EBay for Dummies (60 page)

Putting on the Hits

Okay, you’ve got a great auction on eBay and great images to go with it. Now all you need to do is track the number of users peeking at your items and attract even more people to your auction.

Your auction is up and running on eBay, and you’re dying to know how many people have stopped by to take a look. To easily monitor your auction’s
hits
— the number of times visitors stop to look at the goods — you use a free public
counter
program from an online source. A counter is a useful marketing tool; for example, you can check the number of times people have looked at but not bid on your auctions. If you have lots more lookie-loos than bids, you may have a problem with your auction.

If your counter indicates you’re not getting many hits, consider the following potential problems so you can resurrect your auction:

Does the picture take too long to load?

Is the opening bid too high?

Are those neon-orange-and-lime-green bell-bottoms just too funky to sell?

Counters are available when you’re listing your item on the eBay Sell Your Item form. You can also find some highly “intelligent” counters elsewhere on the Net, at sites such as Sellathon.com.

Want to know more about the people behind those user IDs? Thousands of eBay members have created their own personal Web pages on eBay (called
About Me
pages
). About Me pages are easy to create — and are as unique as each eBay member. eBay users with active About Me pages have a special ME icon next to their user IDs.

Take your time when you create your About Me page. A well-done About Me page improves your sales because people who come across your auctions and check out your About Me page can get a sense of who you are and how serious you are about your eBay activities. They see instantly that you’re no fly-by-night seller.

Before you create your About Me page, I suggest that you look at what other users have done. eBay members often include pictures, links to other Web sites (including their personal or business home pages), and links to just about any Web location that reflects their personalities, which is why they’re so entertaining. If your purpose is to generate more business, I recommend that you keep your About Me page focused on your auction listings, with a link to your Web site.

Sellers with many auctions running at once often add a message to their About Me pages that indicates that they’re willing to reduce shipping charges if bidders also bid on their other auctions. This direct tactic may lack nuance, but it increases the number of people who look at (and bid on) your auctions.

To create your About Me page, do the following:

1. Go to any eBay user’s About Me page, scroll to the very bottom and click the Create My About Me Page link. If you can’t find the link, go to:
cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?AboutMeLogin
.

You’re taken to About Me: Create Your Own eBay Personal Page.

2. If you haven’t signed in, type your user ID and password in the appropriate boxes.

3. Click the Edit Your Page button.

4.
Select the Use Our Easy Step-by-Step Process.

You’re taken to the About Me layout page. You have three layout options, which eBay is kind enough to show you:

• Newspaper Layout

• Centered Layout

5. Click the button that corresponds to the layout option you want.

You’re taken to a second About Me creation page.

6. Enter the following information:

•
Page Title:
Type the title of your About Me page (for example,
Larry’s Lunchboxes
).

•
Paragraph 1:
Type a personal attention-grabbing headline, such as
Welcome to Larry Lunch’s Lunchbox Place.

•
Text:
Type a short paragraph that greets your visitors (something like
Hey, I like lunchboxes a lot
only more exciting).

•
Paragraph 2:
Type another headline for the second paragraph of the page, such as
Vintage, Modern, Ancient,
or
I Collect All Kinds of Lunchboxes.

•
Text:
Type another paragraph about yourself or your collection (such as,
I used to stare at lunchboxes in the school cafeteria . . .
only more, you know,
normal
).

•
Picture:
If you’re adding a picture, type a sentence describing it, for example:
This is my wife Loretta with our lunchbox collection.

•
URL:
Type the Web site address (URL) where people can find your picture. See the section earlier in this chapter that shows you how to upload digital images.

•
Feedback:
Select how many of your feedback postings you want to appear on your About Me page. (You can opt not to show any feedback, but I think you should put in a few comments, especially if they’re complimentary, as in,
Larry sent my lunchbox promptly, and it makes lunchtime a blast! Everybody stares at it. . .
)

•
Items for Sale:
Select how many of your current auctions you want to appear on your About Me page. If you don’t have any auctions running at the moment, you can select the Show No Items option.

•
Label:
Type a caption to introduce your auctions, for example:
Lunchboxes I’m Currently Selling.

•
Favorite Links:
Type the names and URLs of any Web links you want visitors to see, for example, a Web site that appraises lunchboxes (
It’s in excellent condition except for that petrified ham sandwich. . .
).

See mine in Figure 14-5.

7. Click the Back button. (Or, if you don’t like your current layout, click the Continue button to go back to Step 1.)

You’re now looking at your final About Me page.

8. Scroll down to the bottom of the page. You see a group of buttons:

•
Edit Some More:
Returns you to Step 2.