Watch video of Dr. Lori now as she shows you actual online auctions where items were priced hundreds to thousands of dollars less than their actual value! 
Video courtesy CBS 3 TV.

Dr. Lori's Online Auction Tips #6 thru #10 (below)
Dr. Lori's Online Auction Tips #1 thru #5 (previous page)
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Dr. Lori's 10 Online Auction Tips

Have you been thinking about selling some unwanted antiques online and don’t know where to start? Do you want to take advantage of a worldwide audience? Selling online is easy for the big corporations, but how do regular folks generate some extra internet cash? At my antique appraisal events, I am often asked how to sell an item for profit. In Part I of this article, I outlined the first of my ten tips for online selling, but it is worth repeating ... Tip #1: Find out what you have and what it’s worth!

Tip #6: No Camera? No Computer? No Problem

Not a shutterbug? Can’t tell a computer mouse from a church mouse? You can still sell online. You can get digital images from an inexpensive disposable camera. Take regular photos and have them developed, at the grocery store or pharmacy, onto a Picture CD. Presto, you’ve got digital images. No computer? Hire an online auction assistant. For a fee, these businesses will photograph your item, post it online, and monitor your auction. It’s easy!

Tip #7: Avoid the Dummy

An auction dummy is a bidder for hire. Auction dummies exist in traditional and online auctions. Some sellers at auctions hire bidders or auction dummies to bid against interested bidders to drive up prices. With no intention of buying, the auction dummy creates a bidding war. Auction dummies typically use free web based email accounts. Most auction dummies have few winning bids, they can be difficult to spot online. 

Tip #8: Advertise your Sale

Market online to your global audience and off-line to everyone else. Drive people to your online auction with phone calls, postings on other website, and emails. Create frenzy. Example: When you host a yard sale, you advertise by calling friends, posting signs in the neighborhood, and buying classified ads in your local newspaper. It’s the same online. 

Tip #9: Don’t be Fooled

Some unscrupulous buyers may try to undermine your marketing by discrediting your item or its price. If you receive such emails, that “potential buyer” may be trying to get you to reduce your price. Stand firm. For additional help, get an online appraisal. 

Tip #10: You can do it! 

Follow my tips and be confident. You probably have something that you want to sell online and probably know someone who sold an item online with positive results. 

In Part I of this column, I outlined tips #1 thru #5 if you missed them. 

Dr. Lori
Director
Masterpiece Technologies Inc.