Over the years of selling on eBay, we have learned a few things that consistently helped improve our results with our auctions. Some of these tips are obvious, but others are not. If you employ these techniques, I'm sure you will see better results on your eBay auctions too.

10. ALLOW INTERNATIONAL BUYERS
Every bid counts, even if it comes from the other side of the world. Odds are they won't win the auction, so why not let them bid. If they do win, you can charge a separate handling fee for international buyers to compensate you for the extra time it takes you to fill out the customs form. Just be sure to insure ALL international packages especially of expensive items.

9. END AUCTIONS ON SUNDAY
The best day for your auctions to end is Sunday. More people are at home on Sunday than any other day of the week. For the opposite reason, Friday and Saturday are the worst days to end your auctions. Time your auctions to end at 10 PM EST or 7 PM PST. It is not too late for the people on the east coast and not too early for the west cost.

8. OFFER A RETURN POLICY
Reassure your buyer that your items are not broken or defective by offering a return policy. Also, be sure to accurately describe any damage in the description.

7. START YOUR AUCTIONS AT $0.99
You want to encourage as much bidding as possible on your auctions. A low starting price gets people interested and they will add your auction to their watch list and start bidding. You also get the advantage of paying only a $0.20 insertion fee. Unfortunately, this strategy doesn't work on everything. Items that don't normally get many bids may not have enough bid action to rise up to the expected price before the auction ends. Items that average 10 or more bids are good candidates to start at $0.99.

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6. USE A GALLERY PICTURE
This is something eBay should do for free, but this is a cash cow for them. It is essential that potential buyers see a picture of your item when it is displayed during search results or when the buyer is browsing. You need to catch the buyer's eye when they are scrolling through the list of auctions. They may pass right over your auction if you don't have a gallery picture. Be sure the gallery picture shows everything that is included in the auction.

5. DON'T GOUGE WITH SHIPPING CHARGES
Nothing turns off buyers more than excessive shipping charges. People know that they are being ripped off and they will leave your auction and not return. It is O.K. to charge a reasonable handling fee, but keep it in proportion to the actual shipping charges.

4. WRITE A GOOD DESCRIPTION
Here is your chance to talk up your item to potential buyers. You want to be honest and describe the condition, what it is made of, brand name, dimensions and possibly the reason you are selling it. Be sure to note any damage or any other unique features. Always assume the buyer doesn't know anything about the item.

3. TAKE QUALITY PICTURES
Since the buyer can't pick up your item and look at, you need to provide the next best thing with pictures. Take pictures from the front and back of the item so buyers can get an overview. Then take a few key close up shots paying special attention to any high wear or damaged parts. Put yourself in place of the buyer, and ask yourself what photos would you want to see? A good set of photos can also provide proof against fraudulent claims too. If you list frequently, get yourself a photo hosting service to save on the picture fees.

2. HAVE IMPECCABLE FEEDBACK
Your feedback score must be at least 50 or buyers won't fully trust you. Start out a new eBay ID by buying from other sellers until you reach 10. Then you can start selling lower priced items to build up your feedback. Don't try to sell expensive items until you have established yourself. You need to keep your feedback rating at 98% or higher to keep potential buyers' trust.

1. OPTIMIZE YOUR TITLE
By far the most import part of your eBay listing is the title. By default, the title, not the description, is used for search results. If you have a bad title and leave out critical keywords, few buyers will be able to find your auction to bid on it. An easy way to find the optimal set of keywords is to search the completed listings for your item. The ones that sold for the highest prices usually have excellent titles. Take a look at several of the top sellers to get ideas on how to word your title.

HONORABLE MENTION
Here are a few more things that didn't make our top ten list, but are worth mentioning:

A. DON'T END YOUR AUCTION EARLY
Occasionally when you are selling an item, someone will email you with an offer to end your auction early. Unless you know better, don't take it. Even though it might sound like a good deal, they are only offering you a fraction of what it is really worth.

B. DON'T END YOUR AUCTION ON A HOLIDAY
Pay attention to the calendar. If you start a 7 day auction on June 27, it will end on July 4th. That's a really bad time to end an auction as many potential bidders are out watching fireworks. Avoid ending auctions on any holidays.

C. WATCH THE COMPETITION
Before listing an item, check if any others are currently listed or just sold. If there are too many out there, you may want to wait a while. If the one just sold with several bidders and there aren't any others, you can try a buy it now at the same price to get one of the losing bidders to buy yours right away.

D. ACCEPT PAYPAL
Paypal is so widely used on eBay that you must accept it. However, don't only accept Paypal. Many people won't use Paypal and will pay by cashier's check or money order. There is no need to accept personal checks.

E. GOOD COMMUNICATION IS VITAL
Always be cordial in your communications. There is no reason to provoke someone to give you a negative feedback, even if they deserve it.