Taking Advantage of “Slow” eBay Auctions.
Some auctions get hundreds of bids, but some go much more slowly, getting only a few bids or even none at all for days. Auctions are generally much slower during the summer months than they are in the winter – and sales on eBay are slowing each year, as more sellers than buyers sign up, hoping to get rich quick. There are a number of ways that you can take advantage of slower auctions to get the best price.
Wait to Bid.
If you bid, then everyone can see you’re interested – and that might make them interested too. Leaving the item alone for as long as you can bear will make it look less popular, and keep the price down so you can come in at the last minute and get a bargain.
Make an Offer.
If the seller is selling an item using ‘Buy it Now’ and it still hasn’t sold when the auction is about to end, use eBay’s ‘Best Offer’ service to make them an offer on it. The chances are they’ve listed the item two or three times before, and they’ll be so annoyed at the prospect of re-listing it yet again that they’ll accept your offer just to get rid of the thing.
Conspire with Other Buyers.
You might not have thought of this, but if there are two auctions for the same item and only you and one other buyer are bidding, why not get together and work out a ‘you take this one and I’ll take that one’ deal? This avoids you raising the price on both auctions just to get one each. If you make a few friends, you can even work together on auctions long-term, taking it in turns to bid.
Be Snobbish.
Send the seller emails asking questions about the condition of the item, and making it very clear that you are a discerning buyer and will only accept things of the highest quality. This will make them feel better about selling you their item for less.
Don’t Feel Guilty.
There really are too many sellers on eBay now, to the point where you can get common items at very low prices. Long-term, this will probably force those sellers out of business, but that’s the way a market works – it’s supply and demand.
Buy in Bulk.
When auctions are slow, many sellers will have had the same stock for a long time. If you offer to take ten things off their hands all at once then you can almost name your price – the chances are that they’ll fall over themselves to give you a good deal. If you come back again and buy another ten items then they’ll love you even more.
The longer you spend on eBay, the more experienced you’ll become – and the greater the chances are that you’ll stumble across an auction for something very odd, and quite unexpected. In the next email, you’ll hear all about the strangest eBay items ever sold.
Choosing Blogs to Comment On
Assuming that you already know and appreciate the benefits of posting comments on other peoples blogs, here are a few tips to help you choose the best blogs to leave those wonderful comments of yours on.
Similarity in Interest
There is rarely a point to leave a comment on blogs that have nothing at all to do with the main theme of your blog. A direct connection is unnecessary but preferable. If you are, for instance, maintaining a vitamin supplements, you dont always have to restrict your comments on blogs that tackle the very same topics. You can also visit a beauty blog, for instance, and post comments regarding the benefits that vitamin supplements offer with regard to ones physical appearance.
A quick way to determine the nature of any blog is by checking out its blog description. If there is none, just browse through its content and see if youre targeting the same keywords.
Popularity
Likewise, its senseless to leave comments on little-known blogs. With such a small readership base, you wont be able to justify the amount of time and effort it could take you to post the best comments. If youre going to use comments to promote your blog, its better to post them at blogs that are equally popular or more so than yours.
You can use the blogs page rankings to determine the popularity rating of other blogs and compare it with yours.
Likelihood of Reciprocity
Naturally, its best to concentrate your efforts on blogs whose owners are likely to reciprocate your action. Whether or not youre the first to make contact, as long as the other party benefited from the comment you posted then its only good business for them to reciprocate.
To determine the chances of having comments left on your blog and link exchanges, try reading the previous entries in other blogs. Follow the links of those who posted comments on their blogs and see if the favor was returned. You know what to do next.
Similarity in Target Market
Blogs need not have the same interest in order to benefit from comment exchange. With careful planning, traffic can be generated for two different blogs with just a couple of comments posted on each others entries.
A dance blog and a food blog may not have anything in common at first glance, but if you look more closely, youll realize that both of them may target the same age group. Two different blogs may also have target the same geographical area.
If you can find a major connection between both your target markets, beneficial comment exchange is very much possible but only with careful planning. Esimene, youll need to think of a topic that could link your interests together. Just concentrate on your target market, and youre sure to find one.
If we go back to the food and dance blog example and assume that both are targeting teenagers, articles that could require the blog owners to exchange comments would be about the best food for dancers during competition and the best dance workouts for those on a diet.
Of course, its not bad at all to leave a comment on someone elses blog just because you want to. If you have the time and the inclination then go ahead! There may be no way for you to benefit from such an action now but this small act of generosity and goodwill could turn out good for you in the long run.
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