Online auctions are by far the closest you can get to an actual live auction.  You miss out on the verbal back and forth, the sign raising, and the bickering that may arise, but you still get the thrill of the chase.

You can keep an eye on your online auction by watching it, or you can set a maximum bid so that if anyone over bids you, your bid automatically re-bids until you’ve reached the max you’re willing to spend.

Pretty exciting to happen online, especially when the person you are bidding against could be your next door neighbor or someone halfway across the country.

The second best part about online auctions is this…let’s say you don’t get any bids on the item you’ve listed for sale in an online auction, you can re-list the item over and over again until someone places a bid on it.

This is a great opportunity, since on occasion eBay buyers will wait to see if others are interested in the item you have listed for sale.  You may not see any bids come through the first time around, but there’s a good chance you’ll see several the second or third time.

Communication between the buyer and seller on eBay is crucial, it could mean the difference between a final sale or not.  Online buyers will often asked questions of the buyer about items for auctions prior to bidding.  Having the answers to these questions in a timely manner will help the buyer to bid with more ease on the item you have listed for online auction.

Prior the the eBay for smart phones, you would need to log into your eBay account online to check the status of auctions and to get answers from the seller about your questions.

Having the eBay app allows you to check one those items you have a close eye on so you won’t need to worry about missing the last possible chance to bid.

The eBay app also allows you to easily interact with the buyers and sellers so that all of your eBay transactions run as smoothly as possible.

Not only can you consider eBay to be an all-in-one shopping place from gadgets to gears, but it’s also open twenty-four hours a day!

The entire internet is open twenty-fours a day as well, but generally speaking you have to jump from site to site to compare prices.  Most online sales sites don’t give you used options.  To give eBay it’s last edge…well you get to bid on your items, so essentially you chose your price.  (Unless of course you get outbid.)

Knowing what you are looking for it a plus in the world of online sales, but if you know, then you can start doing the research, the watching, and the bidding.

So while you’re ‘out’ shopping the net, you also get in a little excitement in bidding for the items you really want.

I have mentioned previously that you can sell just about anything online.  Truth is, you can, within reason.  If your items are in good condition, if you’ve taken care of them, if you live in a smoke free home…all of these factors make your item more sellable.

If your items are dirty, torn, and distraught you might want to save them for trash day.  No one likes to trash their belongings, but you have to think about it this way…Would you be willing to spend money on the item you are trying to sell online?

If you can’t honestly answer yes to that question, removing the fact of actually wanting the item, then you probably shouldn’t be trying to sell it on eBay.  Remember eBay isn’t a landfill but rather a place for people to go when they are looking for those rare items, or something slightly used for their child that is growing way too fast to use for just one season.

If it’s broken, you’ll probably want to send it to the trash or donate it to good will.

Did you know that you could opt to sell your items through online auction and have either a portion of , or the the entire final sale sale be donated to a charity of your choice?

It’s called eBay Giving Works.

There are over 18,000 nonprofit organizations listed with eBay who participate in this program.

There are of course the obvious large charities such as:

-The American Red Cross

-Susan G. Komen for the Cure

-The American Cancer Society

-Habitat for Humanity

There are also less known charities, most with local chapters or associations, that participate in the eBay Giving Works program, such as:

-Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

-Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation

-A New Leash on Life USA

It’s really quite amazing!  Not only can you sell your items online, you can donate the a portion of or the entire final sale amount to your favorite charity.

This is also a great community or work event to organize.  If you or your company already supports a specific charity, you can have all employees or members of an organization bring in one item to sell online.  Have all who participate sign a brief statement saying they are donating the item to the specific charity.  Start listing the items on eBay Giving Works and have the entire final sale be donated to your charity.

One thing we must remember in this day and age of internet ‘freedom’ is that often people will look to the internet for items they wish to purchase rather than searching around the countryside.

The internet and eBay are great tools to search out the item you’ve been looking for to either complete a set of something or to further your collection.

eBay is one of those places you can search out to see if the item you’ve been looking for is available.  Plus, the chances are you know exactly what you are looking for, and how much you are willing to spend on the bidding process.

Now, think about it in the reverse roll…think of all the unique items you have that you don’t really need or have any attachment to.  There are probably a dozen or more buyers who are looking for the unique items you have.  If you aren’t sure set up a consultation with Mike to see if you can get your unique item listed on eBay.

There are four levels in eBay to being a power seller.  There are even very strict requirements to become and maintain eBay PowerSeller status.

The four different levels are: Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Titanium.

Each level requires varying degrees of:

• -A certain number of online auctions for each level
• -A certain number of total online sales
• -Quality customer service response
• -An eBay account in good standing

Serious sellers on eBay take pride in the items they list for online auction.  They want their buyers to be happy with their transactions.

There is often the misconception that you can’t be sure of what you purchase through online auction on eBay, but when you are sure of the tier that your eBay PowerSeller falls under you can rest easy when making your online purchase.

Does it seem like shipping charges are a little steep when you look at online auctions?

A little confused about why it costs $5.99 to ship an inexpensive item?

There are actually a great number of things to take into consideration when looking at shipping for your online auction.

• Some sellers will include delivery conformation on your online auction
• Some sellers, for some high priced items, will have the item sent to you insured
• Some sellers, with just cause, factor in the shipping materials

This may not sound like much of big deal, but truth be told, if you have delivery conformation and insurance on your online auction purchase your item will be covered from most mailing mishaps.

It isn’t the buyer’s decision, but rather the seller’s option to send online actions through the mail with this added security.

Keep in mind that the sellers that offer the most protection for delivery of your item will also be negotiable in shipping multiple auctions to you.  So, if you buyer from the same buyer in a short period of time, the buyer is often likely to combine shipping.

Serious business over here.  On eBay you can bid a multitude of different items.  The other day we talked about buying used cars at online auction through eBay.  It’s for real…you can bid on used cars.

Did you know you could place an online bid on a De Lorean?  Yep, the same type of car that was used in Back to the Future.  It would be pretty sick to have that car, as you rolled through the city streets or country roads.

eBay not only has actual, real-life De Lorean cars for auction from a variety of sellers, but also Matchbox cars and even model cars of the famous, time-tranporting vehicle.

Let us know if you’re looking for any specific, unique item and we’ll keep our eyes open for you to see if any top eBay sellers are selling.  We’ll also take a look to see if the online auction looks like it’s for real.

Sometimes we aren’t sure what exactly will sell on eBay.  The truth is that almost anything can sell on eBay.  Although some of the items listed below aren’t a specific item that Online Auctions by Mike has listed, they are items that we are familiar with and could list at online auction.

First: Wine

Who knew you could buy wine on eBay?  What a crazy idea, but the truth is there are a number of vintage bottles for auction through eBay.  This is something that an avid wine drinker would be interested in.

Take a look at your wine cellar and see what you might have to offer. Some unique bottles of wine sell for over $200.

Second: Used Cars

That’s right!  You can list your used car online for sale through eBay.  Of course unless you have an extraordinary vehicle, these items will have to sell locally.

Can you believe that you could sell or even bid on a 1965 Ford Mustang GT Coupe on eBay?

Third: Antique Furniture

Some pieces with the proper proof and excellent photos are selling for over $1,000.  Yep, who knew that the piece that you got from the garage sale five years ago, could be worth thousands of dollars?

Online auctions of this extent can be a little tricky, and they do of course require a greater amount of security in regard to the sale. If you have questions about the type of pieces or items that you can sell online contact us at Info@OnlineAuctionsByMike.com for a complimentary estimate of what your high dollar item might worth at online auction.