Page Title

Every day, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a
year, millions of people from all over the world go
shopping at online auctions. This is not an exaggeration -
eBay, with a 76% share of the auction site market, reports
42.7 million users and a growth factor of 100% per year!

What are these auction buyers looking for?

A Harris Interactive Poll conducted on 2,196 people found
that online auctions appeal to people mainly because
they are looking for:

=bargains (43 percent)
=hard to find items (23 percent)
=collectibles (21 percent)
=Not only that, 83% have actually bought something!

What are they buying?

They buy items in all sorts of categories, but not just
anything sells. So targeted marketing has become
crucial, especially since auctions have become a very
serious business for many companies. And its not just
sales at stake these days. More and more companies are
using auctions to generate additional traffic to their
websites and to make additional offers.

Here's the bottom line:

If you have what online auction buyers want and they can
find your listing, you will get bids and you will get sales.
The real task is figuring out just what it is they want.
Beanie babies were hot years ago, but now you can't give
them away. But there are some items that seem to always
sell well, year after year. If you can work out what those
items are, you can get off to a running start.

From a marketing viewpoint, online auctions are ideal:

The buyers are drawn to the auction sites by the
tremendous number and variety of items available on the
auction sites, so the problem of how to attract buyers is
already solved. They are using the traffic generated by the
auction site and the customers arrive in a receptive frame
of mind. They like the auctions, looking at pictures and
they enjoy the competitive bidding process.

So how do you cash in on this?

By using targeted online auction strategies that take full
advantage of the buying habits and patterns of online
auction buyers and the built-in categories found on the
auction sites.

eBay, the auction site giant, boasts 3,000 categories of
auction items! Their whole effort is to make it fast and
easy for bidders to find the items they are looking for, to
zero in on their targeted items. Essentially, these buyers
self target. Most businesses have to find their buyers. At
online auction sites the buyers find you.

Offering items in online auctions is easy:

You do not have to have a website, though serious
auction sellers do have websites. You do not need to
generate traffic with expensive advertising. It has already
been created at the major online auction sites.
Registration and set up is fast and easy. Fees for listings
are extremely affordable. This is essentially instant
e-commerce without all the headaches.

At its most basic level, the formula for selling at online
auctions is simple:

=Offer something buyers want, specifically. You must
have a specific target and product in mind, that you know
sells well.
=Categorize and list it effectively
=Make a compelling listing

The setup is easy, the costs are low and the formula is
simple. The problem is that it is so simple that there are
literally millions of sellers each trying to sell to their target
buyers.

So you need every advantage you can get so you
can:

=Offer products that consistently attract buyers.
=Make your auctions stand out from all the others.
=Effectively position and list your own products.
=Price items to sell well and profitably.
=Use multiple income streams and product lines to
multiply all of your sales and marketing efforts.
=Capitalize on the huge numbers of people who look
at your listings and gain exposure for other products
and income streams.

So how do you cash in on this?

By using targeted online auction strategies that take
full advantage of the buying habits and patterns of
online auction buyers and the built-in categories
found on the auction sites.

eBay, the auction site giant, boasts 3,000 categories
of auction items! Their whole effort is to make it fast
and easy for bidders to find the items they are
looking for, to zero in on their targeted items.
Essentially, these buyers self target. Most
businesses have to find their buyers. At online
auction sites the buyers find you.

Offering items in online auctions is easy:

You do not have to have a website, though serious
auction sellers do have websites. You do not need to
generate traffic with expensive advertising. It has
already been created at the major online auction
sites. Registration and set up is fast and easy. Fees
for listings are extremely affordable. This is
essentially instant e-commerce without all the
headaches.

At its most basic level, the formula for selling at
online auctions is simple:

=Offer something buyers want, specifically. You must
have a specific target and product in mind, that you
know sells well.
=Categorize and list it effectively
=Make a compelling listing

The setup is easy, the costs are low and the formula
is simple. The problem is that it is so simple that
there are literally millions of sellers each trying to sell
to their target buyers.

So you need every advantage you can get so you
can:

=Offer products that consistently attract buyers.
=Make your auctions stand out from all the others.
=Effectively position and list your own products.
=Price items to sell well and profitably.
=Use multiple income streams and product lines to
multiply all of your sales and marketing efforts.
=Capitalize on the huge numbers of people who look
at your listings and gain exposure for other products
and income streams.

Targeted online auctions give you these
advantages.

There are many auction resource sites you can visit
to learn more about online auctions and how they
can provide you with multiple income streams and a
boost to your online marketing efforts.

You can also learn the necessary skills and
knowledge for using targeted online auctions by
buying and reading the newly-released ebook: How
To Make Money With Online Auctions - A Proven
Method. This newly-released ebook is currently
available at
www.makemoneywithonlineauctions.com.

Article by Sharlee Plett. Used by Permission. Sharlee
Plett is a published author, web designer/developer
and is the webmaster of: Make Money with Internet
Auctions. Many more online auction-related articles
and resources are available at: Make Money With
Online Auctions: Articles.