eBay has attracted millions of users. Whilst for the most part, they are all law abiding and relatively intelligent citizens, there are some exceptions in the mix as some people really will try to sell anything, but what’s perhaps even more shocking is that some people are crazy enough to buy these weird, grotesque and quite bizarre items. Take a look at some of our favorites:

The JFK Window

This is apparently the window from the book repository which Lee Harvey Oswald used to shoot J.F.K. It sold to an anonymous bidder for around $5 million dollars. It may just be one of the most expensive items ever sold as well!

Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese

Another sacred relic of the crazy club, this and countless other items such as this which apparently has a mark which resembles the Virgin Mary have been sold for varying sums. This prime example was purchased once again by Golden Palace casino for $28,000. These guys will buy anything! They even bought William Shatner’s kidney stone!

Best Friend for a Day

Advertising his services as a best friend, this auction eventually closed at over $7 thousand dollars. As long as he’s drunk, the seller promised to do everything expected of a ‘best’ friend, but only for 24 hours.

U.S. Navy F/A-18

This partially deconstructed aircraft was sold in pieces for $1 million dollars, however some assembly is required, and for the additional fee of $8 million you can have a ready to fly, fighter craft, but sadly without weapons.

Petrified dead frog

Who knows, perhaps you could make some sort of new age necklace with the thing, but unlike many of the other auctions, this deceased little fellow only ended up selling for around $2.

A Haunted Cane

After becoming scared of ghosts a family sold this apparently haunted cane which belonged to a woman’s deceased father. There was one stipulation, and that was that the winners had to write a letter to the seller’s child to say that the ghost was now ‘happy’. Guess who bought this one? Golden Palace (again).


Arkansas Kid’s Name

A mother of seven children saw an opportunity to make some quick cash at the expense of her son when she decided to auction his name. Unfortunately for her, the auction was legally binding and she ended up selling the naming rights to that crazy casino, Golden Palace. Three guesses what they named the poor child.

Virginity

It’s happening more and more often. In this case, an 18-year-old student from the United Kingdom tried and successfully sold her virginity. She advertised the fact she wanted to ‘learn’ from someone more experienced, and for the grand sum of $10,000 it was a veritable bargain, especially when the businessman who purchased the rights, kindly paid her without wanting ‘delivery’.

Medicinal Nipple Hair

As its owner carefully plucked it from his or her bosom, they then applied it to a wound. Surprisingly, after a period of weeks this minor scratch actually healed! It would seem that their nipple hair has near magical properties! If you are interested, you can probably get another for around $63.

Britney Spears’ Chewed Gum

Can you believe someone actually picked up Britney’s used chewing gum from outside a hotel in London? What’s even crazier is that someone bought it on eBay for $263!

As you can see, people really will buy anything! Golden Palace must have spent millions on these crazy marketing stunts, and who knows, if you sell something crazy enough, they may even buy it!

Here are some of the top tips for beginners to eBay:

eBay has been going for over a decade now and it is one of the most popular websites on the Internet. Would you believe that it has close to 200 million users? eBay is a great place for selling and buying all sorts of things, but it’s not always easy when you start out. Take a look below for our top tips for buyers, and our top tips for sellers.

Top Tips for Buyers

• Don’t bid too early! If you prematurely, it will only make things more expensive if someone else bids.
• Use an Auction Sniper.
• Buy it Now can be more expensive.
• Watch out for hidden shipping charges.
• Check peoples feedback before you bid. If they have negative feedback, don’t bid.
• Retracting bids on eBay is not easy, so only bid when you want to buy.
• Before buying a product, check how much it is worth, so you don’t end up paying more. EBay has bargains, but it’s not always cheap!
• Watch out for scams and fraudsters. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
• Get a PayPal account. It makes paying for auctions so much easier.
• Don’t get addicted! Set a budget and stick to it, the last minutes of bidding can be the most expensive ones as it’s easier to get caught up in a bidding frenzy.

Top Tips for Sellers

• Market research will help you establish whether or not selling on eBay is profitable. Look at past completed auctions for a good reference.
• Use Turbolister to help you list items on eBay. It’s so much easier than using the web interface.
• eBay auction fees are not cheap. Don’t add extra categories and extra features such as buy it now and featured status unless you’re selling something of high value.
• Sometimes adding a reserve price to your auction can cost you. If you’re not selling something expensive, try to avoid using it.
• You can get loads of free auction templates on the internet which is a great way to spruce up your listings.
• When your auctions close, send buyers an e-mail to let them know you’re alive and also how long it will be till they get their items.
• Don’t charge over the odds for shipping. Many eBayers do this and it’s the pet hate of many buyers. If you’re honest about shipping, buyers will love you for it.
• Package your items well so that they will not be damaged in the post. Get insurance to ensure that if they are damaged, you can claim it back and refund the customer.
• Always get proof of sending and proof of delivery. It makes shipping a little bit more expensive, but it will help you endlessly in the case of a dispute.
• Don’t forget to pay your eBay fees! They are normally charged monthly, and if you forget eBay will close your account until you’ve cleared the bill.

So, What is The Right Time to Sell? Good question!

When it comes to listing on eBay and actually profiting from a sale, it’s actually a great deal more complicated than you’d think. Whilst for many it may seem like a simple point and click operation, the reality is when it comes to listing items for sale on eBay, there are a number of underlying skills required to make sure you get the most out of each listing.

One of the most important things to start with is the marketing of your product. Just like in real business, which focuses on targets, you need to focus on customers. The first thing you should know before you sell is who you’re going to be selling to.

From here, you can take advantage of one of the best marketing techniques. That’s selling when the time is right. Perhaps a weekend sale is perfect for your product? Maybe a three-day listing is the one to go for?

You’ll never know unless you do some market research.

Firstly – take a look at your product and ask yourself three questions, is it a seasonal product? Is it a kid’s product and finally, what’s the competition like?

Why would you ask those questions? It’s a great way to create a quick customer profile, and from here, you can decide as to whether or not now is actually a profitable time to sell your item. eBay is a cutthroat enterprise and if you don’t know what you’re selling, someone else will come along, purchase your item for pennies, and then resell it for profit.

It happens time and time again.

Seasonal Marketing is something that happens every day, and it’s a great tool to use on eBay. The rule is simple. If there is a demand for a product, then it’ll sell. This means out of luck if you’re trying to sell snow shoes in July. But there are exceptions to the rule, and one big exception is Christmas. Christmas is one of those times where people will buy anything if it’s a bargain. But be careful, Christmas is not your golden ticket to success!

Weekday Sales

Did you know that a great deal of eBay browsing actually happens at work? You’d think that people would be too busy working, but the reality is eBay is filled with browsers that simply have too much time on their hands. A weekday listing is a great way to target adults and office workers as well as stay at home moms.

Beat the Competition

When it comes to selling, eBay is so huge, that anyone could be your competitor. As a result, the first thing you should do after establishing a marketing profile is to look at the completed auctions on eBay. Find out how much products in your category have been selling for and more importantly, if they’ve been selling at all.

At the same time, take a look at the current auctions and ask yourself the question, “Is this the right time to sell?” If there is a lot of competition out there at the minute, sometimes the best advice is to simply wait a few days or a week because eBay is a fluid market and everything changes.

eBay has over 200 million users and unfortunately, not all of them are honest. Whilst there is only a small percentage of eBay users out there that are scammers, it is likely during your time browsing eBay you may encounter at least one.

eBay bans hundreds of scammers daily, but sadly they can’t catch them all, and sadly, many people become eBay victims on a daily basis. This is bad for buyers, sellers and also eBay. Luckily however, an eBay scammer is relatively easy to spot.

When looking at any eBay seller, the first thing you should look for is a good feedback rating. Negative feedback can happen unfairly, so if someone doesn’t have 100% positive feedback, read the negative reviews to ensure you don’t judge them too harshly.

The next thing to look at is the country of origin. If the user is from Nigeria and selling Nigerian handicrafts, then maybe it’s a legitimate sale. If they’re selling the latest iPhone, then chances are it’s a hoax.

Payment method

If someone asks you to pay with any form of payment that is not officially supported by eBay such as western union, you can be sure that they are trying to take your money. Don’t expect to get anything in return. PayPal is the preferred payment method because if you have paid via PayPal, and something goes wrong you can appeal for a refund.

Whilst there are many scammers and fraudsters out there, generally as long as you check feedback and try to be careful you will not have a problem. Sometimes the problem however is with counterfeit goods. If you receive what you believe are fake goods, then you have every right to contact the authorities as well as eBay because fake goods are illegal.

eBay scam artists or fraudsters don’t only bother buyers though!

eBay scammers are a problem for many sellers who are kind hearted enough to send goods before a check clears. The golden rule here is, use PayPal to ensure the safety of both parties. PayPal isn’t cheap, but it does guarantee a certain degree of safety.

Above all, most importantly you must look out for deals which appear too good to be true. These days there are a lot of pre-release cell phones out there, and there are many people gullible enough to believe that they are genuine and that once the auction ends they will receive a pre=release.

eBay sounds like a nightmare doesn’t it? In reality though however, problems are rare thanks to the fact many users are able to police eBay for themselves. This makes sure that scammers, fraudsters and cheats are all reported quickly. If you see one on eBay, the least you can do is to report it, keeping you and other people safe.

eBay is a great site to buy almost anything. Don’t be put off by the fact it may seem like a dangerous place to shop because generally it’s not. Have fun, and above all keep vigilant, there are bargains to be had everywhere!

With more and more people becoming regular eBayers, there is a big demand for functional software that makes peoples life simpler. After all, keeping up to date with all the tedious administration and ensuring that your listings look their best is impossible, or at the very least extremely time consuming without the help of some very useful third party programs.

To help you on your quest to eBay riches, take a look at our top five most essential eBay applications below.

1. eBay Seller Tools

eBay has actually created a wealth of tools available to try and help everything from casual sellers to power sellers and businesses with the addition of these programs.

These programs provide an all-in-one solution for managing your eBay business, and they really do make your life a great deal simpler. The products available are Turbolister, Selling Manager and Blackthorne.

Turbolister is a free program however the other applications do require a monthly subscription ranging from $5.99 a month to $24.99 a month. eBay has worked hard to ensure that its seller tools are second to none, and you can’t go wrong if you buy eBay.

2. Terapeak

Terapeak is not your typical sales management application. In fact it’s not a sales management application at all, it’s a marketing one. Subscribing to Terapeak gives you access to all sorts of analytical information based on eBay sales. This is the ultimate marketing tool, and it can save you a lot of money by simply letting you know the best times to sell an item.

3. AppEagle

AppEagle is a great inventory management solution and it does a great job in ensuring your listings are up-to-date and accurate. With AppEagle, it’s simply a case of telling it what you have in stock and it will automatically update your auctions, ending, listing, and re-listing until your stock is depleted.

4. Outright

With an eBay business it can be hard to track the profits and before you know it, you have hit a downward curve. Take affirmative action now, thanks to outright which is a completely free bookkeeping solution designed for anyone, so you don’t need to be an accountant to start managing your business successfully. It’s a priceless tool for any small business.

5. AfterBuy Message Manager

AfterBuy message manager does exactly what you’d think. It makes your life easier when it comes to managing those time consuming end of sale messages, and generally streamlines customer communication by providing templates, automatic responses and numerous other time saving innovations.

Out of all the products in our list, three out of five are actually cross-platform web based solutions. eBay products are dedicated windows applications, but in general, the way development is going, it will only be a matter of time before the majority of internet aware applications all become entirely web based.