Book Review - "Influence -The Psychology of Persuasion" by Cialdini

The other day on a road trip with my cousin we got to talking about books we've read. Then it hit me, I should be sharing my findings with fellow eBay sellers because lately I've read, and am in the process of reading, some really great books.

I've reviewed one so far and intend to continue to share.

The first review is of a wonderful book by Robert Cialdini called Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion and you can find the review by clicking the following link:

http://powersellerdaily.com/bookreviews.aspx

The next big thing... icons explained

Seth Godin rocks!
Check out this blog post:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/07/marilyn-monroe.html
This, among a few others, is totally a reason why eBay has nothing to worry about as far as competition auction sites goes.

Tips for using eBay blogs to promote your merchandise

As you can see, I write blogs. I write this one, a personal family one, and another one for just random ramblings. I also use the blog feature on eBay. If you are selling on eBay, you should too. The blogs on eBay are indexed in google searches and with very little effort, can show up very high in searches too. Many folks on eBay use the blogs as a social spot. I don't recommend this, actually, I very strongly recommend NOT to do this. What I mean when I say that they use it socially, is that folks will post blogs that just say nonsense. If you go to eBay's blog page blogs.ebay.com you can see what I mean. The most recent blog posted is at the top and will scroll off the page as more blogs are posted. Many will post several times a day saying nonsense or "good morning" or "good night" or other useless things in order to "talk" to their friends in blogland.
DO NOT DO THIS if you plan to treat to your eBay activities as a business.
Recently one of my clients began a pay-per-click campaign for her website and we were checking around to see where her site was coming up in searches. More than half of her results were not from her .com website, they were from her free eBay BLOG! Even the comments that she made on other people's eBay blogs were coming up in the search.

* 6 tips for blogging on eBay *

1. place any html code BELOW the text. In searches, the first couple of lines of text will show up and some don't have the ability to skip over the html code. So, if you have html code at the beginning of your post than it will show there. Make sure that the first line of your post is on target with your subject matter, and actual text.
2. have something to say. Don't just say "look at my items", "newly listed", "great deal" Your items are interesting, let the public know why
3. Check your spelling
4. don't use text-message language. Do not use 'u' 'thru' 'lol' 'c' etc. etc. Take the time to type out the word. It doesn't take that much longer and looks SOOOOO much more professional.
5. Do not post the same thing more than once. Search engines see duplicates and will count that against you. This is also true for repeating a keyword over and over. Don't do it.
6. Keep it short and sweet. Get to the point quickly. But also, don't forget rule #2!

Have fun!

Here is a great tool that will help you make clickable pictures to add to your blog and it is FREE.
http://www.isdntek.com/tagbot/qsell.htm
You just type in your eBay user id and then choose what items you want to highlight. It will create the html code that you just copy and paste into your eBay blog. Voila. Instant cross selling.

Now go get blogging.

How to win auctions on eBay - Auction Strategies Overview

There are several schools of thought on the subject of winning auctions on eBay. My personal favorite is the 'Set it and forget it' method. (What was that infomercial for? a rotisserie oven?)
Once I've found what it is that I want to purchase, I go in and place my highest bid, click out and move on. I don't win every auction, but I also don't miss opportunities or over spend. The trick to using this method is to know your absolute highest amount you are willing to spend. Because if you put in one number but are willing to pay another, you have defeated the purpose. eBay does what is called a proxy bidding for you. They only put up the LOWEST number needed in order to win the auction. If you bid $50 on an item with an opening bid of $2, if no one else bids, you could win for $2! This technique also prevents you from getting into a bidding war and ending up spending too much because you let the emotions of the hunt get the best of your better judgement. If you do things this way, eBay's program will do the bidding war for you. And, because computer programs have no emotions, the will actually stop when the money gets too high. You may be sad that you lost the auction, but you won't have buyers remorse or have to justify to your spouse why you spent two-hundred bucks on a used pair of khakis.
Another option is to use sniping software that inputs your bid for you at the last minute. I guess this could be beneficial if you are bidding on really high demand products, but the drawback is that if your software doesn't work properly, you've missed an opportunity. And, the only way to test it, is to try it, and you won't know until you have lost an auction, that it wasn't set up right.
I have a friend that manually snipes auctions. He literally sits in front of the screen and waits until the last second and places his bid. This would never work for me because I am a scatter-brain and would totally forget to come back and place my bid. By the time I would remember, someone else would have won the auction. Plus, this method has the drawback of the possibility of getting emotionally caught up.
In writing this post, I tried to come up with a list of don'ts but could only think of one. My advice would be, do not place a bid for the opening amount. Ever. Especially not in the first few days of the auction. It is unbelievable to me how many people win my auctions for only one cent more than the first bidder. Just doesn't make sense. I'm sure that many of them log back into eBay to find out that they were outbid in the last few seconds and had they just bid five cents more, they would have won.
Or, you can use the eBay Countdown tool. I've never used it myself because I haven't yet taken the time to download it and learn it, but when I do, I'll let you know how it goes.
What is your strategy?

I'm crushed. Sunny outlook on eBay just turned blue :(

I'm so sad right now. About 30 minutes ago I logged onto eBay and discovered yet another bad eBay sales day. This trend has been going on for about three weeks now and I'm starting to get worried. I use the Selling Manager Pro screen so right in the middle, the first thing I see when I log into 'My eBay' is the sales for the last 24 hours, 7 days and 30 days.

It is depressing.

I keep telling myself that I shouldn't worry because it is summer and I've just come off vacation and most everyone else is doing the same, and things will get better in the fall.

oh boy I hope so.

Then came the crushing blow. I looked over to the right where the seller dashboard is.. and there it was.... my all-green screen has turned gray and yellow. My search standings turned gray and now say "Standard" where before it said "Raised" and my seller performance turned yellow and now reads "Needs Help" where it used to say "Good".

I know exactly what happened too. It is all because of one lady. Here is how it goes:

• She committed to purchase a dress from me on June 1st.


• On June 5th, she wrote an email to me asking could she pay with a money order and that she is always a quick payer and I can check her feedback to prove it, she doesn't have a credit card, blah, blah, blah.


• All of my listings say paypal only. Not only is it the only option offered at the bottom, but it is written in the description too.


• I said ok, made the exception and shouldn't have.


• A week passes and no money. I email her a reminder and asked to confirm that it had been sent so I would know to look for it in the mail. Nothing.


• June 26th (nearly a month after the auction end), I filed the reminder notice with eBay. Nothing from the buyer.


• July 5th I close the dispute, get my FVFs back and re-list.


• July 16th she files a "seller non-performance" report on me!

how does eBay let this happen? I responded right away stating that the buyer never paid, included the information about the reports I had previously filed on her.

July 17th, her payment arrives. It was postmarked on July 3rd. Had she responded to any of my messages I may have known that the M.O. was on the way and waited to close the dispute. Oh well.

So, I emailed her asking did she still want the dress or would she rather I just return her money. No response. Yesterday, on the 21st, I mailed her M.O. back.

Now, today, I get blind-sided by eBay. I'm so frustrated over this. I called and the powerseller rep told me that it will close automatically if she doesn't respond. I thought, great, everything will fall back into place. How long will that take? 45 days!!!!!

I was flabbergasted to hear that eBay would allow a non-paying bidder to hurt my status for a month and a half without even reviewing the claim. I'm a powerseller with excellent DSRs and she is a Non-Paying bidder! Doesn't that matter? (well, technically, she DID pay, just really really really late)

The rep told me to email trust & safety because he didn't think she should be allowed to file a seller non-performance report if she had a non-paying bidder strike and to have them look it over. I did that. We'll see what happens.

Anyone else had this happen? Let me know, I'm curious to hear if they had a good result in the end.

eBay's bidding tool Average price to compare your bid

I have been doing some shopping for some DVDs for my daughter. Lately she has been enjoying singing and I don't know many songs so I'm buying up musicals and cartoon movies that have good songs. So, I discovered something kinda cool today during my bidding spree

I have no idea if this is a new tool or just something that I have never noticed before. Regardless..... I like it. It tells me where my bid stands compared to the average selling price of similar items. As you can see, I'm kinda low in comparison, so, if I win, I know that I truly am getting a great bargain!
It comes up on the bid confirmation screen so look for it after your next bid.

Practical Dreamers never quit

Yet again, I heard a line in a podcast that I had to re-wind and listen to twice so that I would make sure to remember it.

"Practical dreamers never quit"

I think I'm going to paint this on a plaque and hang it in my studio.
This line is from Napolean Hill's Think and Grow Rich. I don't know if it is a direct quote because I am listening to it on audiobook. I was running when I heard this line and once I returned home, I jumped on eBay and found a Buy It Now to purchase a copy of the physical book.
Can't wait to read it even though I've already heard it.

"Success principles are highly transferable"

"success principles are highly transferable" that is a quote from Dan Miller in a recent podcast. If you know me, or have been reading my blog for awhile you know that I'm training for the Race for the Cure in October. (I'm not trying to win it or anything, just beat my personal best time) And, you'll also know that I absolutely love podcasts.
I listen to all sorts of podcasts and radio programs. eBay radio is one of my favorites of course and just recently another one of my favorites "Justice Talking" has just gone off the air (boo!)
Most of the things I listen to are for a purpose. I'm hoping to gain something from it. Either enrich my life, keep me up to date on the news or help my business in some way. It is kinda a funny thing, if you think about it, why Dan Miller's podcast is one of my favorites, but it really is. If you don't already know who Dan Miller is, he is the author of 48 Days to the Work you Love and No More Mondays. I absolutely love what I do and am obnoxiously happy doing it. I have found the work that is totally fulfilling to me. Dan Miller teaches people how to find that. I continue to listen to his podcast because there is something about his voice that I find soothing and I love the fact that he is such a positive thinker. He is inspiring.
I just loved that line up there at the title. It is totally true too. I listened to this podcast twice just so that I would remember it. After he said it, I paused my ipod and ran about a half-mile just pondering over it. It is so true. I used to joke about how I used some of the same techniques for crowd control when I was a bartender as I did when I was teaching eigth graders. It is also the reason that you see entrepreneurs succeed in one venture after another. "Success principles are highly transferable".
Or, maybe I just like saying it over and over.

In the interest of full disclosure, I've never read his books. Not that I wouldn't, I just haven't yet. I found his podcast by accident a few months back and have gotten hooked. And yes, I do get a teeny tiny commission if you click from this blog to his site and buy his books.