| If you sell in small niches as I recommend and are | | | | needed. If you are receiving a lot of similar questions |
| organized enough that you know what you will be | | | | from several customers about an item it probably |
| listing on eBay 1 to 2 weeks ahead of time, you | | | | means you need more or better pictures or to make |
| should give serious thought to previewing your | | | | your description more detailed. |
| upcoming auctions for your customers. The result can | | | | 2. In most cases it will increase selling prices. I've |
| be increased sales and higher final bids. | | | | found that people tend to bid earlier on auctions that |
| For two years I used a free hosting service to host | | | | they have been able to preview. This early bidding |
| a small web site that I used as a pre-auction catalog. | | | | attracts other bidders to the auction and often |
| Each week this preview site would contain pictures | | | | drives the final price up. |
| and descriptions of the majority of the items I would | | | | Your preview site doesn't have to be anything fancy |
| be listing on eBay the following week. | | | | or expensive. A free hosting service works just fine |
| When that hosting service eventually dropped it's | | | | for what this would be used for. Most of them offer |
| free hosting, because of time constraints, I let that | | | | 10-25 megabytes of space, and easy to use page |
| part of my business slide. Over the course of the | | | | building tools. That's really all you require. |
| next 3-4 months I saw a significant decrease in the | | | | Another option might be which gives you 25 MB of |
| number of bids, the final selling price, and the number | | | | web space, 5 GB of data transfer and a helpful web |
| of auctions that closed successfully. At the time that | | | | page building utility for only $4.95 a month. |
| was an industry wide trend but I also think it had a | | | | Also most of you will find that your ISP offers 10-25 |
| great deal to do with the fact I no longer had a | | | | megabytes of free space. If you have a basic |
| preview site on-line. | | | | knowledge of FTP and HTML this may be a good |
| After a few months I moved the site to a cheap | | | | route to take. |
| hosting company and saw an immediate increase in | | | | What should you put on your preview page? |
| bidders, final selling prices, and closing prices. Adding | | | | 1. The items you will be putting on eBay the following |
| an auction preview site to your business model can | | | | week. |
| have significant benefits to your eBay business. | | | | 2 Clear pictures of the item. |
| An auction preview site has several advantages - | | | | 3. A well written description of the item including any |
| both to you and to your potential bidders. | | | | flaws. |
| Advantages to the bidder include: | | | | 4. An easy to find email link so prospective bidders |
| 1. It gives them additional time to do research on an | | | | can easily email you with any questions they may |
| item if they want. | | | | have. |
| 2. It gives them more time to ask questions about an | | | | Advertise your preview site by including a link on |
| item. | | | | your About Me page. Include it in all winning bidder |
| 3. It allows them to plan their purchases. Many | | | | announcements and other correspondence you have |
| bidders budget a specific amount of money each | | | | with customers. A link in your signature file is a good |
| month for on-line purchases. I've had several bidders | | | | idea. If you have a list, send an announcement of |
| tell me they'd decided not to bid on someone else's | | | | your new preview site to your list. |
| item so they would have the money to bid on what | | | | If you try this for a month or two I think you will |
| I was listing next week. | | | | find the results pleasantly surprising - and well worth |
| Advantage to you the seller include: | | | | the effort involved. And, your customers will love |
| 1. It gives you a chance to hone your description if | | | | you! |