Buying Collectibles On Ebay For Profit

eBay is a great source of collectibles. There are so many
unique objects that you cannot find anywhere else, making
collecting these items one of the most enjoyable things to
do on eBay. This articles lists a few tips to help you start
buying these collectibles.

1. Find your category

Decide what type of collectibles do you want to be looking
at. From Star Wars paraphernalia to antique vases, it is likely
that all the items you are looking for are listed in the same
category. Adding this category to your favourites on your
internet browser allows you to come back and dive straight
into purchasing items which you are interested in, rather than
sifting through all the other items available.

2. Look for mistakes

Being a collector, you probably know a lot about the item,
possibly even more than the seller. This can prove to be a
golden opportunity for you. Sometimes, the seller does not
even realise that they are in possession of a rare item. Email
the seller to ask a few questions to confirm your suspicions.
You might just be able to obtain an extremely rare item
cheaply, either for resale or for collection.

3. Don't trust the descriptions

Most sellers call their items 'rare'. Just because an item
is labelled as 'rare' on the description doesn't mean it
actually is. Don't bid on an item unless you're absolutely
sure you know what you are buying.

4. Follow other users

When collecting something, you will notice that you are
constantly buying from the same sellers, or bidding against
the few same buyers. Add their user pages to your Favourites.
Checking back on them often will allow you to search for
items that interest you far more efficiently.

5. Be prepared to walk away

There are so many items being listed everyday on eBay that
even if you lose a single auction, chances are that it will
reappear in no time. If you cannot walk away from an auction,
expect to pay a premium. Rather than being caught in a bidding
war on an expensive item, go and bid on a lower-priced auction.
There is virtually nothing that is so rare that another seller won't
be able to sell.

6. Be aware of shipping

Collecting many small items of low value might result in the
postage costing as much as the item itself. You should
always be aware of shipping costs as they can slowly add up
to significant amounts. A good strategy to use is to always buy
a couple of items from the same seller. This can result in them
offering a discount on postage. Even if they do not, it is good to
build a reputation with a certain buyer as they may offer you
discounts on further purchases.

Some auctions go slower than others, perhaps even several
days before they receive a new bid. In the next article, I will
explain how you can take advantage of these 'slow' auctions
to make a profit, or to grab a bargain.

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Safely Resolving Ebay Disputes

While eBay has a rather detailed and elaborate dispute
resolution procedure outlined on their website, however to the
new eBayer it might seem rather confusing, especially if you're
dealing with the trauma of an eBay dispute. In this article I
shall guide you through each individual step in order for you to
obtain recourse, and for you to see the steps involved and the
amount of time expected.

Let us examine as an example, what you would do if you made
payment for an item yet failed to receive it from the seller.

Before initiating a dispute claim, give the seller a chance to
send the item. It could easily have been an honest mistake
rather than a malicious one. If you are worried about the amount
of time it has taken for the seller to send the item, drop him a
polite email enquiring about it rather than getting ahead of
yourself and open a dispute. Perhaps the seller has already
posted the item, or has been too busy lately, or has forgotten
about the item. Such things occur and it would be better to
settle amicably through an email rather than dragging the
auction through mediation for months. Check your own email
address registered to eBay to see if the seller can reply you.
As an absolutely last resort, you might have to call the
seller's number on eBay. This might incur additional
long-distance charges for the call, but it is definitely better
than enduring months of mediation.

If all the above did not work, the first step is to open an
"Item Not Received" dispute. This can be done at http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?InrCreateDispute

All you are required to do is submit the item number and claim
that you did not receive the stated item.

Step 2 - eBay then contacts the seller via email stating your
claim: that you have not received the item. The seller then has
three options. He can tell you that your payment has not been
cleared yet, that the item is in the mail, or that the seller
will refund you the money. The seller is also given the option
to send you a message.

Step 3 - You are given the option of talking to the seller to
work out what has happened. During this time, either the item
has been delivered or the seller agrees to refund you the money.

Step 4 - You can then close the dispute either satisfactorily if
you have obtained the item, or unsatisfactorily by claiming $200
under eBay's purchase protection program. This can be done after
30 days, or 10 days if the seller did not respond.

However, this is not the only route of recourse for a
unsatisfied buyer. Apart from eBay's own dispute settlement
process, there exist other third-party mediators. This is used
mainly if the item is of high value. One such third-party
meditor is SquareTrade at http://www.squaretrade.com, who
is a third party mediator to many websites. They contact the
seller and act as a mediator between the buyer and seller to
negotiate.

Committed sellers with a good reputation, who are willing to go
through SquareTrade's mediation for disputes are allowed to
display the SquareTrade mark on their auction. This gives their
buyers $250 fraud protection as well as confidence in the
seller. However, one must always be careful to avoid being a
victim of fraud. There are a few specific scams which are
especially prevalent on eBay, which we will cover in the next
article.

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A Steal Of A Deal: Sourcing Resale Goods At Police Auctions

While many online retailers cite auctions as an inventory
source, most overlook police auctions as a resource for
high-quality resale items. But if you sell products online,
police auctions represent a tremendous opportunity for you
to find all kinds of saleable products. Hundreds of millions of
dollars in merchandise are auctioned off annually, and you
can purchase many of those items at a tiny percentage of
their retail value.

Exactly where do the goods at these auctions come from?
Explains Bill Keck, founder of PoliceAuctions.com,
"Police auctions usually deal in property that's been seized
from criminals, or abandoned. The property is cataloged and
held for a time; and then, periodically, the police department
holds auctions to make it available to the public." The type of
merchandise you can find varies widely - from furniture to
jewelry to electronics to vehicles. Although many of the
items are unique, it's not uncommon find bulk lots being
auctioned off as well.

According to Keck, there are two types of police auctions:
live and online. Each offers a different experience and set of
benefits for the attendee.

* Live auctions involve fewer bidders, and provide a preview
period during which you can examine the goods up-close,
determine their condition, and identify lots you expect to
have good resale value. Once you have that information, you
can use your cell phone, laptop, or PDA to check the online
product market. Look to see the market value, the level of
demand, and the kind of competition you'll be up against.
Understanding this information allows you to develop a
successful bidding strategy.

* Online auctions are easier to locate in advance than their
live counterparts. They don't involve opening bids,
auctioneers trying to incite bids, or travel time or expenses. Many
allow proxy bidding, which can save you even more time. And since
you're already online, doing your market research is a piece
of cake.

The good news is that most police auction lots have no
minimum bid (or reserve) attached. This leaves you room to
find some high-margin deals. While a live auctioneer may try
to open the bidding at a certain price-point, if no one responds, it
will come down and continue coming down until someone jumps in.

The bad news is that police auctions aren't well-publicized,
so finding them can be a challenging task. Most police
websites, if they include auction info at all, don't update it
frequently.

Their next tier of advertising is usually the classified
section of the newspaper. This lack of publicity makes these
events difficult to track down; but it also means that, for those
who find them, there won't be a lot of competition running up
the bids.

One option you have is to simply call your local police
department (not 911) and ask about upcoming auctions. You
can also sign-up for a subscription service, like PoliceAuctions.com
or GovernmentAuctions.org, which will supply you with a centralized
source of event information.

Police auctions take a decided effort to track down, but the
value they offer more than makes it worthwhile. If you take
the time to understand what you're buying and what the value of
those items is, you can find some very high-profit buys for
your e-business. Says Keck, "Whether you're looking to diversify
your product line or just find high-margin items to resell,
police auctions provide a unique opportunity to go outside the box
and source some truly profitable products."

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Bidding On Slow Ebay Auctions And Winning

eBay auctions sell at different speeds. Some get many bids
in a day while some go much slower, garnering only two or three
bids throughout. Auctions generally slow down during summer
and speed up during the winter. However sales on eBay are
slowing down as more sellers than buyers sign up in the hopes
of getting rich quick. However, there are many methods that
you can use to turn the 'slower' auctions to your advantage in
order to get the best price.

The first method is to wait to bid. When you see an item
that is moving slowly, don't bid immediately. Instead, wait
until it is almost ending before bidding on it. This is due to
a number of factors. By bidding, everyone can see that you
are interested in the item, and that might interest them in
the item too. Leaving an item alone for as long as possible
helps keep the price down and makes the item appear to
be unpopular, allowing you to bid at the last minute to
obtain a bargain.

Secondly, use eBay's 'Best Offer' service. If a seller is
selling an item using 'Buy it Now' and it still hasn't sold
when the auction is ending, using 'Best Offer' to make an offer
usually results in the seller simply accepting your offer so
they can get rid of it. This applies to items which do not
usually sell well as the seller would probably have relisted
the item two or three times before, and so be too annoyed at the
prospect of re-listing that they would simply accept the
offer to get rid of it.

Thirdly, conspiring with other buyers can often result in a
win-win situation where both of you can buy an item for
cheap as you avoid bidding and raising the price of the item. This is
especially if there are two or more similar items that you
are interested in. Making a few friends can provide you with the
contacts to work together on auctions in the long term.
Taking in turns to bid on different auctions results in a win-win
situation for all involved.

Acting as a discerning buyer also intimidates the seller
into feeling better about a lower price. Asking detailed
questions about the condition of the item, acting as a
knowledgeable buyer also makes the seller reconsider
his price, and he is more likely to give you a lower price
than he originally requested. With the number of sellers
on eBay now, common items have their prices forced to
extremely low prices. This is how the market functions
- supply and demand.

Lastly, buying in bulk allows you to purchase a sellers
stock for extremely low prices. When auctions are slow, bulk
offers usually have the seller eager to offload their goods for a
low price. Essentially, the longer you spend on eBay, the more
experienced and discerning you become, and the greater the
chance you'll stumble upon an auction for something unique
and totally unexpected.

About the author:
Learn how to successfully sell your stuff for a profit on
Ebay at: <a href="http://articlestm.com/ebay.html">Free Ebay
Articles</a> Find more articles like this at: <a
href="http://articlestm.com">Free Online Content</a>