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This article will help
you tap into the electronic marketplace and reach outside your local
market to find a huge selection of items at great prices. While
several Internet providers offer similar marketplace services for
contractors, Grading & Excavation Contractor has chosen to highlight
eBay—the largest and most familiar of such providers—for
clarity and simplicity. It should be noted that the procedures presented
here should serve as an example for others.
There are more than 25,000
construction items available in the US on eBay, and thousands more
general business equipment and supplies items. Whether you’re
looking for new or used equipment and supplies, are interested in
the excitement of online auctions, or simply want to buy an item
quickly and get it tomorrow, this article will help you trade, and
trade safely, on eBay.
Sell Online to Expand
Sales Reach
For most businesses trying to sell large equipment, the local
market is much smaller than the national or global market. There
are only so many local customers to reach, while on eBay you can
reach a global marketplace of more than 50 million unique visitors
per month across 33 international markets. In fact, more than 2.5
million US-registered eBay users work in the construction industry,
and there are over 25,000 heavy-equipment, tools, and supplies listings
in eBay’s construction category at any given time.
Sellers on eBay include
businesses and individual end users, specialty contractors, construction
equipment rental outlets, equipment dealers, tool distributors,
state/local governments, and many others.
According to Dan Lambert,
a construction equipment dealer who has been in the industry for
10 years, “Selling on eBay has kicked my business into high
gear. Now I’m shipping loaders, lifts, and skid-steers to builders
all over the US.”
To help you tap into
this global market, reach more buyers, and improve your sales, this
article will cover the general process of selling on eBay.
Register
To begin selling on eBay, you need to register and create a
seller’s account. Simply click the “Sell” link at
the top of any eBay page, and then click “Sell Your Item.”
You will be prompted to sign in to eBay if you’ve already registered,
or to register if you have not already done so.
Create an eBay Listing
Through the “Sell Your Item” Form
The easy-to-follow “Sell Your Item” form guides you
through the steps to a successful item listing. Simply enter all
the details about your item to create the listing, including price,
payment method, shipping cost, and one or more photos. Consider
getting a PayPal account to enable online payments from your buyers,
particularly for non-heavy-equipment items, or indicate other payment
methods you’ll accept.
When creating your listing,
keep in mind the following tips that will help maximize bidder interest
in your item:
- Select the right
listing type. If you’d like to maximize bidding excitement,
choose an online auction and start the bidding low (with or without
a reserve price). To sell an item at a fixed “Buy It Now”
price, select that listing type. You can also enable buyers to
make you offers by selecting the fixed-price format and checking
the “Allow Best Offers” option.
- Include keywords
in your listing titles and descriptions. Most eBay buyers find
items by typing keywords into an eBay search box. Since eBay’s
default search looks only at item titles, it is very important
to include the words buyers would typically use to find your item
within your listing titles and descriptions.
- Put key information
in your item description. Think like a buyer when writing your
description: What would one want to know in order to feel comfortable
bidding? Provide the product’s exact model name and number
so buyers know what they are buying. Disclose any defects or damage
completely—you don’t want to surprise your buyer. If
available, include the manufacturer specifications so buyers have
the product’s exact feature set.
- Include your selling
terms, such as the forms of payment you’ll accept, shipping/return
policies, and any other terms. Typically, sellers offer buyers
several payment options, including personal check, money order,
and online payment via a service such as PayPal (www.paypal.com).
Sellers usually require buyers to pay shipping and handling costs,
so be sure to include shipping fees.
- For larger items
like heavy equipment, you can insert a free FreightQuote shipping
calculator in your listings to provide buyers with a good shipping-cost
estimate. For more details, visit the Freight Resource Center
(http://ebay.freightquote.com/).
- Include several clear
photos of your item. For many items, the better the photo, the
more likely the sale. eBay Picture Services can host the images
you add to your listing. Take several general pictures of the
front, back, and sides of your item, and additional pictures that
show any key component wear.
- Take advantage of
eBay Warranty Services. Select capital equipment items are covered
by eBay’s Business Equipment Purchase Protection (BEPP) program
for up to $20,000. Check your listing for the BEPP icon when it’s
complete.
After You Launch the
Listing
Once you’ve launched the listing, make sure to promptly
answer questions that potential buyers have for you.
Once the Listing Ends
At the end of a successful listing, you will receive an e-mail
notice including your buyer’s shipping address and payment
method. Once you receive online payment confirmation from PayPal,
a check or money order, or another form of verified payment, you
may ship the item or release it to the buyer if he is going to pick
it up or handle the shipping himself.
Search Online and
Expand Your Buying Horizon
Getting Started
Either start at eBay’s home page (www.ebay.com) or eBay Business
(www.ebaybusiness.com),
a convenient aggregation of all business-related eBay listings across
a number of industrial categories including construction.
Register to Bid or
to See Ended Listings
You don’t need to register to browse the listings on the
site, but you will need to register in order to buy or sell on eBay,
or to see the prices that items have sold for on eBay over the last
30 days. To register, simply click on the “Register” link,
located at the top of every eBay page.
Browse or Search to
Find Items
Browse eBay’s many business categories at www.ebaybusiness.com
or use the search box and eBay search engine to find a specific
piece of equipment quickly.
- When searching, use
specific terms, such as the type of item or the manufacturer,
which the seller might have included in the listing title or description.
By default, eBay’s search engine searches listing titles.
It’s always best to start searching broadly and then narrow
down (e.g., search for “excavator” to see all listings
with the term “excavator” in the title, then try “Komatsu
excavator” to show only those excavator listings with “Komatsu”
in the title as well). If you start too narrow (e.g., “1997
Komatsu PC200-6”), you might miss some listings if, for example,
the seller didn’t include “1997” in the title.
- For a wider search
that also looks at terms in item descriptions, click “Search
title and description” below each eBay search box. If the
search returns too many items, narrow it by clicking on one of
the “Matching Categories” in the left margin of the
search results page.
- You can also sort
eBay listings by distance from you—particularly useful for
larger items you might want to pick up. This is an option if you
click on “Advanced Search” next to any search box. You
can also sort listings by distance by clicking on the “Distance:
nearest first” option in the “Sort by” box on any
listings page.
- If you need an item
fast, try clicking on the “Buy It Now” tab at the top
of each search results page. This filters for items with fixed
prices, which can be purchased immediately or where you can submit
an offer to the seller if the listing shows “Submit Best
Offer” just below the item price at the very top of the listing.
- Utilize your “My
eBay” page search tools to set up automated searches and
receive e-mail notifications when an item you want appears on
eBay.
Moving Ahead
Learn About the Seller, and Trade Safely
There are multiple levels of protection when buying on eBay. For
heavy construction equipment, eBay offers $20,000 in protection
against fraud or material misrepresentation through the Business
Equipment Purchase Protection program. All items in the heavy equipment
and trailers category that sell for over $1,000 are covered by this
program.
For tools, supplies,
or other non-heavy-equipment items, many sellers’ listings
are protected up to $1,000 through PayPal Buyer Protection (when
you pay with PayPal), and all items are covered up to $200 through
eBay’s standard protection program.
Beyond this protection,
there are three key things to remember to keep yourself safe when
buying on eBay:
- Check the seller’s
feedback score. Feedback is an eBay user’s reputation that
he carries around when trading on eBay. The higher the number,
the greater the number of transactions (buying or selling) one
has made with other eBay users. “Positive Feedback”
also shows you the percentage of all transactions that were rated
positively by other users. You can see these details, plus specific
comments left by transaction partners, by clicking on the number
in parentheses next to any eBay user’s ID.
- Contact the seller
to ask any questions you might have before bidding. If you have
questions about a particular item, you can contact the seller
by clicking the “Ask seller a question” link in the
“Seller information” box in a listing.
- Keep the bidding
and transaction on eBay. eBay offers the protection above when
you bid on an eBay listing on the eBay site and are the winning
bidder. Unfortunately, eBay can’t protect you if you choose
to make a deal with a seller outside of eBay. To stay safe, keep
the bidding and buying in the “well-lit marketplace”
rather than taking the deal into the “back alley.”
Pick an Item, and
Bid
Read listing descriptions and terms of sale carefully so you
understand exactly what is being offered and the condition it will
arrive in. Sellers are encouraged to list their items with detailed
shipping and payment terms and return policies.
- If you have a specific
question for the seller, simply click on the “Ask seller
a question” link in a listing to e-mail him. Don’t be
shy about asking questions. Make sure the item is exactly what
you are looking for.
- Decide the maximum
amount you would be willing to pay for an item and place a bid
for that amount. eBay uses a proxy bidding system for auction
listings that will bid incrementally on your behalf to keep you
ahead of other bidders up to your maximum bid. This system allows
you to win an item at or below your maximum bid.
- Keep an eye on your
e-mail for “outbid notifications” from eBay, which will
alert you if you have been outbid by another bidder. This is particularly
true near the end of a listing, since most bidding activity occurs
in the final hours and minutes of an auction.
- Once you have bid
on an item, you can find that item again by clicking on the “My
eBay” link at the top of any eBay page. Your “My eBay”
page is your personal eBay control panel, which lists the items
you are watching, bidding on, and selling. It also contains your
favorite searches and sellers.
Complete the Sale
At the end of a successful listing, both the seller and buyer
will receive an e-mail confirmation notice. Depending on the seller’s
payment preferences, the e-mail will include the buyer’s shipping
address and desired payment method.
- On eBay, the buyer
always pays before the seller will ship or release the item. If
you’re concerned about this, consider using eBay’s only
authorized escrow partner, Escrow.com (www.escrow.com).
- Once you receive
an item, and are satisfied with it, rate the seller by leaving
feedback for him. If you are unhappy with an item, e-mail the
seller immediately to work out a resolution. Most sellers will
work with a buyer to provide buyer satisfaction. And remember,
feedback is permanent! Only leave a neutral or negative comment
if all attempts at an acceptable resolution fail.
You may also call the
Seller OnRamp program toll-free at 866-612-3229 (mention code GRADING2005)
to talk one-on-one with an eBay expert customer support rep who
will help you register, teach you several key eBay selling best
practices, and walk you through your first listings.
Ben Hanna is senior
manager with eBay Business.
GEC
- September/October 2005
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