Figuring out eBay's Search System aka Making Money on eBay Step 2

Hello again! I bet you thought I forgot to post the next step in my series on making money on eBay by starting an eBay business, right? Fooled ya, didn't I?

So anyway, moving on, after you've gotten all of your accounts set up, I know you're going to be super-excited and ramped up, ready to take on the world (and by that, I mean "ready to start selling on eBay").  

BUT...take a deep breath or two, tell yourself to slow down a bit, and remind yourself that nothing in life comes easy, and that if you don't take the time to learn HOW to sell profitably and successfully on eBay first, you could stand to lose a LOT of time and money in trial and error and statistically, will likely give up long before you find long-term, stable success selling on eBay.

And in my experience, one of the most important, fundamental concepts you need to learn as soon as possible is the fascinating yet confusing eBay search system.  If you can master eBay search, you'll be well on your way towards knowing how to be successful on eBay and towards understanding internet search as well.

TASK #2 - LEARN ABOUT EBAY SEARCH

To help you get started with eBay Search, here's eBay's (very) basic Help page on Search:

Finding Items

In a nutshell (sort of), the main thing to remember is that searching on eBay is one of the most important concepts to understand in order to sell successfully on the site.  Only when you understand how most buyers search for things can you list your items in such a way that they will appear prominently in the search results. This, in turn, will give you a much better chance of selling successfully.

A couple of years ago, I was putting together a comprehensive eBay training program for a former employer, including making training videos, and I filmed no less than NINE VIDEOS regarding eBay Search before my boss finally cut me off and told me I didn't need to go into such detail regarding one single aspect of eBay.  Needless to say, he wasn't an eBay seller himself.

Important Aspects of eBay Search 

Here are what I consider to be the five most important aspects of eBay Search (for sellers, at least):

1. Keywords
2. Categories and Item Specifics
3. Product Information/Catalog
4. Sorting
5. Best Match 

Keyword Search vs. Category Search

The two basic types of searching on eBay are keyword searches and category searches. It's important that you understand both types, since both types are used frequently.  Be aware, however, that the majority of eBay buyers use keyword searches, so you should place a greater emphasis there.   

You can perform a keyword search by typing a few keywords into any search field on eBay, especially the main search field at the top of the eBay home page. You can perform a category search by clicking on any of the main eBay categories in (or from) the left column of the eBay home page at eBay.com.

After you perform an initial keyword or category search, there are several ways you can narrow down the search results even further by selecting various options in the left column of any search results page, which we refer to as Item Specifics (Refine Search) and eBay filters (Preferences). This is known as filtering the search results. 

To help you become even more familiar with these 5 aspects, here are some articles I wrote that were published online about a year ago:

Mastering eBay Search Part 1

Mastering eBay Search Part 2

And for additional information on how to filter, sort and customize eBay search results, visit the following page:

Managing Results

Advanced Search 

The last eBay Search concept I'd like to address here is Advanced Search.  eBay has an Advanced Search feature on the site to enable people to perform even more specific and targeted searches than the standard keyword and category searches that are used most commonly to find things on eBay.  

Advanced Search can also be used to find:

• All of a particular seller's items
• All of a particular buyer's recent bids and purchases
• Particular eBay stores and items within eBay stores
• Someone's User Id (when you only have their email address)
• Someone's contact information, if you're currently involved in a transaction with that person

You can get to the Advanced Search page on eBay by clicking the link that says "Advanced" to the right of the main search field at the top of the eBay home page. 

Advanced Search isn't as crucial as Basic search in helping you understand how eBay buyers search, because most people don't use it. However, it can be extremely helpful to you in managing your eBay business. 

It can help you find information on other eBay sellers and buyers, obtain contact information for other eBay buyers and sellers with whom you may be involved in a transaction, and much more. 

That's it for now, folks -- see you in Step 3!

Breaking eBay Ground aka Making Money on eBay Step 1

As promised, here’s the first step in my new series on making money on eBay by starting an eBay business.    

For those of you who’ve already started building your eBay foundation, these first few steps will be either a good review or insanely boring, however you want to look at them.  But if it’s any consolation, my next series will be more advanced, okay?  

The reason I’m starting from scratch is that I’ve learned over the years is that it’s much better to give people too much information than not enough!  And when it comes to making money on eBay, oftentimes the more information you can acquire, the better.  

Plus, for those of you who may be feeling slightly (or massively?) overwhelmed at the thought of starting an eBay business, you can complete this first step very easily and will hopefully feel pumped up at the thought of continuing this process and pushing through to the end.

Another little tidbit I’ve learned from years of coaching people on starting and improving their online businesses is that your attitude is EVERYTHING -- it’s the WHOLE ball of wax.  I don’t care how much or how little you know about the internet already, about ecommerce, business, marketing, accounting, or even computers. All of that can be taught.

What CANNOT be taught is determination, optimism, tenacity, and endurance.  And those qualities right there almost always determine who succeeds at this and who doesn’t.  I have helped elderly people who started out knowing absolutely NOTHING about computers create and build thriving, successful eBay businesses, websites, and affiliate blogs, and all they had when they started was the determination to succeed, the endurance to never give up, and the optimism to believe they could do it.

So if you consider yourself to have most or all of these qualities, by all means, keep reading!  Because now we get to the “all of that can be taught” part!

TASK #1 - JOIN, JOIN, JOIN!

Ok, now here’s what I meant about starting off very easily -- the first step in starting an eBay business, in making money on eBay, is to join the club(s), dude!

By that I mean, “Get out there and sign up already!”  Sign up on eBay, PayPal, and Gmail, for starters.  You need ALL 3 OF THESE ACCOUNTS, and this will gradually become clear to you as you go along.  In the meantime, trust me! :)

Signing up for all 3 of these accounts should be very easy and straightforward, but if you run into any difficulty, don’t hesitate for one instant to contact customer support on each of these websites -- that’s what they are there for!

The steps to making money on eBay by starting an eBay business aren’t always going to be this easy, so enjoy this one while you’re doing it!

Here are just a few helpful tips to (seriously) consider while joining the “clubs”:

1. Sign up for a PayPal Premier account, NOT a Personal account.  eBay won’t allow you to sell items on its website unless you can accept ALL forms of PayPal payments, credit cards as well as bank accounts, and you can’t accept credit card payments through PayPal unless you have a Premier account.
2. Be smart and forward-thinking when coming up with both your Gmail email address name as well as your eBay User ID.  Don’t use your first and/or last names, don’t use the word “eBay” (it’s not allowed), and don’t use the obscure combination of letters and numbers eBay and Google might suggest for you -- it will most likely be way too forgettable.  Think advertising, folks, think marketing -- come up with a professional business-sounding email address and eBay User ID.  Just don’t choose the same name for both, though -- that can be a security risk.
3. One very easy way to come up with a cool Gmail or eBay username is to take your initials and add something like “enterprises” or “ventures” to the end of it.  It works really well.
4. If, in a moment of weakness, you lose yourself and select a Gmail username and/or eBay User ID that is NOT ideal, don’t beat yourself up about it.  You can always open a new Gmail account, and you’re only locked into your eBay User ID for 30 days.

Have at it, younglings! I'll see you all on the other side (or when I post the next step)!

Welcome to eBay from the Ground Up!

So I would LOVE to post articles on here a lot more frequently, at least once a week or more, but sometimes it's difficult to always come up with new articles that are eBaysian or ecommercian enough to justify posting here.  

So instead, what I'm going to do, starting with my next post, is take you through my own, homemade, comprehensive, FANTASTIC eBay training course I like to call "eBay from the Ground Up!".

Each post will be one step in the process, and once I've finished posting all of the steps, you should have EVERYTHING you could possibly need to start and maintain a fabulous, extremely profitable, successful eBay business, and be on your way towards expanding from eBay as well, towards creating and maintaining a profitable, successful WEBSITE, and maybe even also a profitable, successful AFFILIATE BLOG too!

ENJOY!!