Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Setting Up an Item for Sale

Many sales on eBay are auctions. You know the kind: 1, 2, 3, Sold to the highest bidder! But rather than wave their hands enthusiastically, bidders place a bid on your auction by using their computers. On eBay, you have the choice of offering your item for sale as an auction or for a fixed price, so the buyer can click and buy immediately.

Either way, you set up an item listing by getting an item or a product you want to sell, writing a description of the product and taking photos of it, and creating a Web page with all the basic information about that product.

When you're trying to decide whether to list your item as an auction or at a fixed price, here are some of the top reasons to consider an auction:

• Auctions attract people's interest. Shopping on eBay has become more than a matter of buying items. It's now a form of entertainment, with bidding, competing, and winning. After people bid on an item, they're more likely to follow the auction to its completion and stay emotionally invested in acquiring the item.
• Auctions move merchandise faster. When you sell items on your own store or by using an eBay store, it can take days, weeks, or even months to find the right buyer. With an eBay auction, you can sell an item in one to ten days and find your high bidder, and some interested under-bidders, much quicker. Think of the auction as a call to action, and the buyers decide to respond.
• Auctions cost the seller only money per item, not per month. When ...