In This "Super Sized" Issue:
1. Keeping safe online is common sense!
2. Using auto-responders to save time
3. On a personal note
4. Subscriber question
5. Introducing Subscriber Listing Review - NEW SECTION
6. I want to hear your honest opinions!
7. Free articles for your website, forum group, blog or My Space page
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1) Keeping safe online is common sense!
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FEATURE EDITORIAL
It may sound simple, but keeping yourself safe online really is just a matter of practicing common sense. Most of you will have heard this (or something similar) before, but it never hurts to spare a thought to how people can get ripped off over the internet.
Scammers work by playing on one of two very basic human emotions, fear or greed. Fear that your account will be closed, that someone is chasing you for money or that you are being reported to police, etc - greed that you really can get a brand new plasma tv for only $200 or an ipod for $50, perhaps a sports car worth $70,000 from Italy for only $10,000.
Let's start with greed -
It all comes down to this;
IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE - THEN IT PROBABLY IS!
If you are using your cool head you know that there has to be a catch with super cheap prices for high demand items, but sometimes the scammers sales pitch can be pretty convincing.
Here are a couple of common tricks to look out for in an auction listing that can alert you to a scammer;
- They will ask you to email them directly rather than buy through the auction site. There will be a disclaimer in big bold red letters at the top of the page with a story about how their eBay (or Oztion) email isn't working and to please contact at "blahblah@hotmail.com". They do this as it will be a high jacked (stolen) account they are listing the item on and they don't want the real owner of the account to notice someone has hacked in and is listing plasma tvs on their account. They will generally use one high jacked account for a few days or so, long enough to rake in a load of money and then will wait for the buyers to contact the account holder demanding their item - which of course the account owner has no knowledge of.
- They will ask you to send the money via Western Union or another different cash type payment system. Basically anyway that they can receive the money and you can't get it back once you have sent it.
- They will generally use stock photos of the items rather than photos they have taken themselves - this is because professional photos look enticing to a buyer, plus they don't have the item to take their own photo of it.
- Their feedback will be made up from buying or selling small items, like ebooks and bric a brack and then suddenly the account is listing high end designer goods.
- Scammers will normally run very short auctions, 1-3 days so that they can turn over money quickly and so that the auction site staff have a hard time shutting them down.
So what can you do to help yourself when you want to purchase an expensive item?
- Check that the sellers has feedback from selling that particular item before. If they have never sold that sort of item before, check that they have had extended selling experience and good feedback for the other items they have sold. They may be a good seller who happened to switch product lines, but you can't be too safe.
- Ask the seller a question via the auction site. If it is a high jacked account, they will thank you for pointing out all of the "i-pods" they have listed on their account that they didn't know about AND you will save your money.
- Pay for your purchase via Paypal or credit card, that way if you don't receive your item you can initiate a credit card chargeback with your credit card issuer or start a Paypal dispute. The best way to pay for ultimate protection is to pay using your credit card via Paypal, this you give you two avenues of dispute.
- Ask for photos of the actual items they they don't include any in their listing. If they can't provide any, be very wary.
- IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE - THEN IT PROBABLY IS! I really can't say that enough times!
Now Fear -
It seems like the whole world is trying to cash in on people's fears and scammers are no different.
Each day my in box fills up with emails filled with dire warnings about what could happen to me if I don't "click here now". My eBay or Paypal account will be suspended, there is a billing issue, I have had my listings cancelled, a buyer is going to report me to the police, etc. There really is nothing you can do to stop these emails coming in and unfortunately when there is a problem with your account, the emails you will get from Paypal or eBay, etc will be quite similar to the ones the scammers sent out and you can't afford to ignore those. So what to do to work out what us real and what isn't?
Here are some ideas;
- Always check the email for your actual name, not "ebay user" "paypal member", "seller", etc. Emails from eBay, Paypal, Oztion and other will always address you by both your user name and your registered name.
- For eBay related emails, check in your "My Messages" section and see if the email is also in that in-box, a fake email shouldn't appear there. If your eBay account IS about to be suspended or they DO need you to update your details, there will be an alert registered within your account. If in doubt always log directly into the site involved - never via clicking on a link in the email and have it confirmed there.
- Check the validity of a link by hovering your mouse over it and seeing the URL (address) that it shows, scam links will have a different URL and will often contain a different website altogether. I won't post an example of a dodgy link here just in case someone accidentally clicks on it.
- If it is eBay or Paypal related you can forward the email on to spoof@ebay.com.au or spoof@paypal.com.au, they will then confirm if the email was sent by them or not.
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2) Using auto-responders to save time.
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In a effort to reduce the time I spent working in my business I have been finding that I am using auto-responders more and more.
For those who don't know what an auto-responders is, it is simply an automated email response that you set up so that your inbox will automatically sent a certain email to certain people, or to emails to contain certain information. I use Outlook Express, but they work with most other email clients and also can be set up directly onto most servers for people who run their own email off of their own domain.
The first auto-responder I set up was for eBay, it was a response to the checkout emails that get sent when your buyer checks out. I found that in an effort to maintain a high level of communication I was responding to each of these emails you know the "I will be sending payment" emails, with the same sort of information nearly everytime....."Thanks for your email, I will contact you as soon as I receive your payment and will post out your item on the same day"....well you get the drift.
By putting this is place I my customers would receive an immediate response thanking them for letting me know they are going to pay. This kept my customers very happy and kept me from having to manually sent the same email over and over all day long.
It is also a very effective way to plan your time, as at a set time of day I could open all of the checkout emails to double check for extra messages from customers and could then just sent those customers who needed a personal email a separate response.
For those of you who don't know how to set up a basic auto-responder in Outlook Express, I will be adding instructions to my free tips and hints pages. Please check out this page - http://www.helpmyauction.com/addanautoresponder.html
I am have a new guide coming out soon, which will show you how to maximize your time by using Outlook Express to organise your emails (and you TIME) as well as using auto-responders. Obviously being a valued Newsletter member, you will be offered this book before it is released to the general public - at a special member's price.
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3) On a personal note
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Some of you may be wondering why my newsletters have been a bit few and far between. Well I have been very busy, what with you ask!?!
Introducing;
Oliver Anthony Lee Callbutt - Baby number 3 for us and a brother for Narissa and Harry.
Born August 10th (the day after Harry's birthday, I might add), 9:12pm, weighting a healthy 8 pounds 1 1/2 ounces.
Obviously we are all extremely happy to welcome him into our family and he has slotted into family life with us extremely well.
The only down side with the birth, is that I have had a run of infections that have seen me re-admitted into hospital for extended periods at a time. I seem to be over the worst now and re-gaining my previous excellent health. I am easing back into work life and hope to be back into full swing soon - and that includes publishing regular newsletters for all of my loyal and inspiring subscribers!
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4) Subscriber Question Answered
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This months question was sent in by Julie from the Gold Coast. Julie is just starting out selling on eBay but is hoping to get a store up and running within the next couple of months;
"I posted some items for sale at 10 this morning, but now I can't find them in any of the searches, have I done something wrong or is there an error?"
This is a question you see alot of on the eBay forum boards. In the "good old days", when you listed your auctions for sale you could find them almost immediately in the general searches, on a bad day you may have had to wait 10 or 15 minutes.
Whilst there are alot more listings on eBay these days, this is not the main reason why items are taking longer and longer to appear (or by indexed if we are being technical). Ebay has come under alot of pressure to try and stop the huge amounts of counterfeit items for sale on it;s sight. One of the main ways they are tackling this is to delay items being indexed so that their systems can try and pick out certain listing types. You will find that if you are listing items that have a popular brandname, then your listing will be delayed by up to 24 hours.
If you item is not showing up in it's search after 24 hours - brandname or not - then don't hesitate to contact eBay via their live help links which can be found near the top of most pages. The operator will check to see if they can find your listing and if they can't they will refund your listing fees, so that you can relist your item.
One little quirk I have found is that if you are adding some of the more expensive upgrades to your listing, it can really hold it up. If you list your item first without the upgrades, it will be indexed fairly quickly, you can then edit it to add in the upgrade.
Thanks for your question Julie - You will be receiving a copy my "Advanced auction marketing made simple" course!
Do you have a question you would like answered?
Don't be shy, we are all learning all of the time, so all questions are worth asking. If your question is answered in an issue of my newsletter, you will also win a copy of the "Advanced auction marketing made simple" course.
Send your questions directly to me - amanda@helpmyauction.com and I will answer and publish one each newsletter
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5) Introducing Subscriber Listing Review
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I have had this idea suggested to me by a few different people - Subscriber listing review
Each month I will select one of my subscribers to have one of their auction/store listings to be reviewed. I will offer suggestions on where improvements can be made and where you have got things just right.
Not only will this help the person whose listing is being reviewed, but it will also benefit everyone else as you can pick up hints and tips that you can apply to your own listings.
If you would like your listing to be considered for a review, please send me a link to your listing along with what you feel is your biggest challenge in selling this product.
Email your submissions to amanda@helpmyauction.com using Subscriber Review as your subject line.
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6) I want to hear your honest opinions!
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As you know one of the hardest things to do online is to capture a buyers trust in you and your products. Using real life testimonials is a great way to let potential customers know that other people were really happy with their purchase.
If you have bought one of my courses, I'd love to hear from you. I don't want anything made up - buyers can see right through those obviously made up "stories" - I want honest opinions about my products.
You will need to include your real name (first name and last initial is ok), your state and country, plus a link to your website, ebay or oztion store or auctions - (I'd love a photo as well, but that's up to you!)
What's in it for you, I can hear you asking. You'll get heaps of people clicking through to your website, your online store or your auctions. Plus Goggle loves real genuine links, so your goggle page ranking will improve!
Please send your testimonials to amanda@helpmyauction.com
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7) Free Articles for Your website, forum group, blog or My Space page
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Need fresh, free content for your website, forum group, blog or My Space page?
I can help!
I am giving you permission to republish any of my "Help MY Auction" newsletter articles from this issue or from past issue (that can be found here), for FREE!
All I ask of you is to send an email to republish@helpmyauction.com and include your full name, the URL (web address) of where you will be publishing the article and confirmation that you accept and agree to the republishing requirements as follows;
- Each article must be republished in full with NO CHANGES.
- You must include the following byline at the end of each article you republish:
"ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Amanda Callbutt is an experienced corporate trainer, who specializes in teaching advanced auction and marketing strategies, in a way the even the most inexperienced person can understand. Amanda is the author of several "how to" training courses, including the hugely popular "How to open an Aussie eBay store". Her training website Help MY Auction is packed with loads of free hints and tips that can help anyone succeed in online selling. visit: http://www.helpmyauction.com"
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Regards,
Amanda Callbutt, CEO
Help My Auction!
Copyright 2005-2007 by Help My Auction!
All rights reserved.
www.helpmyauction.com
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