By Victor Epand

Do you have an antique item or even several antique items that you feel are worth a significant amount of money:? It may be something you inherited or something you bought many years ago. If you have thought of selling these valuable items, it may be easier to do than you think.

Selling your antiques online is relatively simple. There are two basic ways of selling antiques online. One way is to set up your own website or a simple web page. Or you can use an auction site such as eBay.

Selling from your own web site

If you have a number of antiques you wish to sell, you can set up a web site or just a simple web page with a domain name for just a few dollars a month. The first thing you should do is to take photographs that show good detail of each antique piece you wish to sell. You should describe the facts about that piece, such as estimated age, value, place of origin, etc. You should also include shipping costs, handling costs, an email address and/or phone number for potential customers to reach you concerning questions or issues.

Once your web page is set up, you need to draw some traffic to it. You can connect with popular search engines such as yahoo and Google. You can also advertise locally, by placing fliers throughout your neighborhood or placing messages on online message boards concerning antiques.

Selling on auction sites

If you consider selling some of your antiques on auction sites such as eBay, you should do a little research first. Check out how similar items are being sold. If you see items that are similar to yours, take note of the price. You may want to offer a competitive price. You should also display good detailed photos of your items. In your description of the item, try to make your item sound special. Online auction sites can be very competitive in that they can be saturated with many items that are similar, so try to find a way to make your item sound unique.

Ebay is one of the most popular online auction sites. However, it is not the only one. You should investigate other auction sites and decide which one might be best for you. Whichever site you decide to use, be sure you understand all the rules and regulations that go along with the site. Also make sure you understand the percentages that the site will take from any sales you make.

Whether you decide to use an auction site or set up your own Web site, you may be able to make more money than you think. With just a little strategy and planning you can turn your antiques into cash.

About The Author

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for pottery, antiques, and figurines. When shopping for pottery, antiques and figurines, we recommend these online stores for pottery, selling antiques, and figurines.

By Jamie Jefferson

EBay is one of the most successful and versatile auction sites on the web. Whether you are simply cleaning out your attic or you are embarking on a new work at home career, here are a few things that eBay insiders already know:

1. Your eBay reputation is of major significance. Many bidders will consult feedback from your customers before placing bids, so you will want to acquire lots of positive feedback to maintain an excellent rating. This means being a courteous and conscientious seller.

2. Descriptions sell. Pictures are wonderful, but they may not show every detail. That is why accurate descriptions are important. Most buyers know that used items are not in perfect condition. Be sure to describe chips, scratches, holes or any other defects. If you do happen to be selling collectible items, such as baseball cards or beanie babies that you have kept packaged and in mint condition, mention that in the title or heading.

3. Photograph your items carefully. When taking snapshots of your items, be sure there is plenty of light and clean or polish them first. Create a pleasant background and use a flash whenever possible. Dark, fuzzy, hazy pictures are boring and will not pull in the attention of the viewer. Many sellers post photographs taken from various angles showing the front, back and any markings, if they are selling highly desirable items such as collectible glassware.

4. Communicate well with potential buyers. Some potential buyers will write to ask questions about the article for sale. Be prepared, attentive and responsive. Do your research so that you will be able to answer their questions quickly. Remember, a minor detail to you may be very important to the buyer and may mean the difference between a successful sale and no sale at all.

5. Ship with care. When packaging delicate items, be sure to pad each one carefully using Styrofoam popcorn or bubble wrap, and plug any exposed areas using crumpled up newspaper. Glassware should be placed in boxes at least four inches apart and away from the sides, top and bottom to ensure safe delivery. Mark the outside of the carton “Fragile” and “Handle with Care.”

6. Know the ins and outs of insurance. No matter how careful you are, there is always the possibility of breakage when shipping certain items, so it is a good idea to familiarize yourself beforehand with the claim process.

Getting serious about eBay

If you are serious about making money from your eBay selling, you will need to become adept at researching the eBay marketplace, especially before you decide which products you want to sell.

Here are some guidelines:

1. Search for the most popular categories. Look at the number of listings that exist under each category. Then look to see how many bids the products have.

2. Choose no more than one or two categories, especially when you are first starting out. When you are an expert in your niche, you build credibility and trust with your buyers.

3. Examine the ratings of the sellers who are listing products in each category. Read their profiles. See how many products they are currently selling and how many products they have sold in the past.

4. Analyze prices. Become an expert in your chosen category and know at which price a product is worth buying, as well as the expected final winning price of your auction.

Finding More Products to Sell

Here are a couple of additional considerations once you have exhausted your attic and need more products to sell.

1. Consider Dropshipping. Dropshippers will sell you products at wholesale and send them to the address that you specify. On these items, you will not need to carry an inventory yourself, which minimizes your investment. After the auction is complete, you simply send your dropshipper the address of the buyer.

If you decide to use a dropshipper, you need to make sure that the winning price is sufficiently higher than the wholesale price you pay for the items. At minimum, you should expect to double your costs.

It is also important to use care with companies that claim to be dropshippers. Do your research and work only with legitimate drop shippers, which are either the product manufacturers themselves or authorized wholesale distributors. If a prospective dropshipper asks you to place a minimum order or to pay a fee to set up your drop shipping account, consider it a red flag.

2. Buy from eBay. Many successful eBayers know how to buy at a good price on eBay and then sell the same products at a higher price. If you know your niche well, you can find opportunities that will allow you to buy and resell for a profit. Here again, research is essential.

3. Import Asiatic products. If you are willing to carry an inventory, you can invest in Asiatic products for a low price and resell for a profit. You can easily start importing Asiatic products from the Internet at Alibaba.com

4. Sell local products. If you live in an area that produces local products that can be bought at a cheap price and then shipped to other areas, where people would pay more, you should take advantage of the situation. What kinds of unique local products do you find yourself taking for granted?

About The Author

Jamie Jefferson is a frequent contributor to several popular websites, including Momscape.com, Susies-Coupons.com, and BestSelfHelp.com.

By Rick Calligaris

Many online auction marketers do not fully understand how important pricing is when selling products on eBay. Often times, they do not even realize that pricing will make or break them in the competitive eBay environment. In order to be successful in online auctions such as eBay you need do your research and establish a plan that insures your success. This includes setting effective prices.

Basically, you need to establish up to three prices for an eBay auction. They include a buy it now price, a reserve price, and a starting bid price. Of these, the starting bid price is the only one that is required by eBay. The reserve price and the buy it now price are optional. The starting bid price is really quite simple. I recommend that you never set it higher than $50 no matter what your item is really worth. This low opening price will attract bidders to your auction.

One thing to keep in mind when you do this is that when you set a low starting bid price you will need to create a reserve price. The reserve price is the lowest price that you will accept from someone that wants to buy your product. If you choose, you can sell the item below the reserve price but it is not a requirement. For example, if you set your reserve price at $100, and your highest bid is only $50, you do not have to sell the item to the highest bidder. You can simply close the auction without any further obligation on your part. I recommend that you set your reserve price at the absolute lowest price you are willing to sell your item.

The buy it now option permits you to set a price that allows a buyer to purchase your item immediately without bidding. This option can be used for any type of item, and it should be set to match your reserve, give or take a few dollars. This option is great if you have multiple identical items to sell such as information products.

Another item to keep in mind when you are setting your price is that buyers will take shipping prices into consideration when they are looking at an auction item. With that said, if you can offer free or at least low cost shipping you will receive more bids leading to more sales. Make sure that you advertise this low-to-no cost benefit to your eBay auction bidders!

Lastly, before setting any auction price you need to determine what the item is really worth not to mention how much it costs you to buy at wholesale. So, do your research and determine what similar items are selling for on eBay before and factor in your profit margin before setting your price. If you are listing collectables or a high dollar item, I always recommend that you have the item appraised prior to make sure that you do not lose money on the sale.

To Your eBay Auction Success.

About The Author

Rick Calligaris specializes in Affiliate Marketing, SEO, and various Traffic solutions. He is an expert in Process Automation and focusses on creating auto-pilot businesses with minimal effort. Learn more at:

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