The Joy of Auctions - Articles - Zimbio

Welcome to our wikizine called "The Joy of Auctions"

Sat, 30 Sep 2007 23:14:30 GMT

posted by Sandhs
Wikizines are interactive magazines that anyone can create or edit - and this one is called "The Joy of Auctions". Here you can find fresh voices and respond in real time. Some members write articles about recent news and trends related to the wikizine's topic, others recount relevant personal stories or share their favorite pictures and video clips. Got an interesting idea or story to share with other members of this wikizine? Well, then put on your journalist's cap and add your own article!

Online...Who's bidding at your auctions?

Wed, 28 Feb 2008 13:46:00 GMT

posted by nptimes
Who takes part in online auctions? According to a bidder study by Cambridge, Mass.-based cMarket 2006, the following can be said about the people competing for items at online auctons:

71 percent of online auction bidders are female.
92 percent go to the Internet once a day or more.
They spend 49 minutes each time they log on.
79 percent typically access the Internet from home for personal use.
They visit online auctions about four or five times a year.
They spend an average of 17 minutes each time they visit an online auction.
51 percent prefer to support their favorite nonprofit/charitable cause through online auctions.
The top reasons for participating in online charitable auctions include lending support, purchasing products and services, and ease of use.
95 percent agree somewhat or completely with the statement: Online charitable auctions provide a unique way to purchase items of interest while giving to a worthy cause.
Two-thirds indicate, "charity for which the auction is being given is a cause I believe in" as the most important reason they participate in the first place.
The three categories bid on most recently by those who visited an auction are travel (16 percent), food/dining (12 percent) and home items (9 percent).
Of the 34 percent who would be interested in a "pay over time" option, virtually all would be at least somewhat likely to use it.
50 percent would be willing to bid at least 20 percent more on an item if a pay over time option existed.

3 Ways to Make More Money on Ebay

Mon, 2 Oct 2007 02:50:00 GMT

posted by Sandhs

Making money on Ebay is fairly simple. Here are the basics, 1) you post an auction for a product or service that people want, 2) people who want your product or service place bids in the amount of money they are willing to purchase the item/service for and 3) the person with the highest bid at the end of the auction WINS! Now that’s simple. Some of the finer points to the equation above include finding the right product or service to offer and then finding the people who actually want what you have found. My biggest successes on Ebay, limited as they may be, have come when I have done just that. So there you have it!

Success on Ebay = Right product + People who want it.

Now that really is easy.

For now we’re going to presuppose that you have found a great product or service. Let’s focus on finding the people who want what you have for sale. There are hundreds of thousands of dollars spent daily on Ebay. This translates into hundreds of thousands of people bidding on and buying these items. The skill you must master in order to get the maximum number of bids (i.e. money) for your item is how to find these people. This essentially comes down to marketing your auction. Here are three zero cost marketing strategies that work in driving people to your Ebay auctions.

1. Want Ads

This strategy is the simplest of them all. Here’s the deal…you are looking for people who want what you have. Want ads are people telling you what they want. The internet has a treasure chest full of people placing want ads hoping someone has what they want. The next time you’re on Craigslist (www.craigslist.org) go to the “for sale” section. At the bottom of that section is a link called “Wanted.” Click on that link. Once that page is pulled up type in what you have for sale and see if anyone in that city is looking for it. No hits? Trying typing the misspelling of the item. Selling a Motorola Razr cell phone? Type in Razr first…nothing? Try Razor or try Motorola cell phone.

Once you have found someone that is looking for what you are selling send them an email explaining that you have listed an item on Ebay just like what they are looking for. Describe the item, give the opening asking amount and then give them the Ebay item number so they can find it. Then go find the next person. Other want ads that are useful include the Thriftnickle (http://www.thriftynickelads.com), Nickads (http://www.nickads.com) or Kijji (http://www.kijiji.com). These are just a few of the many the net offers to you. When using the above sites look for the search box and type in the word “Want” or “Wanted.” This will separate the want ads from the selling ads.

2 Chat Rooms

This one is a little bit trickier. First if you don’t chat you must find a chat platform to use. Yahoo messenger (http://messenger.yahoo.com/webmessengerpromo.php) or MSN’s IM (http://im.live.com/messenger/im/home/?source=MSNTDLINK) are two common ones to use. Once you have downloaded the software and established an account, user id and password and have explored the world of chatting you’ll begin to get a feel for what rooms are available to discuss such a topic. You have to be very careful in the chat rooms not to violate their codes of etiquette. This could find you booted out of the room. After you have found a couple of rooms that you are comfortable in ask a question such as, “does anyone know anybody that might be interested in buying a 1904 widget? I’ve just listed one on ebay (ebay item number 1234567789) for $0.45. I did this once with an auction for a Texas Instrument Calculator that I had listed. As soon as I asked the question one guy said, “Why would anybody want to buy a piece of crap like that anyways?” Several others chimed in along the same vein. But then one person sent me a private message asking for more information. He was a high school student preparing for college and needed a graphing calculator. He eventually was the highest bidder.

3. Usenet Groups

This is another strategy that takes some setting up in order to drive people to your auction. We’ll discuss this one a bit more tomorrow.

The Country Auction

Sat, 30 Sep 2007 02:42:00 GMT

posted by Sandhs
There's very few things that will match the excitement and energy found at a good 'ole country auction. If you are a collector or just looking for inventory for your online sales a country auction is a great place to pick up some real gems.

During the next couple of weeks look in the real estate section of your Sunday newspaper to see if you can find an estate auction or an absolute auction to attend. Better yet see if you can find an absolute estate auction.

This past August I attended an incredible absolute estate auction. The owner of the estate had been a collector for most his life. It required three very large tents and a large outdoor set-up to display all he had available for auction. The auction company had done a marvelous job in marketing the event. The opening bids began at 10:00 a.m. and the bidding continued long past 5:00 p.m. It's just an estimate but I'd say throughout the course of the day a good 600+ people went through at one time or another.

The Spicer-Shooner Apothecary Brings Big Bucks at Philly Auction

Sat, 27 Jan 2008 18:00:00 GMT

posted by holleechadwick

For those of you who have been keeping track, the auction of the apothecary designed and crafted by John K. Spicer and Greg Shooner took place on January 18, 2008.

The auction, held during the opening night gala of the Designer Craftsmen Show of Philadelphia, featured thirty-seven original pieces donated by the best craftsmen in the United States.

Half of the proceeds from the auction benefitted Habitat for Humanity.

The apothecary cabinet, handcrafted by John K. Spicer of century-old loblolly pine reclaimed from his family barn, was filled with over thirty pieces of original redware designed and crafted by Greg Shooner.

The piece, called "A Physician's Herb, Elixir, and Potion Library," was the last item up for auction. When the closing gavel fell, the piece had brought $8,250.