Sniping is a strategy used by many people on eBay to outbid the competition within the last few seconds.

So, you’re looking to sell on eBay are yah?! Well how about I help get you started! With this 7 step walkthrough, you’ll be selling successfully on eBay in no time! Here we go, read on to get started…

1. A picture IS worth 1000 words. No matter who you are, you’re most likely going to feel a whole lot better buying something that you’ve seen before. You wouldn’t buy a new car without seeing it first, would you? If you would then you’re one of the rarer people on the net, but for the rest of us, pictures are a very reassuring thing.

2. Do your eBay research. Many people have hundreds of things around their house that could be sold on eBay, but they have no idea what they’re worth. Do some research! Click on the “Advanced Search” tab and check the box that says “Completed Listings Only”, then do a search for your item! That’s all there is to it. Once this is done you will have a general idea of the price range your product goes for.

3. Learn all about shipping. Shipping is very important on eBay. Why? Well that’s easy, it’s how you give the buyer their items. I personally use the USPS shipping option because you can order FREE boxes off their website and they also pick up your package from you! No more repetitive trips to the postal office. Certain types of shipping are used for certain situations. Here are some examples…

• USPS Priority Mail (2-3 Business Days) – I use this whenever the item is under 1 pound because it is a flat charge of $4.75. This also attracts more bidders because it is a very fast rate of shipping.
• USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate – Whenever I have an item that I know is going to be on the heavy side, I like to use the flat rate option.  What this means is you pay ONE set fee for the flate rate box, then you can jam as much into that box as possible without being charged any extra for weight.

4. Pay very close attention to the writing of your auction. When writing up an auction, be sure to take your time and use keywords that will help users find your product. For example, say we are selling the “Razr” cell phone. Throughout our auction, we will be wanting to put more then just “Razr”. You will want to throw in the manufacturer, service provider, color, some features etc… (Ex: “Pink Motorola Razr V3 Flip Camera Cell Phone for T-Mobile”. By giving more details, you will allow the potential bidder to get as much information as they can about your item, and let them know exactly what it is they’re bidding on.

5. Offer more than just one payment option. We all know and trust PayPal as our number one payment option, but believe it or not, some people still don’t use it! That’s right ladies and gentlemen, I said it… some people don’t use paypal. So, that being said, it’s always a good idea to have some other forms of payment available so that you don’t scare away those non-PayPal associated bidders!

6. Focus on getting positive feedback first. Feedback really matters when you’re selling on eBay. If you have a consistent record of positive feedback, prospective buyers will both bid more often and be willing to pay higher prices. So you may want to hold back on placing higher priced products until you have a successful track record as an eBay seller established.

7. Be business-like, but still have fun. What I mean here is don’t be the uptight business man who’s just out to make quick bucks. eBay for the beginner should be more of a hobby if anything, so enjoy it! Many people like knowing that the seller they’re dealing with has a sense of humor and is an understanding human being rather then a business man who responds with the John Deer letter to every email they receive.

So there you have it, a 7 step process to succeeding as an eBay seller. The way I do it is by buying and reselling cell phones! If you’re interesting in this and want another step by step guide on how to get started, feel free to check out my Buy and Resell Cell Phones Post!

In this post, I’m going to walk you through how to download videos off of YouTube to put on your personal computer to use whenever, wherever. The websites I will be using to do this are YouTube(Obviously), and MediaConverter(To convert and download the YouTube video).

There are two main choices that I am going to run through.

• The first choice is to download the video as a video format, just like you see it on YouTube.
• The second choice is to strip the audio from the YouTube video. This is VERY useful when you hear a song you really enjoy but don’t want the video attached with it.

So here we go! My 12 step walkthrough…

1. Find the YouTube video you wish to download.
2. Go to www.mediaconverter.org. Once there, you will see a “Conversion Wizard“. Choose the second option which is “Convert a Video or Music by URL“.
3. Copy the URL of the YouTube Video / Song you wish to download. (Ex youtube.com/watch?v=Nm58A_IKAys)
4. Go back to the Media Converter website and paste the URL under the second option. (Like stated in step 2).
5. Click “Next Step” and you will be asked to “Choose the File Type to Convert“.
6. If you would like Video AND Audio, choose the video format you would like. (MP4 will work with iPods | Other formats you may be familiar with are .MPG, .MOV, .WMV, .AVI).
7. If you would like to strip the audio from the video, then choose the audio format you would like. (I recommend .MP3).
8. Now, name the file you are downloading. (You don’t have to, but if you don’t then it will be hard to know what’s what).
9. Click “Next Step“, then click “Next Step” again, skipping the 4th step. (It isn’t needed for our purpose).
10. Now you should notice the file being downloaded to the Media Converters server.
11. Once downloading is complete on the website, it will automatically convert the file and give you an option to download it.
12. Once all is done, download the file to your computer.

There you have it! How to download YouTube Videos or Audio directly to your computer in 12 easy steps.

I was getting a lot of questions and interests about the CashCrate Webpage, so I decided to write another article with the aim to give you MORE options on how to make money through a survey site called InBoxDollars.

If you haven’t already done so, feel free to take a look at the CashCrate Post on this website. I suggest this for two reasons:

1. Because it is another source of 100% FREE and LEGIT online income
2. Because both websites are very similar in the sense that you are doing basically the same thing, but making money through two separate sources.
   

InboxDollars.com is another great way to make easy money online. Now I won’t go into TOO much detail here, because like I said it is very very VERY similar to the entire CashCrate Post.

Here are some key things I want to point out if you don’t feel like taking a look at the other post. (Although I highly suggest it because it goes more in depth as to how the entire process works). Here is the process…

1. Signup at InboxDollars.com for your 100% FREE account. (I mean free, you’ll never be asked for money).
2. Download RoboForm to make this entire thing so much easier. As stated in the CashCrate Post, there is a lot of repetitive information in surveys because the advertisers all want basically the same thing. What RoboForm does is it allows you to fill in that information once, then when you’re asked to provide it you just simply click a button! There is nothing more to it, you won’t have to fill in a repetitive form again and you’ll make money faster!
3. On the left panel under “Cash Offers” on the InboxDollars Website, click the “100% FREE OFFERS” link.
4. Choose an offer that you’re interested in and start surveying! You will see the money add up in your balance and when the month ends you will receive a check in the mail!

InboxDollars offers three different ways of earning cash…

1. Cash Offers – Try products and services of brand name products.
2. Cash Surveys – Be rewarded for your opinion with Cash Surveys
3. Cash Games – Compete in your favorite games, and get paid!

So there you have it! Yet another easy way to make some quick money doing little work. Now, like I said in the CashCrates Post, you won’t become rich off of this! However, it does give you an opportunity to make some extra pocket money each month. Whether you make 20 bucks or 500 bucks (which is possible if you put the work in), it’s still 100% FREE money.

If you’re bored and not up to anything, then there is no harm in giving it a shot. They don’t send you junk mail, they don’t ever ask for credit card information and they don’t SPAM! It is 100% free to signup and 100% free to participate. Give CashCrate a shot if you’re looking to make some extra bucks.

If you have any questions regarding InboxDollars, CashCrate or anything else on this website, feel free to leave a comment! I will respond as soon as I receive it . Thanks and enjoy.

So, we all know eBay strives to be a very safe place to buy and sell items, right? They work damn hard to give the users the best shopping experience they can have, without leaving the comfort of their homes. Unfortunately, this isn’t always possible…

I mostly sell cell phones on eBay as a hobby (you may want to check out my step-by-step guide on how I do this). It makes me some nice side cash that helps me get by and I have fun doing it. So I listed this used Audiovox SmartPhone on eBay; 7 days later the phone sold to the highest bidder. Immediately after receiving payment I packaged the phone up and shipped it off! Goodbye phone…

So, a few days pass and the user shoots me an email stating…

“I received a box sent from you today and there was no phone inside. All that was inside was a piece of sewing material and a charger, I want a full refund”

Now normally I have no problems with refunding people their money, but as long as I get my phone back. So, naturally I didn’t jump right into sending her any cash. She opened a dispute with paypal stating that I never sent her the promised item and she wants a full refund. Paypal did their thing; they put my funds on hold as they took their time reviewing the case.

Finally, I get an email stating that the case was closed. However! They sided with the lady who purchased my phone. They took the funds from my account and transfered it right into hers while I sat there with a nice big piece of sewing material and a charger for a phone I don’t even own. I appealed the claim and still it is being reviewed. It’s been a couple months now and I’m down $40 bucks and a phone!

Now this is what I strongly believe the buyer did. I think they received the phone, put it in a nice, safe spot in their house and then opened the claim. They shipped me out a piece of material and a charger, and paypal transfered them their money. So that being said, if you ever want free stuff on ebay just pretend you were shipped the wrong item and you’ll get a full refund, shipping included!(Kidding of course, that’s not right )

I’d feel to guilty if I did something like that, but some people won’t! Lesson learned.

CashCrate is a place that pays you to complete offers. I didn’t understand how they could afford to do this, but then I realized they actually tell you…so here it is, word for word from their “FAQ” page.

“Companies need consumers to try and review products, services, and websites and are willing to pay money to have them do so. Most of the time you’re asked to do this without any compensation, what we do is take the money companies give us for your participation, and give you back up to 75% of it!”

CashCrate isn’t just another internet scam(if it was I wouldn’t waste time promoting it), this is REAL and this is 100% Free. (You only have to be 13+ years old to give this a shot. It’s a great way for teens or even adults to make some side money).

Now, I’m not saying you are going to be financially set for life, hell… I’m still financially embarrassed, but it will definitely give you some nice pocket money every month by doing surveys or referring others.

If you’re ready to start making money, then wait no more: signup at CashCrate now. If you’re still a little skeptical about the entire thing (which is completely understandable, it’s rare you find legit websites like this) then please continue reading my review. Here’s some more information on CashCrate…

There are two levels of commission through CashCrate. The first commission is from those who sign up under you (which gives 25%) and the second is those who signed up under the people you signed up (which gives you 10%). So if you end up getting a few referrers, you’re bound to make some decent money for doing almost no work.

If you plan on giving CashCrate a shot, be sure to download RoboForm. Most of the surveys ask you very repetitive information like your name, date of birth, gender etc… this all gets annoying after awhile. With RoboForm you can skip those steps! Once it is installed you can input your information into RoboForm, then whenever you do a survey you can fill in all that repetitive information with the click of a button! It’s easy, and best of all…it’s free! This makes it much easier to bring in some cash from CashCrate without getting bored.

Some ways to get referrals would be to add a link in your forum signatures, tell your friends, make a blog about it, write some articles or any other creative ways you can think of. Be sure NOT to use MySpace or Facebook because these are against the terms of use for CashCrate. (If it weren’t we would all be making the big bucks!) They say that it is considered spam (which is completely reasonable) to post the referral link on these sites. No one likes spam.

I suggest not worrying about referrals until you get the hang of it yourself. There is a quota you must meet each month in order to receive a check (Don’t be afraid! It’s only $10 dollars which is easy!). By the time you hit that quota the first time, you will have a good feel of things. Eventually you’ll learn how to do things faster which evidently creates quicker and great income.

A lot of people are skeptical about things like this, I know I am! But I checked out the website, read some articles about it and decided I would give it a shot. Now I make a nice sized check every month from basically doing nothing.

If you’re bored and not up to anything, then there is no harm in giving it a shot. They don’t send you junk mail, they don’t ever ask for credit card information and they don’t SPAM! It is 100% free to signup and 100% free to participate. Give CashCrate a shot if you’re looking to make some extra bucks.

A voiceover where not much needs to be said! This is so ridiculous that you’re bound to crack a smile.

Some eyes are bigger then their stomach…

Are you looking to buy and resell items for profit but don’t really know how to do it? Well this guide will teach you how to do just that in the cell phone field! I buy and resell cell phones for side cash all the time, and this is a 10 Step – Step-By-Step Guide on how I do it! It is easy to follow and if done right will make you  a very nice hunk of chump change! Here we go…

1. Open eBay and hover your mouse over the “Categories” link at the top left; Then click “Cell Phones & PDAs“.
2. Click the “Cell Phones & Smartphones” link.
3. Once at this page there will be three steps you want to follow every time…
   • Top Left       – Click “Auctions” (Because we want to find low starting prices rather then Buy It Nows which are usually high).
   • Top Right     – Click the “Sort By” drop-down menu & choose “Ending Soonest” (To see which cell phones are low priced and ending NOW)
   • Middle Left  – Find technology and choose the technology you wish. (I Choose GSM (AT&T/Cingular/T-Mobile etc…) because I find they resell better).

4. Once all this is complete, look to the right of the auctions listings and you will see a “Time Left” column.
5. Scroll down while looking at the “Time Left” column and you will notice it increases very fast from minutes to hours to days.

6. When at the bottom, click page 2 and continue scrolling down. Continue this process to page 3, or even 4 if you need.
7. Usually on page 3 you will start to notice that the auction goes from “Time Left: 6 Days” to “Time Left: 1 minute”
   • What this does is bypass all the promoted auctions that the majority of users will see.
     
   • This gives you more of a chance to find lower priced auctions for sale that aren’t spiced up with the promoted listing tools.
     
   • Not everyone realizes that the promoted auctions are the first several pages so they won’t bother looking beyond it.

8. Scroll down until you see a low priced item that you’re interested in. Take note of the items name (Example: Palm Treo 650).
   • Open the “Advanced Search” option into another window or tab.
   • Copy the name of the item you’re interested in into the “Search Box” (In this example: Treo 650 is what we are interested in).
   • Click the Check Box that says “Completed Listings Only“, Then hit Search.
     • What this does is shows you all the ENDED auctions for that item (Palm Treo 650 in our example) and gives you an idea of what the price range for that item goes for.
   • I did a quick search just now and noticed that in the past few days it sold for:  LOWEST  $47.00 and HIGHEST $150.00

9. Now we want to try and bid as close to the lowest price as we possibly can. It doesn’t have to be right on that lowest price because that might have been a very rare auction, which is why you should look at a good amount of ended auctions to get an idea of what a great deal is.
10. When bidding, I wait until the last 8 – 12 seconds (Depending on Internet Speed), then I place my bid with the maximum amount of money I want to spend.(This is called Sniping).
    • You don’t want to spend more then the average price that item sells for or else you won’t make a profit when reselling.
    • Keep in mind that you want to be as close to the lower price of that item as possible. The closer you are the better chance of making resale profit.

And there you have it! See? That wasn’t so bad. Now get out there and find yourself some phones!