Product Description

The top-selling eBay business book is now completely revised and updated with more than forty percent new material. Bestselling author Marsha Collier discusses changes to the eBay interface and eBay policies, as well as the latest strategies to help beginning eBay entrepreneurs succeed.

Topics include setting up basic auctions, building a store, choosing what to sell, setting good prices, stocking a storeroom, providing customer service, and building an eBay "back office." This book also details specific eBay retailing and marketing techniques to help beginners compete against established eBay sellers and stores-and make a profit!

A Reference for the Rest of Us!

• The runaway eBay business bestseller, now totally revised
• The only eBay business book written by a full-time eBay power seller who runs her own eBay store, Marsha Collier's Fabulous Finds
• Marsha also teaches at eBay University and discusses eBay on shows such as NBC's Today and ABC's The View
• She is also the author of the bestselling eBay For Dummies (0-7645-5654-1) and eBay Bargain Shopping For Dummies (0-7645-4080-7)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #240980 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 408 pages

Review
"They started with collectibles from their closets and then realized they could make a living." (Reader's Digest, November 2002)

Review
"They started with collectibles from their closets and then realized they could make a living." (Reader's Digest, November 2002)

From the Back Cover
Build your own successful eBay business

Discover how to get started, sell with the best, and run a smooth operation!

If the lure of picking up extra cash -- or becoming your own boss and eliminating your commute -- is tempting you, give in and buy this book! Marsha Collier has done it all. She’s helped hundreds of thousands of readers set up auctions, market their stuff, plan eBay stores, ship economically, and keep their customers happy. She will help you as well.

The Dummies Way

• Explanations in plain English
• "Get in, get out" information
• Icons and other navigational aids
• Tear-out cheat sheet
• Top ten lists
• A dash of humor and fun

Discover how to:

• Choose profitable items to sell
• Price your merchandise to move
• Create descriptions and photos that lure buyers
• Be customer friendly
• Select a payment system
• Keep the necessary records

Customer Reviews

In the immortal words of Dave Thomas -- Where's the Beef?!
Trying to be positive, the best thing about this book is the exposure to some useful areas of concern and companies that I didn't know existed to serve eBay sellers (such as auction management sites and software, as well as the names of several payment service vendors). That, and the occasional nugget of useful information.
When I bought this book, I thought that Marsha Collier was going to reveal some powerful secrets behind eBay business success. Instead what I found was a high level overview of the various aspects of starting a business and of the eBay site. Even though she states upfront that the book is for people who already are familiar with eBay, at least 50% of the book details eBay services and options -- nothing that you can't easily discover from eBay online help for free. Why didn't she just recommend her other book, "eBay for Dummies" for that stuff! Also, several of the "Tips" that she gave online were pretty much common sense. Coming from a marketing background, I had hoped that she would apply some serious marketing strategies to selling online and share useful marketing statistics. I guess that was asking too much from a book geared for "dummies." Even worse, I felt that Marsha was often trying to sell her secrets and promote her own website rather than really help readers. An example is the "Ebay Sellers Lighting Kit" which Marsha will be happy to sell you (don't waste your money -- build it yourself)! This reader definitely got tired of the self-promotion and commercial feel of the book.

This book pays for itself by increasing your eBay profits
Don't even consider starting an eBay business without reading this book. It will pay for itself in no time by helping you avoid many of the pitfalls of new sellers. You will learn how to build more attractive auctions, write interesting and informative copy, take better photos, market your auctions well and provide top-notch customer service, all of which should increase your profits.

Perhaps what makes Collier's book more valuable than that other eBay "Bible" is that Collier's wasn't employed by eBay, so she could be frank about things she liked and didn't like about the auction management tools provided by eBay, and she could recommend sites not affiliated with eBay.

The chapter on auction management software seemed to be lacking. Numerous auction management programs are available, but some of the better ones were not mentioned, such as Inkfrog and Sparedollar. Collier does cover several of the larger auction management software providers, but after reading about several of them, it becomes difficult to differentiate between them. A side-by-side comparison chart summarizing the features would have been helpful. At first glace, all the programs seem the same. After looking into it, they can vary greatly not only in features but in price.

Keep in mind that this book focuses on eBay, only. When you need basic business legal or tax info, don't rely on this book, because Collier doesn't cover it in depth. There are plenty of other resources for that information.

Additionally, this book covers the basics of running a business on eBay, but there is more to learn regarding selling in SPECIFIC categories. One great resource is the eBay discussion board. There is a board for most of the eBay categories, and so much can be learned here. I sell clothing, and the eBay Clothing & Accessories Sellers discussion board is the portal where clothing sellers get together and help each other. Not a day goes by when I don't learn how to better my business from this group.

Do not start an ebay business unless you read this first!!!!
As a novice ebay buyer,the "selling" bug bit me. It takes some of us longer then others,haha I knew I would need more info besides the tutorials supplied on ebay. So I did my research and bought this book and ebay for dummies before I started selling to get the full picture. Thank goodness! This book in particular is LOADED with great time and cost saving tips for a start up business. Her writing style and humor is very comforting along the ebay learning curve. ebay is an overwhelming but vastly entertaining animal. She has done her homework, is brutally honest and frankly, gives you the "real deal". Hats off to Marsha!!Great job to a savvy business lady!