The online auction phenomena is taking the internet by storm. It has never been easier to sell a particular item online. Each and every day, tens of thousands of everyday people sell items on auctions to buyers around the world. It is a true Open Market and a great way to start your home based business, or internet business venture.

One great thing about auctions is that it is available for everyone. From homemakers that can sell collectibles, crafts or home items, to big companies that can sell surplus items and make a profit instead of writting it off.

How it works:
Most auctions sites are set up the same way. Items for sale are listed in categories. The seller, puts up an item for bidding on the appropriate category for a specific amount of time (more on this later). The buyer then places his/her bid (amount of money willing to pay for item) for the item. If, at the end of the auction term, the buyer has the highest bid, and if the reserve or minimum winning bid amount is reached, then the highest bidder "wins" the auction and gets to buy the item at that price.

How to put your item up for auction:
Well, first off look around the house for those "gadgets" you thought were so "cool" but never actually used....someones trash is someone else's treasure

A good way to get ideas is to surf the auction sites and see what is selling. You can get a good idea what kind of items are in demand on each particular category. That god-awful purple vase uncle howard gave you as a wedding present might be just the item a collector is looking for. Warning: Do not try to sell the same item someone else is selling at the same time..... you both will get lower bids.

Ok, first off you need to become a member of the auction site. This is usually a free sign up. In some sites you will also need to activate yourself as a seller. The most popular auction sites are:

• eBay!
• Yahoo! Auctions
• Amazon.com Auctions
• U-Bid, now 2nd only to ebay: Are you an auction guru? Find out now.
• This last one only accepts business owners as sellers, it is not set up for private parties, but it is growing in popularity. Visit www.BidZ.com for details.

Once you have set up your user name, you can start putting items up for sale. You usually pay a small listing fee, and a percentage of the winning bid to the auction site. All auction web sites are set up in categories. Buyers browse the site by going to the category that they like, or can do a search for items they are of interest to them. It is important that you place your item in the correct category. If you don't, the site might consider that spamming and will delete your item.

You want to make your title and description interesting and relevant to the item you have for sale. Make sure you use "Key Words" (words that people would use to try to find similar items) in your title. In your description, a good seller includes the estimated time of shipment, cost of shipping if available, return policy, and payment method accepted.

Accepting payments has never been easier. There are many online services that will allow you to accept credit card payments for a small fee. Also, you can accept money orders with relatively little risk. Personally, I never accept personal checks and would not recommend it unless you are an established business and have a procedure for that.

Here are a couple of paymnet processors that you may be a able to use as you start out:

• C2IT Powered by Citibank: Can send or receive money electronically worldwide.
• PayPal: Currently the most popular payment system used by Auctioneers online. Allows you to take credit card payments, e-checks, or bank transfers.
• Visit our Why you should accept credit cards page for more information on credit card payments and merchant accounts.

Once you a good title and description, you'll need to decide how long your auction will run. Most auction sites will have several choices ranging from 3 days to 10 days. You will also need to decide your starting bid. The starting bid is the least amount a buyer can enter to have a valid bid. sometimes it is the lowest price the seller wants to get for an item, but usually it is just a starting point. That is because you can have a Reserve Price. A reserve price is the least amount you will accept as a winning bid for your item. In other words, if the bidding doesn't reach your reserve, you don't have to sell the item. There is usually a small fee for adding a reserve

At the end of the auction, make sure you email the winning bidder as soon as possible with the total and payment instructions if neccessary. You must ship the item to the buyer quickly and safely as soon as you can after you have received payment. It is important that you keep a professional attitude even though you may not be doing this as a business.

Most auction sites have a feedback program where members can rate the transactions. That way, new users can tell which sellers are honest and sell good merchandise, and the sellers can tell which buyers are risky business. In some sites you can set your auctions so that only "qualified" buyers (those meeting good feedback limits) can bid on your items. Also, it is considered polite to leave feedback on all your transactions.

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