Re: Intro

On Mon, 04 Jun 2007 14:51:07 +1000, Just Another Darned Sock
<p@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

tony cooper wrote:
On Mon, 04 Jun 2007 09:17:52 +1000, Just Another Darned Sock
<p@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi. Just starting out with ebay, been reading this group long enough to
know who all of you are, expect the usual smartass BS from the usual
smartass BS providers, but can use some advice that google doesn't give
definitive answers on.

Next, I have Mac and PC's, prefer Macs, but which is the best listing
software and what platform does it run on?

There are many choices, but without knowing your level of proficiency
and what you consider a "good" ad to be, you can't very well expect
anyone to tell you what is "best".

Not worried about the ads, I have someone who is good, just the best
software to manage a large number of auctions, keep tax records,
overheads etc. Do all the reminders for billing, emails etc.

This is what I meant when I said that you were not providing the
necessary information to get good answers. You want an auction
management program, not listing software.

TurboLister was suggested, but TurboLister does not do the type of
auction management you are lookin for. It doesn't keep records for tax
purposes. I don't know of one that does. I suspect that you will
have to integrate a spread*** program into your efforts to do this.

Or, since you like to go balls out from the get-go, purchase Quick
Books or some other business software to keep track of expenses.

eBay's "My eBay" provides all the reminders you need.

You want to write your own html,
use a straight text and image listing, or use templates?

TurboLister and Auctiva are good, basic listing programs,

Isn't Auctiva an online service?

Of course. Any auction listing/management system has to be an online
system.

but I think
they only interface with PCs. There are Mac auction management
programs to be found if you Google.

My advice would be to scan through some ads on eBay and note the
layouts and style you like and would like to use. Look at the bottom
of the listing and it will usually tell you whose auction management
(listing) program was used.

Done that, not really interested in existing templates, need to be able
to add or modify my own. I found it hard to work out from the web sites,
if any of the choices actually allowed template development.

TurboLister and Auctiva allow you to design your own template.

Then, which is the best image host? Doesn't have to be free. I expect to
have a stack of photos for each thing I list and ebay's too dear.

Again, how anyone tell you what is "best" without knowing what your
requirements will be?

Bandwidth, cost, reliability. Lot's of images, I am an overly
enthusiastic photographer with a bunch of DSLRs lenses, and studio
lighting to play with.

This doesn't make sense. It doesn't make any difference how many
pictures you take in choosing an image host. It's how many you upload
that makes the difference. You're going to upload in sizes that work
in eBay, so the files shouldn't be large. If you are going to place
100 ads, you will be uploading 100 x (images per ad), so that would
be, maybe, 200/500 images. Just about any image host will handle
this. There's nothing to stop you from using several image hosts if
you do max out one. After a suitable period time, just take down the
images of sold items.

Search, in Google, for image hosts. Look at
their web pages and see what restrictions/limitations they have.
There are dozens and dozens.

Exactly why I asked for advice. Nothing like recommendation's from
current users.

Nothing like putting a little thought to your own needs and looking
for points that make a difference to your own needs, either.

Last, I am in Aus and wonder about listing on US or UK ebay sites. Any
types of things worth international listing?

You selling comic books or milling machines? One ships easily to
non-Australian buyers and the other doesn't.

Yebbut the buyer pays the shipping.

JHC. Try, on your own, to figure out why one item "ships easily" to
another country and another doesn't.

Software, camera, camera accessories,

Headaches ahead.

heaps of supposedly rare vinyl LPs, lots of genuine movie
posters, a stack of first edition autographed books. Stuff like that. I
have done some finished searches on ebay and found some of the posters
that I have selling for fifty to seventy US. I have nearly fifteen
hundred of them, all old, all matt mounted. I also have stacks of
scripts - shooting scripts - for old TV show like Star Trek and Mission
Impossible etc.

Most of those items will sell and ship internationally. The mounted
posters may be a problem. That's a light, but large and bulky, item
to package. Bending in transit is a problem. Size restrictions may
be a problem.

Before you list the first mounted poster, figure out how it should be
packaged, and what it would cost to mail to - say - a US destination
and then decide if it's something viable to list with US buyers
accepted. Consider your time in proper packaging. A rolled poster in
a mailing tube would be dead-simple.

You have provided *no* useful
information, you want advice, and you're expecting to be flamed.

Nah, not really, but I been reading and googling I can see the normal
pattern. Just trying to head 'em off a the pass.

You head them off at the pass by posting clear, informative, and
specific questions based on your own specific needs.

What
you've done, in effect, is say "What is the best way to do things?"
without giving a hint of what "things" are.

Well I can see your point, but basically, asking about software and
platforms has little to do with what I am selling. Selling overseas, I
assume that NO ONE would be dumb enough to consider things that weren't
easy and not too dear to ship. Maybe I should always assume LCD and go
from there.

If you've lurked here, you know that most of the problems encountered
by eBayers are because they didn't think things out before they
listed. Shipping to Canada, for example, means customs taxes and high
processing costs to the buyer that are not covered by your S&H
charges.

despise templates,

LOVE templates. Why re-invent the wheel? Grab a template and modify it
and you're done in half the time. With luck you can bill for full time;)

I create a template in html and change the details in each ad. The
templates I despise are those packaged thing with "themes" that
listing services offer. Using html allows me to invent my own wheel
and then re-use that wheel.

--


Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL
.

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