eBay® PowerSeller Business Practices FOR DUMMIES®

Introduction

What can I say? eBay is habit-forming, and I've got the habit big time. I've been writing about eBay since its early days in 1998. I've been selling on the site since 1996, was one of the first PowerSellers, and I'm still a PowerSeller; watching the online market change over the years has been an enriching experience in more ways than one. I've noticed that the buyers and the sellers (no less than eBay itself) are constantly changing — especially in the ways they buy, sell, and trade on the site. eBay was once a homespun site where collectors would sell and buy things mostly to fill their collections — but now it's a full-on e-commerce behemoth, selling everything from cars to ladies' vintage silk fans.

If you're selling on eBay, this book will bring you up to date with the best practices necessary to succeed in the current marketplace. In its press releases, eBay likes to say it's vibrant. If vibrant means "ever-changing," then it certainly is! Hundreds of vendors are pushing products that offer to help eBay sellers improve their sales. In this book, I show you the important tools, many of the business tasks you can perform yourself, and some strategies that integrate the tools and tasks into sound business practices. The point is to fill you, my reader, with just enough information to thrive on the site. Making the leap from part-timer (yes, a PowerSeller can be a part-timer) to high-revenue producer just got easier.

Keep in mind that an eBay business is full blown ...