How to Make Money in Online Auctions. Some of the secrets explained.

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How to Make Money in Online Auctions

It is possible to make huge profits at auctions, just follow the guide below and start making money.

It's best to sell items through popular auction websites because they generate a large amount of traffic, so you can get away with charging more. When sourcing items to sell, you should check on the bigger sites to see what you can expect to sell them for. Then you can decide how much you want to pay.

You should also check other sites to see if they are more appropriate. They might specialise in the type of item you want to buy or sell.

If you are trying to sell an item it is important that potential buyers trust you. Most auction sites give trust ratings, the higher the rating the more professional the seller. The ratings come from other members that have had transactions with the seller.

You will also notice the sellers with higher ratings can charge a premium over sellers with low or zero ratings. This is because the buyer is safe in the knowledge, that the item will be delivered swiftly and that the seller won't rip them off. So to maximise your profits you have to get a good trust rating. Start off by selling lower priced good quality items. You will have to undercut the more trusted sellers if you are just starting off in your first auction.

Selling an Item

When setting up your sale always, where ever possible, include a photo of the item. If people can see the item they are bidding for, it makes them more trusting and therefore more willing to bid.

Make your advertisement as wordy as possible. Say as much as you can about the item you have to sell, so that the possible bidder doesn't have any unanswered questions.

To create interest in your sale you want to generate as many bids as possible. To make sure you get as many bids as possible you must set a low starting price, this is not what the item will be sold for, make sure you fix a reserve price for that. This way you are guaranteed the price you want (the reserve), but because you have created interest you will get bidders competing for the item. The more the bidders compete, the higher the bid, the more profit for you. You should also use message boards and chat rooms on the auction site to generate interest.

Make sure you set the difference between bids, so that the bids go up by ten instead of one, if that is an appropriate amount. If you don't set this you may never reach the reserve.

Once the auction has been completed you must contact the buyer as soon as possible. Remember they will be rating you on your customer service and this will affect your future profits.

Buying an Item

When buying an item make sure you don't fall into the trap outlined above. Don't just bid a small amount more when you know the product is worth a lot more. Bid just below what you think the item is worth and you are prepared to pay, this way you won't have so much competition for the item. As with all auctions set an upper limit you will spend and NEVER go above. If you play it cool and don't get too excited with the auction, you will get yourself a bargain.

Finding Items to Sell

In addition to finding bargins on auction sites you should try to source items from the real world. You will find that there are products which are easily obtained locally, that can't be found in other regions. This offers you unique opportunities to make money.

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