E-mail: Name:

May 15, 2002

In this issue:
* Announcements
1. No More Reader Email Addresses
2. Ezines Going Online?
3. Our New Contributing Editor
4. What Great News For All Of Us!
5. Thinking Outside The Box, Continued
* Feature Article: Holding An Online Yard Sale
* If Only I Had Saved All Those Comic Books!
* New Feature
* Insider's Club
* Let's Play "What If ..."
* From Our Readers
1. Multiple IDS
2. Becoming A Trading Assistant
*Taking A Second Look At Reserve Auctions – The Follow Up
* Writing Those Great Listings ... Not!
* Talk About HOT: Big Money with Celebrities
* More On PayPal And MasterCard
* News From eBay
* Keeping Our Perspective On Life

Announcements: 1. No More Reader Email Addresses

To my dismay, I received this email from a great Auction Gold reader:

I received an email from : "mynas" titled: Hello, Honey.

It has an attachment which I have not opened. is this from you??

It most certainly was NOT from me, and this smart lady knew enough to check with me before she opened this attachment. Based on the "Honey" in the salutation, it was probably porno.

The only way that anyone could have sent her an email that was supposed to come from me is by getting her email address out of Auction Gold, since she has been recently quoted. So, to protect everybody, in the future I am not going to include email addresses from folks who are quoted in this ezine. I don't mind including auction IDs or website URLs because they are much more trouble for the spammers.

Just in case anyone you are new to the net, be very cautious about opening any attachments at all. I almost never open them unless I am either expecting something in particular or I know the person very, very well. It's the best way to get a terrible virus.

Sadly, we all know that there are some real sleaze balls who haunt the internet who ruin so much for the rest of us.

2. Ezines Going Online?

Due to abuses like the one above, some ezine publishers are putting their ezines on the web only, and then sending an email to inform readers of the location. I'm not going to do that – at least not now – but Auction Gold has been online since the very first issue.

The URL is published in every single issue, but it's always this:

http://auctionknowhow.com/AG/25.shtml

The only thing that changes is the number of the issue. This week's is #27, so you can find it here.

The reason for doing this is because the spammers can fake an email, but only the most outstanding hacker can hijack somebody's website, and post an ezine issue.

3. Our New Contributing Editor

I am so tickled to announce that Gary Hendrickson has agreed to be a Contributing Editor to this ezine. If you are a regular reader of AG, you will have read Gary's outstanding articles about ways to succeed in this exciting business. Gary is both an experienced seller and a terrific writer. Thanks Gary!

4. What Great News For All Of Us!

Last issue I mentioned that AG was one year old. The goal of this ezine is:

To help people make money with online auctions

I try to make every article relevant to this purpose by asking: "Will knowing this help any reader make more money?"

What I like best about online auctions is the FREEDOM that I have. I work a lot of hours, but if I decide I want to go to the movies in the middle of the day, there is no one who can tell me no.

What is your reason for wanting an auction business? Not just a only-getting-by business, but a highly profitable one?

5. Thinking Outside The Box, Continued

Last issue, I wrote a "thinking outside the box" employment question, which sparked an intriguing contribution from a reader:

"Excellent - Thinking Outside The Box Question - thanks.

Here's another for you:
Who hit the longest golf shot in history ?
Was it Tiger Woods, John Daly, or is it someone else that you definitely know ?"

Ken

(Answer at the end of this ezine.)

FEATURE ARTICLE: Holding An Online Yard Sale
by Gary Hendrickson

How many of your auctions that ended last week didn't sell? Have you already relisted them, or are you going to? If they don't sell when you relist them what do you do - wait a while and relist them again?

As nice as it would be to sell everything we list, most of us end up with a constantly growing collection of items which we've learned appeal to us much more than they do to others.

What do you do with your pile? Donate it to Goodwill? Put it in your next garage sale?

I used to box all my "won't sell" items up and twice a year I'd set up at a well attended flea market near here. By keeping the prices low, on a good day I was able to sell roughly half of it. I'd still end up with quite a bit of "stuff" which usually ended up being donated to one of the local thrift shops.

Then, several months ago, I started holding online yard sales two or three times a year. Here's what I do.

I use an auction management program to write and list all my auctions. Whenever, I come to realize that something isn't going to sell, it gets moved, along with any photos of the item, to a special folder I've created in the program.

At the same time I move it, I reduce the opening bid to $4.99 or less and make any changes to the title and description I feel necessary. The item itself gets packed into a box and goes into the garage.

I use this "yard sale" folder for other things as well. If I have to buy a box of things at an auction sale to get one item I want, many times the rest of the box goes into the yard sale folder. I also use it for items which will sell, but not for very high prices.

Last week, along with some other things, I purchased 140+ linen postcards. By writing descriptions a few at a time when I have some free time and putting them into the yard sale folder they are ready for when I hold my online yard sale.

At present I have 243 items in my yard sale folder. There will remain there, along with any additions, until eBay holds its next "Free Listing" day.

Then, while most sellers are scrambling to get 50 or 100 items listed in time for the free listing day, all I need is a dozen clicks of the mouse and I have as many as 400-500 items listed and ready for buyers to bid on.

By handling items in a similar fashion, you can avoid the listing fee eBay normally charges for each auction. This can have a significant impact on the profit you realize on these items which have already been marked down considerably in many cases.

Give it a try. You will be pleasantly surprised at how many of these unwanted items you will be able to get rid of.

- - -

Remember Gary's great book, "How To Sell Common Everyday Books On Half.Com Like Crazy!". He reliably makes $750-$1,000 a month, with very little time cost.

My favorite part of his book is his list of 50 books that reliably sell for $19.95 and up. Buy them for 25 cents to a dollar – sell them for almost $20. Works for me! (And Gary actually gives us 51 titles).

http://sellonhalf.auctionknowhow.com

If Only I Had Saved All My Comic Books!

Spiderman is the current major hit at the movies, and the entire character is based on a comic book. In fact, the sales of vintage comics is thriving, at least partly due to a new "grading" system. In the past, collectors were wary about buying old comics, because it was so easy to be cheated.

The only established comic book grader is a Florida company, Comics Guaranty LLC, or CGC. The grade is a 1-10 scale. This grading system has given new life to the vintage comic book industry, because collectors can feel confident about buying sight-unseen magazines. Some recent sales of Wonder Woman show the popularity:

* Wonder Woman No. 115, graded 9.2 by CGC, sold for $1,007
* Issue No. 122, graded 9.4, sold for $1,005
* Issues numbers. 127 and 128 sold for more than $1,000

According to the Comics Buyer's Guide, these four issues aren't particularly rare, or didn't have significant new characters. Instead, the prices are indicators of collector confidence due to the grading system.

New Feature

In this issue of Auction Gold, we introduce a new feature. We are using the Deep Analysis software to analyze specific categories and help readers find markets for themselves. Because of this surge in comic book popularity, we have analyzed category #73, which includes comics from the "Silver Age", 1956-1969. Our results?

Number of auctions in category: 48,624
Number of auctions resulting in a sale: 26,033 (53.54%)

Number of regular auctions: 48,433
Regular auctions with sale: 26,010 (53.70%)
Number of Dutch auctions: 191
Dutch auctions with sale: 23 (12.04%)
Items sold per Dutch auction: 2.00

Number of reserve auctions: 2249
Reserve auctions with sale: 985 (43.80%)
Number of no-reserve auctions: 46,375
No-reserve auctions with sale: 25,071 (54.06%)

Average number of bids per auction: 4.1

Average high bid: $53.03
Average sale price: $41.00

Total value of all high bids: $1,437,028.00

SELLERS

Number of sellers in category: 4592
Auctions in category per seller: 10.6
Average seller feedback rating: 607.1
Average total sales per seller: $232.62

To analyze your own favorite category, check out the Deep Analysis software at:

http://analyze.auctionknowhow.com

Insider's Club

If you buy Deep Analysis, be sure to let me know. We are creating an "Insider's Club" for readers who buy Deep Analysis, members of our Wholesale Database and folks who take any of the Auction Genius classes. There will be no cost for this, but we will post information and freebies for members.

For example, I received these two offers in newsletters this week:

"Another option we mentioned before (that is not free) is Name Castle. They hunt through all the expiring domains and grab the best ones. They sell these pre-registered domain names for $99 -- which is certainly more than $13.50, but they've done the work for you. So, if you're looking for ideas for a new Web site, visit Name Castle Domains. Visit ==> http://hop.clickbank.net/?wzcom/namecastle"

"There are a number of services that release lists of domain names as they become available for a fee. For example, Unclaimed Domains costs $59 a year and provides quite a long list of expired domain names each week.

- - -

I know there are readers who buy domain names when they are advertising their auction goodies and there is no reason to pay for services such as those above. I know a FREE site where you can find the same information mentioned above.

Right now I am so involved with the project I mentioned above that I can't work on this section, but it will be done ASAP.

From Our Readers: 1. Multiple IDS

We recently talked about the positives and negatives of multiple seller IDs. Here is a great letter from an eBay seller:

"Thank you SO much for another info packed newsletter. Every time I get your publication I print it straight off and read it before I carry on with anything else! This is the first time I've written in to you, but I was prompted to do this time my your mention of using different IDs to sell under.

I am a self representing artist, doing REALLY well on eBay who now uses two separate IDs. My first one "gailmiller " is the one I started off with at the end of last year, when I was as green as grass and making just 'pin money' selling bits and pieces from my home to make a bit extra for Christmas. I would never have guessed at that time, that 6 months down the line I would be making a full time income and in the throes of a brand new career at age 42!

Anyway, to get to the point; Up until last month, I used that ID exclusively, but I then opened a new ID "gails_galleryUK " in order to list more funky, off the wall, types of paintings, which didn't really 'sit' with my more mainstream stuff, such as florals, nudes, landscapes etc. Under my new ID I list almost exclusively, exciting and unusual abstracts only.

Although I got my 10th positive feedback on the new ID yesterday, I am almost up to 100 positives on my previous account, so what I did when I started listing under the new ID, was mention my 100% positive feedback under the *other* ID, just in case people were wary of buying from a 'newbie' so to speak. (I wasn't a newbie of course, but those who didn't previously know of my art, might think so).

Either this worked very well, or people were not that wary of buying from someone without much feedback, because I sold a whole bundle of stuff from my first listing and I'm making more money on my new ID than on my old one at present! :-)) However, I am going to keep both IDs running, because it gives me chance to list more art, and to separate the more mainstream art from the more funky stuff.

I have now lost my sunglasses on " gails_galleryUK " anyway, so I might now remove my reference to the feedback on " gailmiller ". I have found that having separate IDs works for me anyway and that starting with zero feedback was no hindrance to trading really.
Sorry for waffling on so long :-)) KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK.

Sincerely - Gail (Miller)

Gail's reference to "losing her sunglasses" refers to eBay's practice of putting a sunglass icon by the side of an ID that has been changed. This is temporary.

I love it when she says she is doing really well! And I agree with her that lack of feedback definitely doesn't kill your deals.

2. Becoming A Trading Assistant

" How do people get to be "trading assistants"? These guys have a "trading assistant" linked logo on their auction listings. I've never seen it before, and I've never seen one of these pages before either:

http://contact.ebay.com/awcgi/eBayISAPI.dll?
ShowMemberToMemberDetails&member=34535362

What is it?"

We have mentioned this idea in past issues because it can be a way to add to your income. In Make Your Net Auction Sell!

http://auctionknowhow.sitesell.com

I reported on a man who made $69,000+ in TWO WEEKS on eBay.

Now eBay has its own Trading Assistants program for experienced sellers who help other sell their goodies on eBay. Do they get a lot of business out of the eBay link? I don't know, because I am not interested in doing this. If any readers have experiences to share, please let us know.

You can find the details of the program here:

http://pages.ebay.com/tradingassistants.html

Also, there are a couple of articles on auctionknowhow, if you want to be a do-it-yourselfer:

http://www.auctionknowhow.com/articles/svcbiz1.shtml
http://www.auctionknowhow.com/articles/svcbiz2.shtml

Taking A Second Look At Reserve Auctions – The Follow Up

Gary Hendrickson recently wrote articles about the value of reserve auctions. If you are selling a widget worth $150, is it better to set a reserve price of at least $150 – or do you simply start the bidding there?

http://auctionknowhow.com/AG/22.shtml

I noted in the article that I was going to be doing some testing of my own. I had acquired duplicates of three different items and ran 5 day auctions on eBay for all six items. In each case, I listed one item with a high opening bid of close to what I felt it should sell for. The duplicate was listed with a low opening bid, but a reserve of what I felt it should sell for.

Here are the results of the six auctions.

Auction 1: Identical Spice Tins

$12.99 Reserve/$.99 opening bid - 51 views - 7 bids for $17.67
high bid
No Reserve/$12.99 opening bid - 37 views - no bids

Auction 2: Identical Spice Tins

$19.95 Reserve/$4.99 opening bid - 69 views - 11 bids $42.07
high bid
No Reserve/$19.95 opening bid - 42 views - 3 bid for $31.57 high bid

Auction 3: Identical Fish Food Tins

$24.95 Reserve/$7.99 opening bid - 39 views - 2 bids - $23.50
high bid - Didn't reach it's reserve.
No Reserve/$24.95 opening bid - 26 views - no bids

The results of these three tests are quite interesting. And, while only three tests certainly isn't enough to draw any hard conclusions, they do show some interesting trends that merit further investigation.

1. In each case, the twin with the low starting bid and a reserve drew more views and more bids than the one with no reserve but a higher opening bid. This is in direct contrast to one of the commonly held perception of reserve auctions which is that any people won't bid in them.

2. Although it's a fairly commonly held belief that many bidders don't like reserve auctions and won't bid in them, there seems to be a more pronounced dislike for high opening bids.

3. Auction #2 above was for two spice tins in nearly identical condition. While each had a few minor scuffs and scrapes they were both conservatively graded as in excellent condition or Grade 9+. The one with the reserve price had considerable bidding activity between $35 and it's final selling price.

But, why would people continue to bid on that particular tin when its identical sister was available for a significantly lower price? Is there actually that much aversion to high starting prices?

What conclusions can we draw so far? There certainly needs to be more testing done, but I think reserve auction deserve a place among our auction selling arsenal.

The commonly held belief regarding reserves has been that bidders won't take part in auctions with reserve prices because there's no chance of getting a bargain and because they could bid several times and still never even be in the game.

This limited number of tests may point out that these beliefs are actually misconceptions.

Should you use reserve bids for lower price items such as these? I think there needs to be more testing done.

Should you use reserve bids for higher priced items? If you have an item that should realistically sell for several hundred dollars, using a reserve bid with a low starting price may well be the way to go. Particularly if the item is both desirable and relatively scarce.

While there may be some reluctance to bid in reserve auctions, that reluctance may not be as pronounced as commonly thought. In addition, I think that reluctance thaws pretty quickly when they come face to face with an item that really rings their bell and isn't readily available.

What next? I've acquired two hard to find 80-100 year old Norwegian textile items in the last week. They are absolutely identical except for color. Both should easily sell for well over $500. I'm going to list one each way and see if the results we've seen so far hold true.

Writing Those Great Listings ... Not!

I frequently harp on the critical auction skill of writing clear, powerful, simple listings. Here's a really great line from a totally incomprehensible listing:

"Strategic knowledge management is about creating an innovative culture supported by collaborative technologies to secure competitive advantage, sustainable performance and enhance productivity by leveraging on knowledge."

Huh?

Talk About HOT: Big Money with Celebrities

Celebrity items usually bring big money on the auction sites. For example, Yahoo auctions is showing 1560 auctions for Spiderman. The webbed man is hot right now, with the smashing popularity of the current movie. (I saw it and loved it – it's a living, breathing, comic book. Can you spot the opening for the sequel?). An authenticated Spiderman glove went for $9,188.88.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?
ViewItem&item=1534872109

Actress Gillian Anderson is a current money maker. This week is the last episode of The X-Files. People like me who have been watching Scully and Mulder for years, are naturally all agog to see the ending of this amazing series. So, if you have an autographed widget, sell it now.

Items directly from celebrities are the most popular of course. Until the 16th of May, the trailer owned by Anthony Edwards of the NBC television show "ER" is for sales. There is other memorabilia that comes with the trailer, and the price includes lunch with Edwards. Proceeds of the auction go to help cure autism.

Right now the price is "only" $30,000. So if you want to meet a celebrity, and help cure a terrible disease, now is your chance.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/ebayISAPI.dll?
ViewItem&item=1827398474&r=0&t=0

http://www.cureautismnow.org

More On PayPal And MasterCard

In the last issue, we reported that MasterCard had announced that they would no longer allow PayPal users to charge items on their MasterCards. Several readers expressed their dismay over this possibility.

But, sanity seems to have prevailed, since the two companies announced an agreement between them. PayPal may have to make "modifications", whatever that means. But users will be allowed full usage of the popular credit card.

Another interesting note: supposedly eBay has been trying to buy PayPal. eBay's Bidpay, their site payment offering, hasn't been very successful. Most sellers and buyers prefer PayPal since it is cheaper and more efficient. I guess eBay figures that if it can't compete with PayPal, it will just buy them out. I, for one, hope it doesn't happen. Competition is definitely good for sellers.

News From eBay

eBay used to have an exclusive agreement with eppraisals.com. Ebay recommended their services, and received part of the revenue generated. Problem is: eppraisals went belly up a few months later.

Now, eBay has agreed to promote "Ask the Appraiser" a service of the Collecting Channel.

http://www.CollectingChannel.com/ata

The purpose of the appraisal is to "enhance trust and confidence among buyers and sellers by providing accurate descriptions and valuations of the items." However, most experts advise sellers to save their money. The appraisers don't see the item in question, but rely on the description of the seller. This doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence in prospective buyers.

And, if you are a seller and want to know the approximate value of your treasure, the two best ways are:

1. Checking prices on the auction sites
2. Experts such as Kovel's antique guides

Keeping Our Perspective On Life

I received this email lately, (author unknown), and believe it's definitely worth sharing.

"She had been shopping with her Mom in Walmart. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence.

It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout.

We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the Walmart. We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world.

Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.

Her voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in. "Mom, let's run through the rain," she said.

"What?" Mom asked.

"Let's run through the rain!" She repeated.

"No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit," Mom replied.

This young child waited about another minute and repeated: "Mom, let's run through the rain."

"We'll get soaked if we do," Mom said.

"No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm.

"This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?"

"Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!"

The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes. Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say.

Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.

Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If God let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing," Mom said.

Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars. And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.

Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories ... So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday.

Answer to who hit the longest golf shot in history:

The longest golf shot in history was hit by Alan Sheppard - he hit a golf ball on the moon which just kept going, going and going.

Sorry about that ! - but it is a Outside The Box question, which most people know the answer to.

"Alan Shepard, wanting to be the first golfer on the Moon. Brought three golf balls that he planned to "drive" across the Moon's surface. He strapped the head of a six iron to the bottom of a sampling instrument and told Mission Control to watch. According to NASA lore, the balls flew off into the distance and landed several kilometers away. In the lunar void, a golf ball hit at a speed of 200 km per hour at a 45 degrees angle would travel 1.9 km. But the truth is that Shepard buried the ball on the first swing. His second swing knocked the ball a few feet before it came to a dead stop. Mission Control, providing commentary, said that the shot was a slice. His last shot was more successful, and the ball disappeared in a graceful arc in the direction of a crater. "Miles and miles and miles," cried the triumphant Shepard."