. . . cont'd from Hot News Things came to a grinding halt however the moment I listed a couple of particularly expensive items. Be warned, all ye who dare to speculate on eBay. If it's fop and fizzle you're after, enjoy yourself as a buyer or a seller. But if you're trying to sell substance and higher valued items, there are thieves and charlatans lurking in the dark recesses of eBay's digital environment. Before I go any further, let it be known that I took some time before listing the items—a lot of time actually; three days—to read every single word of every single eBay document pertaining to selling, buying and all of the concomitant rules and regulations imposed and enforced by eBay. To say that the number of documents and the volume of solid straightforward guidance and advice offered by eBay is extensive and compelling, is an understatement for certain. To say that there are crooks lurking around eBay who use cunningly effective language to entice sellers into skirting the rules is an equally unambiguous understatement.

. . . the language in the e-mail is designed specifically to make you believe that doing the transaction the way the buyer is suggesting is the surest way to get something close to what you're asking for the item. It's a ruse and it's social engineering.

The first questionable communication I received from a prospective buyer of one of my high priced items was from a person in Hong Kong who asked me to end the auction early, accept his low bid, and send the item to an escrow service belonging to a friend of his in Malaysia. The query from a person allegedly in Hong Kong was followed by several more almost identical queries from people claiming to be from various places in the U.S. and Canada. Here's how this con works. People, sellers that is, in desperate need of cash will sometimes do strange things in an effort to do what they think amounts to guaranteeing a sale. If you're a bit desperate and you're also aware that thousands of eBay auctions end every day without a sale being made, it can be tempting to succumb to the blandishments of thieves. So the language in the e-mail is designed specifically to make you believe that doing the transaction the way the buyer is suggesting is the surest way to get something close to what you're asking for the item. It's a ruse and it's social engineering. There is nothing inherently wrong with escrow services, unless of course someone suggests using a service owned by a friend or a business acquaintance. 99% of the time, the escrow service being suggested doesn't actually exist. You'll send item to an address, ostensibly the so-called escrow service, but which is actually a mail drop used by this buyer who will simply pick up the item when it arrives and never send you any money, much less put money in escrow. For the uninitiated, an escrow service is a neutral, bonded and insured third party which holds the cash until the buyer is satisfied that the item being purchased has been properly represented, then releases the cash to the seller. Both parties are protected because nothing is released to either party until the item and the cash in controlled by and in the hands of the escrow service. The buyer doesn't lose control of his cash until he's satisfied, and the seller is guaranteed his funds as long as the item is accurately provided.

Normal eBay auctions don't use escrow. A buyer pays through PayPal or wire transfer or money order (or even credit card if a commercial seller is involved), and once payment has been verified, the seller ships the item.

Lesson #1. eBay offers an excellent escrow service. Never accept any other escrow offer no matter how tempting. You will lose the item and you'll never see the money.

Lesson #2. Never end an auction early for any reason. If you do and the buyer then fails to pay you, or simply goes silent and refuses all communications, you're done. You'll still have to pay the eBay listing fee. If eBay finds out you ended the auction early to do some sort of side deal you can lose your eBay privileges, and if you get ripped off, none of eBay's collection, mediation or negotiation services will be available to you. And you'll still have to pay the listing fee. Sneaky buyers know this and often double-cross unwitting sellers. It works like this. You offer an item at a certain minimum bid. A buyer comes along and offers you something less than the minimum bid. You agree and end the auction. The seller then starts to hedge, telling you that upon closer examination of the item pictures in the auction listing, he's not convinced of the authenticity or whatever—some bogus excuse to beat you up. He then offers you an even lower price. At that point, especially if you really do need the money, it's very tempting to accept the terrible offer, because you're facing the prospect of relisting the item, paying a second listing fee, dealing with more schmucks and so on.

Lesson #3. Make it clear in your item descriptions, payment instructions and shipping requirements exactly what you will do and what you won't do. State clearly that buyers should ask all questions before bidding. Don't be afraid that the use of direct language might scare off legitimate buyers. They don't care about the warnings because the warnings don't apply to them.

Lesson #4. The phony buyers in the case of both of the high priced items I listed all had one thing in common. None of them wanted me to ship directly to them. They all wanted me to ship to their son in Colorado or their daughter in Vancouver or a cousin in Hong Kong or to an escrow service owned by their friend or relative or business associate. It's all BS. All of the related nonsense you might hear from these creeps about buying gifts for their son going to University in Boston is complete BS too. No self-respecting parents buy a used item, sight unseen, as a gift for their kid. It's dopey, and anybody who believes the tale is a sucker.

Lesson #5. The tempting messages sent by crooks and thieves only sound right upon initial reading. Read and re-read everything that's sent to you. Small inconsistencies crop up. In one case, a bidder offered meet me at a specific place to verify the item before paying for it. When I told him that I insisted on payment first, as stipulated in all eBay auctions, he became belligerent and insulting, suggesting that I was going to rip him off—take his money and keep the item too. Reverse psychology doesn't work on me. Later communications from him, in which he offered to meet me halfway and dispense with any sort of verification, were obviously contradictory. I confess that I had fun toying with him after the auction closed too. He actually was the winning bidder for one item, but refused to follow the payment rules. I never had any intention of making any deal outside of eBay rules, but I'll tell you this guy was persistent!

Two different eBay members now have Unpaid Item Strikes against them (which materially affects their ability to successfully bid on other auctions) and eBay refunded both listing fees to my account.

Small businesses often accumulate large piles of stuff they can't use or which simply no longer fulfills the need it was originally purchased to serve. Don't let it all pile up, eventually becoming so intimidatingly large (and old/obsolete) that the only recourse is to take it to the nearest landfill. By all means, use eBay to move some of the stuff out and get some always-needed cash in return.

Before listing anything on eBay, do a search for similar items in order to find out what other sellers are asking. Take the closest possible look at listings from eBay power sellers and other high volume sellers of similar items. Read their auction ads and read their feedback. Emulate the language and item description detail in their listings. Make note of all the warnings they include in each auction listing. It should all be very instructive for you. Imitating the actions of successful sellers is smart.

Above all else, when you finally do list some stuff on eBay and start making sales, respond to buyers' questions and ship quickly. Pack everything very carefully, ship by the fastest means affordable, and always immediately provide shipment tracking numbers to the buyer whenever possible.

Selling on eBay requires a bit of work. Communicating with auction bidders and auction winners can be very difficult if you don't keep things strictly business-like. Sarcasm, off-beat humor, wry humor and other off-handed behavior does not work when your sole means of communication is e-mail. Don't try to be cute. Just communicate the facts. Don't negotiate via e-mail either, because the statement you write that is crystal clear to you will most likely be misunderstood by the other person. If during the course of the auction you receive a number of questions asking for clarification of some part of your item description, take a moment to review your listing and revise it if possible to improve the clarity. Above all else, take sharp, well exposed photos of your items. Give buyers the best possible opportunity to see exactly what they're bidding on.

Strict adherence to eBay listing and selling rules is usually the quickest path to the highest possible percentage of successful auctions. Stray from eBay's rules at your peril. Most important of all, remember that if something sounds to good to be true, walk away. Don't be tempted to believe that you know someone else's mind just because they sent you a persuasive e-mail. There be dragons. Sticking rigidly to eBay's rules will prevent you from having to consider all sorts of spurious nonsense and you'll have much greater success on eBay.

Now . . . don't wait so much as one more week. Dig out all of the stuff you no longer use in your business and start figuring out how much you can get for it. The storage space you rediscover will be worth it.

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