Have you ever looked at an eBay members feedback profile and noticed they had a private profile? I bet you have, and I bet you also wondered just why that member has chosen to make their profile private. I asked myself the same question every time I saw an eBay member with a private feedback profile, so I did some research and here are my findings.
According to eBay, private feedback is designed for reputable buyers and sellers that have received an unfair or defamatory feedback comment. The trader can then choose to make the feedback private whilst eBay decides if they should remove the feedback comment or not. Whilst the feedback is private you cant see any of the feedback comments left for the eBay member, you can however view how many positives, neutrals and negatives the member has received.
The above reason for making feedback private seems reasonable enough, however how do you know the eBay member isn't making their feedback private for more sinister reasons?
The answer – You Don't!
A lot of members with private feedback may be trying to hide more than the odd bad comment, they may be hiding hundreds or maybe even thousands! These comments could be warning you about eBay scams or a very bad ebayer, without being able to see the feedback comments the only thing you have to go on are the feedback scores for the member.
No matter how good the feedback scores look, if an eBay member has private feedback then it should instantly ring an alarm bell in your head. I wouldn't recommend buying anything from an eBay member with a private feedback profile. If you are desperate for the item that the member is selling my advice would be to contact the seller before you purchase the item. Ask the seller why they have chosen to make their feedback profile private, you could even ask them to make the feedback public so you can view the comments and once you have seen the comments they can make them private again.
After all of my research I still cant find any good reasons as to why a member would choose to keep their feedback profile private. As soon as I see a member with a private feedback profile I always get the impression that they have something to hide.
In closing I would strongly recommend that you Don't buy anything from an eBay member wih a private score, you are likely to get stung by an eBay scam! Do yourself a favour and buy the item you are looking for from a more reputable eBay seller. Remember the old saying - “If it sounds too good to be true, then it usually is!”
Dan Thompson has been trading on eBay since 2001 and has seen a lot of
ebay scams in his time. You can report scams and bad ebayers at Dan`s site -
www.auction-arses.com.
Packaging comes in all shapes and sizes and can be made to fit your every need. No matter what is that you have to package and mail away or maybe just to give as a gift to your friend, there is a perfect way of packing it.
When looking for quality packaging supplies, you can look no further than your local post office other mail shipping establishment. They offer packing peanuts, bubble wrap, tape, and boxes of all sizes and shapes. If you have a business that you run inside your home and a majority of that business requires shipping products to customers, you may consider purchasing packaging supplies in bulk at wholesale prices. There are many different industrial and retail packaging stores located on the World Wide Web that can offer you a wide variety of shipping supplies like boxes, packing peanuts, bubble wrap, and labels.
Now days it is even possible to weigh and ship your packages right from the comfort of your home. If you have a postal scale and a printer, this can be a major time saver for a lot of small home businesses such as an E-bay business or a crafts business. Once you package the item that you want to ship, simply weigh it on the postal scale, and go to www.usps.com to pay for the shipping cost of that item. The label will then be printed through your printer and you can stick it on the box and have it ready for the mailman when he delivers your regular daily mail. The payment for the shipping can be made from your credit card, debit card, or from your www.paypal.com account if you have one.
Packaging and shipping right from home has been a major time saver for a lot of small business owners. They no longer have to waste their time standing in long lines at the post office, but now can be doing business while they ship their merchandise, which in turn makes their business more productive.
James Hunt has spent 15 years as a professional writer and researcher covering stories that cover a whole spectrum of interest. Read more at www.packaging-central.info
Article Source: http://www.eArticlesOnline.com
You have all read them, offline anyway, in papers, magazines and journals among other places. Well online classified ads work the same way. You write a headline, description and post some contact details for potential buyers to get in touch with you. Offline classifieds would direct people to a phone number while online classified ads would contain your URL and an email address.
Offline you'll have to pay for almost all classifieds you post, however online there are thousands of free sites which will allow you to post your ad and of course there are plenty of low-cost sites which will also except your ad.
Apart from the fact you can get free classifieds online, online ads have a few advantages compared to offline ones.
The Internet has a much much larger audience than your local or national newspaper has so more people can potentially see your ad and act upon it.
You can post your ads online and you could have feedback and sales within a very short time as usually people just have to click on your URL for more info rather than make a phone call or send a letter.
Ads that are placed online are much cheaper than their offline counterparts, this is because space is not tight on the Internet as it is in a magazine or newspaper.
A user looking for a particular product can usually perform a search for a particular word or phrase from the classified ad site whereas offline people have to manually scan through the different categories.
A disadvantage of online classified ads to the webmaster is that it can be quite time consuming to do especially if you want any sort of success with them, which you obviously do. However many good pieces of software are becoming available which can automatically submit your ad to lots of these sites, they aren't cheap but if you're interested try doing a search for 'classified ad software' or something similar on Google.com or Yahoo.com.
Let's get on to the good part, how to make the most out of posting to classified ads. Stay specific, always post to the most appropriate category or categories there are, this way you'll be posting to an area where people will actually be interested in your product, this is vital.
Remember especially with free classified sites that a lot of other webmasters will be trying to promote their products and websites with ads too so you'll have to repost your ad regularly to stay near the top of the bunch, nobody will even see your ad if it's at the bottom of another 50 ads, will they?
Now on to the actual copy of your ad, since few classified sites allow you to post graphics you'll have to rely on your headline to grab the attention of the people scanning the ads in front of them. You can do this by using words like 'free', 'secrets', 'how-to' and other words which will make them curious to find out more. If you can, include your keywords in your headline as some classified sites will use the headline as the link to your site this in turn will help you when the search engines examine your link popularity.
Always target your market, if you sell a product for webmasters mention 'webmasters' in the headline and body, next you should mention what your product will do for them (i.e. the benefits of it. - how will it make their life easier).
I have read this in numerous places and now you're going to read it too, the idea with classified ads is to generate interest and not to actually sell anything there and then, that's far to hard to do, you want to get the reader wanting more information and you should give this to them through your website or autoresponder. This is why your ad body should always be short, concise and to the point, a big long page sales letter will scare people off.
Follow the above few tips and you should see some results, before you go I want to put this to you. Which is better paid or free classifieds? Well for me paid classifieds have always produced much better results, I think this is because advertising in "Free Classified Sites" has now become an almost automated task which means not many people actually visit and respond to classified ads. Submission spiders are wonderful creatures but aren't often interested in clicking on your well-crafted classified ad.
Two of the best places where you can place fee based ads which do bring results are AOL.com and Yahoo.com. Good luck!
Article by David Callan. David is an Internet marketing professional and webmaster of
AKA Marketing.com webmaster forums. Visit his webmaster forums for the latest discussions on search engines, website authoring and Internet marketing related issues and topics.
Promote Your Blog
Well, you've joined the others and have created a blog. It is time to tell the world about your online journal. Most blog services generate an RSS feed. If your blogging software does not create an RSS feed, consider using software like FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com to create an RSS feed. Like blogs, RSS is growing in popularity and is a great way to spread the word about a new blog.
Syndication is conceptually simple. It allows publishers to distribute content that can be displayed in another location or context. Using RSS, publishers are able to easily create and disseminate content feeds that include news headlines, blog summaries and related links. RSS is the defined syndication standard that has become mainstream. All types of information are now available in a syndicated format.
1. Blog Submissions / RSS Submissions
There are a number of blog directories and blog search engines where you can submit your blog. A large list of sites allowing blog submission and RSS feed submissions can be found in the left column at: http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-submission.htm
Similarly, there are RSS feed directories and search engines like http://www.rss-network.com . Be sure to submit the URL of your RSS feeds to the RSS search engines listed on the RSS specifications website.
If you wish to automate your blog and RSS submissions consider using Dummy Software's Blog and RSS Submit Software http://www.dummysoftware.com .
Like a website, its important to select the appropriate category for your blog. Use a clear title that contains descriptive details but is not excessively long. The Blog description should further expand on the purpose and general theme of the blog. Incorporate important keywords related to the blog's theme in both the title and description. This will help bring targeted traffic that is genuinely interested in the contents of the blog.
2. Post Press Releases to Online Resources
Write a press release announcing your blog to the world. Keep it factual and submit the release to the free press release directories. This will provide incoming links to the new blog and get it started on its way to popularity. There are a number that allow for press release posting free of charge. The releases on these sites are occasionally picked up by publications looking for information or filler content. Another side-benefit to these listings is increased link popularity, which helps with search engine ranking. A list of sites that allow for press release posting can be found under 'press release posting' . A number are available at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/pressreleases.html
3. Post Announcement on Usenet
A number of Usenet groups allow for posting of announcements or press releases. Most of the announce groups in Usenet contain 'ann.' in the domain address. If your blog is focused on a specific topic, search Usenet newsgroups. To locate topic-specific announce groups, consider searching http://www.newsguy.com to locate groups specific to related topics.
4. Post to Forums
Forums also contain sections in which you can post announcements. If the application is a niche product, consider searching for topic-specific forums in addition to the general software announce forums listed below. Be sure to post any announcements in the appropriately marked 'announce forum' . The following are related blog forums, some of which allow for posts.
Favorite Feeds - http://www.feedforall.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=3
Your Blog Announcements - http://www.forum4bloggers.com/viewforum.php?f=12
Got Blog - http://www.blogomania.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=7
Announce Software, Blogs or Relationships - http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=5
5. Promote & Auto Detect Blog Feeds
It has become a standard that nearly all websites that have RSS feeds available use colorful graphics to indicate the presence of an RSS feed. The graphics were initially bright orange rectangles, but as the popularity has grown, webmasters have bent the rules a bit. NotePage has made a free online RSS graphic tool available that allows users to quickly customize buttons by selecting the text on the button and the color scheme of the button. Once the color and text is entered, a custom graphic is instantly created. Webmasters can easily match the style of the RSS button to a website's theme.
Graphics experience is not required. Simply select alternative colors and insert text to personalize RSS feed graphics. The RSS graphics tool can be used by clicking the following URL http://www.feedforall.com/public/rss-graphic-tool.htm or choose ready made graphics from: http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-graphics.htm .
Include information in the HTML code of a website so that RSS Readers automatically detect that an RSS feed exists for the material contained on the site. Aggregators will automatically detect RSS on a website if you add a small bit of code in the header field of an HTML page.
After publishing an RSS feed it is important to let visitors know that the feed exists. Aggregators will automatically detect RSS on a website if you add a small bit of code in the header field of an HTML page. [link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://www.yourdomain.com/rss.xml"]
Be sure to replace http://www.yourdomain.com/rss.xml with the URL to the RSS feed and replace the brackets with "<" (less than) and ">" (greater than) symbols.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for NotePage http://www.notepage.net a wireless text messaging software company.
Article Source: ArticleWorld.net
Hearing that there are more than 1.2 million registered eBay users, that more than 25,000 members make five figure income as full time eBay entrepreneurs, and that more than 250,000 part timers make several thousand dollars a year of supplementary income from eBay enterprises would make anyone comment in disbelief with, “No Way”. But the correct response to this is, “Yes, way.” In fact, it has also been reported that the number one eBay entrepreneur makes over a million dollars a year. As Austin Powers would say, “Yeah, Baby.” Or should we say, “E-Baby.”
So what’s the deal with eBay, anyway? There is a lot more to it than one would think. It can be simple for an occasional buyer, but it gets increasing complex as users/sellers become more entrenched at deeper levels of use. Here are 10 key ideas or themes for sellers to consider about this phenomenon called “eBay”.
1. What ‘s for sale? While some sellers are out scavenging the garage sales and their own garages, others are purchasing quantities of items wholesale to put up for auction. One would think that the right product is of paramount consideration, and most sellers agree that the unusual or the hard to find is the best bet. However, this is not always true either. Timing, meaning the right person at the right time seeing your item, is where it is at. You have to be visible and be out there with a clear message or product that seems like a steal, or at least reasonably priced. With the thousands and thousands of items for sale, there is no shortage of competition. However, the good thing is that there are a lot of buyers out there which should enable the sale of just about anything.
2. Communication and descriptive details about your product is a key in getting noticed. The description of your item and the pictures to display it will get the buyer’s attention. If a person is a serious seller, having an adequate digital camera is a must. Again, photos are extremely important.
3. The well written detailed description to accompany the item is of great benefit. Being open and honest about the item will demonstrate integrity as a seller and will keep people coming back. Being available to answer questions for prospective buyers and remembering to be courteous and helpful follows along with the never-to-be forgotten premise of “the customer is always right.”
4. With customer feedback being a key element in the ratings statistics that will promote you or haunt you during your eBay career, it is important for a seller to be professional and kindly in all business dealings. People like and appreciate personal attention. Take the time to give it. Being positive, accommodating and helpful is a winning combination for good customer relations.
5. Shipping information and how you present it can win over a customer because they notice when a buyer is tying to take advantage and ask an unreasonable amount for shipping. Of course, a seller must take into account time spent, the handling charge, when pricing the shipping. Time is money, and a seller should be compensated for all aspects of the service that is provided.
6. Some advice about setting up your auction items would be to consider having your item run seven days with an end of bidding time somewhere between 7 PM and 9 PM on a Sunday night. That seems to be the consensus amongst the top sellers. There has been much dialog on just how to increase the amount and number of bids, but there are too many variables to consider. Suffice to say, it really comes down to the product itself. It depends on the condition of the item and on how much competition is out there.
7. Some of the most unique aspects of selling have to do with the seasonal items that permeate the auction block at certain times of the year. If a seller wants to work year-round, he or she will have to broaden the horizon by finding seasonal items for all seasons. Yes, you can sell Christmas items and move right into Valentines Day and Easter and so on. Why not? These are what people are looking for.
8. One controversial topic is drop shipping. If a seller is getting a product from a third party, drop shipping is a convenient way for the seller to deliver the product. It keeps them out of it entirely. However, that means that a back ordered item could result in a poor rating for the seller because the item was delayed. Most buyers picture the item in the hands of the seller and expect to receive it within a few days. The pros and cons of this arrangement need to be carefully considered.
9. Now to the fun part. How do you get the money? More and more people are using PayPal. It is quick, efficient and simple. A seller can make other arrangements and accept a check or money order, but the wave of the future is setting up an account with PayPal. In addition, setting up an online account with the United States Postal Service will also save you countless hours of waiting in lines at the post office. Work smarter, not harder, etc., etc.
10. A seller can look at other things to sell besides a physical product or item. Many are getting into self publishing or offering a service. Some expanding entrepreneurs are opening up a consignment shop situation, which helps those who want to sell but “don’t do computers.” The possibilities are unlimited.
Selling products and services from a home-based business can be an exciting, and hopefully profitable, situation. Go into it with a solid plan based on accurate information and with the knowledge that it is going to be hard work, just like any other job.
Barbara Snyder may be contacted at http://www.EducationResourcesNetwork.com barb@sbmag.org
About The Author:
Barbara Snyder is a retired California Distinguished School Principal and Coordinator For Human Resources. She has a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She holds elementary education, secondary, community college, and administrative credentials. She is currently the publisher of http://EducationResourcesNetwork.com, co-publisher of Strictly Business Magazine, http://www.sbmag.org and Student Teacher Supervisor at Chapman University College.
A bug affecting store owners during the first week of May, allowed others to sign up new store names that were the same as store names already in use for a long time. AuctionBytes wrote an article that reports the bug has been fixed.
AuctionBytes also reported, how one seller documented the trouble they were having with eBay and their store name, on eBay's store discussion board.
Yes we are the ones who documented this on the store discussion board. We also hope eBay truly has this problem fixed. We would hate to see someone else have to go through this. You are definitely at their mercy with a problem like this.
It's obvious that eBay provides internet users with an online flea market where buyers and sellers from around the world meet to conduct trade.
However, like most traders who are faced with an innovation of this sort, the first question will always be: It is safe?
The answer is yes, but devious scammers seem to be plotting daily to forward their dastardly schemes and take advantage of eBay's power.
So, what is the user's recourse? The users of eBay must learn to gather information and take meticulous care in dealing on eBay. Only then can they be less gullible to scammers.
A common consensus is that bidders are often scammed by sellers. But it is possible for things to be the other way around.
Here is a list of the common problems sellers encounter and the means to handle them.
Fake Escrow Services
A winning bidder may request that an escrow service be used to assure both parties of a fair transaction. Unfortunately, the seller is sometimes duped into using a fake escrow system.
To avoid this situation, the seller must always verify the authenticity of an escrow service. eBay recommends the use of escrow.com. If the bidder insists on his or her escrow service, chances are, that person is a scammer.
Victims of this fraud find it difficult to reclaim their items. They may, however, appeal to the legal system afforded by the state they live in. They must also contact eBay regarding the matter for any assistance they may be willing to offer.
Deadbeat Bidders
Deadbeat bidders (a winning bidder who doesn't pay for an item at the auction's close) are more common on eBay. If the winner of your auction does not pay, you may leave that person a negative feedback.
As for the listing fees the seller shells out, eBay lays out a four step procedure that sellers can use to potentially recover lost selling fees. If sellers complete the process to eBay's satisfaction, they will receive a Final Value Fee credit and a re-list credit. Filing out an Unpaid Item dispute is the first step toward eBay reimbursing such fees. A person can report an unpaid item up to 45 days after an auction's close.
Trade Dispute
This occurs when the seller and bidder disagree on some terms of the sale. This may also happen if there is a purported violation of any of these agreements.
If communication between both parties does not help, they may consider availing of a third-party dispute resolution outfit to help. SquareTrade.com is one of these outfits that eBay recommends.
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure
A seller's life may be made terrible because of the constant scamming attacks unscrupulous individuals undertake. But, with proper information and care, he or she can continue trading on eBay with relative safety.
Payment Methods on eBay
Gone are the days when only cash (or cattle in some cases) was the only accepted mode of payment for trades. As the concept of trading evolved, so did the means of paying for items.
Today's electronic world pushes the envelop further. With the advent of online trading systems such as eBay, many new forms of payment have flourished.
First of all, on eBay, the mode of payment depends on the agreement between the buyer and the seller. Most often, the seller will specify his or her desired payment method. In these cases, the seller often has primacy in the decisions regarding payment modes. However, the buyer may still communicate with the seller regarding a viable alternative if it suits both parties.
The following is a list of common eBay payment modes.
Cash On Delivery
Cash is, after all, still cash. This payment method can be done through a third party courier system or by the buyer and seller meeting each other at an agreed place. The advantage of a cash transaction is that the exchange of the item for payment is done in the presence of the buyer and the seller (or the seller's representative). However, some people will not accept the risk present when two strangers meet.
Personal Check
One popular method of payment is personal check. Writing checks is easy and safe. However, many sellers do not like accepting check because they are easy to cancel.
PayPal
PayPal is the payment of choice on eBay. In fact, eBay owns PayPal.
Using PayPal is easy, convenient, and relatively safe. PayPal acts as like an internet 'wire transfer.'
After signing-up for PayPal, one may send cash to anyone with an email address using the PayPal system. PayPal also has security features that safeguard against fraud in case there is a dispute between the seller and the buyer. This system is best for transactions up to $1000.
Escrow.com
Escrow.com is the payment of choice for purchases over $500. Escrow.com holds the buyer's money from the seller until the seller delivers the item. Only then will the funds be released to the seller. This system makes for a very safe, although highly procedural transaction.
Wire Transfer
This is the payment of choice for countries that do not carry the PayPal service. Wire transfers are risky because the buyer usually has to wire over the funds before the seller sends the items. The chance for non-delivery of items is high.
Other Payment Systems
The number of third party payment services is steadily on the rise. Their systems for payment vary. However, to be successful they must be convenient to use and safe as well.
Brad Eden is a Entrepreneurial Sciences expert with 14 years of industry experience in real estate, marketing and technical communication. He currently consults with IBM in CA. Brad owns & operates a free traffic resource for entrepreneurs. http://www.americanfreetraffic.com
Article Source: ArticleWorld.net
12 Items You CAN'T Sell On eBay by Sydney Johnston
Millions of would-be entrepreneurs want to sell things on ebay. eBay is the #1 home-business opportunity in the world right now, so it's natural that many are eager to find highly profitable items for re-sale on eBay. However, it's important to know that there are certain items that can't be sold. Here are a dozen of them ...
Some items are copyright infringement and can actually land a seller in federal prison:
1. Knock offs of music, TV shows or movies. The "bootleg" movies, for example, are often made by guys who sneak a movie camera into a newly-released movie where presumably, they crouch behind a seat and make a crummy copy. There is a large production of these counterfeit items in Asia where US laws have no power.
2. Software and computer games can likewise be copied and their sale is illegal by all US laws.
Naturally, the items above may be sold if you have a copy that you purchased legitimately and no longer want.
3, The so-called "replica" market for handbags, designer sunglasses and clothing is definitely forbidden although these items are often sold in physical stores around the US. Ironically, when attending eBay Live In New Orleans in 2004, we found a store in one of their famous markets selling replica purses that were not allowed on eBay.
4. Lazy and less-than-honest sellers often steal copyrighted material from other sellers. This has happened to me many times and eBay has a program called VERO (Verified Rights Owner) that will remove offending auctions, although there seems to be no penalty attached to the seller, which is unfortunate.
5. Alcoholic beverage sales are not allowed although a beverage "container', especially those of wine, may be sold for its value.
6. Cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco or coupons for such items are not permitted on eBay.com.
The Ebay rules for collectible tobacco and alcohol containers are the same:
* The value of the item is in the collectible packaging, not in the wine/tobacco itself.
* The listing description should state that the package has not been opened, but that the twine/tobacco within is not for consumption.
* The collectible tobacco packaging must not be available at any retail outlet, and packaging must have a value that substantially exceeds the current retail price of that wine/tobacco product in the package.
* Sellers must take steps to ensure that the buyer of these collectibles is at least 18 years of age.
7. Firearms are strictly regulated by US law and may not be sold on eBay.
8. Satellite and cable TV descramblers are forbidden by the Federal Trade Commission.
9. Animals and wildlife products may not be sold, which includes stuffed birds and pelts from endangered species. There are limited sales of ivory, tortoise shell, marine products and other items relating to animals. This area is quite complex and any would-be seller needs to thoroughly understand the various laws before getting involved in these sales.
10. Event tickets have state-by-state laws that make their sale complex. Some states, for instance, forbid anyone to make more than a few dollars in profit (or no profit at all) on the resale of tickets. For instance, Florida law states that tickets can be resold at no more than face value plus $1. In such states, these regulations apply only to buyers and sellers located in the same state as the actual event, meaning if a seller lives in Florida, he can't profit from ticket sales to Florida events. However, if he lives in any of the other 39 states, this restriction doesn't apply.
11. Listing a catalog of items that a seller offers for sale is forbidden. The only catalogs legally sold on eBay are collectible kinds, such as an old Sears Roebuck or Montgomery Wards catalog that is memorabilia and doesn't offer current merchandise for sale.
12. Raffles and prizes are 100% prohibited. According to eBay, such promotions are highly regulated and may be unlawful in many states.
There are other kinds of merchandise that a seller may not sell on eBay, so carefully check eBay rules before listing anything. It's much better to know the rules in advance of spending money that can't be recouped.
About the Author
Learn how to sell on eBay with 16 hours of online instruction taught by a 10 year eBay veteran. Own an eBay business instead of an eBay hobby.
'VeRO'? What on Earth is that? Well, it's a very scary eBay program that can get your auctions shut down, that's what it is.
VeRO stands for 'Verified Rights Owner'. It is the eBay policy that deals with complaints about your auctions from companies who own copyrights, patents or trademarks on the items you are selling. Unfortunately, it is often abused to remove items from eBay that are perfectly legitimate to resell, simply because the copyright owner doesn't want people getting their hands on them.
If the copyright of something you're selling is owned by one of eBay's 5,000 verified rights owners, be prepared for trouble. eBay have given these companies the right to remove any auction from eBay that they see fit, and, say eBay, "eBay cannot require the rights owner to provide you with the exact reason of the request to remove your listing". Worse, eBay may even suspend your account, or give your real-world contact details to the company in question.
Why Do eBay Do This?
Basically, they do it to avoid getting sued, or even getting threatened with being sued. There is a law called the DMCA (digital millennium copyright act) that means that eBay must either take these auctions down when it asked to or take full responsibility for them from that point on. eBay doesn't want to take any responsibility for your auctions.
It's not worth worrying too much about it - 99% of the VeRO program is aimed at stopping fake brand-name goods or pirated media being sold through eBay. Big companies also seem to get quite upset when eBay sellers take the company's ad copy, logos or professional pictures and use them for selling on eBay.
If you'd like to take a slightly patronising quiz about copyright to help you understand eBay's policy, go here: http://pages.ebay.com/help/tutorial/verotutorial/intro2.html.
So Who Are These Companies?
There's a complete list available here: http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/vero-aboutme.html. This list includes everything from the Microsoft and Adobe to Chanel and Nike, not to mention the RIAA (recording industry association) and MPAA (motion picture association). Most of the companies, understandably, deal in software, media or fashion.
eBay Say I Violated VeRO and I Want to Appeal.
Use the link at the bottom of this page: http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/vero-removed-listing.html. That'll get you to eBay's VeRO Seller Appeal Form, where you can put your case to them directly. You are supposed to take it up with the company that complained about you first, however - and sometimes you might find that they just back down, which makes the whole thing a lot easier.
If you have no luck getting any response from eBay by email, it's not really worth trying to phone them - you'll find they're most responsive if you use the 'Live Chat' feature or write them an actual, real-paper letter. You're best off being nice to eBay: they have absolutely no obligation, after all, to ever let you sell anything at all.
On a happier note, have you ever heard of eBay Anything Points? No? Well, you're not alone. The next email will explain what these little-used points can do for you.
About the Author
Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet auction enthusiast from Nashville, TN. Visit http://www.auctionseller411.com/ for more great tips on how to make the most from Ebay and other online auctions.
