But if I was to get a tattoo I’d hope that the tattoo artist could spell and, more importantly, would double check their spelling before committing, er, ink to skin.

Sadly these tattoo artists didn’t:

25 Misspelled Tattoos

Now in defence of the New York Times, they probably didn’t actually type the word ‘Moron’ but something similar to it that their spelling checker then corrected (incorrectly).  Where they did slip up was not spotting it!  It’s almost exactly the same process that leads to misspelled eBay items appearing on eBay.

Have you seen any good examples of non-eBay typos ?  Let us know via the comments below.

Simply tell Feedback-Follow.com your eBay username, give it an email address and every eight hours it’ll check for new feedback.  When it finds new feedback it’ll send you an email so that you can view the feedback and/or leave reciprocal feedback.

So if you’re a seller who waits for the buyer to receive the item and leave feedback before you leave them feedback, it’ll save you valuable time checking to see if you’ve received new feedback.

Maybe you’re a buyer who’s trying to build up enough positive feedback to be able to sell items as Buy It Now’s (you need 10 positives by the way).  Then Feedback-Follow.com can also help there as well.

I originally developed it to keep track of feedback left for one of my eBay accounts which I’m using to drop-ship items on eBay but I figured that as it’s Christmas time, and it’s useful, I’d release it to all.

If there are any features you’d like to see added, just leave a comment below and I’ll see what I can do.

Oh, and before anyone asks, you can use it to follow feedback for any eBay user, not just your own username.  That makes it useful for spying on your competition

These contain specially negogiated discounts (some as large as 50%) from major retailers across a huge range of products from technology products to health and beauty as well as fashion and toys and games.

These vouchers are only valid up until December 3rd for eBay.co.uk and November 29th for eBay.com.  Get your eBay vouchers here:

eBay.co.uk discount vouchers

eBay.com discount coupons

But recently Missing-Auctions.com user Pete Bruckshaw got in contact to tell me about a new eBay Arbitrage guide that he’s written that he wanted me to take a look at.

Being a naturally sceptical kind of a person I was expecting another guide on how to find misspelled eBay items which you can resell.  You see, to me at least, eBay Arbitrage is purely about finding misspellings.

But Pete’s come up with another technique which doesn’t involve misspellings.  In fact, his system can’t be automated but that, in my opinion, is the beauty of it.  Because it can’t be automated (trust me, I’ve been racking my brains all day to work out how to automate it) I reckon that it’ll never become too crowded as most people just won’t be bothered to do the research !

Does it work ?  Hell yes !  That’s how he bought product X (you’ll find out exactly what it is) for $204 (£127) and resold it for $297 (£186) – a profit of $93 (£59) for just five minutes work!

Another reason why it won’t be become crowded is because Pete’s product is a paid product.  Now in the past I’ve always been wary of promoting other peoples products because I’ve bought products in the past that are less than perfect and I don’t want other peoples bad products to tarnish my reputation.

But in this case, I’ve no need to worry because Pete’s done a brilliant job of putting together a multimedia package describing his method.

So what do you get for your money (and don’t worry, this doesn’t cost a fortune) ?

You get a 53 page PDF which explains how to find these arbitrage items, advice on how to persuade the seller to ship them directly to t
he buyer (not you) as well as tips and techniques to increase the number of watchers and bidders on your auctions.  A full case study walks you through the whole process and there are also three bonus interviews with successful eBay sellers such as Terry Gibbs too.

If, like me, you don’t have enough time to sit down and read 53 pages straight off, there’s also an MP3 version of the main guide as well as the bonus interviews and, for those people that learn visually by watching someone else three videos which walk you through the process.

As his guide has just launched, it’s currently on special offer but if you want a copy you’ll have to be quick:

To get your copy click here now:

The eBay Auction Arbitrage Secret

And don’t forget if you’re not entirely happy with the product you can return it within 60 days for a full refund.

On eBay sellers normally buy items wholesale from a supplier, apply a profit margin, list them on eBay, take care of the shipping and then sit back and watch the money roll in !  The problem with this approach is that it requires a certain investment in stock which may or may not sell at the price that you need in order to get the profit that you want.  If you’re just starting out selling on eBay you need to be particularly careful that the product that you’re going to sell is actually in demand otherwise you could end up out of business before you even start !

Although there are various eBay research tools to estimate demand for an item in my opinion it’s better to actually try and sell the item to assess the demand.  Some items may be sensitive to price, particularly if there are lots of competing sellers selling the same item, but the sell through rate can be very sensitive to the design of the listing.  By design I don’t mean the HTML template used (although that can help to an extent) but more the quality of the pictures, the description, whether you use examples of your feedback in your listing etc.

But how can you do this without buying stock which may not sell ?  The solution is to look for a supplier who is willing to drop ship the item for you.

For those that don’t know, a drop shipper is a supplier who will take care of the packing and dispatch side of the sale for you in return for a share of the profit.  So, in a normal eBay sale the seller buys stock from a supplier which they then list on eBay.  When it sell they pack it and dispatch it to the buyer.  But in the case of a drop shipping arrangement the seller will list the item without actually having purchased any stock.  Instead the drop ship supplier will provide them with stock photographs and some descriptive text (which it is best to adapt).  Once an order has been received and paid for, the customer details are passed to the drop shipper who then sends the customer their item.

On the face of it this appears to be an ideal setup – you don’t hold any stock and they have the hassle of posting the item but it comes at a price – literally!  The downside to drop shipping is that the supplier charges a higher price than if they were to supply the item wholesale.  This difference covers the cost of holding stock, picking, packing and shipping the item as well as dealing with any returns and could eat into your profit margin if you’re selling items that are very competitive.

To be honest, in some markets (cell phones and accessories for example), it may even be impossible to compete with the established sellers if you try and drop ship.  However, if you’re prepared to sell the item at below cost as an experiment to see if you can attract sales then you can use that knowledge to determine your maximum buy-in price when you source the products that you want to stock and sell.  Just don’t do it for too long or you’ll start off your eBay selling career already in debt !

So where can drop shipping work effectively ?  Drop shipping really works best in relatively non-competitive, niche markets.  This is because, to be successful at drop shipping, you need to one of very few other people selling the same item on eBay.  In fact, ideally, you want to be the only one !

If you’re interested in drop shipping then a quick search on Google will turn up plenty of companies offering drop shipping services but my advice would be avoid these.  By the very nature of their business, most of these will be selling the same item to dozens or maybe even hundreds of people just like you.  All you’ll end up doing is competing with them in a race to the lowest profit margin.

If you want to use drop shipping and want to be successful at it you’ll need to find companies that sell products that are in-demand on eBay, have a good quality product and competitive prices but which don’t already sell on eBay or even online and, ideally, don’t supply to anyone else !

If that sounds like a tall order, fear not !

To find businesses like these take a walk around your local town to see what the smaller businesses sell. But what are you looking for ?  Well you’re NOT looking for businesses that simply retail other people products – most regular high street shops in other words.

What you ARE looking for are businesses that make products themselves.  These could be arts and crafts businesses, small publishers, clothing producers etc.

Once you’ve found them check to see if they are selling on eBay already.  If not, do they have a website ?  If they do, does it sell their products or simply promote them ?  If they don’t sell online you may be able to persuade them to let you supply you with their products on a drop ship basis.  But only if there’s demand for the items.  In the blog next post I’ll look at ways of assessing potential demand for the items that you’ve found.

In the meantime, if you’ve you’ve succeeded or failed with drop shipping on eBay why not share your experiences with others by leaving a comment ?

Why ?  Because for every seller on eBay there are tens, maybe hundreds, of other people that either don’t use it at all or they only buy.  Just think of your own family and friends – how many of them use eBay to buy and how many of those also sell on eBay ?  Very few, I’ll bet.  That’s where eBay Trading Assistants can help – they sell other peoples items for a commission of the final sale price and it can be a lucrative business to be in, if done correctly.

One of the beauties of being an eBay Trading Assistant is that you don’t need to buy stock.  Instead, you advertise your service on eBay in the Trading Assistant Directory (US here, UK here, Canada here and Australia here) as well as in other places where potential customers might be (think offline like postcards in store windows).

When potential clients contact you, you use your knowledge of valuing items on eBay to assess how much the item is likely to sell for.  Based on that you can agree a fee for selling the item.  For low value items a fixed fee might be best whilst for higher value items or those in demand, a percentage of the final selling price is probably best.

If the client agrees, then you’ll need to collect the item making sure to give the owner a receipt and then you’ll photograph it, prepare the listing and sit back and handle any inquiries as well as taking care of the packing and posting should the item sell.  Only once the buyer has left feedback do you give the original owner the money that the item sold for minus your costs and fees.

So where’s the best place to promote yourself if you want to get more business ?  Classified adverts should work well both on and offline as well as contacting companies that may have stock that could sell on eBay but which don’t currently have an internet presence.  In my local town of Abergavenny in South Wales here in the UK I can think of around 20 local businesses that don’t currently sell online who sell products that regularly sell on eBay.  Everyone of those could be a potential client.

Anyone can become an eBay Trading Assistant so long as you’ve:

1. sold at least 4 items in the past 30 days
2. have a feedback score of 50 or higher
3. 97% or more of your feedback is positive
4. your eBay account is in good standing

To get started, visit the appropriate eBay Trading Assistant directory for your country (links above) and then click on ‘Create/Edit Your Profile’ in the menu to the left of the page.  You’ll need to provide details of your services and fees as well as the hours that you can be contacted.  If you’re stuck, try looking at the profiles of some of your local or regional competitors to see what they are charging.

Even if you only sell a few extra items, for the time taken, if you chose the items that you sell carefully you should make some extra money relatively easily.  Furthermore, with the right mindset, it could turn into a full blown work from home business.

Although I’ve outlined the steps that you need to follow above, if you’d prefer a more detailed process together with sample emails etc that you can use straightaway then The Ultimate Guide to Becoming an eBay Trading Assistant could be what you need.

Although it’s a paid product it offers far more information than I can offer in this article and comes with a full no-quibble money back guarantee should you not be entirely happy with it.

NONE OF THIS IS PERSONAL. WE DO NOT KNOW YOU. IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH ANY OF THIS PLEASE ** DO NOT ** REFUND, EMAIL OR CALL US ON XXXXX XXXXXX.

1. VITAL – We buy a lot of similar items. PLEASE PUT EBAY (not PayPal) ITEM NUMBER ON THE PACKAGE.

2. Include VAT receipt – if applicable

3. Insurance is free if you post at a Post Office and keep their PROOF OF POSTING up to the value of 100 x 1st class post stamps. It is wise to send tracked if valued over £30. 1 in 100 items do not arrive.

4a. AVOID PAYPAL CLAIMS – this WAS a sale by description. If goods are opened/refilled/OUT OF DATE or copies of originals then they must have been described as such in the listing.

4b. WE ARE SADLY SENT COUNTERFEIT PRODUCTS which we report to the manufacturers.

5. We post feedback when goods are received. Please keep all receipts until we do. We wish this to be a smooth transaction.

I particularly liked the way that the buyer prefixed this with ‘None of this is personal’ which suggests that they expected this to rile people . . . which it did with me!  Here’s my version, re-written so as not to offend:

Hello, I’ve just bought eBay item number xxxxxxxxxxx.  Before I pay I’d like to let you know that I buy lots of similar items and some of them are opened, refilled, out of date or copies of originals.  If the items are not genuine then your listing should have made this clear.  Please note that all counterfeit items will be reported to the manufacturers.

As we buy lots of similar items, it would be a big help if you could put the eBay item number on the packaging.  Could we also ask that you keep the proof of posting as this provides insurance up to the value of 100 First Class stamps.  Also, if the item is worth more than £30, please adding tracking so we track the package should it go missing – 1 in 100 items fail to arrive !  Also, if applicable, please also include a VAT receipt.

Now which email would you like to receive ?

So what can you do in order to maximize your eBay profits ?

1. It goes without saying that you need to make sure that the game that you’re planning on selling actually works before you list them on eBay.  If they are your own games then that shouldn’t be a problem but if you’ve bought them at a thrift store or from a car boot sale it’s good practice to check them before listing them.  The last thing you want is negative feedback from an unhappy buyer.
2. If you haven’t already, ensure that you have the original packaging and that it is in good condition.  If the packaging is in mint condition make sure that you mention it in your listing.  If it’s not, it’s better to be up front with potential buyers.  Also make sure that you include any original instructions and other materials that came with the box.  Remember that you’re targeting those people that wanted the original game but could afford it when it first came out.
3. Use eBay’s Completed Listings tool to see how much similar games have sold for in the last 30 days.  This will help you to set a realistic price for your auction.
4. If you’ve got lots of games and some of them are less popular or fetch very low prices based on your research that you carried out above, consider bundling some of the less in-demand games up with more popular titles.  Sure you’ll probably get less for them than if you sold them all in one go but it may take fair longer to sell the less in-demand games.
5. Very popular games should almost certainly be sold as a single item.  Again, make sure that you do the research using the eBay Completed Listings search tool to see what works best.

Of course, this technique will only work if you have a lots of used computer games laying around the house, you know someone who does or you can get a good a supply from thrift stores or garage sales.  If you can’t it’s certainly possible to find misspelled computer games on eBay which you can buy cheaply and sell at a profit.  Just look for misspellings of the popular computer game titles such as ‘Call of Duty‘ as well as console brands such as ‘Nintendo‘.

For further details and lots of brand names to search for, check out my free eBay ebook.

Now I usually create my listings in eBays Turbolister application as it allows me to work on a listing, save it, tweak, save it, come back to it later etc.  But sometimes it’s error messages leave a lot to be desired.  Mind you, the error messages that eBay itself produces when listing an item aren’t much better.

Here’s what I tried to list.  See if you can figure out the word that eBay didn’t like:

For sale is my wifes 2001 15.5″ Marin Rift Zone.

The bike is virtually standard as described here with the following exceptions:

* the brakes which are Hope Mini’s rather than Avids
* the saddle is a Terry’s Liberator womens model rather than the standard WTB

Known problems ?

Well apart from being 9 years old the rear shock bushes are on their way out (there’s a clonking noise when you lift the saddle) but these are cheap to buy (about £12) and cheap to replace (about £15 in most bike shops).

The paint work has a few chips and scratches (as you would expect given it’s age) and the cranks have some scuff marks but these don’t affect how the bike rides.

It’s mostly been ridden in Wales on a mixture of man-made and natural trails and has been used abroad in the US and Spain whilst on holiday.  On both occasions it was well protected in a bike box so the frame is dead straight and without dents.

It’s not been ridden a great deal, in fact it even has the original tyres on it with plenty of tread remaining.  For the last five years the bike has been hardly ridden and when it has it’s only been in the dry.  The bike has been stored in a dry garage and is rust free.

We’re located near Abergavenny in South-east Wales so collection is possible if you live nearby.  Alternatively I would be prepared to deliver the bike within a 50 mile radius at the rate of 50p/mile.  Other than that, we can pack it up in a bike box and post it you.

We’ve got all the original manuals for the bike and the forks etc.

Should you require any other pictures please get in touch.

Ok, so there’s one word in there that eBay didn’t like.  Can you see it ?  I couldn’t either.  I recreated the listing in TurboLister but still couldn’t get it submitted.  Then I looked again at the error message.  Here it is:

Error: Your listing cannot contain javascript (“.cookie”, “cookie(“, “replace(“, IFRAME, META or includes), cookies or base href

Now I’m pretty web savvy but that confused the hell out of me – my listing didn’t contain Javascript so the mention of it prompted me to run a virus scan just in case I had an infection but that found nothing.

By now I was confused and frustrated.  Thinking it was a problem with TurboLister I check for updates and then decided to create the listing directly in eBay . . . and got the same error.

Only by cutting and pasting in each line of the description at a time did I eventually work out which word it was that eBay won’t permit in listings.  If you fancy a challenge, here’s the listing live on eBay – see if you can spot the change I had to make.

If you can’t I’ll tell you scroll down a little further and I’ll tell you . . .

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keep going . . .

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eBay didn’t like the word ‘replace’ !

To be fair, it is in the error message that I got but that’s got to be quite possibly the most cryptic error message I’ve ever seen.  Presumably eBay would also refuse listings containing the words cookie, meta, iframe and includes.  Well if you though that you’d be wrong – I could find listings on my local eBay site here in the UK containing all words except ‘includes’, just click the links to see these words within the item descriptions.

Now does that make any sense at all ?  Anyone else found words that eBay won’t permit in listings ?

UPDATE: with the assistance of readers of this blog (see comments below) we’ve worked out that the problem wasn’t with the word ‘replace’ specifically but that it was ‘replace (‘ which looks like JavaScript.  JavaScript is a web language that can be used for good or bad.  If used for bad purposes it can be used to steal password, drop cookies etc.  That’s why eBay doesn’t allow it in their listings.