Why Does My Item Have Multiple Bids and No Price Increase

You might have noticed in the past that one of your eBay listings has multiple bids, but the starting price has not increased.

Ever wonder why this happens. There are a couple of reasons.

1. The bidder might have realized that they want to increase their first bid or more likely
   
   
2. The bidder has placed multiple bids to try and discourage other bidders from placing a bid.

As shown below the same user id has placed 4 bids on my item.

The auction ends tonight, so we'll see if his strategy pays off on this item.

John Paul

I Love Half.com

Hey Everyone, sorry it has been so long in between posts, but I was away in Alaska (my delayed honeymoon) for a few weeks and since I have returned I have been working long and hard on improving my eBay business http://www.asapsellsit.com/. But I am back now and ready to make this one of the best and most informative eBay blogs out there. Oh yeah before I get to the eBay stuff, if you ever have a chance to go to Alaska, DO IT.College textbooks are big sellers on half.com and here's the proof. I just purchased a Marketing Research textbook (shown above) for $2.00 at my a local thrift store. Listed it on half.com and it sold within 5 minutes for $65.00. Amazing.

Selling used textbooks purchased at a thrift store can be tricky. If you do not have the current edition, chances are it really has no value to anyone, so you need to be careful. A lot of students these days usually sell their books back to the school.

You have 3 ways play the Used Textbook Thrift Store Game.

1. Go to half.com on your cell phone's browser and look up the book while at the thrift store. Make sure you are looking at the right edition.
2. Write down or take photos of the book or ISBN # and look it up at home where you have access to a faster Internet connection
3. Take a Chance... Look at the copyright date and if it is within the last couple of years there is a good chance that the textbook is still being used at colleges today.

The best thing about listing on half.com is you hardly have to do any work. The pictures are already there as well as all the info about your item. All you have to do is descrivbe the condition.

Let me know if you find anything good or have any other good Thrift Store Book Stories.

John Paul

Follow Up to My .99 Cent Post

If you have not been listing your unsold items at .99 check this out.

• Item went unsold starting at $4.99

• Re-listed at $.99 and sold for $26.00
  

John Paul

Try .99¢ Auctions For A Higher Profit

eBay is weird like this, but if you have an unsold item that you expected to sell for at least $4.99, and you started it at that price, re-list it for .99¢ the next time around. It happens to me all the time with clothing that I have sold. One of my items goes unsold at $4.99 and then when I list it starting at .99¢ the item sells for much higher. Here are some of my own recent examples.

Now don't expect the item to sell for d$150.00 bucks. But at least you sold the item and now you can move on to something else and make a few bucks instead of losing a few. Plus hopefully you'll get some positive feedback and maybe a new customer who will follow your future auctions.

John Paul

Auction Bump Websites..

I see these Auction Bump websites showing up everywhere these days. It's basically free advertising for your eBay auctions. You upload an image, add your auction title, & item number and it stays on the website until it is bumped off. Are these auction bump websites really worth the time?

I know it is free advertising which can never hurt, but I feel that everyone going to these sites just wants to bump there own auctions and get the heck out of there, or is that just me who does that.

Speaking of free advertising check out this adorable Rothschild Girls Coat that I just listed.

eBay Needs a New System

This feedback system is starting to get to me. I am getting tired of worrying about every little thing because I have no say. I think after 8+ years and a feedback score of 1742 with no negatives I've earned the right to be a trusted seller and to rate other eBay buyers who have a feedback score of 1.

4 non paying bidders in November.

7 so far in December.
and what really just got me is someone telling me that the shipping costs seem a little steep I need to lower them.

• a) you knew the shipping costs before you went and outbid other buyers.
• b) it is the actual shipping cost charged by USPS, how the heck do you want me to lower them.

So you say I can request my Final Value Fee back. What does that do for me when the item is a consignment item and my customer is asking me how is it possible to buy something and not pay. Yeah I am sure they want to give me more stuff after they hear that. Cmon eBay... I think I will try that this weekend. I will go to Best Buy and try to buy something, but tell them I will think about paying.

How about eBay gives there own negative comment to every buyer who doesn't pay for there auction.

eBay Daily Deals

I am not 100% sure how long these daily deals are running for on eBay, but I like it. I purchased the Sony BDP-S550 Blu-ray Player the other day. $229.00 and free shipping. These are still selling for $330.00-$348.95 on eBay. I am kicking myself for not buying a few. I listed the one I purchased on Craigslist and have a few offers of $325.00 cash. Not a bad little profit for sitting in my pajamas and browsing eBay.

Anybody Looking to sell Ugly Christmas Sweaters?

Ugly Christmas Sweaters are hot on the internet this time of the year. Google has put together a site with the most searched for Holiday Gifts for 2009. Though Ugly Christmas Sweater is not the #1 most searched item, it's up there. On top of the list is the Nintendo Wii. It is amazing, 2 years after it was released that it is still so Hotttttt!!!! This Black Friday on eBay it was the most searched item with 3,171 Wii systems sold at an average of $100.00 above retail price. That's a lot of Mario Coins going around. Nintendo overall has 3 of the top 5 searched items on Google. The Wii, Wii Fit and Nintendo DS.

Giveaway #2 $25.00 eBay Gift Card

WE HAVE A WINNER..... Congratulations to coljim!!!!!

Thank you to everyone who participated and left comments. I read through all of them and it was nice to see some support in taking the big leap and starting my own business. But more importantly:

A New Sweepstakes will start on Tuesday 12/09/08 and it will be a good one.

Thank You,

John Paul

http://www.asapsellsit.com/, NYC's #1 ebaY consignment service is giving away a $25.00 ebaY Gift Card to 1 lucky winner.

If you're like me you can spend hours on ebaY browsing through listings. Use this card to buy that old toy that you had as a kid, maybe find a good deal on a holiday gift for that someone special, or heck even sell it on ebaY. ebaY gift cards generally sell for more than there actual value on ebaY. Or maybe you want to spend it on one of my items.




To Enter:
*Just enter your e-mail address in the comment section below. Please note to use this gift card you must have an ebaY account and a PayPal account.

*For an extra entry list your favorite car company or car model below your e-mail address. It will just help me out in doing some research on the Car Hats that I have listed on ebaY.

-Gift Card winner will be posted & e-mailed on Monday Dec 8th, 2008!!!
-Giveaway starts Monday Nov.17 2008 at 12:00am and ends Sunday night Dec. 7th @ 11:59pm.
-1 entry per e-mail address.

-This is a random drawing. Winner will be selected by random.org

-Every few weeks we will be giving away a different item and the one right before Christmas will be the biggest. So come back to my eBayBlog often.

Thank You and Good Luck!!!!

eBay Mysteries---Gift Cards on eBay. HUH?

I don't get why some gift cards on eBay sell for a higher price than there actual card value. Why would you spend more money then you actually get.

$100.00 Shell Gas Card --- sold for $105.50 plus $2.99 shipping

$100 Walmart Gift Card --- sold for $120.00

$500.00 Amazon Gift Card --- sold for $525.00

I thought we were in hard economic times, but I guess some people just like to throw away there money.