In about 25 hours my first auction will be over. I sure hope for more activity than I've had so far. :) Here's a few things I would like to know from those who have sold anything at Ebay before. Did you promote your auction? If so, how? What is the best amount of days? I chose 7 which was default, but if all the action is on the last day or last hour, why spend x amount of days waiting? Are you allowed to contact other Ebay members? Can I contact them and say: "I see you are selling this item, and I think you could be interested in the item I'm selling which is in the same category" If I don't get answers to these questions I will find out for myself and post the answers here.

I have sold several things on ebay.  The key feature is really to get your ratings 100%

I do not bother to promote my auctions as it often does not turn enought extra viewers to make it worthwhile.  The only thing that I make sure I always have is a picture showing on the search page so that customers don't have to click on my sale to view the picture.  Often times they won't view it unless you have that picture available then they get curious and open your auction to get a better look.

7 tends to be a generaly good amount of time - gives ebayers time to find yours amongst the many.  If you have something to make a quick sale you may want to do a 3 day sale, but that's your choice. Although I would not go longer then 7 days.

As far as I know messages like that are generaly accepted well.  Ebay is not something where it goes over well.  More often then not if someone has something in your category they will see yours, as sellers tend to skim through their competitors.

Some other auction type sites that you may want to check out are:

www.Vstoreauctions.com

and

www.Myquickbid.net

If you register on my quick bid then please say that 'jkauctions' refered you.

I hope I have been a help to you, any further questions I will answer if I'm able.

For your success

Jared Kuiper

Hi Roger,

I don't promote my auctions outside of ebay. 

The cheapest way to attract more viewers and bidders is to add a Gallery photo so that the picture appears in the search results. 

Also, put as much detail about the product you are selling as you can.  Search results are driven by the words used in your listing, so the more words you can use, the more people will find your listing.

For the Michael S after shave, think of all the different ways that people would search for it.  Eg, you could have the words "fragrance", "apres rasage", etc.  Is it a spray or a dab on bottle?  Are there some marketing words on the box you could use?

I would also include the recommended retail price in the text of the auction.

In terms of starting price, you can go two ways.  Start with the lowest amount you would like to get.  This means that if someone wants it for that price, you're both happy.  However, a lower starting price, like $0.01 or $0.99 can attract bids early on.  An item that has bids is more likely to get more bids.  Psycologically, people see that others want it, so they want it too.

7 days is a good time to use.  Use 3 days if you have a popular product that you know will sell.  The latest electrical items for instance.  If I don't know how an item will go, I use 7 or 10 days.  The reason for listing it for 7 or 10 days is to give the item maximum exposure.  Even if all the action happens in the last hour, the extra days give people time to find it and they may watch it for days before bidding.  I've had auctions online for 6 days before getting a bid, then have 10 bids in the last hour.  Also, I've had auctions with 5 to 10 watchers, but the item didn't sell.  I don't know why. 

You can research the products you are selling by searching Completed Items only.  This will show you whether other people have had success selling similar things.  You can also see how many of them sold and how many didn't sell.  What price they went for, and how many bids they got.

I hope this helps.

You aren't allowed to contact other ebay members to ask them to look at your item.  ebay treat that as spam.

Hello Roger...I have and do the Ebay auctions...one of the key things is the catogory and the description and price that you offer to sell...I have played with all these and found that Ebay people are looking for deals...below price for example..there are many people selling on Ebay...I normally use 7 days...but I have started using the Buy Now Price which normally a little higher than the start bid...and the Buy Now Price has worked for me..many want to buy now and not wait the auction period...just a few hints that I have learned...Larry