Section 169. Build Better Auctions with the Omni Auction Builder

169. Build Better Auctions with the Omni Auction Builder

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

124 About Selling on eBay

SEE ALSO

152 About Advanced Seller's Tools

One of the best ways to ensure that your items sell is to create great-looking auctions with customized colors and layouts. But few of us are artistic enough to do that, and if you have to create many different auctions, designing an eye-catching auction page for each item can be time-consuming .

Omni Auction Builder solves that problem neatly. It lets you fill out a series of simple forms and choose from prebuilt layouts and returns beautiful auction pages.

Omni Auction Builder is shareware, which means you can try it for free but you have to pay for it if you want to continue to use it for more than 30 days (it costs $20). To pay for it, go to www.omniauctionbuilder.com.

1.	Download, Install, and Launch Omni Auction Builder Go to www.omniauctionbuilder.com and click the Download the Free 30-Day Trial Now! link. Note where on your computer's hard disk the file downloads. After it downloads, double-click the file and follow the installation instructions. After it is installed, double-click the program's desktop icon to launch it.
2.	Choose Your Auction Title and Layout Click the Auction Layout button on the left side of the screen; in the Title and Layout tab that appears, type a title for your auction and select from the preformatted layouts. To customize the layout, click the Layout Properties tab and select the auction's propertiesin essence, you'll be choosing the color of each element of the layout.
3.	Write the Description of Your Auction The description is the text that people see when they come to your auction. Click the Auction Properties button on the left side of the screen, click the Description tab, and type the auction description. NOTE Omni Auction Builder can create auctions not just for eBay, but also for other auction sites. You don't need a separate version of the program for each auction sitejust tell the program where to post your auction when it's time for posting. 169. Build Better Auctions with the Omni Auction Builder
4.	Add a Picture You can add one or more pictures to your auction. Click the Auction Properties button on the left side of the screen, click the Pictures tab, and click the Add button. Then type the location of your picture (the URL for the website where the image file exists) in the Picture Location box and click OK . Note that the picture must be on a website, not on your hard disk, to show up on eBay. (For information about posting pictures on eBay, see 134 Add Pictures to Your Auction and 138 About Digital Pictures and eBay .) To preview your picture, click the Preview button. To turn off the preview, click the Preview button again.
5.	Include eBay Add-Ins and Marquees The Omni Auction Builder program can automatically include logos such as the eBay Power Sellers logo. To add such icons to your auction, click the Auction Properties button on the left side of the screen, click the Add-Ins tab, and enable the check boxes for the logos you want to be part of your auction. Note that the software is slightly outdated eBay Payments is no longer an eBay service and has been replaced by PayPal. For details about PayPal, go to www.paypal.com. The BidPay service has been replaced by Western Union Auction payments. For details, go to http://www.auctionpayments.com. TIP You can use the eBay Power Sellers logo only if you qualify for it. To become a power seller, you must consistently sell a significant volume of items, have a 98% or higher positive feedback rating, and offer a high level of service to buyers . For details, go to http://pages.ebay.com/services/buyandsell/welcome.html. You can also add scrolling marquees that contain text that scrolls across the screen. To do that, click the Auction Properties button on the left side of the screen, click the HTML Includes tab, and select the marquee you want to use.
6.	Preview Your Auction Click the Auction Preview button on the left side of the screen; after a few moments, you'll see a preview of what your auction will look like when it's posted on eBay. If you're not happy with it, change the layout, picture, and other properties as outlined in the previous steps.
7.	Post Your Auction When your auction is ready for public viewing, click the Upload Auction button on the left side of the screen and select either eBay Uploader or eBay Submission Helper . Whichever option you select lets you choose the details of your auction, including your asking price, shipping and handling information, payment methods , and so on. When you're done, follow the instructions for uploading your auction to finish and make your auction live.

NOTE

Both eBay Uploader and eBay Submission Helper let you choose the details of your auction and upload them to eBay. But Submission Helper offers more help and advice, whereas Uploader is faster to use.