Use auction sites to gain exposure for your e-biz using these tips.

Page 1  2  3

  1. Promotional tool-- Even if you already have an e-commerce site, a Web auction can do wonders for Web traffic. Forget the banner ads. Take a few notable items out of your storeroom and put them up for auction. Choose unusual items. The goal is to garner some recognition, interest, and ideally some press. On your auction page, include a link back to your store. If you make a profit on that auction sale, great, but don't be too concerned if you don't. What's important is that people discover you and that your link drives traffic back to your site.

  2. Alternate spellings-- All searches are conducted in your items description field. So obviously you'll want to include as many descriptive keywords as you can. In addition, consider alternate spellings of your product. For example, selling a Gameboy? Write it as one word ("Gameboy") and two words ("Game Boy").

  3. Dont waste real estate-- On eBay, the description field allows for a maximum of 45 characters. Avoid wasting precious real estate with Crazy Eddie terminology such "awesome" and "wow!" Nobodys searching for an "awesome Gameboy."

  4. Keep pictures small-- Use JPEGs. Don't use GIFs. Edit your picture. Make it look good. Don't doctor it up. Keep it small. Your max for all pictures combined should be 50K. Give visitors the option to click through for larger and alternate images on your site.

  5. Keep pages small-- This goes hand-in-hand with keeping pictures small. Think of your auction page as you would any page on your site. If visitors have to wait for your whole page to load, theyll go place a bid at one of your competitors' sites.

  6. Give background-- For collectibles, give some background. People will pay for a good story. But keep it short. Ideally, write in bullet points. No essays. Nobody wants to read your dissertation.

  7. Make it easy to read-- Browse through some of the auctions on eBay. What do most of them have in common? They're hideous to look at! Obviously the person who designed them had no idea visitors would be looking at them through a Web browser.

  8. End your auction on a weekend-- Start your auction so it closes late on a Saturday or Sunday. That way, you'll get maximum bids: Web traffic is highest on the weekend and most bidding happens during an auction's last 48 hours.

  9. Know competitors' prices-- Wondering where you should set your initial price? Check out your competitors. Some are getting bids, some aren't. Where did they set their initial bid? Follow the leaders and avoid the losers.

  10. Avoid reserve pricing-- That's the minimum price you're willing to sell your item. Reserve-pricing figures are kept hidden from bidders. The problem with reserve pricing is it doesn't foster much trust between buyer and seller. Most people are hesitant about participating in reserve auctions. So dump the reserve price. You'll be surprised how many more bids you'll get.

Page 1  2  3