A great FREE feature that is included with all eBay memberships is Want It Now. Whether you are selling or buying, it can be helpful to utilize the Want It Now feature on eBay.

What is Want It Now?
From the eBay site – “Want It Now lets buyers post requests for hard-to-find items and allows sellers to respond to those requests with eBay listings.”

If your primary goal on eBay as a seller is to find a deal and turn it around to make some money, you can use Want It Now as a resource by creating posts seeking out inventory.

Want It Now provides eBay buyers an opportunity to ask for the items that they want or are unable to find. As a seller, you can respond to those requests with your eBay listings. This can be a great way to help boost sales during the slow times. You can look for potential buyers of the items you already have with a simple search.

IMPORTANT: Please only respond to posts if the item you have is exactly the same as that described in the post. It will be considered SPAM if you respond to a post with an item that is not an exact match – and you can be reported.

Try doing a search on the Want It Now boards every once in a while. Maybe a few times each season, when you feel that your sales are slowing down, or whenever you have a surplus of inventory. When you search posts go back about a week. It will take a little time, but is worth the extra sales. It can also give you an idea of what to keep an eye out for as you acquire your seasonal inventory.

Check out eBay’s Want It Now feature today.

If you already know the types of things that your family and friends like, then start with eBay’s categories to get ideas. With just a few clicks you will be shopping, and at great bargain prices.

Shopping on eBay allows you a neat way to come up with gift ideas. Consider an item that the person you are shopping for has recently bought for themselves. Type that item description into the search box on eBay and find out what category it is in, then just click on that category link and take a look at everything there. You instantly have a large list of things that the person would doubtless like to have. If you know the person well, it shouldn’t be too hard to sort through the results and find a truly special and unique gift for them.

Check Out Their History

When the people you are gift shopping for are also eBay users, you another tool available for helping you determine what to get them. To do this you will need to know their eBay usernames, then you can take a look at what they have bought recently on eBay. This should help you in figuring out what kinds of things they are interested in or may want.

You can use this approach by clicking on Advanced Search from eBay’s main page, then select Find A Member on the left-hand menu to view that eBay user’s history. Just type in their username and you will get their user page, which will have a list of item numbers of all the items they have bought. Pick an item number, copy and paste it into the eBay search box to find out what that item was. You now have an almost foolproof list of ideal gifts for that person.

Don’t Be a Last-Minute Shopper

To avoid disappointments and upsets, don’t use eBay for your last-minute holiday shopping. Prices tend to be high and you have the added risk of not receiving your gifts in time.

It seems that every year there is some must have toy that every child wants and the stores inevitably sell out of. Then suddenly that toy appears on eBay – for a premium price. Holiday shoppers end up paying many times the gift’s original value, and may still not have it in time for the big day. Try not to get caught in this snare.

It ‘Tis The Season

Holiday shopping time is a peak time for eBay sellers, because millions of people are shopping on there. A large percentage of these shoppers are inexperienced with eBay, and they tend to drive up prices above the norm. Avoid the temptation to overpay for an item just because it is the last one you could possibly receive in time, or because just because others are bidding high. Know when to cut your losses, stop bidding, and just head to a local store to buy something else.

Keep Jolly

eBay is best not taken too seriously. Approach it as you would a game, and try not to get too disappointed if you lose. It can begin to feel a bit like gambling, but when that really rare gift for someone special shows up on your doorstep just in time for Christmas, it can be well worth it.

eBay Popular Searches
1. android tablet
2. ipad
3. ipod
4. hp touchpad
5. shoes
6. iphone 4 unlocked
7. iphone 4
8. coach handbags
9. hello kitty
10. kindle

Popular Toys for 2011
1. Sesame Street Let’s Rock Elmo
2. Xia-Xia Hermit Crabs
3. LeapPad Explorer Learning Tablet
4. Hot Wheel Wall Tracks Starter Set
5. Angry Birds Knock on Wood Game
6. Silly Hair Jewel Sparkles Doll
7. Nerf Vortex
8. I Am T-Pain Mic
9. Poppin’ Park Elefun Busy Ball Poppers
10. Lite Sprites
11. Alien Conquest (LEGO)
12. Bogo
13. Air Hogs Hyper Actives
14. Fijit Friends Interactive Toy
15. My Keepon

So why snipe? The main reason I am writing about this is to give you some tips on how to ‘auction flip’ by taking advantage of misspellings. This is a great strategy for purchasing items for very little and then resell them to make a profit! It can also be a great way to acquire inventory. It is also a superb way to obtain name brand clothing items for your own kids and then sell them later.

I suggest using a program such as typohound.com or fatfingers.com, there are many others also. Think of commonly misspelled words. For example you can check out: Hanna Anderson, Oilily, Gymboree, Baby Lulu – all of these are highly sought after brands. I like to look for my favorite brands, items that I know sell well, and even items that I prefer buying for my kids!

Make sure you do your research before you purchase ANYTHING, unless you already know from experience that it’s an item that sells well for you. I like Terapeak for eBay researching, but there are other programs that you can use also. Sometimes you can get enough information to make a decision about reselling or not, by using the eBay completed listings search. Once you have the search listings in front of you, sort by ‘ending soonest’ so that your turn around time is shorter.

Do not bid on anything just yet – doing so will only help to drive up the ending price. I suggest using a sniping program such as Gixel.com – unless you know you will be able to physically be at your computer to bid at the last minute. If you plan on bidding on numerous items, then you may want to use a sniping program to ensure you don’t miss out on any last minute bidding.

I’ve tried using SMS to my phone and proxy bidding, but it is much easier to use a program that does it all for you! Enter a price that you are comfortable paying and you’re done! Good luck and share any successes you have.

It is easy to be drawn in by the many that are completely free or those that offer a free trial, allowing you to determine which apps are the right fit for your business.

These 3 apps offer to help boost your Marketing and Merchandising efforts:

Canvasee:

- Allows you to create your own Application with your logo and even promote it to your online friends and collegues.
- Promote this application on various social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook
- Canvasee also has a statistical reporting module that you can use to discover emerging fashion trends or even gauge shoppers’ buying preferences
- There is an option to link your goods to Canvasee’s search system and increase your sales
- Sell more or get more clicks and you can get affiliate commission from eBay

Terapeak Keywords:
Provided FREE with each Terapeak Keywords search:

- 20 suggested keywords related to your search
- A self-refreching suggestions list as you are selecting additional keywords
- All data is based on 100 recently-closed eBay listings
- Average, maximum and minimum prices for each suggested keyword
- The ability to build your title until you use up the alloted 55 characters

Ad Supported Shipping:

- There is no subscription or usage fee
- Simple and easy to use interface design especially designed for eBay users
- Make money on each item you ship to buyers

Check out all the Applications available to you – http://applications.ebay.com/selling?EAppsHome

Leave a comment on the Apps that are your favorite!

Listings and corresponing sales of Star Wars items has jumped to three times the customary levels, and the interest is expected to continue to boost sales as the new generations are introduces to Luke, Leia, Han, Yoda, Chewie, Darth and all the rest.  There are several ways you can take advantage of this hightened interest from the release, as buyers relive the memories associated with the fantasy and fun that is Star Wars.

One of the most popular film series of all time, and the fantacism goes beyond just the movies themselves.  Vintage and new Star Wars collectibles are popular on eBay, as are other toys like Legos.  Fan enjoy getting to know their favorite characters better through books and comic books or just fantasizing about intergalactic adventures as they gaze at vintage Star Wars posters.

There are plenty of Star Wars apparel options for those who want to feel at one with the force.  For those that want a chance to be a part of the action, costumes for kids range from Yoda to the lightsaber-wielding Darth are sure to be popular choices, with Halloween already on the minds of many eBay buyers.

Don’t forget all about the unique memorabilia and experiences that will be up for bid on our Use the Force for Good, in support of Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C).

1 – Know what you are looking for.
You can waste a lot of time on eBay just browsing, especially if you don’t know what you are looking for. If you are not looking for a specific item, then is may be helpful to make a list of “searchable” items instead.

2 – Browse like a pro.
On the eBay site, items are sorted into thousands of categories and sub-categories. If you want to speed up you search, you can narrow your search results by selecting the categories on the left-hand side of the search results page.

3 – Make use of your options.
To further focus your search results you can select how the search results are listed. To decide which option you would prefer, ‘lowest price’, ‘highest price’, ‘newly listed’, or ‘ending first’, look for the drop down menu to the upper right of the search results list.

4 – Educate yourself.
Be sure to do your research on the items you are searching for, especially if the item is an antique or memorabilia. Educate yourself on the item, confirm the condition of the of the item, don’t just rely on the listing photograph. You can also compare the item to similar items, this may improve your chances of purchasing an item that’s worth your money.

5 – Know the seller.
The seller could be continents away from you. It is a good idea to check the seller’s credibility. Looking at his/her feedback is a great first step. The feedback rating is on the auction listing page, it’s the number followed by a star that is next to the sellers name. You can read more about feedback ratings in another of my postings.
Also be sure to carefully read the item’s description. Many listings have a return policy, preferred payments, and the cost of postage. There is an ‘ask the seller a question’ option, don’t be afraid to make use of it.

6 – Be the best bidder.
If you find an item that you desire greatly and choose to bid on it, remember to stick to your maximum bid. I caution against bidding higher without really knowing the item’s worth. This is a common mistake. You are best served to consider that as a buyer you are still the one calling the shots on how you spend your money. You can check into sniping services to help you get the best value or bid on an item.

The bad news is that the only way to beat a “sniper” is to become one yourself. The up side is that once you figure out sniping you can use it to your advantage, and win auctions at a much lower price than you would otherwise.

Sniping Manually

Sniping manually is pretty simple if you have lots of spare time and a reasonably fast internet connection. First write down the ending time for each item that you bid on, and then be sure to be sitting at your computer with the page up for the last vital minute of the auction. This will allow you to defend your winning bid, or even outbid the current winning bid.

The best tip I can give for sniping manually is to make sure that you set your max bid as high as possible – otherwise you could still be automatically outbid, and the auction will be over before you can even bid again.

An important note – it is not worth even trying to compete against someone who has decided to use an auto sniping service. If their service is any good, then they will always manage to outbid you. If you really want to be a sniper, you will need to find one of your own.

Using an Auto Sniper

Just type “eBay sniping” into your preferred search engine (I like Google), and it’ll bring back several online services that will be more than happy to snipe on your behalf for a small fee. Most will give you a free trial, so feel free to try it out.

If you don’t want to pay each time for use of the online service, then their are some types of software that you can use. Two that I know of are iSnipeIt (http://www.isnipeit.com) and SnipeRight (http://sniperight.com). These you pay for once and then you can use for free for as long as you want. Once the software is installed on your computer, you just tell it what auctions you want sniped and the max amount you are willing to bid. The software then places the bid within the last few seconds of the auction. The disadvantage to using this software is that you will need to leave your computer on just about all the time, or risk missing the end time for your auctions.

An Alternative to Sniping

If sniping just sounds a bit too much like playing dirty, then here is another low-tech way to get around it. Just send an email to the seller of an item that you were sniped on. Let them know that you were sniped at the last minute but would really like the item. Chances are that if they have another one to sell, they will agree to sell it to you for the ending bid price.

Whether you choose to become a sniper or not, I wish you best of luck in your eBay pursuits.

With the NFL playoffs upon us (and almost over), what better time to watch the pigskin action on a new HD TV? Whether the preferred format is LCD, LED, plasma or even 3D, eBay has great deals on the top selling brands and models.

From now through February 6, take advantage of the 10% off coupons and free shipping on select TVs from Beach Camera, Electronic Express and Electronics Expo.

Special page for all three offers: http://tinyurl.com/4d9gzos

Seller: Beach Camera
Coupon Code: CBEACHCAMTV2011
Offer: 10% off any TV
Landing page: http://tinyurl.com/4cu7teg

Seller: Electronic Express
Coupon Code: CELECTEXPRESSTV
Offer: 10% off any TV
Special page: http://tinyurl.com/4zfrxb5

Seller: Electronics Expo
Coupon Code: CELECTEXPOTV
Offer: 10% off any TV
Special page: http://tinyurl.com/49365to

The coupons may be used up to three times per user, each time up to the maximum $600, while supplies last. To receive the discount, you must be a registered eBay member and pay for the item with PayPal.

You can find all of the offers on this landing page: http://tinyurl.com/2axqaoy

Here’s a look at the participating sellers and their corresponding coupons:

Seller ID: BayStateOutfitters
Coupon Code: CBAYSTATEEBAY
Offer: 15% off Entire Store
Free Shipping: No
eBay Page: http://tinyurl.com/2eupd8d

Seller ID: VIPFashions
Coupon Code: CVIPFASHEBAY
Offer: 15% Women’s Handbags & Bags
Free Shipping: Yes
eBayPage: http://tinyurl.com/268ruxw

Seller ID: EastCoastShoeStore
Coupon Code: CECOASTSHOEEBAY
Offer: 20% off Entire Store
Free Shipping: No
eBay Page: http://tinyurl.com/2345pc
 

Seller ID: ApparelSave
Coupon Code: CAPPARELSVEBAY
Offer: 15% off Entire Store
Free Shipping: No
eBay Page: http://tinyurl.com/2g8o3e6

Seller ID: street-moda
Coupon Code: CSTREETMODAEBAY
Offer: 15% off Entire Store
Free Shipping: No
eBay Page: http://tinyurl.com/2dfeksd

Seller ID: shoemall
Coupon Code: CSHOEMALLEBAY
Offer: 20% off Entire Store
Free Shipping: No
eBay Page: http://tinyurl.com/2g7xzs2

Seller ID: teresahilton
Coupon Code: CTHILTONEBAY
Offer: 25% off Entire Store
Free Shipping: No
eBay Page: http://tinyurl.com/2cgx56w

Seller ID: AJMFashions
Coupon Code: CAJMFASHEBAY
Offer: 40% off Entire Store
Free Shipping: No
eBay Page: http://tinyurl.com/299zm58

PayPal payment is required to redeem the coupons.