Cliksource

eBay users are used to only two “standard” formats for selling on eBay: either the ‘regular’ auction which involves bidding and waiting; and the Buy It Now, which is an instant purchase.

But there are three other formats that are less well known.

1. Live Auctions

Before eBay, the traditional auctioneer included live bodies in chairs and an auctioneer up front (talking so fast he was oftentimes unintelligible). Any purchaser can still participate in these live auctions via eBay. Live auctions are a hybrid - a purchaser is ’sort of’ there in a live setting yet is at home using an Cyberspace connection.

The products for sale are unremarkably expensive and unusual. There are such items as expensive and unique coins, Asian art, Native American artefacts, unbelievable jewellery, costly furniture, memorabilia from major sports stars and even history. Today, for instance, there are documents signed by John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, James Madison and Ulysses Grant (he confides that he was strenuously opposed to the “wicked” war with Mexico).

If you choose to participate in a live auction, be certain that you register first because you can’t just drop in on a whim.

2. Private Auctions

Private auctions are similar to the common auctioneer that we’re all familiar with except for one detail - the identities of the bidders are left a secret. Only the marketer has entree to the names.

Why would anyone create a private auction? It’s commonly for one of three reasons:

* The product is rather expensive and buyers might be uncomfortable having others know they can afford such merchandise. Their concern about their financial position is most in all likelihood misplaced because it is quite possible to outdistance yourself from eBay contact information, but much of selling is about perception.

* The buyers might be discomfited by the nature of the merchandise.

* Some sellers routinely use private auctions to make it harder for their competitors to snoop on them.

3. Restricted Entree Auctions

This is usually for sales of “adult” items. The main role is to prevent children from seeing this kind of merchandise, and is similar to having covers on juicy magazines at store checkouts.

To bid on these items, the buyer must:

* Be 18 years old

* Must have supplied credit card information to eBay. The hypothesis is that no one under 18 can get a credit card and thence cannot get into these sections.

* Agree that he is voluntarily accessing controlled entree auctions

In addition, controlled auctions are excluded from the Featured pages. So if you are a marketer using this format, your list will be harder to find.

Even though they are less well known, these three formats for auctions on eBay still counts for tens of millions of dollars in sales each year. If they suit your work model, you might consider them.

Uchenna Ani-Okoye is an internet marketing advisor and co founder of Free Affiliate Programs

For more information and resource links on making money on eBay visit: Make Money On eBay