There can be very few people in the English Speaking world who have not heard about eBay. The online auction site has grown at a phenomenal rate since its launch ten years ago. It now provides an opportunity for millions of people around the world to buy and sell goods on the Internet. As a result hundreds of thousands of people rely on eBay as their main source of income.

However, for every person who has built up a successful business buying and selling on eBay there will be at least two others who have failed to make it. There can be several reasons for this and amongst the most common are using poor titles and giving an inadequate or insufficient descriptions for their items. Another common reason is the fact sellers set too high a starting or "Buy It Now" price.

There is one factor that can seriously affect your chances of being successful and that is by simply frightening would be buyers from making a bid. How would you feel if you saw something like:

"All bids are final, payment is expected within three days of the end of the auction. Failure to pay in time will lead to negative feedback."

It is not uncommon to see such comments where the seller threatens negative feedback before anyone has made a bid.

This is hardly the way to start trying to build up a trusting relationship with your customers. You do not have to spend very much time searching eBay to find plenty of examples of this kind of threatening approach.

A further way to frighten off a potential buyer is something as simple as having the wrong User ID. I may seem very funny and a great idea to have an identity such as "Slippery Trader" or Rip U Off" but what kind of impression of you do you think this will give. There are two money saving tactics that some sellers use that frighten away bidders. The first is to refuse to accept a Paypal payment, (to save their charges) or to sell at a low price but with high postage rates (to save on the listing fee). Most buyers these days prefer to use Paypal and by refusing to accept you will get considerably less bids than you might otherwise. Many eBay buyers feel very strongly about excessive postal charges and these will effect the number of bids your listing will receive. Another way of frightening bidder away is to reply aggressively to any e-mail questions sent by potential bidders or even worse not replying at all. Selling is all about communicating and creating a rapport one big issue both parties. This will not happen if your replies are rude or non-existent.

There was the instance of a seller in response to the question, "What color is the item", received the reply, "Blue, it said so in the listing. What is wrong with you Dumbo, can't you read or something?" Needless to say the sale was not made.

Finally, all transactions have to be based on mutual trust. There will be the odd occasion when this trust is misplaced but these are the exceptions rather than the rule. There are safeguards and procedures in place to protect both buyers and sellers.

By placing obstacles in the way of bidders you may ensure that you are never cheated or let down. Unfortunately it will also mean that you never realise the profits that you could be making on eBay.

About the author:

Dave Bromley is a writer and full-time Internet Marketer who specialises in subjects relating to Online Auctions. His website www.ukauctionline.co.uk contains hundreds of hints and tips about how to succeed on eBay