How Much Is That Apple iPhone In the Box?

Images courtesy of eBay
With the upcoming release with the upcoming release of the new Apple iPhone 5, I am sure some of us are wondering what to do with the old one (if we upgrade). You may be wondering what you will get for that used iPhone 3G or 4S.

What if you had a 1st generation iPhone 3G that was new in box? Have you ever wondered what you could get for that? Well, one seller on eBay thinks it should be $10,000. Below is a screenshot of the actual listing.





Top-rated seller Samsonbible has listed his new in box Apple iPhone 1st Generation with 8 gigabytes of memory for that amount. Photos show the phone in a cellophane-wrapped box that appears to have never been opened. The seller has called the item a “Crown Jewel for any collection”. So far, no buyers agree with him unfortunately. The item was recently relisted.


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What Happened to The Guy Who Auctioned His Life On eBay.au?

Ian Usher was a seemingly normal guy who was working as a rug store manager, and thought he was happily married. One day his wife left him after being together for more than 12 years. His life was in shambles, and he came up with this idea to auction his entire life: his job, possessions, his friends… the whole ball of wax. He chose eBay as the answer. He wanted to start his life anew. Below is a screenshot of the actual auction for his home while it was open. This was four years ago, and now his life is very different.
 

Ian set off to do things that he had never done before like skydiving and swimming with humpbacked whales. He took the time to raise thousand of dollars for bowel cancer research, the disease that claimed his father. A woman named Maureen Boksa (his current lady) was reading about Ian on the internet. She messaged him with a challenge that said he was invited to come to Yukon to ride on a husky powered sled. Maureen thought this could be one of the items he could add on to his bucket list. He did respond and went to Yukon, and completed the challenge. He decided to move on and complete more items on his list, and he didn’t see Moe (Maureen) for another 15 months.

During those 15 months away from Moe, Ian began to have strong feelings for her. He was ready to settle down and find his dream home. He hired a real estate agent and they found a place called “Dolphin Bay.” The island was a 20 minute boat ride away from Yukon, perfect for the solitude he was looking for. After three years, he purchased the property. This was the perfect setting for a man starting all over again. During this time Disney bought the film rights for Ian’s life for 220 thousand dollars.

It took Ian three months to clear the land on his private little island. The island was nicknamed Gilligan’s Island, after the television series. He began to build his home and plant crops. Moe visits him often.

Ian is very happy with the way his new life is shaping up. He living life the way he wants to live it. No one could ask for more than that. eBay can really change a person’s life, even unconventionally.


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Looks Like Cher Has Joined the eBay Craze

Image Courtesy of Google Images

This story got my attention this weekend when the officials from Adelaide in southern Australia announced their disappointment that Cher was selling a key to their city the star had received. The article talked about the listings that Cher has on eBay! Yes, the very same eBay we use to sell our items is now being used by Cher!

Actually, she is using a co-signor to sell a few items on eBay. Currently, there are four items for sale:

the before-mentioned Key to the City of Adelaide

Cher’s personal copy of Cher Forever Fit Book

photo of Cher meeting Queen Elizabeth

a pair of sandals she wore

The key appears to be a successful niche item with a current bid of $95,900. Below is a screenshot of the auction as it appears on eBay:



Why is Cher selling her items? Is this her new income stream? Well, not exactly.

The co-signor has posted a statement for her that says:

“Cher receives many awards and gifts from all over the world. And she is always humbled and touched by these gracious gestures. At certain times she goes through her huge collection and decides to share many of these special treasures with her fans, with all the proceeds going to Cher’s Charitable Foundation. Please know that the proceeds for [these auctions] are helping people all over the world through Cher’s charitable and humanitarian endeavors.

I wonder if she is willing to submit an eBay Seller Success Story. If you are, please email it to me at eBaycoach@yahoo.com for consideration.


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Disney Character Comes to Life

Image Courtesy of eBay

I am sure many boys and girls (of all ages) have a favorite character that they would love to own in real life. Well, if you are a fan of the Disney movies Cars and Cars 2, here is an auction you may hate that you missed.

An eBay seller in Nowata, OK, recently listed and sold a life size replica of Tow Mater, the beloved tow truck and sidekick of racecar Lightning McQueen. The vehicle was a 1955 Chevrolet 2-on dump truck before being transformed into “Mater”.

Below is a screenshot of the closed listing:







The description was very detailed. “Every effort was made to build this replica as close to the actual "Mater" as possible. The tow bed is very accurate and made from steel. All the lights work, including the rotating beacon light on top. Note the detailed "carburetor county" license plate. The winch and tow mechanism are just for show - they do not work. All the front "face" pieces are steel - including the teeth. This was all hand built and formed [sheet metal]. The windshield is covered in perforated vinyl that you can see out of, but you can't see in. The eyes are decals. Likewise the side and rear windows have been covered in perforated vinyl so it looks like Mater is driving himself.”

I am sure the question in your mind is did Mater run? The seller says it does! It could even be driven but since the windshield is covered in vinyl it could only be driven in “parades, taken to car shows by trailer, or just parked for display.”

After 4 bids, Mater found a new home. The winning bid was $8,000. I think Mater’s response to that would be, “Dad-gum!”


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Why 99 Cent Auctions Don't Work on eBay Anymore

Years ago, when eBay first started, the only listing type was auctions. Now we have fixed price, store inventory, best offer, and second chance offers. Buyers are not forced into participating in an auction if they want to buy an item.

The old philosophy used to be, “Start the listing at 99 cents, get the bidders involved, and watch your price sky rocket.” This does not happen much anymore. And I am doing damage control with many clients who follow this outdated advice.

Here is why 99 cent auctions don’t work effectively anymore:

1. There are many other ways to buy items on eBay. Auctions aren’t the only choice.

2. Buyers don’t want to wait for an auction to end so they will buy from your competitors who offer the item at a fixed price and they “but it now.” If you aren’t offering fixed price to appeal to these “in a hurry” buyers, your competition does, and buyers will gravitate to your competitors. Furthermore, Amazon continues to grow and all items on Amazon are "buy it now." If a buyer can't find it on eBay at a fixed price, they will go to Amazon.

3. As a result of #1 and #2, there are fewer bidders in the bidding pool to drive up the price of auctions.

4. Consequently, your item does not get very many bids, and sells at a lower price than you would like.

5. More sellers are using research software to determine the listing type that brings the highest average price. Many times, fixed price listings bring a higher price so sellers use the fixed price listing instead of an auction.

The solutions:

1.Use Terapeak to determine the listing type that brings the highest average price.

2. If Terapeak says to use an auction, start the bidding at your rock-bottom price. Even if you only get one bid, you will get the price you wanted.

3. 99 cent auctions can work in some situations if a seller is very familiar with how a product performs over a period of time, or if you have a hot item such as the hot holiday toy or concert tickets limited in number. This is not a strategy for beginners. Wait until you have more experience with a product before using the 99 cent strategy.

For more discontinued item you can sell on eBay for profit, check out my latest Hot List.

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eBay Listing Types - Which Kind is Best?

I received this question from Billie:

"I need to tap into your expertise. I'm a little confused as to where to list items in my store. Fixed or store inventory? Is it true that items listed as store inventory very rarely come up in the ebay search, is it better to spend the extra money and do the fixed price to get more visability? Your answere would be greatly appreciated."

This is a common question among my coaching clients so I will give you my 2 cents worth, which may differ from other opinions out there.

Auction style listings and fixed price listings get more visibility in searches than store inventory listings. The downside is that they cost more on the front end. When you list an item on auction or fixed price, the fee up front is .55 or more, depending on your starting price and upgrades, and you pay that fee whether or not the item sells. When you list an item in store inventory, the up front cost is .03-.05 depending on asking price.

Here is my strategy. I use store inventory as a "holding tank" for unsold auctions. Let's say I find a great item,like True Religion jeans, to "flip" on eBay. (Click here for a video tutorial on how to flip listings.) I will start off running an auction. If the item doesn't sell on auction, I will move it to store inventory at a fixed price with Best Offer. At least the item is out there and has some visibility until I decide to put it on auction or fixed price again. You can move items around like this through your selling manager very easily.

Some items go directly into my store inventory. Let's say I find 20 of something at Big Lots. I will put one on auction, and the rest as a quantity in store inventory. Within the auction I will say, "Don't want to wait for this auction to end? Buy it now from my store inventory." So you can use your auctions to advertise other things in store inventory.

Running all auctions and fixed price listings gets expensive, especially if your items don't sell. Granted, the final value fee for store inventory items is higher (12% vs 8% for auctions), but you don't lose money on the listing fees.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each listing type. It is a gray area with a lot of variables. You will need to experiment and see what works best for you and find your own comfort zone.

Happy Selling!



Find sloppy listings and resell the items for way more than you paid for them! Click here to see my personal examples.

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Flipping Listings - Keywords to Search

Flipping listings is a great way to make a nice profit with very little work and a small time investment. The most common stumbling block to this process is thinking of words to plug into the misspelling tool. Let me help you out! I have been selling on eBay since 2003 and have sold over 20,000 items, so I can make some great suggestions.

Every week I will be posting 5 brand names, words, or phrases that you can plug into a misspelling tool. You can just copy the list and keep these ideas in a spreadsheet or WORD document.

This week's keywords:

Clinique

Patagonia

Diesel

Façonnable

Armani

If you aren't familiar with these brands or items, take a moment to research them on Google so you will know what you are looking for. To learn how I flip eBay listings, click here for a free 5 minute tutorial.

Happy Selling!

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Importance of Correct eBay Titles

Deborah sent in this tip,

"I was doing a search for my favorite perfume. I found this one ending soonest. There was no bids with 1 day left. I left a high bid with my sniping program.
The title had several errors and did not come up in a search for this brand. I
was thrilled to get it at half of eBay's going price and a third of retail. A very good example of the importance of correct titles." Here is the listing:


Fatal errors:

1) Brand name not spelled out. The brand name is Thierry Mugler.

2) 3.4ozANGEL is squeezed together without spaces. You always want to put spaces between the words so the search engine can see them.

3) Shipping fee is high. Could easily be put into a flat rate mailer (wrapped in bubble wrap) and shipped for $4.95.

4) According to Hammertap, this product has a 67% sell through rate and sells for as much as $95 on eBay. Click here to see completed listings. Had this seller done a few small things differently and more thoroughly, she could have doubled her sale price. These situations are unfortunate for the seller, but good for sharp-eyed buyers.!

Thanks for sending that in, Deborah. This week I will be posting more seller success stories and eBay flips, so send yours in! After the new year, it will be eBay business as usual.

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Rank Higher in eBay's Best Match - Free eBook

eBay's default method in which search results are returned is called Best Match. The search results appear rather random - not in any particular order. However, the algorithm that eBay uses to create this order is somewhat of a puzzle. Instead of sorting results by ending time, price, distance from buyer, or another more obvious method, eBay uses its own "secret" algorithm to determine the order that buyers see search results presented. The challenge as a seller is to figure out how to get to the top the search results, Best Match. Some things we know:

Free shipping place you higher

Auctions appear before store inventory items

Item specifics - the more of these you fill out (those little boxes you check regarding style, size, brand name, etc) the higher your listing will place

Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs -those little yellow stars) - the higher your DSRs, the higher you place in Best Match

There are many more factors. Douglas Feiring has updated his eBook, Best Match Made Simple. The recent update came out on November 17, 2009. Click here to download the FREE 131 page eBook for more information about how to place higher in Best Match, and increase your visibility and your sales.

Also, click here for a 10 minute radio interview on eBay Radio with Griff and Lee regarding 5 ways to place higher in Best Match.

Have a great day on eBay!

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