eBay Tools - Tools for Online Sellers and Buyers

Here are links to various tools for eBay and Internet sellers. Some of them are free, some of them are places to purchase supplies or services, some are educational and all, we hope, are useful.

eBay Tools ~ Product Research/Sourcing Tools

• The Surplus Profits Guide shows you where and how to source liquidation and surplus products for high profits.
   

• Sellathon Analitics are designed to help eBay sellers maximize profits.
   

• TeraPeak – This is another good eBay tool for research. Allows you to research average prices, other sellers, current eBay trends and more from a web based interface.
   

• Product research is essential to building a successful eBay business. I have used all of the research tools over the years, but the new release from HammerTap is without question the best research tools I have used.

  In return for promotional consideration, I have recently made a great deal for my readers. Instead of a 7-day free trial and then $24.95 a month, you can get try HammerTap3 for 14-days and subscribe for only $17.95 a month.
   

• The Firefox toolbar for eBay is an excellent eBay tool for buyers and sellers. The Firefox add-on lets you quickly access things like your eBay auctions, price comparisons for various products and customer reviews. You can easily search eBay using this tool and get preview pictures for products in the search results. The Firefox tool also supports eBay in the UK, Australia and Canada.
  
  If you don’t have Firefox the default toolbar provided by eBay has similar features.
   
• Here is a link to a great sourcing tool.  It's a Wholesale Search Engine that will help you find wholesale sources for eBay and your web site.

eBay Tools for Sellers

• AuctionX2 provides detailed reporting and sales tools for eBay sellers running Windows Vista and Windows 7.
   
• AuctionUsername – Use keywords to find unregistered eBay user names. 
   
• AuctionBlox – This eBay tool allows you to list and manage all of your auctions plus your osCommerce store so you can incorporate the two.
   
• SitePal – Add an animated speaking salesperson to your eBay auctions. 
   
• SquareTrade – Paid program that allows you to back all of your merchandise with a warranty. Manage your feedback rating and resolve disputes. 
   
• Template -O -Matic – Free-web based auction listing creator. 
   
• InkFrog – Another auction management system that you might consider. 
   
• AuctionHawk – A fully integrated auction management solution. Track sales, store your images, customize your listings and more. 
   
• Pro Stores – Fully customizable eBay store with shopping cart integration. 
   
• Blackthorne – All-in-one application that enables you to create professional eBay listings in bulk, manage sales, buyer communication and feedback from your desktop. 
   
• Supreme Auction – Downloaded software that lets you create your auction listing, add templates and submit it to eBay, right from your desktop. 
   
• AntListing is an all in one solution to help you manage eBay Listings, eBay transactions, PayPal transactions, shipments and more.
   
• Essentially Fflap is a system that automates posting your eBay items to Twitter. They are also working on adding Facebook. As I wrote last year about Twitter, whenever you post an auction listing to your Twitter account you create another inbound searchable link on the web that goes right to your listing. In addition your Twitter followers are exposed to your listings and you may get some sales that way.
  
  
• BuySAFE - BuySAFE is a bonding service that insures your auction and website listings up to $25,000 against fraud. If you are selling any type of expensive or luxury products, buySAFE can give your customers confidence to buy.
  
  
• Listing Ticker – This eBay tool creates a ready-made code to copy and paste into your web pages so that you can display your current eBay auctions.
  
  

• ChannelAdvisor – Tool for inventory management, ad creation, order fulfillment and more.
  
  

• Vendio – is one of my favorite tools. You can use it to maximize your eBay sales, open a store, brand your business and make your eBay listings more effective. You can also launch listings of Amazon from Vendio.
  
  

• ReliaBid – This handy eBay tool is a service that aims to eliminate non-paying bidders, so you can receive your payments sooner.
  
  

• AuctionWizard 2000 – Software that enables you to manage your eBay listings and eBay stores at the same time.
  
  

• eBay Sales Reports – Essential on your list of eBay tools. This helps you track your performance, measure your existing business and determine areas of improvement.
  
  

• Turbo Lister – This is one of eBay's tools for free listings. It allows you to customize your listings, upload and edit items in bulk and manage your auctions. Essentially for bulk posting.
  
  

• Auctiva is a great tool for small eBay sellers. Auctiva costs $9.95 per month but it includes several features that eBay charges for such as photo hosting, scheduler and  hundreds of auction templates. The Auctiva eBay tool also includes a scrolling gallery you can put in your auctions or on your website or blog so you expose everything you are selling on eBay when someone looks at just one of your auctions.
  
  




• I have used Seller's Voice for over a year now. It has increased both the sell through rate and the average final value of my auctions for my firepits, Starbucks collectibles and my EZ Cube light tents.

  It is easy to use and pays for itself many times over. I have arranged for my readers to get a three-week trial for only $1.00.
  

• AuctionBloopers lets you search for misspelled items on eBay which escape the eyes of most of the buyers and hence you could get them at a lesser price. A simple but effective tool which saves you money.
  

• FatFingers, like AuctionBloopers, is another free online tool which helps you find misspelled items on eBay and cash in on the low bids. It also provides some advanced search options.
  

• Selling Manager and Selling Manager pro are eBay's apps. They are installed into the My eBay section of a seller's listing page. The apps allows you to manage all your listings in one place. You can also create customized e-mail templates to send to buyers who won your auction. If the buyer doesn't pay, it automatically relists your item. If you want all these options, you'll be forced to pay $15.99 per month. The free version of the Web-based app will let you create a professional listing and edit your listings in bulk.
  

• Toolhaus is a service that allows you to see the reliability of an eBay user. It lists all the feedback the user has received, including both positive and negative reviews. It's not the most useful tool in this roundup, since it basically lists information you'll find on eBay, but it does come in handy when you want to quickly determine if you can trust users.
  

eBay Photo Tools

• PhotoBucket – A good place to store images for use in eBay auctions.
   
• ImageShack – Handy eBay tool for storing your images for use in your listings. 
   
• Photoblat is a neat utility if you want to save some money on adding photos to your eBay listings. The site allows you to upload photos to the service. From there, you can add those photos to your eBay listings page through tools like eBay's Blackthorne Pro. All the photos are hosted on the Photoblat site. Photoblat charges $3.99 per month for access to its service. Personally I would rather use Auctiva or Vendio for $9.99  month and get other services like scheduling and free templates.
   
• Auctiva is a great tool for small eBay sellers. I've got it listed in several sections because this eBay tool offers a lot of functionality.  Auctiva costs $9.95 per month but it includes several features that eBay charges for such as photo hosting, scheduler and  hundreds of auction templates. The Auctiva eBay tool also includes a scrolling gallery you can put in your auctions or on your website or blog so you expose everything you are selling on eBay when someone looks at just one of your auctions.

eBay Tools for Buyers

• GoofBay – Search tool that tracks down misspelled and badly written eBay auction titles, helping you to get a good deal.
   
• PowerSnipe – Ebay tool that places bids on your behalf in the final seconds of an auction, leaving little time to be outbid.
   
• BidBurglar – Win more auctions by placing bids in the last few seconds.
   
• AuctionStealer – Auction sniping tool that automatically places your bids in the closing seconds of the auction.
   
• SilentSniper – Place your bids ten seconds before the end of the auction and beat out the competition.
   
• TypoTracker – Track those typos!  Find better deals by hunting down misspelled auction titles with this tool.
   
• Auction Speller – Web based eBay tool for tracking down misspelled auction listings to find better deals.
   
• AuctionSniper – Out bid the competition in the last few seconds of the auction.
   
• JBidWatcher – Manage your bids, snipe auctions and monitor your buying activity.
   
• RSSAuction is another cool eBay tool that lets you create RSS feeds for custom searches in eBay. Hence it makes tracking a particular item on eBay a breeze
   
• eSnipe is an excellent eBay sniping service. They help you win more eBay auctions at lower prices by placing a last second bid just above the previous bid and not leaving time for the other bidder to come back.  This link gives my readers an extended free trial.
  

• itemALARM - This unique FREE search tool allows you to set up specific search terms, keywords, phrases, etc of items that you want to find on eBay. Once a posting is listed on eBay, Item-Alarm  immediately sends you an email letting you know that a match was found.  Strike first, don't snipe last.

  Be first to get those Buy-it-Now BIN items before anyone else knows they are listed.  Use item-alarm.com.
   

• Auction Sniper is an excellent eBay tool which can increase your chances of winning eBay auctions. It automatically places your bid just before the auction closes so you “snipe” last second bidders and get the best price.

  Auction Sniper isn’t free. They charge you a small fee only if you win the auction.  I used to use BidSlammer, but I like Auction Sniper better.
   

• The Firefox toolbar for eBay is an excellent eBay tool for buyers and sellers. The Firefox add-on lets you quickly access things like your eBay auctions, price comparisons for various products and customer reviews. You can easily search eBay using this tool and get preview pictures for products in the search results. The Firefox tool also supports eBay in the UK, Australia and Canada.
  
  If you don’t have Firefox the default toolbar provided by eBay has similar features.
   
• If you are having a hard time searching eBay for that one rare item and just can't find it, then Stuff Alert is a great eBay tool. Stuff Alert helps you set up a customized alert for a specific product and let’s you know when it appears on eBay.  Alerts are sent through email or via SMS on your cell phone.
   
• PicClick is a visual search engine for eBay which lets you browse through the product images based on product categories, price range and listing or ending time of bidding. It is a faster way to browse through thousands of items on eBay.

eBay Tools to Help you Manage Shipping

• pbSmartPostage - pbSmartPostage allows you to buy andprint exact postage, and ship and track packages, directly from your computer. It stands out because it's a cloud-based application, meaning there's no software to download, and you can log in and monitor your mailings from any computer, any time.
  

• Shipsurance.com is a great tool that provides low cost shipping insurance for eBay sellers with rates as much as 60% lower than UPS or the Post Office.
  

• Shipping Sidekick lets you compare shipping rates between all the major carriers all in one spot.
  

• Stamps.com – is another on the list of great eBay tools to help you save time and money on postage.
  

• Zoovy – Manage your billing, inventory and shipping for your eBay business.
  

• Endicia – Print, pay and manage your postage and shipping right from your computer.
  

• AuctionInc – A complete shipping calculator to check rates for Fed Ex, UPS and DHL. This tool can even calculate drop shipping fees.

eBay Tools for Drop Shippers

• Shipwire - Shipwire is a third-party fulfillment service where you can store your merchandise and they will drop ship it directly to your customers.
   

• WorldWide Brands  - WoldWideBrands is simply the best service for locating legitimate drop shippers who will work with small eBay sellers. They have been in business for ten years and is the only drop shipping info company that eBay works with

eBay Research Tools

• Marketplace Research – An eBay tool designed to give both buyers and sellers an opportunity to research the latest trends in the eBay marketplace.
   
• AuctionTamer – Multi-site auction software that allows you to research the listings before you bid.
   

eBay Business - Business Consulting and Small Business Advice

• Online Business Coaching Company - Online business coaching helping self-employed service business owners to maximize their online presence, get clients online, and make more profit in less time. Get TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit at no cost when you subscribe to our free email newsletter!
   

• Small Business Consulting - Clearview Publications is an online small business newsletter that provides advice, tips and ideas from today's top small business consultants on growing and managing your business.
   

• Startup Internet Marketing - 600+ pages of FREE tools, tips, services and strategies for small business startups, internet marketing, online advertising, and website promotion.
   

Miscellaneous eBay and Website Tools

• Ask Sunday is an outsourcing firm that can help you with blog posts, ebay listings, social media and even website design
   

• Get protection from identity theft by taking the proper steps in securing your personal information.
   

• Harley Davidson, Suzuki, Bike kits - Buy & Sell motorcycles, powersports, cars, trucks, parts, accessories, apparel and much more.
   

• 4MomsAtHome.com - Everything under the sun for the stay-at-home mom! Worksheets, games, articles, printables, coupons, freebies, crafts, E-cookbooks, family health, Kids' page, E-cards, free content, Ezine, WAHM resources, and more.