Why Your eBay Auction Didn't Sell

If you spend much time on eBay, you know what a crap shoot it can be to win an auction. And yet, only about 70 percent of auctions receive any bids at all. Why don't the other 30 percent draw any action? Well, here are 10 reasons why no one bids on them. As a huge eBay user, here are my biggest pet peeves, drawn from the original piece at Personal Finance Advice.

• Typos - No one is going to bid on your auction if you can't even find it. Plus, typos inside the listing make you look like a scammer (yes, I've been burned plenty of times, argh!).
• No Shipping Information - I don't have the time or inclination to ask for a shipping quote. Set a flat price, and stick with it.
• No Paypal - eBay actually warns against people who demand payment via Western Union, BidPay, or other oddball payment services. I don't completely trust Paypal, either, but it's better than the alternatives.
• No Photo (or Bad Photo) - As the author states, a picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes it is worth a thousand dollars, too.

While the author makes a big deal about sometimes-high prices, I'm usually on eBay to get something I can't get anywhere else, so I don't overly mind a high starting bid or international shipping rates. For a rare CD box set, $12 in shipping from the UK isn't out of line. But that's just me.

Give the full story a read-through next time you decide to sell something via auction.

UPDATE - CyberSource writes: eBay modified their Safe Payments Policy to accept BidPay in 2006 following its purchase by CyberSource. eBay has a long history of concerns related to the Western Union Money Transfer service; once BidPay was no longer associated with Western Union those concerns were removed. With over 4 million users since 1999, BidPay is an authorized eBay Development Partner and is the largest alternative payment service on eBay.

LINK: Ten Reasons I Did Not Bid On Your eBay Listing