at times, documentation is scarce and it encounters strange errors while trying to upload. So why do I recommend it? Because it is the only free listing tool I found to use with Ebay. You can find Turbo Lister 2.0 here.
Read more »

How To Create Effective Video Game Listings For Ebay- 5 Tips & Tricks

2010-05-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

On Ebay you only have one way to really sell your items in this case video games. You have to convince a buyer with your Ebay listing, but what encourages people to buy? Here are some simple tips to help you sell more effectively.

1. State All Important Info In The Description.

Ebay now has tabs where buyers can find shipping information, your return policy & more. You should still put this info clearly in your description. If not, buyers may check your listing and not see the info they need and click elsewhere. Leaving you without a sale. Also you don't want it to sound like a lawyer wrote it but keep a friendly tone.

2. Try To Take Pictures When Needed.

So when is a picture needed? When a game has collectible value or is a classic title you should take a picture. Many buyers of these categories want a game that looks nice and clean with no marks or damage. Even if you don't have a picture you want describe these three parts of the game: box/case, manual, disc/cartridge. This will give buyers a good idea of what they are getting.

3. Price The Item Competitively.

Go to advanced search and search for the item you are about to sell. Select the option for completed items only. Look at only the items in green those are the items that sold. Price your item at about what the others have sold at. If you see nothing but red items that means that item will take a long time to sell or you may want to sell as part of a lot instead.

4. Sell More, Get More Exposure.

The more items you have up at once the more of a presence you create for yourself on Ebay. Make sure you always create a link in your description to your other items. If you also combine shipping this will encourage more sales once someone finds one of your listings. Each listing should also be considered an ad for your other listings.

5. Mix Up The Format

Some buyers like fix price listings and these will normally get a higher price. However, you will also wait longer to make the sale. So every once in while mix it up and have a big auction of a lot of items with low starting prices. This encourages more people to watch your auctions and hopefully bid.