Arbitrage is a technique used in the stock market by large players
who search (with powerful computers in real time) for price
discrepancies from one market to another.

For example, if they see dealers in London trading IBM stock at 1/8th
pt lower than in New York, even if it's only for a few seconds,
they'll grab it at the lower price and sell it in New York where
they'll make an 1/8th pt profit.

Usually dealing in very large lots (100's of thousands of shares)
arbitrages are made possible by these kinds of short and
infrequent 'inefficiencies' in the global marketplace.

I've applied a modified version of this stock market method to eBay
with excellent results. EBay is a huge marketplace, and even though
it's centrally located (in cyberspace) it is still a relatively 'inefficient' marketplace.

There are several reasons for this- availability of detailed market
information available to the participants is one major cause of this
phenomenon.

As I've mentioned in previous articles, it's better to specialize
when it comes to buying and selling on eBay. Become an expert
in 'Zippo" lighters or rare books or whatever interests you most. Add
depth to your knowledge, read more books, study anything related to
your field- that way when you see a Zippo lighter with a tail like a
fish and the person who listed it obviously missed this very
important point in their description, you could end up owning it for
very little money.

Then you turn around and sell it on eBay again, for a nice profit
because:

+ You recognized it's true value,
+ Described it correctly,
+ Added better pictures and…
+ Generally instilled confidence in bidders that you know what you're
selling.

In other words, you have *added value* to the item by describing it
more accurately and more knowledgeably than the previous seller.

That's what I call the "eBay Arbitrage Strangle".

Here's a how I take advantage of eBay's market on the BUY side of the
trade:

Develop a list of "search terms" that will help you locate items
you're interested in.

For example, when I search for rare books on eBay I always have a
list of terms, in a text file on my computer and all I have to do
is 'cut and paste' those terms into eBay's search window. When
developing your list of terms, use terms that a person who didn't
know a thing about what they have listed would use. In my example
above, with the Zippo lighter, search on "Zippo and fish tail". Be
obvious in your search terms.

When you find an item that you know you can make a profit on, bid
early and enter the highest bid you would be willing to pay. Don't
ever go back and enter another bid. That's a sure way to lose money.
If you get it at your price or better, good! If not, and the item
goes beyond your highest price, forget it and move on. It's easy to
have bids in on 50 to 100 items at one time- if you win 10 or 20 out
of 100 you're doing pretty good.

Here's a summary of this profit opportunity:

Strategy: Buying low at one auction site like Yahoo auctions or
Amazon's Zshops and selling in another more active market (like eBay)
for a premium.

Timing: The best time to use this strategy is when there are price
discrepancies between the different auction sites. Generally slower
markets with fewer bidders are the best places to buy- and more
active markets with a larger number of bidders is the best place to
sell.


--------------------------------------
Dave Vallieres is the Pres/CEO of
Total Internet Profits (TM). TIP uncovers
quick profit opportunities on the net and
then equips you with the knowledge and
resources you need to capture them.
::::::: http://GoBizInfo.com/ :::::::::

Few things are more frustrating than visiting an eBay store and
be presented only with a mile long list of items that one has to
scroll through. It is very difficult to find items in a long
list if you are looking for a particular type or genre of item.


What many eBay store owners do not seem to realize is that eBay
buyers are not desperate to find and buy their particular items.
There are so many auctions going on at any particular point in
time, that the browser Back button is probably the most used
function when browsing or searching for items.

The default sort order for the listing display in an eBay store
is listing end time, with those auctions ending soonest
displayed at the top. There are other listing sort orders
available as well, but unfortunately none of those are
necessarily very well suited for a store inventory display.

The primary means at your disposal to make it easier for an
eBay buyer to find what he or she is looking for are the
categories.

Think of the categories as virtual aisles in your store. You
need to use those virtual aisles in your store to guide the
buyer through the merchandise on offer.

The easier you make it for the buyer to find the desired item,
the better the chances that the person will buy your item and
not someone else's.

You know your merchandise best and know how you can slice and
dice the types of merchandise into meaningful categories.
However, do not limit a particular item to only one category.
With an eBay store, you can list an item in two different store
categories free of charge. Make full use of it.

An eBay buyer might miss an item while browsing one category
but notice it in the second category. This is synonymous to
putting cans of the same cream in both the dairy section and in
the baking section of a groceries store.

You cannot predict all the uses that a buyer will have in mind
for your merchandise, but you can at least cover off the most
obvious ones. When a buyer visits your eBay store and sees the
categories, they will first think of what they want to use the
item for and see if there is a matching category.

You can have up to 300 different categories in your eBay store.
Make full use of it to help your buyer easily find the item (or
even similar item) they want to buy.

Generally, a person visits your store wanting to buy something,
i.e., with money in hand. It is a great loss when they leave
your store because they couldn't find your item that is hidden
amongst tens or hundreds of other items.


About The Author: Jason Griffith writes eBay Store reviews for
http://BestAuctionStores.com
(http://www.bestauctionstores.com), a site dedicated to
providing eBay Buyers with the ability to review and rate eBay
stores.