Web Diner's Commerce Tutorial - Selling Through Online Auctions

Selling Your Product Through an Online Auction

If your product falls into one of the categories that are handled by one of the online auction sites, we recommend that you consider at least giving this a try. Consider these online auctions as a good market research tool. You'll discover a lot about describing your product and what folks are willing to pay for your product. These sites are searchable, so we recommend that you use the search function to find out how items similar to your product have sold.

Don't miss our online auction tips to help you get the most out of your sales. Many of these tips can also be applied to describing and selling your product on your web site, so be sure to check the tips out.

Online Auction Web Sites

eBay handles...well, just about everything! Auction Web is especially strong in collectibles, books, and antiques. Ebay has a number of FAQs for sellers.

Onsale handles mostly computer hardware and software. You can view Onsale's policies and prices for sellers.

PRO

Easy to set up.
Don't need to have a web site.
You might get more than your usual asking price for an item.
These sites get a lot of traffic, so your items will be seen by many potential customers interested in buying.
You can try this option in combination with other commerce solutions.
It's inexpensive to list items
It's a good way to start out selling on the web.

CON

You can't fix the price of the item, although you can set a reserve (lowest price you'll accept) price.
Need to have the ability to scan photos or own a digital camera for best results in online auctions.
If you describe your item poorly or list it in the wrong category it won't be seen by interested buyers.
Some risk involved with handling payments.

If you are accepting payments via check:

Checks can bounce, costing you money in returned check fees. However, you can hold checks until they clear.
Customers paying via check will have to wait for processing, handling and delivery of the order via mail.

Form Templates | E-Commerce Solutions