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In General What are the essentials for getting bids in auctions? Why use third party image hosting instead of eBay's built in hosting? How does a third party image hosting service work for online auctions? How do I optimize my pictures for use in auction descriptions?

EAPH Specific Why use EAPH as your image hosting service? All About iDrive Logging in to your new EAPH member account What to do if PayPal cancels your subscription What to do if you forget your password

EAPH and FreeForm Auction Builder One opinion as to a well laid out auction description RobsHelp.com Home of FreeForm (opens in new window) Quick step by step overview for using EAPH with FreeForm Getting started with FreeForm (opens in new window)

What are the essentials for getting bids in online auctions?

First of all your auction must get visits by people who are shopping for what you are selling! There are two ways that these people will find your auction:  by browsing categories or by entering search words.  You need to provide for either method by listing your items in the proper categories and by including in the auction title and the description those words that people will use when searching for what you are selling.  Research is required.  Spend some time finding what categories and words seem to be successful for others by viewing the number of bids other auctions have received.  Otherwise, the trick to getting visits is no trick at all.  Simply strive to describe your item as accurately and completely as possible in the title and within the description of your auctions.  Doing so will quite naturally lead to the description including all the key words that people might use to find it.

Many sellers include a counter to display the number of hits (visits) they have received as a measure of the success for their title, description key words, and category selection.  Viewing the number of visits your "competitors" have received for their auctions can be enlightening but don't confuse hits with success.  Bids that lead to a fair sales price are the true measure of success!

Once you have the visit, you need to hold the visitor's interest and obtain a bid.  A good strategy to accomplish that is by identifying and removing objections a buyer may have to completing the purchase.  Although you can and should include a prominent link where the visitor can ask questions by email, don't depend on that happening.  Instead, your job is to anticipate and address all the basic concerns:

• Present yourself as reliable.  The potential bidder needs to feel assured that if they win the auction and send their hard earned money that you will, in turn, deliver the goods.  The feedback system on eBay helps if you have bought and sold regularly.  If you are new to eBay then you simply must make an extra effort:
  
  
  • You can earn trust by the very nature of your presentation.  For example, taking obvious and excruciating care to point out anything that could be interpreted as a flaw and including a penny or a ruler in your photos to give scale are signs that you have truly done your best to communicate the quality and size of an item.  Taking such care is evidence itself of your good character.
  • Auctioning many items at the same time imparts a sense of commitment to selling on eBay as well as provides an opportunity for cross selling (discussed below).
  • Alluding to a continued selling effort on eBay by "announcing" what will be coming up in the future re-enforces the impression that you're in for the long haul and so can be depended upon to treat your customers fairly.
  
  
• Present yourself as competent.  Nothing can be more frustrating than incompetence from salespeople.  Buy a few things and do research on how transactions work on eBay before starting to sell!  Then you will be competent to include simple instructions on what you expect of the winner and what they can expect from you at the close of the auction.  Be thorough, but take care to state your requirements in a positive manner to avoid any possibility of accidentally communicating that you are difficult to work with.
  
  
• Eliminate any doubt as to the quality or size of the item.  There are many things you should not do to spoil a sales opportunity (see below) but there's absolutely one thing you must do which is to portray the item being auctioned as best you can within the inherent limitations of the online auction medium.  Multiple pictures and an accurate complete description removes any potential doubt as to the quality of the item.  Alternating text with pictures within the description area of the auction provides a greater opportunity to point out features than if the pictures are only at the bottom of the auction.
  
  
• Avoid anything that might detract from a pleasant experience for any single one of your visitors!  Many visitors may, entirely on principle, click the back button in an instant for any one of the following reasons:
  
  
  • Text is illegible against a background wallpaper or color
  • Text runs off the right side of the screen forcing the visitor to scroll their browser window back and forth to read it
  • The auction takes too long to display
  • Pictures take too long to display
  • The auction seems frivolous with "bells and whistles" having little or nothing to do with what is being auctioned
  
  Attractive auction descriptions play a key role in successful eBay selling but remind yourself constantly that your objective is to sell your items, not impress visitors with HTML skill or gee-gaws.  If you have a compelling reason to create your own HTML then, by all means do so.  Otherwise, leave it to experts and use tools, such as the FreeForm Auction Builder, that are specifically designed to produce HTML auction descriptions.  Often the most disappointing experience for a budding HTML designer is the revelation that beautiful layouts carefully and painstakingly constructed within their own preference set of window size, screen resolution, or browser version often fall completely apart when viewed by others who have their own preferences.  FreeForm, on the other hand, will not produce a compact layout in every window size but does produce an acceptable result in any window size and so accommodates all your visitors comfortably.
  
  
• Squeeze everything you can from a visit to any one of your auctions by including an invitation to visit your other auctions as well.  Add a link to your other auctions within the body of the description, a few words of encouragement to do so such as "will combine shipping", and even include a few pictures of other related items you currently are selling.  It is not advised, however, to embed a gallery of all your other items for sale within your auctions.  Often embedded galleries interfere with the prompt loading of the auction page and when provided by third parties often are not kept completely up to date.

When you think you're finished, take one last objective look at the entire presentation for anything a potential bidder might see as a reason NOT to bid -- then go back and remove that reason by adding or taking away content. Help & Information Center Menu (top of page)
Why use third party image hosting instead of eBay's built in hosting?

Pictures are critical when presenting items for sale.  Using eBay picture hosting is the easiest way to add pictures to auctions because it is "built in" to eBay, but there are limitations.  Using a third party picture hosting service, such as EAPH, is appropriate when any or all of the following apply:

1. When more than six pictures are required for complete and attractive presentations.  (eBay only hosts up to 6 pictures total per auction)
2. When presentations will benefit from pictures being displayed within the description area of the auction.  A picture is worth a thousand words but a presentation can often be enhanced by textual content that points out special features in adjacent pictures.  (eBay only shows pictures at the top or at the bottom of descriptions)
3. When eBay's automated adjustments to pictures cause unacceptable quality loss.  (Every picture hosted by eBay's built in hosting is automatically adjusted to conform to eBay's specifications which can reduce the visual quality)
4. When the accumulated monthly cost of paying eBay for extra pictures exceeds the flat monthly fee that would be paid instead to a third party hosting service.  eBay hosts one picture free then charges 15 cents for each additional picture added while many third party hosting services, including EAPH, charge only a single flat monthly fee regardless of the number of pictures shown in auctions.

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How does a third party image hosting service work for online auctions?

Using third party hosted images in eBay auctions always includes three extra steps in comparison to using eBay's built in hosting.  The first step is uploading (copying) pictures from your computer to a third party hosting service (there is absolutely no way to use pictures directly from your own computer!).  The second step is obtaining the Internet addresses (URLs) assigned to the pictures.  Each picture copied to a third party host "lands" at a location that becomes accessible on the Internet via a URL just like a website is accessed -- you can type the URL of the picture into the address line of your browser and the picture will be displayed.  The third step is using the Internet addresses (URLs) to display pictures within eBay auctions by filling the URLs into auction designer forms or by use of what are called HTML "image tags" within the body of descriptions.  Here's a quick overview of the process:

1. You have taken pictures with your digital camera
2. You transfer the pictures from your digital camera to a folder located on your home computer
3. Optionally (but recommended) you perform adjustments to your pictures (cropping, resizing, brightening, touch ups, etc.)
4. You connect your computer via the Internet to your image hosting service and log in
5. You select pictures from your computer to be copied (uploaded) to the image hosting service and perform the uploading process
6. You obtain the Internet addresses of the pictures you uploaded
7. You use those Internet addresses to show your pictures in your auctions via HTML image tags within the auction description or by filling the URLs into auction designer/posting forms

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How do I optimize my pictures for use in auction descriptions?

Digital cameras, scanners, and photo developing services tend to produce pictures of a size and quality suitable for printing.  Unfortunately, this works against you if your intent is to use the pictures in auctions because the larger size and quality necessary for printing typically displays HUGE on a computer screen and the files consume a lot of bytes which causes them to display slowly over an Internet connection.  Prepping pictures for auctions is easy with most picture editors that come with cameras and scanners.  There are three steps:

1. Crop the picture so that it only contains the important subject matter.  Cropping consists of "drawing" a rectangle around the area of the picture you want to keep and discarding the rest.  In your picture editor select a "tool" (if necessary) that lets you select a portion of your picture, then draw your rectangle around the part you want to keep, then look for "crop to selection" or just plain "crop" in the menu to perform the cropping operation on the picture.
   
   
2. Resize the picture to the smallest width and height the picture will "tolerate".  By tolerate I mean as small as you can get it without it losing the detail necessary for your sales effort.  The target range is no smaller than 300 pixels wide and no larger than 640 pixels wide OR no smaller than 200 pixels high and no larger than 480 pixels high.  Look for "resize" in your picture editor and select "pixels" as the measurement (if necessary) then set the width only to your target width allowing the editor to determine the proportionate height -- look for and make sure that a box is checked to "maintain proportions" or "preserve aspect ratio".
   
   
3. Save the revised picture as the type jpg/jpeg and, if available during the save operation, adjust the compression level.  In most picture editors to perform the save operation choose File, Save As, then choose the type jpg or jpeg -- but before completing the operation look for an "options" button.  Within the options you may be able to adjust the compression of the picture.  The greater the compression the smaller the file size becomes (in bytes).  Most pictures will tolerate 50% compression before severe degradation of quality results.  When experimenting be careful not to overwrite the original picture file by typing in a different file name before clicking "OK" to save -- that way you can always go back and try something else.  Important: Reload the new picture file you've created to see the actual results of compression because most picture editors don't provide a preview of the effects of compression!
   
   

   Note: To match the parameters used by iDrive's "Adjust" feature (get rid of the red ink) reduce dimensions to proportionately fit within 560 pixels wide x 420 pixels high and apply sufficient JPEG compression to produce results smaller than 50KB.

There will be times when a photo that is reduced and compressed to meet the practical needs of eBay and the Internet will less than adequately represent the quality of the item being sold.  Before giving up and forcing visitors to wait for excessively large photos to load in your auctions, try a "cutaway" technique.  Basically that is taking a smaller representative sample (crop) from the overall view and leaving that in its original size to serve as a closeup.  Here is a tutorial that demonstrates the technique and touches on cropping, resizing, and compressing photos:

Crop - Cutaway - Resize - Compress Tutorial

With only a little practice you'll be able to run through photo optimization steps very quickly and your auction visitors will be glad you did!

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Why use EAPH as your image hosting service?

Although nothing is as easy as using eBay's built in picture hosting, EAPH is designed (especially when used in conjunction with the FreeForm Auction Builder) to make it as easy as possible to complete the steps required for including pictures in eBay auction descriptions including safeguards to help prevent making common mistakes with pictures.

• EAPH requires no installation of additional software on your computer.  Everything runs through your existing Internet browser.  Many services instead require installation and configuration of an FTP client program on your home computer.
• EAPH via the iDrive utility includes the ability to optionally adjust the size of your pictures after they are uploaded.  Many services instead require pictures to already be a certain size before they can be uploaded or they automatically adjust the size of your pictures (like eBay, leaving you out of control).
• EAPH via iDrive is designed specifically for use as a host for auction pictures.  Many others instead merely allow hosting of auction pictures but provide absolutely no support for it.
• EAPH via iDrive always displays both a relatively simple URL (Internet location) and the HTML (image tag) required for showing pictures in auction descriptions.  Many others require complicated routines to determine the correct URLs to use and/or excruciatingly long and complex URLs.
• Used in conjunction with the FreeForm Auction Builder, pictures may be included in attractive auction descriptions without any need to copy and paste or type URLs or learn any HTML.  A simple point and click interface is provided from FreeForm to EAPH hosted pictures!
• EAPH was born of a desire to help make attractive custom auction descriptions available and affordable for everyone.

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Logging in to your new EAPH member account

New memberships are not created automatically upon the launch of a new subscription using PayPal.  Wait to receive a Welcome email (always within 24 hours -- usually much sooner) containing login information.  The Welcome email will be sent to the email address you use with your PayPal account so be sure to check there if you use more than one email address.

Every member of EAPH.com is assigned a subdomain of EAPH and has their own login location (URL / Internet Address).  That address will appear in the Welcome email.  To access your EAPH programs type that address into your browser's address line.

You may also get to your login location from the Member Login page:  Member Login

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What to do if PayPal cancels your subscription

A PayPal subscription is the preferred method for making monthly payments to EAPH.  It is relatively secure for you because your checking / credit account information remains only at PayPal (they are not shared with EAPH).  PayPal subscriptions are convenient because payments are made automatically each month and you retain the ability to easily and positively cancel your subscription at any time.

PayPal, however, has a built in mechanism that cancels subscriptions automatically if a PayPal member changes a checking account or credit card associated with their PayPal account.  If your subscription is cancelled as a result of changes you make to your PayPal account, don't panic.  Your membership to EAPH is not directly connected to your PayPal subscription status.  You will always be contacted separately by EAPH to confirm whether or not the cancellation was intentional and how best to get it back going again.  In the meantime there will be absolutely no change in your membership status.  All your pictures will continue to display in auctions and you will still be able to access your EAPH programs.
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What to do if you forget your password

Member passwords for EAPH are encrypted during the setup process.  They are not stored anywhere on the site in an unencrypted form so requests for forgotten passwords requires a little research on this end back to the original setup information provided by you.  So, please be patient.  Request your forgotten password by sending an email to rob@robshelp.com.  Ideally you need to send the email from the same email address as you used during the setup (if done through PayPal, from the address you have registered with PayPal).  If you can't send your request from the original email address used, you'll need to provide some other evidence so we'll know it's you!  So we don't get confused over here please also mention EAPH in the email as FreeForm members also use a password.
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One opinion as to a well laid out auction description

The following seems to work well for the experienced sellers I have had contact with and is all relatively easy to accomplish with FreeForm.  Working from the top of the description to the bottom:

1. Introduce yourself with a logo and your business name if you have one and briefly discuss your commitment to excellent customer service.
   
   
2. Show the title for the auction.  This works well as a transition from the intro and provides an opportunity to expand the title to include key words that would not fit into eBay's allowed 45 characters.  It does no good to repeat key words but throughout the description you should strive to weave in all the different words someone might use to search for your item.
   
   
3. Briefly and enthusiastically punch up the major features of the item you are selling.  This serves to set the mood for the presentation and gives the visitor something to read while awaiting photos to appear (if they have a slow internet connection).  Here is another opportunity to unobtrusively weave in different keywords.
   
   
4. Display the best overall picture of the item
   
   
5. Use text to point out features in the above picture
   
   [Repeat the picture followed by text sequence for all your pictures to describe different aspects of the item that each picture best shows -- take advantage of this opportunity to include additional keywords]
   
   
6. If appropriate, discuss price justification and or comparison value information to help portray the item as a bargain.
   
   
7. Weave together your terms and conditions of sale, payment methods accepted, and the excellent responsiveness and customer service you will, in turn, provide.
   
   
8. Provide an email link at which you will be happy to answer questions
   
   
9. Provide a link to your other auctions (or your eBay store) along with good reasons for visiting them such as "will combine shipping costs for multiple purchases", and provide at least one picture of a related item you are currently selling.
   
   
10. Include a link to your About Me page if you have one and describe what your plans are for future eBay listings.  This re-enforces your eBay "presence" which will help potential bidders to trust you.
    
    Note: It is possible to create a custom eBay About Me page using FreeForm!

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Quick overview for using EAPH with FreeForm

1. Go to your new EAPH member launchpad and launch the iDrive utility by clicking on the "EAPH iDrive" link.
   
   
2. In iDrive optionally create at least one folder with a name that is meaningful to represent the pictures it will contain.  The goal is to avoid having more than 25 pictures in any particular folder.
   
   
3. In iDrive go "into" the folder that will be the destination for pictures copied (uploaded) from your computer.  You go into a folder by selecting it from the "Jump to:" part of the iDrive screen or by clicking on the folder name in the folders section of the iDrive screen.
   
   
4. In iDrive scroll down to the Upload input areas (there's 25 of them) and click on the "Browse" buttons one at a time to select pictures from your computer to be uploaded into the current folder.  After selecting pictures click on any of the "Upload All Files" links within the Upload input areas and complete the uploading process.  You may experience advisories/suggestions regarding the size of your pictures giving you the option to adjust them before or after they are uploaded.
   
   
5. In iDrive, optionally (but suggested) adjust the sizes of pictures as necessary by clicking on the "Adjust" link located next to each picture.
   
   
6. Close the iDrive window which should again reveal your EAPH launchpad then click on the link to the "FreeForm Program".
   
   
7. Within FreeForm the images (pictures or graphics) you uploaded via iDrive are now available by clicking on the "EAPH.com" links in any of the FreeForm input areas that accept images.
   
   
8. Within FreeForm you now also have the option to take advantage of unlimited saving of descriptions/templates via use of the "EAPH Save" link at the bottom of FreeForm's Preview page.  Descriptions/templates saved to EAPH are retrieved by clicking on the "Restore from EAPH saved descriptions" link at the top of the FreeForm entry page.

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