Another eBay Lesson Learned: I was selling fake UGG boots!!!

Another eBay Lesson Learned: I was selling fake UGG boots!!!

UGG boots are really hot on eBay right now. About two weeks before Christmas, I found an ads on a website that a company was hiring eBay salesperson, and on the ads they said by simply responding to emails one or two hours a day, a person can earn one to three thousands bucks a months. Lured by this easy money, I contacted them through MSN. They said their products are UGG boots and they assured me that the boots are 100% genuine, and they are manufactured in New Zealand and meant to be sold in Asia, the quality of the boots is not as good as the ones that are being sold in Europe because the interior fur are not 100% sheep fur. But they have shown high confidence in the quality of the boots except the fur. They said I would get 10% commission but I should use their Paypal account.

Finally I decided to give it a try and started to list the products on eBay. After three days, two of the four pairs of boots were sold. I remember it was December 22nd of 2008. On December 26th, I sold another three pairs. On December 29th, I sold three pairs more. Right after the auctions ends, eBay removed three of the four listings including two of the three sold and sent me an email saying that the listings were against eBay policy and the boots might be fake or replica products. I got so angry at eBay, how could they just remove the listings just according to description of the listings. Then I tried to contact the company to get some help, but no one was online. Is it a fraud, I thought. But anyway I contacted all the buyers to whom the company hasn’t shipped the boots and let them know that eBay had removed my listings and if they didn’t want the boots anymore, I would arrange refund to them.

On January 1st, I got an email from one of the buyers who just got the boots. She said she had textile background and run a fur-burning test on the interior layer of the boots and found the fur was mixed. Now I realized that the boots might be fake and check the internet on how to identify fake UGG boots. There are at least two signs indicating the boots are fake:
1. Genuine UGG boots are made in China, not in New Zealand;
2. The interior fur of genuine UGG boots is real sheepskin fur.
I sent emails to the other buyers who have got their boots shipped and told them the boots might be fake and send the boots to where it was shipped from and I will pay for the shipping cost.

One of the buyers got so angry because he bought it as a gift for his wife. He actually gave a negative feedback with a very bad comment. I can understand his furor because I am also a husband. Finally I decided to buy a genuine one for him. He is quite happy eventually and agree to withdraw the negative feedback. Although the bad comment is still on my feedback list, I feel good because I have compensated for the wrong thing I have done. If you go to eBay and check for “echoicestore” (my eBay account), you can see this comment.

On January 2nd, the company, my supplier, appear online again. They have gone for a holiday. In order to let them refund my buyer’s money, I told them politely that their supplier might be not good, and the boots are possibly replica product and asked them refund the money to my buyers. They did refund the money to my buyer though. Who knows, maybe they are also cheated by their supplier.

Lesson learned:
- As a seller, I need to learn eBay policies before publishing the listings.
- Don’t be too quick to trust a person through internet.

--- Another eBay Lesson Learned: I was selling fake UGG boots!!! -----

The importance of Information for Selling on-line

The Importance of Information for Selling on-line

Recently I have tasted the benefit of good information. Two weeks ago, I read an review article on the most popular TV series in 2007. In this article, I get to know that The Sopranos is the most successful TV series among all. And I tried to sell The Sopranos Complet Season DVD set on eBay. I use auction and Buy-it-Now (BIN) combination to sell the DVDs. Just in one week, there are two customers use the BIN to buy the DVDs.

Therefore, an on-line seller should keep an eye on what is the current trend of the products that he/she is selling.

Another way to find the hot product to sell is using software. Right now I am using auction PI.

I have also purchased Auction Inspector. On ebay, there is a section called Want It Now. Buyers post what they want on this section. Auction Inspector inspects posts on "WANT IT NOW" section and tells user which products are wanted most often. It also analyzes responses from sellers, so you can immediately see the areas where sellers are already swarming, versus the areas where there are clear, open pickings for you!

Personally, I haven't seen any benefit from this software. The items listed on Want It Now are usually hard to find. So if you couldn't find the items that the buyers are eager for, then the information is useless. But it won't hurt, if you try it, because they offer 60 Day Money-Back Guarantee.

To know more about auction inspector or want to try it out, Click Here!

- The Importance of Information for Selling on-line -

My First Sale on eBay

---- My First Sale on eBay ----

My first item sold on eBay is a computer game software, Heroes of Might and Magic III and IV. It is a dropshipping. The dropshipper is a USA company who sells DVD movies, PC games, music CDs. I got the information from Salehoo.com .
I made a mistake so that I lost several bucks on this deal. I choose the mailing method to be USPS priority mail service while put the cost of standard air mail on the listing. So I have to pay 5 more dollars to let the dropshipper send the item to buyer because I really want to be a honest seller.
Another experience I learned from this sale: after I list the item for two days, I found no watcher or bidder at all. So I seach this item on eBay, and found my item's price is the highest among the same items selling on eBay. In order to made a fisrt deal, I dropped the starting auction bid amount of the item so that my item would be more attractive. But finally, a bidder won this item just at this price. I wondered that the closing time of my item is also a factor that has made me lose money on it. I post the item after 11pm...

To sum up, to get higher bidding amount, you might want to consider:

1. What is the best time frame for your item to be listed? I guess 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm is the best time period to list items, but it also depend on what type of customer you will be dealing with.
2. Choose an appropriate delivery service and set the amount of cost correctly.

Title: My First Sale on eBay

A newbie's journey on eBay

------- A newbie's Journey on eBay --------

I started selling on eBay about one month ago, currently I have 12 positive feedback. In this one month, I have tried several dropshiper and wholesaler website and some softwares, one ebook business package, one online data entry business package. I have spend several hundred bucks while earned very little amount of money. I will be sharing my online selling experience on this blog. If you are a newbie too, feel free to leave your comments. If you are quite experienced in online selling or other type of online business, you are very welcomed to leave your advices.
If you want to try to start selling or buying on eBay, please read my other article regarding how to start. You can also click the ebay banner below.



Title: A newbie's Journey on eBay