Explore your auctions: once the domain of small sellers, eBay has become a valued resource for entrepreneurs

Entrepreneur,  Jan, 2003  by Amanda C. Kooser

Tags: eBay Inc.

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One current ghost haunting eBay is auction fraud. EBay brass reports only a fraction of 1 percent of auctions is fraudulent. But that still works out to thousands of auctions. Research and common sense may be the best solution to this problem. "Sellers wear their reputations on their sleeves," says Glazier. He encourages buyers to read the feedback left by other eBay users, particularly the negatives. For big-ticket items, you can protect yourself by using an escrow service. The fee is worth the peace of mind.

On the other side of the transaction, Prince sees that most sellers are wise to buyer fraud and set policies from the start to thwart it. Hortatsos has conducted over 50,000 eBay sunglasses auctions and encountered intentional buyer fraud only once. Dunlop, who runs up to 500 auctions per day, has had a similarly smooth experience.

Many eBay users, particularly sellers who have been with the site since its early days, find it too cluttered in its current incarnation. The arrival of large, preferred-partner corporations has also been a sore spot. Big companies often view eBay as a way to reach the smaller businesses that fall under their sales radar. That strategy works for both sides. Hortatsos has been with eBay for four years and takes a practical view of the situation. "I view that as a natural progression of the business," he says. "If they're selling what I'm selling, the buyers will come to us in the end because of the personal service."

EBay is a unique e-commerce community. Opportunities abound on both sides of the auction transaction. The site will continue to experience growing pains, but eBay insists it won't lose sight of the people who fueled its rise. "It's the small entrepreneur who is really the spark that ignites the market and builds the community," says Herr. So if you haven't visited eBay lately, surf on over. It won't fit everybody's business plan, but you just might catch yourself exclaiming "Sold to the highest bidder!"

The Art of Listing

Oh, no--not red text against a screaming green background and an out-offocus jpeg that takes three minutes to load! There is an art to presenting an eBay listing, and auction-goers have refined their tolerance levels. If your listing isn't well-designed and well-aimed, you're going to lose business.

Rule One: It's all about the keywords. On such a gigantic and unwieldy site, keywords are how buyers find you. Exclamation points and words like "wow" in the auction title won't help. Also beware of abbreviations like "tix" instead of "tickets." Brand names, model numbers and solid descriptions are the way to go.

Rule Two: Keep it clean. You know a well-designed Web page when you see one. It has a clean interface, loads fast and lays out all the relevant (and none of the irrelevant) information in an easy-to-read manner. A concise, accurate description--including all of a product's flaws, minor or major--is a must. Your selling policies, from payment options and shipping to returns, should appear as well.