To become a master auction player, you must start by buying something. Why? Simple. You can’t sell effectively if you have never bought. For example, when I find a new supplier, I never auction their merchandise until I have ordered at least one item from them. If their service is awful, or their merchandise is not what I expected, I want to know it. I need to know this before I go out and sell it and have a bunch of angry customers attacking me.
The auction sites have internal Search Engines which make it easy to find anything that interest you. The first place to start on any site is to look at their categories. If you go to eBay’s home page, the first thing you will notice is the category list...
eBayWithin those broad categories, however, there are incredible varieties of subcategories (and sub-sub-categories). Suddenly, hundreds of possibilities enter your mind. I don’t see how it’s possible for anyone not to find something to interest them. There really is something for almost everyone on auction sites.
How can you find something you might want to buy? You can search not only in a particular auction site but over all auction sites as well. Let’s start with the most immediate source...
1) Individual Auction SitesTo locate an item, you simply click on the Search button and enter the keyword(s). On eBay, you can save the search results and you will be notified about this request for thirty days.
These engines are simple to use and mostly effective. There are five basic ways to search for an item…i) By title -- this means a subject name. For example, type in “1800 pocket watch” or “Record album, Three Dog Night.” One problem that hampers buyers in their search is some sellers’ very creative spelling habits. Another is the kind of foolish titles that some sellers indulge in like... “LQQK OLD RECORD!!!!!!!!!”
ii) By item number -- this is a more limited search method because you must already know something about the item to have its number. iii) By seller -- lots of serious auction sellers use this search method to keep themselves informed about their “competition.” Personally, I think there is so much opportunity in the auction business that there is very little reason to be concerned about what others are doing.
iv) By the bidder -- this can be a very powerful way to learn your niche. If you discover someone in your field who really knows her stuff, you might want to follow her around for a while and see what she’s doing.
v) By checking past auctions -- this is a great research tool because you can see the price on similar items and you can check the number of items that have shown up recently. This is the most accurate type of supply and demand information. Some bidders are such fierce collectors that they compete with rivals. They constantly check up on each other to make sure they aren’t overlooking any special treasures.
2) Multiple Auction SitesThere are some amazing electronic creatures called “Bots” (Robots). ShopBots and AuctionBots will search an item for you. Their biggest advantage is that they aren’t limited to only one site. You simply type in what you are looking for, and they will go to many different sites to find what you are seeking.
Some of the best known AuctionBots are...http://www.vendio.com/
