Getting Started on eBay: Make a Shopping List of the Personal Resources You Require

Buying and Selling on eBay is an adventure that canplanning to make eBay auctions a part-time or
be both fun and financially rewarding. Best of all it isfull-time income generator you will need an adequate
relatively easy. But before setting out on your greatcomputer system. If money is no object then you
adventure you need certain minimum "Personalcan get the latest state of the art system. However
Resources" which are listed below in what I considerif your start-up budget is limited you should get the
to be the order of priority. The Resources requiredbasic minimum recommended hardware and software.
are personal in that each individual will need to checkYou can always upgrade later once the profits start
their own personal situation and decide whether theyto flow!PC or Mac with a 266 MHz Processor
need some or all of the items listed and to what32 Megabyte RAM
extent.Resources Required I - Personal Resources2.1 Gigabyte Hard Drive
and Attributes - Self-esteemYou need to have orFloppy Drive - for backups preferably a CD ROM
develop high self-esteem and to think positively.Drive
Self-esteem can perhaps be best described as yourMicrosoft Windows 95 or above
feelings about yourself and affects every moment ofWeb Browser - Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher
your life, either consciously or subconsciously.Printer - Good quality Inkjet or LaserJet
Everything can be viewed either positively orWord-processing Software - MS Word 6.0 or higher
negatively. When we find fault with ourselves, we callSpreadsheet Software - MS Excel 4.0+ or similar
that "shame" or "low self-esteem". With any activity,HTML Web design Software - MS FrontPage 2000
we can choose either to focus on how good we areor similarResources Required VI - Computer Related
at it or on how bad we are at it. Without exception,Personal SkillsYou do not need to be a computer
we do everything better when we focus on howprogrammer or computer expert but there are
good we are at it.And the same is true with eBay. Ifcertain recommended computer skills you need to
you approach eBay with the attitude that you arehave or to acquire if you wish to proceed
not going to succeed, then you are not going tosuccessfully. The following skills are not difficult to
make a success of it. On the other hand, if youacquire:Basic Wordprocessing - You will need basic
approach it with confidence, you have a far betterword-processing skills for numerous tasks including
chance of success. This is entirely my own point ofthe writing of descriptions for your auctions,
view.Resources Required II - A Working Knowledge,thank-you and other letters and eMails to your
Understanding eBay, the eBay Website and eBaybuyers and preparing Web page documents for your
TerminologyYou will need to Read the eBay Manualauction listings.Spreadsheet - A "spread sheet" or
by visiting the eBay website with special focus on:-spreadsheet is a large sheet of paper with columns
Navigating the eBay Website - moving from sectionand rows that organizes data about transactions for
to Section with Ease;a business person to examine. An electronic
- Establishing and Understanding eBay Policies andspreadsheet organizes information into software
Rules;defined columns and rows. The data can then be
- Knowing where to find what you need;"added up" by a formula to give a total or sum. The
- Understanding eBay Terminology;spreadsheet program summarizes information from
- Studying what other people are selling and howmany paper sources in one place and presents the
they describe the items they are selling;information in a format to help a decision maker see
- Studying what prices other sellers are asking;the financial "big picture". We highly recommend that
- Comparing the various different prices sellers areyou keep track of all your winning bidders and setup
asking for items with the same or very similara database or spreadsheet to capture and record
descriptions;important details of your auctions including name and
- Studying the categories where items are usuallyeMail address and any other information you may find
listed;useful.HTML - Every web page you see and read is
- Identifying any items listed in unusual categories;written in HTML. Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
- Identifying buying trends;Resources Required III -is the standard text-formatting language used for
Registration With eBay and A Seller's AccountBeforedocuments on the World Wide Web. HTML
you can Buy or Sell anything on eBay you will needdocuments are text files that contain two parts:
to Register or open an account by completing acontent that is meant to be rendered on a computer
Registration Form. Registration is Free, takes only ascreen; and markup or tags, encoded information
short time and is very easy to complete.Your eBaythat directs the text format on the screen and is
User ID - The Registration Form requires you togenerally hidden from the user.If you are planning to
Create an eBay User ID. Your User ID is a valuablebe an active seller you will need to learn basic HTML
asset for participating on eBay. Before choosing youras it gives you greater control over the design and
eBay User ID you should be aware that Your Userlooks of the Ads for your auctions. An alternative to
ID becomes your eBay identity and along with yourlearning HTML is to use HTML software such as
Feedback Rating helps establish your reputation andMicrosoft FrontPage. If you do then you will not need
identity within the eBay Community.Choose a User IDto learn HTML. BUT you will need to know Hot To
that is suitable for a long, successful life on eBay. OfCut & Paste and/or Copy and Paste.Zipping &
course you can always change your eBay IDUnzipping Files - Zipping is a standardized way of
anytime. Choose a User ID that you like and thatshrinking data files into smaller kilobytes or
you'll remember. For example you might use wordsmegabytes thus saving on disk space. If you plan to
identifying your favourite collecting area, yoursend or receive data files via eMail or via file transfer
business, or occupation.Seller's Account - Afteron the Internet and if you plan to buy or sell eBooks,
registering you will need to set up a Seller's Accountsoftware or any product which can be delivered
before you can sell anything on eBay. You mustdigitally or by file transfer you will need to know how
provide a valid debit/credit card and bank accountto Zip and Unzip Files.Resources Required VII -
information.Resources Required IV - Your ComputerOrganization of Your Multi-Payment OptionsYou will
EquipmentFirstly you will need a computer, or accessneed to pay for any items you may have purchased,
to a computer, that is equipped with a modem.to pay for eBay listing fees for items you are selling,
Whilst organizing your computer equipment you mayto pay for your inventory or to pay the Drop-shipper
also want to investigate getting a DSL (Broadband orand, if your auction is successful, to pay eBay's final
Digital Subscriber Line) or a cable modem as opposedvalue fees and your merchant service provider
to a telephone modem. It not only has fasterfees.The precise amount can be calculated in
connection speeds, but also many telephoneadvance. Buyers want a multi-choice of Easy
companies provide unlimited Internet access for aPayment Options. You will need to organize these
fixed monthly fee. Telephone expenses can be costlymulti-payment facilities before you start any buying
so you want to keep these expenses as low asor selling activities.As a seller you should try and offer
possible.Once you have your computer equipment,every type of payment option. By covering all the
you will need to plug your modem into a telephonebases you can perhaps deter a potential bidder from
line. Next, you will need to open an account with anbidding for the same or similar product from a seller
Internet Service Provider (ISP) - a company thatwho offers more payment options than you.Over
provides connections to the Internet, usually for a80% of buyers on eBay prefer to use PayPal and
monthly fee. Most telephone companies provide thisespecially now as PayPal is part of the eBay Group
service. Also you may be able to find an ISP in yourof Companies. A PayPal Account is a must. PayPal
local area.The final element required is software calledprovides a variety of merchant tools to meet all your
a Web browser which enables you to find and readneeds including accepting online credit card payments
the information on the Web. The more popular webinstantly. In addition, PayPal offers a full suite of tools
browsers are provided by Microsoft (Internetto keep your payment processing running
Explorer) and Netscape Navigator and are usuallysmoothly.Stephen S Alison is a retired "bean counter"
installed free of charge when you buy a computer.who spent 26 years in middle management positions
Of course, once set up you can always browse orfor major US financial institutions in Europe and a
surf on the Internet, establish what other browsersfurther 10 years as an adviser/consultant to a
are available and download the browser you feelnumber of European financial institutions.
more comfortable with.Since you are probably