Is an online auction the right place for you to purchase things at a price you can afford? There was a time when flea markets and garage sales were the destination of choice for those seeking a deal on certain items they wanted. Though both of those market places still exist, there is a better way of doing things: the online auction. Made popular by ebay, online auctions are now all over the Internet and a great way to find a good deal on any number of items you may need without driving all over town or strolling from tent to tent over 20 acres of flea market.

There are a couple of ways to make sure you make the most of your online auction experience. Certain strategies will be helpful in getting you the price you want on the item you are seeking. Keep these in mind and the next time you log on to the online auction of your choice you will be armed and ready.

Most all online auctions work off of a timer on the auction. An item is put up for sale and site members bid on it. The bidding continues until the clock runs out on the auction, then the seller and buyer get together to decide how the item and money will change hands. First, though, you will need to search the site for the item you are seeking. Once you have found it, there is a little something else you should look for: a buyers auction time ending error. Sometimes you will find a seller who accidentally has their auction ending at a weird time, like 2:00 AM. Rarely will anyone be up bidding on that old pair of skis in the middle of the night. So, if that is what you really want, you can log on about 15 minutes prior to the end of the auction and bid at the last second over the last high bid and have little fear of another poacher being out there going over you as well. So, keep an eye on those end times.

Another thing to look for on online auctions sites is “buy now” features. Many times retailers will sell their overstocked merchandise at an online auction for a discounted price. Rather than going through the bidding of an auction, they offer their items at a “buy now” price. You can simply click on a logo or link and buy the item at a predetermined price without the hassle of the online auction process. These are great to watch for at online auction sites because you will also end up with new merchandise rather than the used or lightly worn merchandise you get with a person to person auction buy.

Online auctions are a great tool for getting the things you are looking for a good price. Long gone are the days of garage sale surfing for the perfect used item or browsing the booths of your local flea market. Now, you simply log on to your favorite online auction site and search for what you need. It is easy and certainly less time consuming.

If you would like to find more of my personal articles on auctions please check out my technology website!

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The Internet has literally hundreds of auction web sites, all trying to cash in on the online auction craze. There are five basic techniques I will discuss that will dramatically increase the success of your online sales. I have actually put these to the test myself and they really are successful.

1) Keywords in the Listing - The single most important element in an auction listing is carefully selecting the keywords you use in your listing. Start with your title and fill your title up with keywords that accurately describe the item. Do not use keywords that are not relevant to your item, you will only waste the buyer’s time and yours. Use as much of the allotted characters allowed to write your title. In the description, write it using keywords to best describe your item. The more keywords you use there is a better chance a potential buyer will find your auction. Be careful not to use spamming techniques of any kind, it is a waste of time for everyone and could result in being banned from the auction site.

2) Misspelled Keywords - A technique that is commonly overlooked is the use of misspelled keywords in your listing. Intentionally including misspelled words can increase the audience of your listings. For example, on eBay as of right now, searching for the term “jewelry” - correctly spelled, there are 192,701 auctions with “jewelry” in the title. If you create your auction with “jewelery” also in the title and description, there are 2,018 items listed, so by misspelling words you can increase the traffic to your auction.

3) Low Starting Price & Reserves - Start your auction at a low opening bid price and secure your desired selling with a reserve price. Lower opening bids will encourage more bidders to bid up the price to an amount they are willing to pay. For example, I recently listed an older Dell Latitude laptop on eBay and started the price at $0.99 with a reserve price of $150 and successfully sold for $197.50. Coupled with a low opening bid, you want to make sure there are plenty of keywords in the title & description so there will be sufficient traffic to your auction. A well-written auction would not allow an item to sell for $0.99, since we know the item will sell for much more than that.

When we set a reserve price, it means we do not have to sell the item unless the bidding price meets or exceeds the reserve price. A reserve price insures the seller of not having to forcefully sell the item if the reserve has not been met, but the seller has the option to do so if desired. The reserve price set by the seller is not shown to the buyers, in order to encourage bidding up the price to find out what the reserve price is.

4) Timing of Auctions - An important technique to know is the timing of your auction as to when it closes. The auction should be timed to close during the late evening hours, such as 10-11pm at night. Research indicates most ideal time to close an auction and encourage the most bids is Sunday at 11pm. The idea is to time the auction when the majority of people are home and able to place final bids. I’ve researched this myself with several auctions and had them close at different times and the ones that close late at night receive a higher number of bids than those that close during the day.

5) Pictures - Pictures are a vital element of listing an auction on any site. Buyers want to see what they are purchasing before placing a bid. Include multiple pictures of your item, such as different angles, back side, or inside if it can be opened. Be sure the pictures are professional looking and is presented clearly to the buyer as to what they are bidding on. Typically, picture sizes should be under 100K to ensure fast loading for users with slower Internet connections. If they have to wait too long for a picture to load, they will click off and go to the next auction, thus you have lost a potential bidder.

The techniques outlined here are just the beginning of creating successful auctions. There are several books & websites online that are dedicated to successful selling. However, implementing these techniques will dramatically increase the success of your auction sales.

By: Jason Ziarko
ejzBids Auctions - Online Internet Auction Site

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You may be in the market for a new website. Perhaps you may be looking for a new logo or a database constructed for yourself or a small business. There are plenty of freelancers out there that are just itching to help you out. These freelancers canvas eBay-like environments and bid on your job. Of course there will be those who will bid relatively low, just trying to get the job, as well as at a relatively higher price. There are several good websites you can find these coders and at a substantially reduced price. You can save up to 75% without batting an eyelash.

Rent-a-coder or rentacoder.com is one of the best freelance sites on the web today. If you are a buyer looking for quality technical support, Rent-a-coder or RAC is a great place to start. You post an online auction by selecting the field that your project relates too and set a maximum bidder on your project. Upon approval from a reviewer, your auction is begun and will run the duration you set it too. Once you are notified that the auction begins, your mail inbox will start to receive emails from various professionals and gurus who are more than qualified to get the job done.

Like eBay, these professionals have a feedback rating that tells the world at large that they can meet deadlines and perform quality work. Your decision is based in two parts; one the rating that the coder has as well as the bid price. Should both of these meet your criteria, you can select the coder to begin the project for you. You will escrow funds for the coder via credit card or paypal and wait for the confirmation letter for the coder to begin work.

Once your contact information has been established, the coder will work until the job is completed to your liking. Once you approve, you can accept the job as 100% and your project is complete. If you are not happy you can have the coder continue to rework the project until you are satisfied. Once you are satisfied with the quality of work. You can exchange feedback with the coder. The coder’s feedback should commensurate with the quality and timeliness. You can expect a good reference to the coder will garnish a positive reference for yourself. People will want to work with buyers who can describe the project and let them get to work. There are over 80,000 coders on Rent-A-Coder today.

If you are a freelancer looking for work, this place is for you. You can earn up to 85% of the auction fee by doing simple to complex assignment for various businesses and people around the world. You can gain a positive reputation as well as steady repeat business by performing the work as efficiently and quickly as humanly possible. As you receive more feedback ratings your rank will shoot up higher depending on the point system. Rent-a-coder, provides a unique experience that does not cost the coder a dime to join. They will pay a percentage of the completed job at the end of the transaction. The coder can also be paid by Paypal or check every 15th and 30th of each month.

Another popular site which mirrors Rent-a-coder is E-Lance.com. E-lance provides a wide range of services in the market place today. However the only major difference between E-Lance and Rent-a-coder is that Rent-a-coder does not charge a quarterly service fee depending on your specialty.

The pro of joining Rent-a-coder is getting quality work done at rock bottom prices and the cons are some people cannot complete assignments awarded to them. You will need to ask as many questions possible when it comes to selecting the right coder. Their ability to get the job done is your primary concern!

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.com. Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites.

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