Online Auctions - How to Turn Online Auctions into Successful Home Based Business

Posted by Nick Niesen on November 1st, 2010

Nowadays most people are aware of what Online Auctions are all about. Most of us have, at some time or the other bought or sold something on Online Auctions. But very few people know that Online Auctions can be a very profitable home-based business. A lot of people worldwide have made a lot of money with their online auction sites.

To start a home-based Online Auction business is very easy. Unlike other home-based businesses, it requires no investment. All it requires is a few moments of your time to get started. The advantages of starting a Home-Based Auction Online are ?

üNo investment is required; hence there are no financial risks like other businesses.
üThere are no fixed working hours. You can choose to work when it is convenient to you.
üNo technical skills required.
üYou can get your Online Auction Business started in less than 10 minutes.

Wow! That sounds real easy doesn?t it? Well it is. No wonder that people all over the world are making thousands of dollars with their home based online Auctions.

Now lets get down to the details of how to get started with your home-based Online Auction, first and most important, you have to get an idea how Online Auction works. To get an idea you can visit various online auction sites like ?

http://www.ebay.com
http://www.auctions.yahoo.com
http://www.ubid.com
http://www.onsale.com
http://www.qxl.com

It?s easier to understand how auctions work if you have first hand experience of buying an item on an online auction. You become familiar with how to register with an auction site, how to place your bids and how to make payments and receive delivery of your goods.

What You Buy is Up To You
Even if you want some item very badly, do not buy it because it is the last item of its kind available on the auction site. It might be over priced. You can try to best to get what you want at other online auction sites.

Late is Best
It is always best to leave your bid till the last few minutes before the closing of an auction. This prevents the price from being driven too high.

No Time? Then Automated bids are the Best
If you are hurried for time then automated bids are the best way for you to place a bid online. You can use automated bidding sites like eSnipe http://www.esnipe.com
You can open a free account on eSnipe. When you want to make a bid all you have to do is type your bid amount. eSnipe automatically places the bid for you before the closing of the auction. You pay eSnipe a small amount if you win your bid, otherwise you pay nothing.

Lookout for Wrongly Spelt Items
Many items on a home-based Online Auctions are wrongly spelt. You can use this to your advantage, as there will be less people searching for wrongly spelt items.

Buying and paying for an item online teaches you how things work from a buyer?s point of view. This gives you a good idea about what kinds of customer services you can offer buyers on your own online auction site.

List Unwanted Items
Now lets get into how to start setting up your own home based online auction. Look around your home. You?ll see many things that you have no use for. You can also ask your friends for unwanted items. Make a list of all these items on your site as well as their photographs. There is nothing like a photograph to instantly grab the attention of the buyers.

Description of Items On Sale
This is very important as it give your buyers a good idea of want they will get. Make sure that you give all the technical and detailed descriptions of items on sale.

Offer A Guaranteed Refund
To convince your buyers about your honest approach to business and your integrity, offer to refund money if the goods sold by you are less than satisfactory.

Feed Back Forms
Positive Feed Back forms are an absolute necessity to show your prospective buyers that you have satisfied customers. And to have satisfied customers your quality of service has to be very good. Positive feedback reassures your prospective customers of your integrity.

Set a Reserve Price
Always sell items on your home-based Online Auction site for what it?s worth. Never ever sell it for less than its value. To do this you need to set a reserve price, below which you will not sell. Make sure that your reserve price is not too high, as it will scare customers away.

Different Payment Modes
Make your site more customer friendly by offering a number of payment options, like credit cards, Pay Pal (www.paypal.com) etc. Make sure that all payments are secure.

Now that you have all the necessary details on how to start your home-based online auction business think of catering to a niche market. This will reduce the competition from other online auction sites.

Remember that it is within you to earn thousands of dollars with hardly any investment.

Good Luck