Online Human Services Higher Education Options

Understanding how to work with individuals in a variety of situations like drug addiction and abuse can be gained from schooling. Students can complete a human services higher education program and work with professionals in education, social work, and other fields to serve people in many ways. Online education is a great option for students that are pursuing a career in human services.

Online programs are available at every educational level and in numerous concentrations. Completing a program opens up many opportunities and students can use career choices to decide on the level of education they need. Certificate, associate, and bachelor degree programs prepare students to take on entry-level positions. Graduate education at the master’s and doctoral level train students to take on management and research based positions. Students can pursue an online education in any of these formats and become a member of the human services industry.

Undergraduate study explores all of the fundamental issues of human services to prepare students to work with and treat clients that are in jail, have been abused, or need to rehabilitate from addiction. These are just a few areas that need the attention of a human services professional. Certificate programs are usually for working professionals that want to broaden their knowledge in one area to further themselves within their career. Associates and bachelors degree programs dive into the heart of the field by teaching students about basic psychology, counseling procedure, mental health, crisis intervention, substance abuse, child abuse, and more. The policies and practices that drive the industry are learned to help students prepare for their career. Possible career options could include:

Youth Counselor
Support Coordinator
Welfare Case Worker
Adoption Services Worker
Life Skills Educator

Further education at the graduate level is extremely beneficial for students that want to pursue advanced careers. Master’s degree programs focus on all areas related to management by providing students with online courses that widen their knowledge of human psychology. Students can expect to learn how to evaluate programs and legal issues to determine what type of therapy or counseling is needed for clients. Students that want to step into leadership positions based on research can seek a specialized online curriculum in health care administration, criminal justice, or counseling. The goal of education is to deepen the understanding of how to help individuals and improve on the industry. Online education at any of these levels teaches students to confidently step into a career.

The human services virtual classroom is available through many accredited colleges that focus on giving students needed knowledge. The ability to help individuals in a variety of situations is learned through specific degree programs and coursework. Understanding how to evaluate situations and produce the best outcome is a skill set that students can expect to learn. Enter a fulfilling career helping people by completing a degree in human services.

Students can start an accredited education now and enter the field prepared. Fully accreditation is provided to the best quality educational training programs by agencies such as the Distance Education and Training Council ( http://www.detc.org ).

DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERIC OUTLINE and may or may not depict precise methods, courses and/or focuses related to ANY ONE specific school(s) that may or may not be advertised at PETAP.org.

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Starting a Home Based Business – 3 Ways to Ensure Success

Starting a home-based business can be both scary and exciting at the same time, but you should also realize to achieve success takes a lot of hard work and dedication. No matter what you have decided to base your business on, there are ultimately the same type of steps you have to take in order to achieve success. Whether you are brand new to a home-based business or you are currently struggling to achieve any real success, you can benefit from using the same basic principles that have brought success to those who have done it ahead of you.

The following three steps are very important to getting a head start in today’s business world, whether you are functioning online, offline, or both. The three steps are:

Step 1 – Use the internet to reach a wider audience

With the ability to reach your audience around the world with the Internet, you absolutely have to make your presence felt in this area. Feel scared of doing business on the internet? Don’t worry, there are plenty of simple ways to build a simple website on which you can sell your products. Don’t have a huge budget to advertise online, or not sure where to start? Don’t worry about this as well, as there are a few ways to advertise that are completely free and more effective than paid methods.

Step 2 – Learn how to market your business

Without proper marketing, even the best businesses with the best products would fail miserably. Take it upon yourself to learn marketing practices online, as learning the basics is often enough to help you get a huge start and start earning money. One of the best ways to market yourself and your products online is through article marketing, which is simply the process of writing short, informative articles that help the reader and introduce them to your business. This type of marketing will most likely lead you to the fastest profits, as it is free and highly effective at bringing in customers who are looking for help in your area of expertise.

Step 3 – Treat a home-based business like a real business

While this may sound strange, there are many people out there who think that making money from home will be straightforward and easy. It is highly important that you approach your home-based business as if it was a business in which you invested $100,000 or more, even though home-based businesses can often be started for less than $100. The benefit of this kind of business is that with little investment up-front, you have a chance to become profitable almost immediately.

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Home Based Business – You Can Be Your Own Boss

With all the constant pressures in your workplace, you might have often contemplated about how you could be your own boss. One of the best ways to become that is by starting your own home based business. Frankly, this is easier said than done because your desire and your ideas are normally just not sufficient enough to convert your business into a successful venture.It takes much more than that however people from all walks of life have been able to succeed with their business ventures. Even college dropouts have managed to earn good amount of money with their online home based business.So what is it that makes these people different?It is quite obvious that it is not just the education and qualifications. These people were willing to do it the hard way. They were not afraid to learn and try the new things until they actually started tasting success. Failures did not stop them. They never got bogged down with failures to the extent that they were not able to stand up again. They learned things and they learnt it really fast.You cannot just become your own boss by owning a computer which is hooked onto the internet. Just wanting to become rich will not make you rich unless you have a strong desire and the hunger for success along with a concrete plan which is to be followed like the road map to success.Primarily, you will need to formulate a business plan which satisfies all the business aspects like choosing the business, setting up the infrastructure and resources, setting the marketing tools and strategies, building the network and customer base, retaining the customers, risk management, time management, people management etc.Obviously all the above mentioned factors cannot be formulated on the first draft of your business plan. Your home based business will impose on you a lot of changes and you will need to redesign your strategies according to the changes. In order to adapt to the changes, you will need to accept them first.For your business to grow and flourish, you will need to build a team and empower them to work towards your visions. Your visions should be clear-cut and documented in such a manner that your team is able to understand it easily.Unless they understand your visions clearly, you will not be able to get the best productivity out of them. Nurturing your leadership skills will come very handy to you especially during the team building.Advantages of owning a home based businesso You will be your own boss
o You will get flexibility with work timings
o You get to spend more time with your family
o The scopes for growth and financial freedom are limitless
o At one point of time, you will be leading a team
o You will not have to put up with the normal office politicsPrerequisites:o A strong determination to succeed
o Adequate infrastructure and backup plans
o Well structured business plan
o Good analytical skills
o Good leadership skills
o Ability to learn and implement new things
o Guts to implement your strategies
o Ability to adapt to the constant changes which are inevitable
o Discipline and time management
o Ability to handle critical issues
o Good marketing skillsThese are just the bare minimum requirements for you to succeed with your home based business. As you continue with your business, you will start identifying more requirements that will become crucial for your business.

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Internet Home Based Business Opportunity – Make Money Over Internet

The internet is a place where many people engage in an internet home based business opportunity; hence the recent boom in the e-commerce industry. Your work hours can be flexible depending on your line of business, and you earn as much as you work. Most people who work regular 9-5 jobs will agree that getting ahead by means of a promotion or even a raise isn’t dependent on the quality and quantity of your work; but more of your relationship with your boss. Hard work takes a second seat in such cases; however the internet has come to the rescue. If you work hard and smart, you are bound to receive astounding results.Internet Home Based Business Opportunity businessesInternet home based business opportunity businesses are basically run by one to five people, and can sometimes grow to massive peaks. Wonderful examples of online businesses are eBay and Amazon. Profits can be made, provided you provide the right product or service at the right price.Marketing and profitabilityMarketing and profitability go hand in hand until your company makes a name for itself and takes off. Most people give up on marketing, or worse their business endeavor when they don’t see immediate results.Consumer mentalityThe important thing to remember is that most people will not purchase a product or a service they see one advertisement for. Okay, maybe they will; but that’s only if your product is something revolutionary. For day to day products and services the consumer needs to see your advertisements quite a few times for it to sink in, and then come to their mind when they might need your service. It’s also possible that you might be providing a product or service they might not need right now, but will contact you when need be!AdvertisementsFor this reason it is of utmost importance that you come up with an innovative advertisement, add in your logo (directly related to your product or service) and definitely a tag line; many a great product sell based on advertising slogans. Advertise on the web, set up a search engine optimization project for your website, advertise on popular websites, and contact Google AdSense. Google AdSense can be a wonderful addition to your agenda, the system will post your add on Google’s and their connected sites whenever someone is on a page that has content related to your business. For example if you sell fishing tackle and someone in another part of the world is looking up tackle information on a Google page, an advertisement for your website will be displayed.Don’t lose hopeIf you have based your internet home based business opportunity on the foundation of the intrinsic rule of business, supply and demand, you need not worry. If you supply customers with high quality products or services at a reasonable rate, and you can counter the competition you may face from other companies, there is nothing holding you back from carving out a niche market for your products. Keep publicizing your website, and wait for word of mouth to spread. Lack of business or inadequate business can just mean you haven’t promoted your business enough, or are simply being impatient.

Home Based Business – 6 Benefits to Working at Home

Home based businesses, especially Internet businesses became very trendy lately, and for the right reasons. Some may wonder why so many people own home based businesses. I will give you six reasons why you would rather choose this over owning or being employed in the conventional business.1) When you work from home, you have more time to spend with the people that matter most to you, namely your family. Most working people don’t get to spend much time with their loved ones, especially during the week. Well, if you work from home, you do, all the time.2) When you work from home, you get to set your own hours. If you work in an office, you will most likely have to be there by nine o’clock in the morning and stay till five or six in the afternoon. What if you like to sleep late, or get in early? You won’t be able to do that because you have to work the regular hours. However, if your business is home based, you can usually set the working hours to your advantage.3) Think about all the days that you are stuck in traffic on the way to work. Think about all the times that you had to stand on the train or bus all the way to work because all the seats were taken. (This is already after waiting for half an hour in the cold rain or blistering heat.) Think about all the times that you had to drive around the block ten times until you found a decent parking spot. When you work from home you don’t have all these problems.4) What happens if you wake up one morning and you have a headache or a hangover from the party that you went to the previous night? You would love to sleep for another hour or two, but you don’t want to miss the bus or come late to work. On the other hand you also don’t want to take the whole day off because you have so much that you need to accomplish. When you have a home based business, you don’t have that problem. You can sleep for another hour and then you can get out of bed, work for three hours and then get back into bed. Heck, you can even bring your laptop computer into bed and work from there.5) In a home based business there’s practically no overhead at all. There are no office expenses; you use the same telephone, gas and electric that you use for your house. You have no travel expenses like bus or train fare, parking, gasoline and toll, and the maintenance cost for your car is much less because you don’t have to travel that much. You don’t need a car, bus or train, all you need is a desk and chair, and probably a computer. Usually you don’t need any storage space for home based businesses. Basically there is almost no cost to run a home based business and anyone can do it.6) Above all, you can basically choose to do whatever you want. When you are looking for a conventional job, you can only choose from whatever there is available out there. When you want to open up a conventional business, there must be a need for it in your area and it has to fit in your budget. However, with a home based business, almost anything goes. There are so many opportunities out there. You can choose from all types of businesses from around the globe, on and off the internet.I fully understand that not all of the above reasons pertain to each and every home based business. I also understand that there might be some benefits in a conventional business over the home based business. Most people would agree that the benefits are more with a home based business, especially if you are a well organized and consistent person.In summary, the benefits of a home based business is that you can decide when, how and where to work, and for how long. There is less hassle, and less overhead. There are more choices for you, and you can spend a lot of time with your family.

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Make Finding a Property Management Company Easier on Yourself by Asking the Right Questions – Part 2

This is part 2 of a 4 part series where we have outlined important questions to ask a property management company before hiring them.Series 1 Companies Credentials
Series 2 Property Management Services
Series 3 Property Management Fees
Series 4 Tenant Screening ProcessProperty management companies come in all sizes, capabilities and expertise. Just because one works for one investor does not necessarily mean they will work for you. Below we have outlined some important questions to ask a company during your initial interview process regarding services they provide. Their answers to these questions will give insight into their business capabilities and can provide you with an understanding of the type of services they offer which are important to you.Series 2 – Property Management ServicesProperties they manage – Property management companies are as different as car dealerships are to each other. For example, a Mercedes dealership will have the best inventory and the most knowledge of the latest selection of new Mercedes. You could visit the Toyota dealership in your neighborhood, but chances are you will not find what you are looking for. Of course, they would love your business and will try and talk you into why a Toyota is a better fit for you than a Mercedes.Same with a property manager, they are not created equal when it comes down to their property portfolios. You need to ask what types of property they manage and make sure your type of property is one they manage. If you own a single family home, a company that manages mostly large apartment buildings or commercial property would not be a good match. In this case, your best match would be a company that has a minimum 50% or greater of single family homes in their rental pool.Some companies manage all types of investment properties…single family homes, apartments, commercial and community associations, but chances are they hold a specialty in one or two areas.Inspections – A thorough property inspection should never be overlooked by a property management company. A property inspection needs to be conducted upon tenant move-in and at move-out. A property inspection can range from drive-bys, a walk-through or a video inspection. If disagreements arise between tenant and manager as to items missing or damaged, actual documentation from the move-in inspection and pictures of before and after hold validity versus a verbal agreement.A video inspection of the interior as well as the exterior of property is the best option. Still pictures are good, but sometimes do not capture all areas of property. The video will not only capture all areas, but is easily interpreted and validated as the subject property. A signed checklist at move-in from tenant validates that tenant concurs with the inspection findings.Maintenance – When it comes time to performing maintenance or repair work to their rental properties some property management companies have their own in-house maintenance personnel. These are usually employees of the company and are paid a salary through the company. The costs or hourly rate of any maintenance or repair work that is required will be dictated by the management company itself.On the other hand, the management company may decide to outsource all or some maintenance work to outside vendors. These vendors could range from a handyman, specialized tradesman such as a plumber or a large facility that performs all types of maintenance work.There are pros and cons to both and I do not advocate one over the other but will outline a few points of interest:In-house MaintenancePros:
- More readily available, since they work within the management company
- Direct communication with management company and their policies
- More intimate with property…they are the “one” contact and know the history of your propertyCons:
- May be more of a “jack of all trades” versus being specialized in a certain field and having the appropriate licenses
- May not be as determined to perform or finish maintenance work in a timely manner as he/she is not being paid based on the job. Whether he/she finishes in 2 hours or 8 hours, its all the same.
- If in-house maintenance crew is not available, either the repair work waits or the company will need to search for a outside vendor on short noticeOutsourcing MaintenancePros:
- This allows the property management company the luxury of competitive bidding among vendors, which could equate to lower costs
- Vendors will be eager to sign contracts with a property management company that can bring stable business to them, and as a result will most likely perform quality work in a timely manner
- Most vendors will be specialized tradesman carrying all required licenses, insurance and being bondedCons:
- Some property management companies will add a surcharge or mark-up above the actual cost of any repair work to cover their time in acquiring these bids.
- If work was not completed properly, it may be difficult to get the vendor back on the job.Another option is coordinating all maintenance work yourself. This may work for you if you have reliable contractors you have work with and are dependable. You can probably save yourself some money but this will involve a bit of your time on your part.Accounting – Most full service property management company will offer as a customary service some type of accounting procedure. This usually comes in the form of a monthly paper statement itemizing all income and expenses funneled through the management company on your property for that particular month. It will show rental income and any expenses such as management fees, repair costs, lawn care service, advertising charges, lease renewal fees and possibly utility charges. The monies owed the owner also referred to as the net amount should be clearly spelled out on this statement. The monthly statements are usually mailed every month to the owner along with a deposit check for the net amount. You should also be provided with a end year statement along with a 1099 for tax purposes.With the advancement of online technology many management companies are now offering their owners the ability to view and print their monthly statements via the company’s’ website or online portal. These portals have the ability to store other documents such as the management contract, vendor invoices, pictures of property, inspection reports etc…all at your fingertips.Another great advantage of working with a savvy property management company is their ability to setup automatic deposit of your monthly checks. No more waiting for the postal service, your deposit checks can be deposited directly into your bank account. Chances are they will also have the ability to setup automatic debit of tenants rent from either a checking account or credit card.

All About Property Management Fees

You may view property management fees as a swift pain in the neck and may be reluctant to pay them. Believe it or not, they are extremely necessary. Your property is your biggest asset; whether it is for investment purposes, or simply for you and your family to live in. Therefore you want to have the best people possible handling all of the details for you. That does not come cheap. Yet your property manager’s fees are usually right in line with those of other companies. In order to help you to better understand this we will explain a little bit about property management fees.

The fees of a property management firm will be distinctly different from other property management firms depending on if they specialize in commercial property or residential property. Other factors that will help determine the fees are the location and size of the property; and usually, the experience level of that particular firm. The phrase “you get what you pay for” comes to mind here. Even though you like to save money; odds are the less you pay for the firm, the less likely their service will be very good. There has to be a balance between not paying too much for property management services, yet not paying too little either.

One thing you should definitely watch out for is a company that charges a vacancy fee. Most companies do not require one of these. If the company you are interviewing does, it could be a red flag. This does not necessarily mean they are a bad company. It just means you ought to ask more pertinent questions of them before deciding to hire them. You may want to have a real estate attorney look at their literature before making a decision.

Other property management fees are the set-up fee and the leasing fee. The set-up fee is for the professional efforts involved in setting up a new account. The amount of this fee typically varies from one company to another. The leasing fee is charged in order to compensate the property manager for all of the work involved in getting a new tenant.

There are some important questions you should ask of your prospective property manager before hiring them that directly relate to their fees. Questions such as: how much of a leasing fee do you charge? Is your fee directly connected to how long it takes you to find tenants? Does your fee provide incentives for you to locate great tenants? Do you charge extra fee amounts for showing a specific property? If yes, how much in extra fees?

Additional fees you should inquire about include: lease renewal fees, advertising fees, maintenance fees, reserve fund fees and eviction fees. Each one of these fees will tend to vary in amount from one property managing company to another. If you are interviewing prospective companies for yourself, do not hesitate to ask about them. You want to be as fully informed as possible about all fees before you make a decision to utilize their services.

Online Advertising for Small and Medium Enterprises – A Huge Marketing Advantage

The importance of online advertising for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) can never be understated. It is also complete misguided thinking from the SME fraternity, that advertising will be expensive, time consuming and that the results are not always guaranteed.

Advertising for small business is extremely important

Why in the world is there a need for advertising? Why do giant conglomerates advertise? If such gargantuan companies find the need for advertising, shouldn’t there be an even bigger demand for local community advertising?

Simply put, all companies whether big or small, advertise with the purpose of increasing their revenues and sales. But in saying so, it should also be put quite clearly that advertising could become expensive if you do not make informed decisions. Your final decision must be based on comparisons and true value for money.

Thus, the importance of online advertising for Small and Medium Enterprises must be understood

When huge corporations are spending a fortune on advertising, is it not understandable that small business can also benefit from this practice? Conceivably, it will be on a much lower scale and the advertising will be aimed at the local community and areas of operation.

The advantage of advertising cannot be neglected, as it enhances the image of the company, and brings the goods and services right to the forefront of potential buyers. It is this particular power of advertising that gets companies noticed, and extends their marketing footprint. Ironically, the smaller the company, the more it should spend its efforts on advertising because the potential return on investment is directly linked to this.

The uncertainty of advertising is a low risk consideration

There is always a risk with advertising as the results can never be known for sure. This is the very reason why advertising is spread over TV, radio, newspapers, magazines and the internet.

Online advertising is extremely important, more so for small businesses and in the case of small companies catering to local businesses. This is because online advertising can target extremely specific markets that cater for niche products and services.

The advantage of advertising by targeting markets online

The target market is the market which has people who are ready to spend on what you are selling. By advertising online, Small and Medium Enterprises are addressing the needs of these clients very effectively. By catering to very specific niches of consumers, you are honing in on people who are quick to take a buying decision.

After all, when so many millions of people are now relying more and more on the internet, what better way of advertising to them than by advertising online?

What is the BIG advantage of advertising ONLINE?

This form of advertising is highly effective as it allows advertisers to get a direct response from consumers and this is beneficial to both the consumer and the seller. Every small business owner has a computer these days, so even a simple but well structured email marketing campaign, has the potential to effortlessly reach clients.

Thus understanding the importance of online advertising for Small and Medium Enterprises is extremely important, more so in the case of advertising for small business and local community advertising.

The Finer Points of Internet Auctions

WHAT IS A PENNY AUCTION?

Penny auctions have exploded in popularity with the massive growth of the internet. However, few people know the true origins of penny auctions.Beginnings actually stretch back to the Great Depression. Those were hard times for everyone, but even harder for farmers. Farmers struggled to bring in steady income because of droughts and crops not selling as well as they had previously. As a result, the banks would foreclose on the farmers who couldn’t keep up with their mortgage payments.

The banks weren’t satisfied with just repossessing the house, they wanted to raise as much capital as possible, so they resorted to selling off the possessions of the owners of the repossessed houses. There was not much the farmers could do about it so they began bidding ridiculously low prices, pennies, on the items while threatening others who dared to bid higher than a few pennies.

The auctions of today hardly resemble their tremulous beginnings. Being part of a penny auction today is exhilarating, fun, and addictive. It combines the selling format of auctioning with a little bit of chance factored in.Auctions are a game of strategy but also a game of luck.

The premise behind penny auctions is giving people the chance to win an item at a drastically reduced price.Auctions make that possible by spreading out the cost of the product among multiple bidders. In order for a person to take part in an auction, they must pay a set price for each bid. For example, if a person wanted to bid on a fifty dollar Amazon gift card then he would spend a dollar for each time a bid placed. If he ended up winning the gift card, then he would only have spent a few dollars for a fifty dollar gift card. Usually penny auctions sell bids in packages.

HOW PENNY AUCTIONS WORK!

The main foundation of penny auctions is the pay-per-bid format. It is the key that allows bidders to win items at the fraction of their retail value and allows the auction owners to keep their site profitable. Most y auction sites run on the same premise: people pay a set amount for each bid, whenever a person places a bid within the closing seconds of the auction time will be added, the last person left with a unique bid after the clocks runs out will win the item. There are a large variety of items that can be won, but they tend to be popular electronics or gift cards to popular stores.

There are two types of auctions: lowest unique bid auction and highest unique bid auction. Lowest unique auction sounds confusing but it is actually quite simple. A unique bid is when only one person has a bid at a certain price. Bids usually start at one penny, a bidder can then place a bid at two pennies. Until another bidder places a higher bid, the most recent bidder will be the lowest unique bid because that was the only bid at two cents and nobody bid higher. However, penny auctions generally don’t stop at one penny. It is not uncommon to find auctions that end up at a couple hundred dollars based on the popularity of the item being auctioned. However, the same principles apply for those auctions. Highest unique bid auctions follow the more traditional auction format such as eBay. The person with the highest bid at the end of the auction wins the item.

Auction site owners turn a profit by selling bids. Say twenty people are bidding on a ten dollar gift card at one dollar per bid, at the end of the auction if there were twenty bids placed in total then the site owner would have made twenty dollars with a ten dollar profit.Auctions do seem like a win-win situation:The site owner makes money while the bidder gets an item for dirt cheap. However, not everyone wins in penny auctions. The people who paid one dollar each bid but left with nothing to show for their investments will not be so happy.

HOW TO WIN!

Penny auction has a lot of chance mixed into it, but one can incorporate strategy that will help raise the chances of winning. Playing smart can make all the difference between gambling and auctioning.

The first crucial tip to winning penny auctions is to know how to manage your bids. Your goal should be to win as much as possible without spending a ton of money buying bids. Managing your bids means that you should already know how much you are willing to risk in order to win an item. The amount of capital you are willing to risk will determine how many bids you can use. Once you know how many bids you have to spend on an item, then you will be better able to manage how and when you place a bid. That will keep you from blowing away all of your bids in the first few seconds of the auction.

The next tip is to practice time management. When fighting in the trenches of penny auctions, you have two enemies: other bidders and time. Knowing when to bid is a must if you want to have success. Placing a bid when there is a lot of time left on the clock is never a good idea. You have to remember that the key to winning a penny auction is being the last one standing when the clock runs out and that each bid increases the amount of time left. It would be a good practice to wait until the last few minutes of the auction before you begin to bid.

The final tip for successful auctioning is to keep your emotions under control.Auctions have a lot of similarities to gambling, and just like gambling, your spending can get out of control. If you keep your emotions level, it will keep you from making rash decisions and blowing loads of cash. Keep your mind clear so that you can gage the behavior of the other bidders and outsmart them.

HOW TO AVOID SCAM SITES!

Penny auctions are a great addition to the web whether you want to win an item that otherwise you wouldn’t be able to afford or if you simply enjoy the thrill that comes with bidding in auctions. Unfortunately, scam sites have tarnished the reputation of the legitimate penny auction sites. However, there are ways that you can protect yourself from scamers and enjoy your auctioning without having to worry about losing your money due to dishonesty.

Checking the reputation of the auction site before you start spending your hard earned money is always a good idea. Chances are other people have tried the site before you and some of them have left reviews. The reviews are your way to gage whether a auction site is trustworthy or not. If a site is getting overwhelmingly negative reviews, then that is a clear indication that you should steer your business elsewhere.

Another tool you can use to protect yourself is checking the Alexia ranks of the auction sites. Alexia rank will give a solid view of how much traffic the auction is getting. If you see a huge difference in the amount of traffic Alexia is projecting and the amount of active bidders on the site, then warning signals should be ringing in your head. Some auction sites have been known to set up robots that automatically bid on projects in order to keep the auction going and inflate the price. That is known as shill bidding. You can sniff out those sites by comparing the traffic the site should be getting to the amount of users using this site.

CONCLUSION!

New legislation may come out later down the road that will officially make penny auctions gambling, but until then, it is a fun, exciting auction that allows one to win the item they’ve always wanted but couldn’t afford.Auctions are also quite lucrative for the site owners because of the pay-per-bid strategy they’ve incorporated. Penny auctions had humble beginnings with farmers who just wanted to get back at the banks who kicked them out of their house. More recently, auctions have enjoyed an explosion in popularity with the rise of the internet.

There are two main formats fora auctions, lowest and highest unique auction, however they both run on the same premise where the last unique bid wins the item. Winning a penny auction will require a certain amount of mental tactic and a bit of luck. However, you can increase your odds of winning by practicing certain techniques such as managing your bids wisely, learning how to work with the time, and keeping a level head and your emotions under control. When you combine those three strategies to your bidding plan, you will find that you win a lot more often.

It is important that you do your due diligence to protect yourself when participating in auctions. Not every auction is run by honest and trustworthy people. There are people out there who just want to take your money. You can protect yourself by ensuring that you only bid on sites that already have a very positive reputation from real users.

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How to Find Great Live Auctions for Resale Items

Hi, my name is Walt. I’m an auctioneer with 25 years of experience in the auction business and licensed in the state of MA. I own Quick Auction Service, a company that specializes in building and running custom auctions, I’m also the webmaster of my own site and have been on eBay for 8 years. Besides eBay, the types of auctions I run most frequently are antiques and on-site estate auctions, although I’ve run everything from business overstock auctions to charity & special event auctions.

I enjoy sharing my knowledge and stories of the auction business. My goal for article is to help folks get the absolute most out of their auction experience.

Whether your fresh out of the package or a seasoned dealer I think I can offer something in this article to help you with your auciton adventures.

There may be as many reasons to attend auctions as there are types of auctions to attend. Maybe you want to attend an auction to buy items for re-sale on eBay, or some other market. Maybe you want to furnish your home with wonderful antiques, or you want to furnish your home as inexpensively without sacrificing quality.Some folks are just looking for a fun night out. With a little perseverance all these things are possible.

There are antiques and estate auctions, auto auctions, overstock auctions, absolute and no reserve auctions, real estate auctions, specialty auctions where only one genre of items are sold, tailgate auctions, live auctions, online auctions, sealed bid auctions, silent auctions, charity and fund raising auctions and many more.

Can you really buy for pennies on the dollar at an auction? You bet! Many times I’ve seen folks buy and re-sell at the same auction on the same night for a good profit, although be advised, this should only be done after the auction is over.

There are a lot of ways to find an auction, but here are some tips on how to find and attend the best ones.

Visit the genre of shops in the area that apply to the type of auction you want to attend. IE: If your looking for a good antique auction to attend, stop in the local antiques shops and ask for what there are for good auctions in the area. Sounds obvious right? But listen to what they don’t say as well as what they do say. Oftentimes when a dealer speaks poorly about an auction he or she attends, it may be likely that they are trying to keep a good thing secret. Think for a moment, why would a dealer keep attending a lousy auction?

Newspaper ads: I personally like to find ads in the classified ad section rather than flashy display ads. Flashy ads are usually indicative of an auction that will be high priced, may have reserves, (a set price on an item), and usually an enormous crowd. While any auction can be profitable to attend, it is usually best to steer clear of the glitzy ones, at least for the beginner.

Here’s the minimum you want to find out before you go. If there is a phone number in the ad, call and ask for the terms of the sale. What forms of payment do they accept? Is it an absolute auction? An absolute auction is one that has no minimum or reserve bids on items. These are the best auctions to attend! Is there a buyers premium? A buyers premium is like a tax that everyone who makes purchases at that auction must pay above the winning bid price. Most auctions these days do charge a buyers premium, 10% is not unreasonable but I feel much more than that is greedy, and the auctioneer that charges over 10% is counting on most bidders not doing the extra math as the bids quicken in pace.

A fair auction will have ample time to inspect the merchandise, usually at least 2 or 3 hours. Find out when inspection starts and make sure to attend! Never attend an auction if you can’t make the inspection, not unless your prepared to gamble. Most auctioneers sell at a rate of about 100 items per hour, which is why they sell “as is”. They simply don’t have the time to give a detailed description of all the items. Since almost all items at auction are sold AS IS, there are sure to be some damaged, refinished, fake and incomplete items at any given auction. Beware of any auctions that offer very little or no inspection time.

Good auctions will usually have 150 to 400 lots. A lot may be one item or a group of items. The exception to this are specialty auctions, auto auctions, real estate auctions etc.

When you attend your first sale, take note of the 1/2 dozen or so dealers that buy the most often. See if you can find out about other area auctions they attend.

When you do find an excellent auction, attend it as often as possible. By frequenting good sales, you help increase the bottom line of that business. It’s difficult for many auctioneers to keep the quality of merchandise consistent, so good attendance certainly helps. And when an auctioneer gets to know you as a buyer, he/she will go out of the way to accommodate you, to keep you coming back.

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