Chris Pirillo » ebay

Are Adult Bloggers Ruining it for Kids?

Chris Pirillo — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:33:17 +0000

I read an interesting post on Lockergnome today, written by my friend Ron. Ron cites a study that shows that only about 18% of teens today write in a blog. Only about 8% of them are Twitter users. However, about 55% regularly take part in other social networks, such as MySpace.

The original study claims that perhaps the low blogging percentage is due to the fact that teens are secretive by nature. They don’t want the world to know what they’re up to. If that were the case, then how do you explain all of the information overload on their MySpace pages? Ron brings up an excellent point of his own: when adults and parents show up, teens tend to withdraw.

With so many adults blogging these days, does it stand to reason that could be why our kids are not? Do they not want to be like us? Could they fear our reading what they are doing? What are your thoughts on this?

Ron’s article is excellent, and brings up much food for thought. There were also any number of other great things posted in our little corner of the world today. I hope you were able to read some of it!

Don’t forget to stop by our Downloads and Software Center to find deals on the hottest software, applications and games!

Are Adult Bloggers Ruining it for Kids?

This One Time, at Band Camp

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:07:37 +0000

This One Time, at Band Camp

This phrase is used all over the world, I think, and can have many different meanings. However, in the case of a thread on Geeks today, it means exactly what it says! The poster is asking who else was (or is) involved in band during high school. I was never in band, but my assistant Kat was. Not only that – she was also the marching band Drum Major for two years!

It’s been said that what happens at band camp stays at band camp. However, I’m curious. Do you have any stories you’re willing to share? Was it as awesome of an experience as people have claimed? Keep your comments/stories family friendly and clean, please! Remember our younger audience!

While you’re thinking up your story, or reliving your memories, make sure to check out what else our community has in store for you today.

This One Time, at Band Camp

How to Set a Good Price to Sell on eBay

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 19 May 2009 19:09:04 +0000

How to Set a Good Price to Sell on eBay

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When you have things you no longer need, you may want to think about selling them on eBay. The problem is, where do you set the price at? You want to make money off of your item, but you don’t want to set it so high that no one will bid. How do you figure out what your price should be?

There are people who make a living off of selling things on eBay. Michael wrote in, saying that he’s one of those people. Well, actually, he’s hoping to make a bit more of a living by selling things on eBay. He thought that I was an expert seller. Sadly, I’m not. I’ve sold things on there, yes… but not often!

The way I do things isn’t very difficult. When someone wants to buy something from me, I have them get a point of refernce. Find me comparable items, and let’s look at the median there. Then I know that I’m giving the person a good deal, while not undercutting myself.

As long as you are average in terms of your base price – you’ll make money. People will buy your items, and you’ll have money in your pocket. You can steadily (but slowly!) increase your prices as you build a good customer base.

eBay itself has a ton of tools available you can use to help yourself become a better, more competitive seller. You’re crazy if you have stuff lying around that’s not being sold on eBay!

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How to Set a Good Price to Sell on eBay

Do you Have eBay Seller or Buyer Accounts?

Chris Pirillo — Sat, 31 May 2008 02:13:02 +0000

Do you Have eBay Seller or Buyer Accounts?

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Sutty5 writes: “Many discussions recently have focussed on having more than one eBay account. Ebay has no problems with this, as long as each account is kept in good standing. Following are five reasons for opening multiple accounts.”

Buyer Confidence. If you are selling goldfish bowls for example, which username do you think will give abuyer more confidence – “dave1234″ or “goldfishsupplies”? When selling in more than one category on a regular basis, having multiple accounts will allow you to target your audience with a higher precision.

Ebay Features. The ability to open more than one eBay Store. eBay only allows one store (or shop) per account. This is easily solved by having multiple accounts.

Feedback. Protect your feedback. If one transaction as a seller goes bad and you get negative feedback, it will not affect your sales as a whole as you’ll still have excellent feedback on your other accounts.

Cross-Promotion Connections. eBay allows you to cross-promote other sellers’ items within your listings. By using this feature, you can cross-promote your other accounts within your eBay listings to bring some much valued visibility.

eBay Arbitrage. Many sellers buy off of eBay in order to resell the item almost immediately. Having an account for selling only, will allow you to hide the items you’ve purchased with a separate account.

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Do you Have eBay Seller or Buyer Accounts?

Top Tips to Improve your eBay Experience

Chris Pirillo — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:26:11 +0000

Top Tips to Improve your eBay Experience

Danel is a 15 year old who is an avid eBay’er. He has already made quite a lot of money as a Seller. Here are his top seven tips for getting the most out of eBay.

When buying an item, do not place a bid for an item several days before the auction is over. This will just cause the bid to increase. I suggest placing a bid in the last few seconds. Have 2 windows open, one will be the bid you are willing to place for the item. And the other is another bid you are ready to place for the item. But, the second screen will be a higher amount. How high? Your choice. You see, other people also place their own bids in the last few seconds, and if someone places a bid higher then your first… there’s no chance of you going back and placing another bid. Thats why it is a good idea to keep another screen open with a higher bid price.
Ifyou find the item you would like to bid on that still has time left, it might not be a good idea to put it on your watch list. See, if the seller of the item sees that there is no bid on his item and 20 people are watching it, he probably will not drop the price. What you should do, is save the item number and view the item like that. If there are no bids on it, and no one is watching it, there is a large possibility that the seller of the item will lower the price.
Just because you find an item you would like to buy and are ready to place a bid on it, you might want to look at one thing… the user who is selling it. If a brand new user with zero feedback is selling a $20,000 car, it might not be a good idea to bid. If a user has 5 feedbacks and 3 of them are negative, once again… might not be a good person to buy from. If there is someone with 10,000 feedbacks and only 200 negative feedbacks, they are most likely a good person to buy from.
For some items, there is the “Buy it Now” option. Instead of waiting for the auction to be over, you could just click that button and simply buy it now for the price shown. But keep this in mind… if the buy it now price is $300 and the current bid is $50 with only a few hours remaining, it may be a good idea to wait. But, this is one of the things people just can’t predict. There is no strategy for this. Someone sees something they like, they know the price will rise, they buy it, with still plenty of time remaining.
The ‘reserve’ option is very popular. Some sellers may be worried that their item will not sell for the amount of money they want it to, so they put a reserve amount in place. This is a hidden price that only the seller will know. There will be text below the bid price that will say ‘Reserve met’ or ‘Reserve not met’. No matter how much you bid, if the price does not exceed the reserve price then you will not win the auction. Once the hidden cost of the reserve is met, whoever bids does have a chance of winning the auction. Some sellers use a strategy of telling people what the reserve price is, but most people do not. I suggest not to.
Some auctions you might see might get you ‘surprised’. For instance, you may see a pair of shoes for $10,000. This will most likely be a ‘best offer’ type of auction. This is where the person that sends in the best offer will get the item.
When selling several of the same items, it would be easier to sell them one by one in the same auction. If you are selling pencils, you will place a “buy it now” price, and tell how many of the item you will sell. People could then buy X amount of that item for the certain price you placed.

Top Tips to Improve your eBay Experience

eBay and PayPal Security

Chris Pirillo — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 11:12:27 +0000

eBay and PayPal Security

Gary may just save your skin with this security tip…

Good morning, afternoon, or evening whatever it happens to be in your area. I don’t know if you’ve heard of these 2 accessories that Paypal uses but I know from your eBay videos that you and your family have both eBay and Paypal accounts. Paypal has 2 new items the first Item I’d like to mention is the Paypal Security Key. This item adds an extra level of security to both your Ebay and Paypal account. You must purchase it through one of the sites however it can be activated on both services.

To get it go to www.paypal.com/securitykey or www.ebay.com/securitykey. The device costs you $5 – this includes shipping. What you get is a small little device with a keychain attachment at the end of it. How it works is simple each time the button is pressed the small LCD on the device will generate a random 6-digit #. You first activate it by going to the sites I mentioned above and following the instructions under activating it. Once you do this after entering your Ebay or Paypal user ID and password you get presented with a 3rd screen which tells you to enter the 6-digit code from the security key and click the button. Then you are logged into the respective account.

This helps protect you if you gave your information to a fraud email or a virus or Trojan happens to get your information They may have your ID and Password but they can’t use the same 6-digit code the key generated the last time you logged in. The 2nd thing I’m mentioning is the Paypal toolbar. This Feature helps you when you are buying stuff online it allows you to use your PayPal address and contact information to fill in order forms when on a shopping website. The toolbar also allows to generate Single or mult-use MasterCard #’s which are tied to your Paypal account thus allowing you to use your Paypal funds on a site where paying with Paypal isn’t an option. Anyone wanting the Paypal toolbar can just go into their Paypal accounts and under enhance account click Paypal toolbar. Hope these items help you or follow lockergnome subscribers or YouTube subscribers alike.

Dude, that’s an amazing tip! Thanks!

eBay and PayPal Security

How to Sell on Ebay

Chris Pirillo — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 03:55:45 +0000

How to Sell on Ebay

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Here are some great tips for being a good Ebay seller. Building up an excellent feedback rating is critical to becoming a successful seller. Following these tips will help you do just that.

List your auction clearly. In the description, be as clear as possible. If the device is damaged, say that is is. If it’s new in box, say new in box. If still in mint condition, say so. If used and has wear, say so.
Start with a low bid price. You’d be astounded by how many people look at the starting price. If it’s high enough that one could go to walmart and pay a few dollars more more to get, then your starting price is to high. If you dont want under a certain amount, set a reserved price for the lowest you want to take. While this cost a little more in the listing, it makes it that you can be happy knowing that the item wont go for less than you really wanted it to.
PICTURES!!!! Pictures help sell. If someone cant see the item, or a version of it, they might tend to go to another seller for the item. If you can, take picutres of YOUR item, not a stock file photo of the device.
Set your shipping price fairly. If the shipping price is too much, people WILL balk at the item. The buyers will look at your item as crap. Now, if you specify what method you are using, they can then look and see what it cost themselves. Also, i have seen where some have automatic shipping calculators on the auction. This way, you can see what it cost for quicker shipping methods.
Allow buyers to ask question. If you answer the questions they have quickly, they are might be more tempted to buy your item simple because it looks like you cared about that they were asking about.
If the seller refused to pay, you can give the second highest bidder a chance to get the item on a “second chance”. This is good if someone was being the north end of a southbound mule and made a fraudulent bid near the end of the auction.
Use the ability for a person to “Buy it now”. This really helps. You can set a low auction bid, and an option to buy it at a certain price. It also allows for a person to skip the entire auction protions and buy the item from you. The only thing bad is that if someone sends a bid, the “buy it now option” goes away.. At least it did before. eBAY might have changed that recently.

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How to Sell on Ebay

How to Buy on Ebay

Chris Pirillo — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 03:43:44 +0000

How to Buy on Ebay

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From a seasoned Ebay’er, here are some excellent tips to be a good buyer. Stay tuned for the video with being a good seller, as well!

Use good search keywords. An example, I have witnessed people using ebay looking for let’s say a “Logitech g15 keyboard” just search for the phrases “keyboard” or “logitech keyboard”. They were astounded when they had to sift through a ton of pages of different logitech keyboards or just plain keyboards just to find the ones they want.
Look at the sellers feedback. If they have a high rating then you can be more assured that when you pay for the item, you will get it. If the seller has quite a few negative feedback for not sending in a timely manner, or not sending the item at all, then you should avoid that seller.
Look in the description for the shipping cost and the payment options. Sounds simple enough, but a lot of people tend to just buy the first thing they see. After that, they are taken back after the five dollar dvd they bought has a ten dollar shipping cost to it, and the seller only takes paypal and they dont have an account there. If they take money orders, you can use them.
When sending money orders for items, send the money order via the USPS (united States Postal Service), send them Priority with tracking. This way, unless the USPS forgets to, the money order’s package is scanned along the way. You can log into USPS.com and enter the tracking number to see exactly where you money order is. This will help if the sellers claims “they have not received your payment”.
COMMUNICATE! Simple as it sounds, that is one thing a lot of people forget. When you send the payment, email the seller and let them know. If you send a money order via priority with tracking, send them the tracking number as well. Normally when the seller send the shipping information when they send the item as well. If you have not recived your item, or info from the seller, send them an email or ebay message asking if they have shipped it. Once in a while, a seller might run into unexpected delays due to illness, work, or personal reasons. If you remind them that you have not got your item, they should see that and let you know.
Use the feedback system. If the seller and you have a smooth transaction, leave positive feedback. This helps your “respect” on ebay as a buyer, and if you start to sell, it wont hurt either. If after few attempts to communicate with the seller for not sending the item, you can issue a strike against the seller. If that fails, leave negative feedback. Just be as polite as possible. Also, if the seller doesn’t ship the item as advertised, issue a negative feedback.

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How to Buy on Ebay

Simple eBay Guide

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 03:40:53 +0000

Simple eBay Guide

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We’re using our GoToMeeting tonight to do videos. You can get a discount on the GoToMeeting software by using our special GoToMeeting link.

Tonight, I’m going to pass along to you some eBay tips that someone sent me.

I just bought a cell phone on eBay and thought I would like to share a few tips on making your eBay experience better.

“Let the buyer beware.” Look over the listing before you bid or buy. The listing can have important information about the product, the seller’s shipping and payment policies and important things like that. This avoids conflict later on.

Bid only if you have the money to pay for the item. This is important because if you don’t pay or defer payment for too long, then you can risk negative feedback and a bad reputation on eBay. Plus also make sure that the credit card or PayPal account works and the payment can go through.

Leave feedback on each transaction on eBay whether you buy or sell. IT helps build a reputation on eBay and people will want to conduct business with you.

Sellers: Please charge a decent amount for your products and a decent amount for shipping. This will attract more people to buy your products. Don’t charge an outrageous price so no one will buy bit not too cheap so you make nothing; find a balance. And also ship on time as well. Buyers get frustrated and worried when their items arrive late. Make all policies and information clear to the seller and have a good communication with your buyers.

Be nice; don’t flame other members and users in messages. They will make a note of that when comes time for feedback.

Remember: “The customer is always right.” Listen to what the customer is saying and take their advice. You want their business right?

Personally, I hate PayPal, but most sellers prefer and require PayPal. I try to pay with checks/money order. There are a handful of sellers who accept checks/MO, some who don’t accept PayPal. So as I said earlier, look carefully at the listing to see what forms of payment they accept and what their policies are, More can be learned from how to guides like the eBay Bible. I hope these have helped you and others in making a pleasurable eBay experience.

-kpslover007

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Simple eBay Guide

Make Extra Money Online During the Holidays: Ebay Auctions

Chris Pirillo — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 04:15:23 +0000

Make Extra Money Online During the Holidays: Ebay Auctions

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Last night, I offered up two of my old digital cameras for sale to the chat room. Nothing is wrong with either of them… in fact, they aren’t really even old. Then it hit me. Why not throw these up on Ebay in auctions?

Even though I’ve used ebay for years to buy things, I have never before sold anything. So, I created a seller’s account, and off I went. It was actually a lot easier than I expected it to be. Using the picture tutorial made starting my auction a snap. You’d be surprised at some of the things you can make money off of on Ebay. Think of all the things lying around your house that you dont’ use anymore. You don’t want to throw them away, do you? They still work! Why not list them for sale and make a few bucks?

I listed several things I had lying around. Surprisingly, the autographed mouse pad is going for about $40.00! Ya just have to love our community members. I also listed several other items on my L0ckergn0me ebay account. Yes, that is typed correctly. The word Lockergnome is spelled with zeros, instead of o’s. Thus: L0ckergn0me.

Instead of going out to get yet another job for the holidays, why not consider making your shopping money by selling things you no longer want or use?

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Make Extra Money Online During the Holidays: Ebay Auctions

eBay Problems

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 04:06:07 +0000

eBay Problems

I’ve been eBaying a few odd items lately, and last night some moron kid from Florida ruined half of the last minute auctions by jumping in and placing bunk bids. It was too late to block him or remove him from the bid list. As you can imagine, I was quite irate. I fired off an email to my personal eBay expert, Chuck. He responded:

There’s not much you can do unless he doesn’t pay. If he doesn’t pay within 7 days you can report him to eBay and they may suspend his account. Here’s a link with details:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/unpaid-item-process.html

If it’s clear he’s not ever going to pay, eBay will let you offer the item to the second highest bidder. This is called a “Second Chance Offer.” You can read more about it here:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/second_chance_offer.html

He didn’t really snipe because his bids were submitted about ten minutes before the end of the auction. Snipe bids are usually submitted in the final seconds of an auction.

eBay Problems

How to Make Money Online

Chris Pirillo — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 07:10:45 +0000

How to Make Money Online

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Typically, what you put into it is what you get out of it. To make money online, you have to apply yourself. Find your niche, and run with it.

There are many different ways to make money online. You can blog on your own site, or as part of a blog network. If you blog, you’ll need to keep at it daily, make sure you can write well about original content, and make sure it’s content that people are looking for.

You could offer a service. My Dad is an Accountant. I told him he should put together a small website, set up a free PayPal account, and charge people $20.00 a shot to answer their Accounting questions. Matter of fact, I think I’ll set it up for him myself. My point is, if you have a service, get it out there. You’ll be amazed at how many people look for answers online.

There’s always eBay. With eBay, you can sell any number of goods, services, and even re-sell some products.

Kat and LordKat both blog on the Lockergnome Blog Network. I have worked hard to put everything in place for you to make money. The tools are already there, you just sign up for free and utilize them by getting your own Google AdSense account. Then start writing! It really is that easy, as long as you put effort into what you’re doing.

I know I’ll get slammed with Spam in the comments, but that’s ok. We’ll just delete everything from Comment Moderation that isn’t legitimate. So go ahead and send me your feedback and money making ideas. We’ll approve the legitimate ones, and share them with the world.

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How to Make Money Online

Skype and VOIP Thoughts

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 23:45:52 +0000

Skype and VOIP Thoughts

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http://live.pirillo.com/ – Online auctioneer eBay Inc. said Monday, Niklas Zennstrom, the co-founder and chief executive of Internet phone service Skype, , is stepping down and will become non-executive chairman of Skype’s board.

Four of my friends joined me for this discussion: Kat, SC_Thor, Wirelesspacket, and last but certainly not least… Datalore.

EBay acquired Skype, a provider of Internet telephony services, in October 2005 for approximately $2.6 billion, plus an optional amount dependent on the achievement of certain goals.

From the start, many have questioned the logic behind the acquisition, suggesting that eBay would have a difficult time recouping its investment and leveraging Skype to boost interactions eBay among buyers and sellers.

Skype will try to boost its monetization capabilities by exploring broader e-commerce options, possibly within services like SkypeFind, in which businesses are listed and recommended, and SkypePrime, a service for selling advise and expertise.

The general consensus amongst us on the Skype call is that Skype is a good service for communication. I personally don’t use it much, because I prefer my phone or other IM clients. We haven’t come to an agreement yet, though, on what the future of Skype actually will be. What are your thoughts? Do you use Skype? Do you feel it’s going to become a huge force in the VOIP world, or will it fizzle out? Let me hear your comments, thoughts and ideas!

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Amazon WebStore vs Yahoo Stores vs eBay

Chris Pirillo — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 02:17:06 +0000

Amazon WebStore vs Yahoo Stores vs eBay

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http://live.pirillo.com/ – When it comes to these three online marketplaces, there really aren’t a lot of differences. When deciding which site is right for you, you’ll need to decide on which features are important to you, and do your research as to what is available.

The biggest advantage to using an online marketplace vs selling something in a newspaper (for example) is that you have an entire transactional system on your side. There are ratings and feedback for vendors, so that you can build your reputation. The three sites we’re discussing each have small differences that make them unique. You will need to decide what you want things to look like… your description, your photos, and your titles. Check the features available at each of these sites. Also, make sure you check out what services and protections they offer to their vendors. Just as there can be jerks out there trying to steal from you by selling crap items, there could also be people trying to rip you off as a buyer. Hey… it’s possible! Always protect yourself, and do your research.

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Amazon WebStore vs Yahoo Stores vs eBay

How to Buy Old Games

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 15:15:53 +0000

How to Buy Old Games

http://live.pirillo.com/ – Finding old items online isn't as difficult as you may think. Granted, you can't find them with a typical Google search, but dig a little deeper and you should be able to find it. In this case, Chris's brother needs to find "Bust a Groove" for the original Playstation.

We'd recommend doing a search on eBay. After doing a quick search on eBay, we were able to find Bust a Groove 1 and Bust a Groove 2. Of course, these games carry premium: Bust a Groove 1 costs upwards of $80 – three times as much as it originally sold for.

As an alternative, you could also try Craigslist. While the Craigslist community generally won't be as big in Iowa as it is in the San Francisco bay area, there is a good chance you could post a "wanted" ad, and find the items you're looking for.

You could always go the illegal route and download a ROM, burn it to a CD, and install a mod-chip in your Playstation in order to play the game. We don't officially recommend this course of action.

Do you have any suggestions?

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