Originally considered a fad for individual Web shoppers, online auctions have gradually been attracting small and large businesses from all markets around the world. With low fees for sellers and membership in the tens of millions, sites like eBay provide an ideal channel for increasing both buzz and sales.

Some of the rewards auctioneers enjoy include:

Expanded reach
Auctions provide the chance to build your customer base. Given that an estimated 80% of your business will come from repeat customers, auctions are an excellent way to reach out to a broader audience and build lasting relationships.
Alongside this is the problem that remote workers don't always have access to the work they need. Access to files that are stored only in the office can be nearly impossible. And if there isn't good enough collaboration and visibility on all the sections of a project then managing it can become a real nightmare.

Pricing Products
Not sure if your pricing structure is optimal? Use auctions to find out what people are willing to spend.

Selling excess inventory
If your inventory isn't moving as quickly as you expected, move it off the shelves to eager bidders. You may not get your original price, but you will make room for new inventory.

Introducing specialty items
Online auctions often attract shoppers looking for a special product. By getting your merchandise in the auction format, your name may get to that particular niche market you were unable to find through your site or store.

Before your business goes on the online auctioning block, be sure to consider the following:

• Product Selection:
  Determine which items you want to sell based on your potential profit and your interest in selling the product.


• Cost vs. Benefit: How much will the product cost you to sell, including auction fees? How much can you reasonably expect to sell it for? If the ends don't justify the means, you may want to reconsider your options.
• Supply and Storage: Is the item you plan to sell available, or will the buyer have to wait to receive it? Do you have space to keep inventory of the products you want to sell, or will that be an additional cost?


• Packing and Shipping:

  Consider what's involved in packing and shipping to customers. Are the products fragile or do they require special handling, meaning more time and energy on your end? If so, you probably want to include an additional charge for handling.

Which Site?

eBay
eBay is among the most-trafficked sites on the Internet and has three million items listed in 3,000 categories, getting 1.5 billion page views per month (Neilson Ratings). Although it holds more than a 60 percent share of the market, it may not be the best choice for your business.

Beyond eBay
Yahoo! Auctions or Amazon.com Auctions may offer a better setting for your product, so do your homework to see where you best fit in . In addition to these sites, there are hundreds of others for specialized items. Check the item quantities and bidding amounts for products similar to yours to get a feel for the demand at that Web site.

Taking Steps to Selling
Using online auctions to sell your products is incredibly simple. You don't need to know any coding, you don't need special software, and you don't need a merchant account. Individuals around the world have made their living on auction sites with only a computer, printer, digital camera and Internet access.

Pre-Selling Checklist

• Visit the sites you are planning to use.
• Check out the various product categories, the item descriptions and the registration process.
• Bid on items so you'll understand the process that shoppers go through. This will not only help you decide which auction site is best for your business, but it will also put you in the shoes of the bidder so you'll be able to target your descriptions better.
• Be sure to spend time looking over the ÒHelpÓ section or FAQ of auctions to learn about different types of auctions, rules for bidding and selling, and general regulations. As online auctions grow as business ventures for individuals and companies alike, more books are popping up in stores on how to be successful. Do some additional research with these guides on the finer nuances of online auctioneering.
  
  

With 36% of consumers searching for products online, it’s increasingly important for small businesses to focus on their online marketing campaigns. Fortunately, shopping bots (also known as shopping agents or price comparison sites) are both the easiest and one of the cheapest methods for getting your product in front of the expansive Internet audience.

Agents for Success
Whether it’s been on TV during the dot-com boom or on billboards or banners, you’ve likely seen ads for the big players of price comparison: BizRate, MySimon, Shopping.com and others. What you may not know is what they do, or how they work. It’s simple—and effective—for both customers and merchants alike.

Shopping bots are like search engines, except rather than gleaning information and returning with results, they find products and prices. A customer types in the product they’re looking to buy, and the bot gives a list of possibilities, with product and purchasing information. These sites channel more traffic to merchant Web sites, attract qualified customers, and get the merchant’s name out there, in front of shoppers. They also put competitors side-by-side, making it easy for customers to see which company offers the better choice. Some list by price, but most list based on a pay-for-placement bidding process.

The Big Bots on the Block

BizRate
The most popular shopping bot, BizRate is a comparison shopping and quality assurance site in one. In addition to offering price and product information, it also runs surveys online and asks customers to rate different businesses and products. When a customer searches for a product, they see a list, with businesses that have paid for placement. It’s a pay-per-click bidding system, with the rate ranging between 10 and 30 cents. In addition, merchants also are required to pay a $100 deposit.

Shopping.com
The final product of a merge between DealTime and Epinions, Shopping.com offers price comparison, product reviews, and shopping guides. Also a PPC bidding system, they require a refundable $200 deposit per listing.

PriceGrabber
PriceGrabber provides the same features as BizRate with one noticeable difference: it’s commission-based. Businesses are charged based on sales, $1for sales under $15, and 7.5% for sales over $15. Additionally, it costs extra to display your company logo with your search results. Even if you think it’s pricey, know that it’s also a favorite among shoppers for its ease-of-use and Product Tracker option.

Froogle
An up-and-coming new feature from Google, Froogle is currently free because it relies on sponsored ads. Basically, all that’s required of the online merchant is a form and use of their Froogle Feeder software. Although it’s still in beta testing (first release), it receives a massive amount of traffic from Google exposure.

MySimon
MySimon is a free shopping agent that searches more than 2,000 sites. To have your site included, you must meet MySimon's criteria: detailed product information, site upload time of eight seconds (28.8 kbps), at least 10 individual products for sale within at least one product category, online ordering and thorough telephone customer service.

Yahoo! Shopping
Yahoo! Shopping is a significant contender. With links from Yahoo! searches, products get major visibility. Also on a PPC system, it costs anywhere from 19 cents to $1.25 per click.

Getting Started
The process of getting your product on a shopping bot is relatively simple, although the specifics may vary from site to site. Your first step is finding one that’s right for your business and your product. Browse the categories and perform searches for the types of products you plan to list to get a sense of where your business will best fit.

Next, draft the information you plan to submit to a bot about your business and/or products. Typically, this includes: product name, description, price, and URL. Remember to keep your description clear and compelling to shoppers. This is a form of advertising just as any other! Then, submit it to your bot of choice.

It may take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to appear in search results, but once it does, get ready to grab the sales.