Getting bids on auctions on Ebay or Yahoo can be challenging . To get bids on your auction first you must research the item you are about to list. This is quite simple - just do a search on closed auctions. Ebay and Yahoo auctions let you do this on their site. Look at all the prices the item closed at as you will want to start your bidding at the lowest price at which an item closed. If you want to add a "buy it now" option, choose any price between the highest price closed and the lowest price.

Next, take a look at the items that did not get a bid, notice what they did wrong and then look at the auctions that got bids and notice that they did right. Use this to your advantage. Make your headline similar to a winning headline and use the same area the winning item was listed.

Next, and this is a most important tip, when writing your description ,write it as if you're trying to sell an item to your friend. Give the condition and tell the benefits of them having your item. Now for shipping, keep the price reasonable and say that you ship out within 2 days and offer tracking. To really get bids, list yours as a featured item, but this will cost extra. Also take some good pictures so that who ever sees your auction can view the item, as if they were looking at it in person. Take your picture in a good lighting and turn the flash off because it can cause glare. You can take you picture outside or, if your item is small get a desk lamp and adjust it so that it shines on your item. A good background like a poster would help too. The more pictures you take the more confident the bidder will be in bidding on your auction.

Offer more than one payment method. The more options you offer the more bids you will get. Try to start your auction on such a day that it will end on the weekend because shoppers will have a chance to see and bid on it. If you have past customers, tell them about your new auctions. They already know you and have done business with you. You can also offer something free to the winning bidder of your item.

A money guarantee can help you get lots of bids too. Make sure to let everyone know they are ordering through a secure server for credit card payments. And if you have past ebay customers write in your item listing that potential bidders should view your feedback from all the other Ebay members. If you have great comments from your past customers then this will help.

Don't use reserve auctions - people get discouraged trying to figure out the reserve cost.

If you follow all these tips you should be getting bids to all of your online auctions.

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Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Online Auctions
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