How To Set Up Your Own Successful Auction Website

If you have a lot of items in your home that you are thinking of getting rid of, to you maybe it may appear to be junk or unwanted, but to someone else, you might be surprised what it might mean to them. So, why throw it away, or give it away? Sure you could have a yard sale, but is that really as exciting as may be setting up your own online auction website? You could do this for your own personal gain or maybe even do it for a charity event, whatever, an auction can be a lot more fun than your run of the mill yard sale. Here are some pointers on how to set up your own auction website.

First, you are going to have to decide whether your auction website is going to be used for a one-time-only event or if it’s going to actually be your Internet business. If it’s going to be for a charity you won’t have to worry about getting a business license, but if it’s going to be for a business, you will have to get yourself a license in order to conduct business.

Next, you are going to need to figure out what kinds of items you are going to make available for the bidders and if they are going to have some sort of common thread or theme, like is it going to be about sports, toys, house items, etc. You also need to be able to have enough items if this is going to be an ongoing business. This means that you will need to see if you can get people to donate items to put up for auction as well. Doing this you will ask them what they would like to try to get for it and then you will have to try to get that for them. You also will need to figure out how much percentage of the sale that you will receive for putting their items up for bid for them. The usual is about 20% for the person holding the auction.

You are going to need to get the news out that you will be setting up your own auction website and you can do this by sending out different notices to different social networks and sending email newsletters to all of your friends, relatives, and associates. You can also put ads in your local newspaper and online at different sites that allow for people to post ads.

After you have sent out the news about your upcoming business you will need to design some sort of form that those who want to put items up for bid. You need to make sure that it has their name and all contact information, a description of the item they are wanting to put on auction, the estimated value of the item, the asking price, and if the person wants the item back if it doesn’t sell. They also should include a photo of the item that you can put on your website. You will have enough work to do, so make sure this is required that they provide this.

Once you have done this, it’s time to start making the website. If you have never done this, you can find a variety of different tutorials online that will walk you through all the steps of setting up this kind of website. Once you have figured out how to set up your site you can then start uploading the different items that you are going to auction off. Make sure there is a good picture and a good description of the item as well. Also, if there is a minimum opening bid that needs to be indicated as well.

You will then need to make sure that your site also includes the different types of payment methods that you will accept on-site for the winning bidders. Generally, you should just take a check or PayPal. PayPal is the best since it gives the person options of what to use once they are linked over to the secure site of PayPal. PayPal makes it very easy for you to put their option on your site and will seamlessly take the bidder over to their secure site.

You need to also make sure that you have a deadline identified on your website so that everyone bidding will know when the last bid will be accepted on any particular item. For some reason, you will get better results and responses if the window of bidding is a short window time and not a long window time, so try to make the bidding not last too long, or people might lose interest.

Once there is a winner you will need to immediately bid the winning bid on the website so that people will know that particular auction is over. If it’s your ongoing business then just remove the item from your website after it’s been sold.

Article Marketing and Online Auctions

Online auctions are some of the most popular places to sell items online because it is not only free but also a great place to earn money. In fact, those who wish to sell items to make room in their closets for newer items can earn a little money on the side by putting them up for auction online.

All they have to do is create a listing on any of the available auction sites and start broadcasting their auctions to their network of friends. Heck, you as a seller can even advertise any of your auctions by writing about them and submitting articles to article directories.

This is also known as article marketing, a popular method that internet marketers would use to gain more traffic and lure interested customers to their online businesses. If you want to gain more popularity in your auctions, article marketing is one of the low-cost ways to do so.

But to be able to make the most out of article marketing, it is important that you understand how article marketing really works. You basically spend a few hours writing high-quality articles about the business that you are doing. Writing articles to be submitted to directories like EzineArticles.com and others should contain keywords that will boost your chances of getting readers.

The links to your auctions should also be placed within the article (usually at the bottom or end) to link customers to your auctions once they’re ready to view what you have to offer. In this case, articles about your auction sites should contain main keywords that fit the searches of interested buyers or bidders. Once readers start visiting your pages, you’ll be able to get many interested buyers to participate in your auctions.

So where exactly do you start submitting articles about your public auction? Here are some tips for you to try:

– Search for article directories that many writers would normally submit their articles. You can try searching by keying in keywords into search engines like Google and Yahoo and see what particular article directory comes out first in the list of results.

– Take note of the guidelines of the directories before submitting anything online. Also, don’t forget to add the links to your public auction site before submitting them and advertising them on the web.

– To keep your readers up to date, it would be best to set some time during the week (ex. Once or twice a week) to write newer articles about your auctions. You can talk about the different items you’re adding to your online auction, Auction News, Auction Preview and updates, pros and cons, and so much more.

– When writing about a public auction, it is also a good idea to provide tips and guidelines on bidding and winning in auctions. Some examples include how to win in auctions 50% to 70% of the time, how to identify a trustworthy seller (indirectly pointing to you), how to detect and avoid a scam auction, and many more. You can also write about tips on spotting a fake item from an authentic one, making the best deal, etc.