Social media is no longer in its infancy; it’s long since made off with the car keys, so to speak. These days it has become the go-to destination for 69 percent of American adults. The burgeoning number of social media sites draws many eBay sellers and buyers because they are a tech-savvy group. All cultural changes began with words — as do many marketing campaigns — and the experts have decided that the dominant marketing tool today is social media.

Most of us have donated to charity in one form or another. But here on eBay, charities really rock. Do you need a Jurassic Park helmet signed by Steven Spielberg to round out your collection (and deflect the odd dino tooth)? Post a bid on one of the charity auctions. How about a signed original photograph of Jerry Seinfeld from People magazine?

Consider this very important reason to be recognized on eBay: eBay’s Best Match search algorithm weighs every item and every seller. Attaining recognition as a seller who is in business seriously makes a difference in how prominently your listings are displayed on eBay. Joining PowerSeller ranks The ranks of PowerSellers have five levels of membership, depending on your monthly sales.

QuickBooks can give you up-to-the-minute reports about the status of your eBay business and keep track of everything — including payroll and sales-tax liability — in the background. Here are a few things that are great about using QuickBooks to streamline an online business: Inventory reports: As you purchase inventory, aside from deducting the money from your checking account and expensing your merchandise account, QuickBooks adds the purchased merchandise to your inventory.

Now that eBay has become a world marketplace, a single-page auction or item listing is becoming an increasingly valuable piece of real estate. Millions may view your sale, and the more auctions and fixed-price items that you can list, the better your chance to make a good living. Time is money: You need to post quickly and accurately.

Your eBay business requires the same meticulous care for data as any other business. Here are some tips for protecting all the right data and keeping your records safe. Keeping your records and data safe The hazard of not backing up your computer is a tired subject. Whenever you hear someone talking about their latest computer crash, all the person can do is stare blankly into the distance and say, “I lost everything!

eBay’s Hub is great because it gives you the opportunity to keep all your selling information in one place. It also provides a downloadable report — in spreadsheet format — that you can archive for your records. Here’s the information you can expect to find in the reports: Sales record number: The number assigned to the transaction by Selling Manager for identification purposes.

Seller Hub allows you to monitor or automate many of the more tedious eBay tasks. The page is divided into several boxes, which are described below.You can click the Orders link to view a summary of your sales activities. The Overview page lists at-a-glance statistics so you can see what’s going on with your sales quickly, at any time.