This is exactly what iNumbr does for phone numbers. The free, temporary phone number you give out simply forwards to a number specified by you and then it will expire or self-destruct when you want it to!

It is a proven fact that by providing a phone number you are much much more likely to make a sale. It adds to your credibility as well as it shows you care.

Let’s take a look at how iNumbr can help you in your eBay auctions, classified ads or even to give out to girls you meet at a club. Wow that’s a good idea ““ too bad it’s about 10 years too late for me. Kids today and this new fangled technology!

When you arrive at iNumbr you will see a site that looks like this:

Simply click the link that says Get your Free iNumbr. You will need an email address and a phone number to have iNumbr forward your calls. Once you click the link you will get hit with a little human verification to make sure you are not a spam bot or something similar:

After you hit submit on your verification you will be sent to a page to set up your actual free temporary phone number. That screen looks like this:

From this screen you can choose your preferred area code. Most major United States markets are included in the list. These are:

• Atlanta 678
• Boston 617
• Chicago 773
• Cincinnati 513
• Dallas 214
• Detroit 313
• Houston 713
• Las Vegas 213
• Miami 786
• New Jersey 973
• New York 347
• Phoneix 602
• Pittsburg 412
• Portland 503
• Salt Lake City 801
• San Diego 213
• San Fransisco 415
• San Jose 408
• Seattle 206
• St. Lois 314
• Washington DC 202

If your area code is not included it might be added in a future release or you could always email the developers begging pleading asking nicely for them to add it!

Next up you choose when should they disconnect the free, temporary phone number (you can change this in your control panel later):

Then after you are finished, submit the form and you will be sent to a page with your information on it:

So here you will see how long your number is active for, what number and extension the caller needs to dial, where the call will be forwarded to and how you can record a personal greeting, as well as your password.

Now when someone calls your iNumbr they will be asked for their name. Then your phone will ring with the name that they left.  You can then choose to answer it or send it to voicemail.

This is a really nifty service! Do you use this or something similar? We would love to hear about your experiences in the comments!

This progression was a very long and slow one, and I had to learn a lot of hard lessons along the way before I was able to become a very profitable PowerSeller. One of the most valuable lessons I learned along the way is that your sales page template has a tremendous impact on the probability of successful sales and how much your item will sell for.

Here at MakeUseOf, you’ll find a lot of awesome eBay resources, like Tim’s article on alternatives to the eBay smart search tool, Mark’s article on managing your eBay auctions with Nabit and many more listed under MakeUseOf’s eBay tips section.

In this article, I’m going to show you how you can find a free eBay seller template online and how to insert it into your eBay seller profile.

eBay’s Template Management System

Anyone who has been involved with eBay for an extended time has probably noticed the gradual evolution of this massive online marketplace. In terms of a “seller template,” all you had to work with was eBay’s seller form, with a play box that you could insert either straight text or text including HTML formatting.

Now, the formatting was nice because you could use cool HTML codes to spruce up your listing. Add a bold headline here, throw a color border over there – it certainly took some work to develop the first one, but after that you were golden. You could save the template in a text document, and each time you worked your way through the seller wizard to post another time, you’d just cut and paste the template, fill in the product details and then post.

While you can still do that when you’re filling out the product detail form in the seller wizard, Ebay now offers a handy management system for your various templates. This means that when you do download and save a free eBay seller template off the web – you can store that template right within eBay. With a click of the mouse, you can select the template of your choice and your listing is 90 percent done!

Now, before we get to finding free eBay seller templates, you’ll need to know how to load the templates that you discover into eBay’s template system. If you’re starting from scratch and have no templates in your list yet, just click on “Create templates.” When you do, you’ll need to go through the wizard, which first includes entering the category for your template.

Once you make it through the first part of the wizard, the next screen is the one where you’ll enter in the title and some minor details about the product, but primarily what you’re most interested in is the text box located further down the screen.

This text box is where you’ll enter in the code to either create your own product template using HTML formatting, or you’ll insert the code from the free eBay seller template you’ve downloaded elsewhere. One of the coolest new features that eBay added to this screen, by the way, is the “Inserts” drop-down box. Using this very cool feature, you can define small HTML code snippets to save you a lot of time entering the same sort of formatting HTML with each listing. Of course, if you just download and use the same seller template, you don’t have to worry about doing any coding yourself.

Where to Find a Free eBay Seller Template

Okay, now that you know where to go in your eBay account to insert the free templates that you find, it’s time to go out there and get some cool eBay seller templates!

Before you head out and start looking for sites where you can download an eBay seller template, keep in mind that eBay listings are straight HTML documents. So, if you’re at all skilled with HTML, you’ll probably pull the best template right out of your own efforts. However, if you’re one of those folks who’ve never learned a single line of HTML, there are a few options available to you.

The first, Template-O-Matic is one of my favorites. Unlike the others, it isn’t just straight HTML code that you copy and past – this website actually generates the HTML listing code for you based on your selections within the design form.

This is a pretty cool site, and it’s probably the easiest way to whip together some cool-looking templates. Now, if you’re just looking for a place where you can copy and paste a template, another site to try is the Web Design channel over at LoveToKnow where there’s a free eBay seller listing separated into sections.

You can copy and past the element you like – whether it’s the title and description, image section, or detail section – and just paste it into your own template box within eBay. Use one or several elements – they’re all free.

Another website with a fair number of free eBay templates is Shipscript’s Templates. The number of templates certainly isn’t pages long, but you can find a good number of clean templates, with a very easy cut and paste feature built-in.

Simply highlight and copy the HTML code (or click “Download file”), paste it into the eBay HTML box and your template is finished! All you need to do to post each product is to edit the sections highlighted “Begin Editing” with your information – cutting about 30 minutes of posting an item down to about 5 to 10 minutes. And when it comes to selling products on eBay, time is most definitely money.

Are you an eBay seller? Do you have any tips and tricks to offer about creating quality eBay seller templates? Share your expertise in the comments section below!

Here we go.

eBay Desktop

The official eBay Desktop is an Adobe AIR app which mirrors all the searching, tracking, and bidding functionality of the site, plus filtering features, search history, and my favorite part, real-time updates. It’s refreshing to no longer need refreshing. Enter a keyword and watch the search results update by themselves.

Lastminute Auction

One of my favorite eBay tools is the Lastminute Auction search. Auctions featured here all have current prices under $1 (not including shipping), and all have less than an hour to go. Register to keep favorite categories handy, and you’ve got a good chance here to snatch up a great deal.

Typo Buddy

My new favorite eBay search tool, however, is Typo Buddy. From this site, you can take advantage of human error and hopefully find yourself a steal. When you do an eBay smart search for “Nintendo”, you get all the results with that keyword. What you don’t get are “Nintedno”, “Nintenro”, “Nihtendo”, or many other misspellings. Typo Buddy will find all of them, with the idea that the auctions’ low profile will let you swoop in and pay a lower price for the items.

Unwired Buyer

One more site to mention, not because it’s a search but because it’s a unique tool, is Unwired Buyer, which keeps an eye on your watch list and lets you place bids by phone in the closing minutes.

Not forgetting Nabit, an application which Mark reviewed a couple years back. Follow this link to read all about it. Unfortunately, the developers of Nabit has discontinued its distribution. You might still be able to get a copy of it online.

What’s your favorite way to search eBay? Give us some ideas in the comments.

Earning Income from Selling Hot Selling Items on eBay?

At first, it felt almost impossible to make a profit on eBay. I started with a few items from around the house. It was ridiculous what people were willing to buy – but the cheques that came in the mail were very real, and they started to add up. Before long, I noticed those giant eBay PowerSellers with an inventory of hundreds of expensive items for sale. I was curious how they did it. After a few years, I was not only able to learn how they do it but do it myself. The secret is this – you need a source. There are a variety of sources for hot selling items on eBay, including…

• Local auctions
• Local yard sales
• Electronic bulletin boards
• Overstock
• Buying in bulk
• Other online auctions

In this article, I’m going to share the top websites that other PowerSellers hope you hadn’t learned about.

Buying Items at Auction

Finding antiques at a local auction and selling them on eBay was one of the most significant ways that I was able to multiply my sales. In time, I learned how to recognize individual items at auctions that had huge eBay potential – but you still have to be very careful not to overpay for those items or you can lose your shirt. Using auctions as an eBay source is one of the best methods to become a PowerSeller, but finding the best auctions in your area can be difficult. One of the best sites I found to do that is Auctionbiz, which has listings for auctioneers all around the country, from the huge auction houses in the city to the smallest auctioneers out in the country.

Unfortunately, these listings are only available within the U.S., but another great site for European eBay sellers is AuctionGuide, which covers auctioneers from all across the world.

These listings are fairly comprehensive. Just be sure to work yourself up from the cheaper “country” auctions up toward the more expensive city auction houses as you earn more, and as you learn how to recognize the hot selling items on eBay. Also, if you plan to shop at auctions for your eBay merchandise, purchase a mobile device such as a smartphone with an Internet capable browser on it. While you’re at the auction during the preview session, simply visit eBay.com, click “Advanced Search,” and then search through past eBay sales for the items that you see at the auction. Make sure “Show Completed Listings Only” is selected.

This will show you how much the item sold for on eBay, before you buy it. It also tells you how much you should pay for the item without losing your shirt.

Local Yard Sales and Electronic Bulletin Boards

Another great source that I found for items at very cheap prices are local items for sale. These are the deals where you can create a fortune – if you’re diligent and quick to act. Back in February, I wrote an article on an application you can use to search Craigslist for your local area. Whether you use that application or not, Craigslist listings are a constant source of some of the best opportunities for eBay PowerSellers. For example, a recent search for “digital camera” in my area turns up a long list of great deals.

Remember, be smart about how you buy. For each item, search the completed eBay listings. If the Craigslist seller is offering the item at less than what it sells for on eBay, contact them immediately and ask to buy it. Drive over and pick it up so that you can save on shipping costs. The best website out there to look up local yard sales is one that MakeUseOf reviewed before called the Yard Sale Treasure Map – a very cool site that lists lots of yard sales in your local area.

Overstock and Buying in Bulk

If you have enough cash on hand, you can always invest in an inventory. Lots of sellers do this. There really isn’t any secret to it, except that you need to spend a bit upfront. Be careful about scam artists that “cherry pick” their pallets. These items typically come from store closings or overstock inventory. This is a field where reputation is king, and buying locally is your best bet. Just search Google for “wholesale pallets,” and you’ll find a long list of them. One good example is RhinoMart wholesale distribution.

The thing to look for are sites that offer good, clear photos of the pallets, and decent listings of contents. However, in most cases these items were all packaged quickly during store closings - so you simply get what you get. However, in the end you’re paying only a fraction of what the items are really worth, so this is usually one of the best ways to earn some significant eBay income.

Other Online Auctions

If you don’t have a fortune to invest up front, one of the easiest ways to make money on eBay is buying at smaller auction sites and then reselling on eBay. You’ll likely find far fewer items at these sites, but you’ll also find much better deals. A few of these include:

• OverStock Auctions – Auctions of “overstock” items
  
• uBid - Excess Inventory Auctions
  
• GovDeals – Pick up government surplus items at great prices
• ShopGoodwill – The popular “used goods” store is now an excellent Ebay seller source as well

One of my favorite online auction sites is the PropertyRoom Police Auctions, a fairly active website primarily for the sale of items confiscated by authorities.

You can find some pretty impressive deals on PropertyRoom, however competition for those items is getting pretty fierce. For now, there’re still some impressive lots of high quality items available, including computers, cars and jewelry.

The Hottest Selling Items on eBay are Everywhere

As you can see, becoming a PowerSeller on eBay is only a matter of finding a good source of low cost items. When I first started, the hardest part was finding those items. Toward the end of my eBay PowerSeller career, the hard part was keeping up with packaging and shipping. Once you find one or two product sources that work for you, you’ll have no problem making a tremendous income from eBay.

MakeUseOf has written a handful of great articles on eBay tips, be sure to check them out.

Are you an eBay seller? Share some of your own tips and tricks in the comments section below.

To explain it clearer, Google tries to guess what other type of information the surfer would also like see based on his or her search query. For example, for “Britney Spears” you’ll see images and videos blended within the search interface and for “downtown Los Angeles” you’ll get local search results (i.e. maps.google.com).

The idea of pulling more data by one-click searching can be expanded. You do not have to limit yourself to the Google search engine only. This time I am listing a few cool FireFox addons that show you more relevant information based on your search query and provides you with more opportunities to browse through.

Add Multiple Search Engines to Google Search Interface

WebMynd offers to search a wealth of search platforms simultaneously with your Google search, by default: Twitter Search, Amazon, YouTube; but you can also add numerous other search options (e.g. Flickr, Wikipedia, Digg, LinkedIn, CNN, etc). The search results will appear right on Google’s results page in the right sidebar:

Additional great features of the page:

• send Tweets directly from your search results asking your friends advice related to your search;
• user-friendly interface: add/hide engines with one click, drag-and-drop ordering of pages.

Integrate Amazon.com and eBay Search:

GoogAzon adds the first ten search results from Amazon and eBay in a collapsed orange bar to the top of your Google results page (works also for Yahoo or MSN / Live search). The results include the title, price, and a mouse-over thumbnail image.

You can also quickly share the results with friends and access the actual Amazon / eBay search results.

Add Reference Information

Google Search Sidebar for FF3 (Greasemonkey plugin) adds relevant results from Wikipedia and Dictionary.com (as well as Flickr, and YouTube) :

See Your Browsing History

Infoaxe is a browser addon (both FireFox and Internet Explorer versions available) that will show your browsing history results based on your Google search term.

Note: it requires registration and access to your private data, i.e. browsing history.

See What Your Facebook Friends Have to Say:

SideStripe offers a handy Google Gadget that integrates with the Google search results page and searches your friends list for your search query.

The tool offers some more functionality (e.g. it invites you to ask your friends’ opinion on what you are searching) but I didn’t invite my friends to use the application, so I can’t say if it works. The search functionality works pretty well though:

Would you like to add more searching functionality or do you think “plain” Google is all you need? Do you use any tools that make Google better? Share your thoughts!

I have some interesting tips to share with you MakeUseOf readers – just in time for the holidays.

eBay can be great to buy gifts at discounted prices or to sell items to make some money to buy gifts! What a magically time of the year.

Looking for deals? Let’s see what we can do you for…

Check out other eBay’s in your native language or use Babelfish to translate. The wife uses Ebay UK habitually and now thanks to Babelfish she is all into eBay France and eBay Italy. I showed her how to browse over to the foreign eBay sites and do a brand name search.

Then using a little ingenuity we try and pin it down to a category (if you can figure it out great, if not it’s OK. Just a little more clicking around later).

Then we copy the URL from the search page and plug it into BabelFish. We choose the “Translate a web page” option and select the appropriate language – here it is French to English (this will translate the French eBay search page into English so we can understand it). Don’t press the back button on your browser – it will bring you back to the BabelFish page no matter how deep you go into eBay.

Now you have a browser opened with your search translated! Sweet!

2. Use a Sniper app to help you get the lowest price and win a auction at the last possible minute. I have been using AuctionSniper (last minute bid software) now for well over 4 years.

AuctionSniper is not a free service but your first 10 snipes are free so hey close enough! Then if you get your friends to sign up for the free 10 snipes as well, they will give you more for free. You can also go on to purchase “snipes” if you run out. But hey I haven’t run out in years and if I do I will move on to another free/similar service.

The way Auction Sniper works is quite simple. You give them your eBay user name and password and they will automate your bid at 5 seconds before the end of the auction (this is the default and can be changed). This way all those bidding wars don’t start between you and some 12 year old kid in Kentucky.This also gives the highest bidder a sense of winning so they are not closely watching.  This lets you and your sniper swoop in for the win at the last second. Just remember the currency is the website’s default – meaning if you are buying from eBay.co.uk it will be in British pounds, France will be in Euros and if you are hitting eBay.com it will be in US dollars. So don’t think they will be converting your 10 Euros to 10 dollars – dig?

3. How about finding great deals because other users mis-spelled their auction?! Check out Misspelled Auctions

Type in what you are looking for and it will try various popular mis-spellings to get you to a low traffic auction. This is a great breeding ground for deals! Low competition = BIG SAVINGS!

Here is a search for the awesome HTC Touch Pro:

You can see it searched for “tc touch pro”, “hc touch pro”, “tuch pro” and a whole bunch more – and look – we got a hit in the above picture!

Selling stuff? Do your homework first!

4. After logging into eBay you have the option of Advanced Search features. These are an eBay seller’s best friend. The advanced search feature I use most often is the Completed Auctions option. Why you ask?

It’s simple – if you quickly peruse the list of completed auctions for what you are looking to sell you can see at a glance the green prices sold and the red prices did not. You can get a pretty good idea of how much you can get for your collection (of something that meant something to you at one time and would be better off spent on beer money now!).

You can then also click on the little icon next to the auction that brought in the most money and use the “Sell Similar”. This will save you a bunch of steps in setting up your auction.

5. Tips and tricks are all well and good but do you know what helps more than anything else with selling on eBay? Pictures, pictures and more pictures!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words – let’s just say it can be worth a hundred bids here! People want to see what they are buying. Take these STRANGE eBay listings… Do you think they would have sold without images?

.

(Images are linked to the completed auctions..)

Think those auctions were strange? Check out Weird eBay Listings for more!

Also be responsive to questions asked by potential buyers and offer a slew of payment options like Paypal and credit cards.

Do you have any eBay tips or tricks to add? We would love to hear from you in the comments. Just think it might get you that internet fame you have been wanting for so long

Personally, I find private auctions extremely interesting. It’s the collectors items, the used goods, the rarities, or peculiar things, like the seller mankymoomin who writes funny references, that can be real bargains, make for extraordinary gifts or are simply fun to follow.

On Make Use Of we have given quite a few tips and introduced you to many tools that will help you get the most out of eBay, shop the pro way, manage your auctions, find alternatives to eBay, and much more. However, all of that material primarily focuses on buyers. Now here are some points to consider to get the most out of your auctions.

1. Compare and Learn
Generally, the best way to find out what and how to sell successfully, is to read listings of a few (similar) items and see what seems to work well. Don’t try to sell items that don’t go well for anybody. In preparing your listings, learn from successful sellers and copy their excellence. But do remain unique.

2. Title – select it carefully
Compete for attention and subsequently money begins right here. This one line can make a huge difference, so be sure to select the right keywords, add relevant information and discard anything no one will search for, such as punctuation, exclamations or similar nonsense.

3. Spelling – it’s not a TV production
Be smart and spell words correctly, especially in the title. Bad spelling makes you look like an amateur and only a minority will find your items: those that spell wrong as well and those that hunt down common spelling mistakes with special tools.

4. Description – be precise and to the point
Thoroughly and honestly describe the item, but still make it easy for a potential buyer to understand and evaluate the offer quickly. Keep a short attention span in mind! Don’t compose a novel, structure your description well, use short sentences or lists, and try to answer potential questions upfront.

5. Category – pick wisely
Many people don’t search for keywords from the main page. Instead, they skim through categories or search within a specific category. You don’t want to lose these bids! If in doubt, invest in multiple categories.

6. Picture – a must have
A picture can say more than a thousand words. Hence invest some thought and effort into creating a high quality photo with good light and smart perspective. When trying to sell a valuable item, invest in a gallery picture.

7. Timing – not to be neglected
Although auction sniper tools are very common these days, timing can still make a huge difference. Either way, most bids are received close to the end of an auction. Thus auctions should end when most people have time to be online and follow them. So keep your target audience in mind. Housewives will probably be very busy early in the day, while someone working in an office may be online anyway. Apart from that, keep the season in mind and don’t try to sell thick coats in the midst of a hot summer.

Things I don’t want to mention separately are good communication, timely replies, fair shipping & handling fees and quick shipment. In short, even if you’re “just” a private seller, it’s recommended to act professionally, be reliable, and build a good reputation. Don’t scam your customers and don’t make them wait, it’s going to cost you!

What did I miss? What are the best bargains you made on eBay and what were your greatest mistakes?

1. Google Analytics

Google Analytics has to be one of the most popular AIR tools out there. Google Analytics is one of the most used traffic analysis tools and this desktop AIR version allows you to do everything as if it were on the web, but a little quicker. You can learn more about it from Mark O’Neill’s article here.

2. Ebay Desktop

eBay Desktop – With all the amazing features already found on eBay, this desktop version will blow you away. It has a much slicker and simplified search tool and design. Download it here.

For other eBay goodies see Shop Like a PRO: 7 Tools to Crack eBay

3. Finetune

Finetune – Finetune has to be one of the most impressive music tools in the marketplace at present. It lies somewhere between highly customizable radio and music discovery service. By using Finetune you can build music playlists based on your artist preferences, listen to your playlists from the desktop and share playlists with others. You can also browse and tune-in to any 500.000 + playlists created by other users.

If you’re an iTunes user, the AIR application can instantly lookup the artists in your music library and create Finetune playlist for each of them. Download it here.

4. AOL – Top 100 Music Videos

AOL Top 100 is the desktop widget featuring the top 100 most watched music videos across many genres including Pop, Rock & Alternative, Hip Hop, Country and Latin. Watch music videos in full screen or standard mode. Found video you like? You can easily bookmark and watch them whenever you want. Although there is one major problem with this widget, about 15-20% of videos don’t work.

5. WebKut

Webkut is a simple AIR application that lets you capture web pages, or parts of them in a matter of seconds. There are 3 capture options: the entire page, the current view, or custom selection. If you take web screenshots on a regular basis then this app is for you.

6. Xdrive @ Desktop Lite

Xdrive is an online storage service from AOL. Now available from your desktop. This lightweight desktop tool allows you to drag’n drop (upload/download) files and folders between your Xdrive web storage and desktop. Backup important files online, share photos with friends, share documents with colleagues, etc.

7. Pownce

Pownce offers a simple way to communicate with friends. Send mid-sized files, share interesting links, post messages, and announce upcoming events. Can be accessed both from the web or via this simple desktop client.

8. TWhirl (Twitter App)

Twhirl – Twhirl brings Twitter to your desktop. It delivers new Tweets directly to your dektop. No more refreshing of your Twitter home page, Twhirl is the way to go. See also Mark’s previous coverage of TWhirl @ Tools and Apps to Improve Twitter Experience. Interested in TWhirl? Download it here.

Other Interesting Adobe AIR Apps

• DiggTop – Simple Digg client.
• Color Browser – This tool is great for designers. Pick the colors, save them, go back to reference what you’ve one in the past and what you’re currently working on.
• NASDAQ – Get insight into extremely detailed trading activity in the market at any time during the day.
• StockQ – Stream latest stock quotes to your desktop. No brokerage account login or authentication required. You can set it to auto refresh every 1sec – 5mins.
• NetBook – Desktop client for Project Gutenberg Library. Lets you search, read and listen to PGL books.
• Klok – Slim task manager and project time tracker.

Got another useful Adobep Air application ? Let us know in comments.

(By) Steven and Aibek. Steven is the CEO of Insomnia Ltd, which is a media company based in the UK. Steven is also the editor over at Crenk, a tech news, opinions and analysis site.

PayPal Plugin (US only) – The ultimate protection for your PayPal account. And here is how it works: when you want to purchase something and are asked to fill-in credit card details, instead of giving your real card details, you can use the plugin to generate a secure single-use MasterCard number that debits from your PayPal account. And since the card is valid for only one purchase your info always remains secure.

PayPal Mobile (US, UK only) – Check your account balance, send money, request money, pay for eBay auctions and contact Paypal support team directly from your mobile phone. All the above features can be used in several ways, via mobile website (mobile.paypal.com), using text messaging or through automated phone support.

Paypal Debit Card – The fastest way to get money out of your PayPal account. You can use it pretty much anywhere where MasterCard is accepted (ATMs, Restaurants, Gas stations etc.).

Requirements:

• Have US PayPal Business or Premier account.
• Must be PayPal member for at least 60 days.
• Is a verified PayPal member
• Be active PayPal member with account in good standing.

PayPal Facebook App – There are two things you can do with this app. (1) It offers a simple way for other to pay you back. (2) You can also use to raise funds from friends for all kind of events such as parties, birthday gifts etc.

PPcalc – Having trouble figuring out Paypal fees? This online PayPal fee calculator lets you quickly calculate how much you need to charge to get the amount you’re looking for. Similarly you can also use it to calculate how much you will be charged for an incoming payment.

FatFreeCart – Free shopping cart for your website. It’s very simple to implement (simply copy-paste) and supports both PayPal and Google Checkout. No registration required, simply fill in the details and let FatFreeCart generate the code. Copy and paste the code onto your website and you got your own shopping cart. Actually, PayPal has its own cart creator but unlike FatFreeCart it doesn’t work with Google Checkout and is available to only Prremier and Business accounts.

Send Money to Skype contacts – In case you don’t know, now Skype allows you to send funds to your contacts.

Paypal Payment Request for Outlook – Using this Outlook addon you can request money from anyone with an email address. In particular, it lets you add Pay Now, Buy Now, Donate, Subscribe and Tip Jar buttons to your emails.

PayPalSucks – So far it’s been all good, but what about the negative sides of PayPal. PayPal Sucks is all about that. Here you can post and discuss your PayPal compaints (i.e. frozen accounts), see complaints from others, read about fraud stories, lawsuits, and pretty much everything that is wrong with PayPal.

Source: PaypalSucks.com

FINDING THE RIGHT ITEM:

1. GetItNext – One thing that I really don’t like about eBay is its search function:although it has a wide range of filtering options, it sometimes takes just too long to get the search results that you want. And that’s exactly where GetItNext comes in really useful. Unlike eBay search, GetItNext is able to filter irrelevant results more efficiently and lists only the items that you are looking for. For instance, searching for Dell Vostro 1500 laptops will bring only actual Vostro 1500 auctions, well … mostly.:-). Check out the video below, it explains the idea quite well.

Apart from getting the right auctions, GetItNext has a bunch of other noteworthy features: (1) visually compare items in your watchlist, (2) save searches for later reference, and (3) use recommended tags to filter results even further. For more details go here.

2. oSkope – Really cool visual search engine for eBay, Amazon, Flickr and Youtube. It lets you conveniently browse through large amount of items with minimal effort. Highlights include: supports international ebay sites (eba.de, ebay.fr, etc.), quick auction preview, visually appealing drag’n drop interface, add to watchlist, and more.

3. RSSauction – Highly customizable online tool for watching eBay auctions. Basically, RSSauction lets you create highly targeted alert notices for the specific items you are interested in. Once something matching your criteria gets listed, you will get notified either by email or in your feedreader.

4. Lastminute-Auction – Probably the best tool for locating bargain deals on eBay. Lastminute-Auction only lists auctions which have less than one hour to go and are still priced below $1. You can also view auctions by category (USB Flash drives, RAM, etc.). To take full advantage of it, try it out when eBay has the least amount of traffic, i.e. in the nights, or early mornings. This will get you right to those rarely found auctions that get almost no exposure at the auction end, resulting in extremely low winning bids. Also available for other eBay sites, including Germany, UK, Italy, Australia and Spain.

LAST-MINUTE BIDDING

5. UnwiredBuyer – Free last minute notification and bidding service for the auctions in your watch list. It contacts you (via email or mobile) right before the end of the auction, updates you on the auction status and lets you place a bid directly from your mobile. (US and Canada only). See video below.

Full feature list: UnwiredBuyer – Last Minute eBay Bids from Mobile

6. AuctionSniper – “AuctionSniper is a web-based eBay sniper that automates the process of placing your eBay bid in the closing seconds of any eBay bidding auction, dramatically increasing your chance of winning.”

TRACKING YOUR PURCHASES

7. ShoeBoxed – And finally something to track your eBay receipts. Shoeboxed can automatically manage, track and organize your eBay purchases and receipts online. Once registered, you will be provided with “shoeboxed_username@shoeboxed.com” email address. Simply set it as a default email on eBay and all incoming receipts will be automatically organized and displayed in your ShoeBoxed account. In addition to eBay, supports over 20 other major retailers. [ShoeBoxed - All Features]

Got other noteworthy eBay tools ? Let us know in comments.