Confused? Don't worry, it's just eBay speak for a new phenomenon which has been identified, namely consumers who offset up to 90% of their spending by reselling goods online. This is a clever way to shop during the credit crunch and any shopaholic is likely to feel less guilty about consuming if they are selling unwanted items at the same time. I know I do! Apparently this trend is strongest in Coalville in Leicestershire. Another interesting statistic for you ..... eBayers in Bradford made the most money selling on the site last year, equivalent to £138.37 per head.

This week my son is shopping neutral by selling some of his toys to finance the purchase of some new ones. He has developed a passion for Hornby train sets and we visited a local stockist to do some window shopping. It immediately became apparent that there was nothing that an 11-year-old's pocket money could stretch to, so we came home and logged on to eBay. There are 588 items listed under the search for Hornby trains and he had soon identified some track and a train that were much more affordable. He negotiated a buy-it-now price for the train of £7.99, which is quite a saving on its brand new retail price of £31.75. And hopefully, when the passion has passed (as all passions tend to do), he can resell the train to another enthusiast.

Of course, now he has to part with something in order to shop neutral and I have suggested that he might like to reduce his enormous Playmobil collection. Playmobil sells well on eBay. There are currently 1,683 items listed and they nearly all have bids on. If you have a young child who enjoys this excellent toy resource you could use eBay as an inexpensive way to add to their collection. For example, spookcat333 is selling a Playmobil petrol station with lots of figures and accessories and bidding beginning at 99p. According to their listing they too are shopping neutral - their kids want the money to buy Star Wars lego. Daddykebab has the Playmobil Helicopter Air Sea Rescue set with bids starting at £2. This toy is virtually indestructible so the chances are that you too will be able to sell on when your children are older.

My teenage daughter is also shopping neutral. Her passion for Jack Wills clothing may have passed but there a lot of eBayers out there who still love it, she currently has an astonishing 34 watchers on her Jack Wills jacket and we have high hopes of getting a really good price for this item. What will she be buying with the proceeds? Like most teenagers, she changes her mind every five minutes but something from the Kate Moss range for Topshop looks likely. This label sells really well on eBay so I don't think she will get much of a bargain however.

Which brings me to an interesting point - some clothing labels generate much more interest on eBay than others. Just recently I had two brand new pairs of shoes to sell. One was from LK Bennett and the other was an unknown Italian label. They were both lovely shoes, not dissimilar in style. The LK Bennett pair sold for £51 and the others for just 99p! So, if you are buying in the sales with a view to reselling at some stage on eBay, I suggest the following high street shops - Coast, LK Bennett, Jack Wills, Topshop, Monsoon and Hobbs. Of course this can work to your advantage as a buyer as well. Try searching for the name of a less well-known designer that you like, you may well find some amazing bargains out there.

For those of you who followed my last blog, the hair serum I was selling with only three quarters of its contents left sold for more than £8. And if that doesn't encourage you to sort out your bathroom cupboards, I don't know what will.

Now, here's a thing.  How many times have you been tempted to buy yourself some expensive treatment for body or hair only to find, after a few applications, that it doesn't suit you? If you're anything like me you probably have several bottles or jars at the back of the bathroom cupboard which you don't use and can't bring yourself to chuck out (after all they did cost quite a lot of money). And every time you open that cupboard they are there to remind you of a very costly mistake.

Don't despair! There is in fact a way you can recoup some of your hard-earned cash by selling these partially used products on eBay and there are plenty of people out there who are willing to buy them. I am currently selling a bottle of Kerastase hair serum, which has lost its lid and has only three-quarters of its original 125ml left  in the bottle. At the time of writing I have six bids and 16 watchers on this item, and already the bids have reached £3.20. With a few days to go until the auction ends I am hoping to get at least £5 for it and, once it has been mailed to its new owner , it will no longer be able to stare accusingly at me from the bathroom cupboard!

So, get searching in your cupboards and drawers and convert some of those mistakes back into cash.  Alternatively, if you have been longing to try an expensive new product but don't want to shell out pounds for it, try searching on eBay. Perhaps somebody else's mistake may prove to be a cheap way of experimenting with the latest must-have skincare. Log on to eBay and look at crownglory2007 who is selling a barely-used bottle of Estee Lauder Advance Night Repair with bidding beginning at £4.99. This product regularly receives rave reviews from beauty editors but costs a small fortune to buy across the counter. Electra 2002 is selling an almost-new bottle of silk creme groom from cult label Kiehl's with bidding currently at £3. This product normally retails for £18 in Space NK.

I have been given a rare opportunity this week to sell a really high-quality item on eBay. This is a simply gorgeous ladies' bicycle from iconic brand Pashley with dark green frame and an original retail price of almost £500. It has only been ridden twice so is in perfect condition, I imagine that I will be able to get the owner a high price for it as this brand is very sought after. However, it did get me thinking about bicycles in general. Cycling is such a wonderful, fun and low-cost way of keeping fit whilst getting from A to B. If you have children, they are bound to want bikes and they will probably need replacing every few years as children do grow at an alarming rate. If, like us, lack of space forces you to keep bikes outside and under temporary cover, you really won't want to spend hundreds of pounds on the latest model.  Roseandruskevicius is selling a very nice children's Raleigh bike with bidding beginning at 99p. Offertonsix has a fabulous pink ladies' Giant bike with bids currently at £14.99, but you would need to live in Cheshire in order to take delivery! This is a time when you need to use the 'sort by nearest distance first' on your eBay toolbar - as the size of the item is likely to require a pick-up rather than postage. 

Perhaps you've tried cycling, decided that it's not for you and your bike is now languishing in the shed. Get it out, polish it up and sell it on eBay while the sun is still shining.

Are you still at the stage of thinking about opening an account with eBay?   If so, you are going to have to give some consideration to your online persona, in other words, what are you going to call yourself for trading purposes?  Many, many eBayers seem to go by their Christian name or by several names joined together.  Perhaps they have added their partner's name to their own or they have used the names of their children.  Me?  I also used my own name and then added on that of the family cat who goes by the unlikely name of Sma (and yes, I know it's an odd thing to call a cat).  Unbelievably there was already an account registered as nicolasma so I had to add something to differentiate it.  Thus I have ended up as nicola1sma and, in retrospect, I wish I had given it all a bit more thought.

Whilst it may be fun to ditch the name you were given at birth and go for something completely frivolous there is also a serious side to it, particularly if you are planning on being a very active seller.  This is a chance for your trading name to reflect the kind of seller you hope to be.  Names such as shoejunkie, chinadoll, looksgoodsmellsgood, cocoribbon and ilovetoshopforbagsandshoes immediately conjure up certain expectations and give you an idea of what the seller might be offering. Equally, cuttingedgevintage, bookplus and sunglasseller are a pretty good indication of what you are going to find.  On the other hand would you rush to view hornyharry's for sale list?  Or, for that matter, dirtydevil?  And princessdiana is just a bit too ghoulish for me.

Perhaps you would prefer to remain anonymous and mysterious?  Littleoldlady, vicarswife47 and pretty eccentric don't give many clues away but aren't offputting either.  Tipsykim sounds fun but imanalcoholic?  Try choosing your favourite television programme or film, desperatehousewife or littlemisssunshine will not commit you to selling any particular kind of product although antiqueroadshow might be a bit too specific.  Of course you can only choose a name that does not already exist on eBay, quite a tall order with four million people registered.  Absolutely set on calling yourself Audreyhepburn?  So are fifteen other eBayers so you will need to add a number or another initial to the name before it can be yours. 

If you have already opened your account and started trading but really wish, like me, that you had called yourself something else, it's not too late to change your name.  However a sudden name change can confuse buyers so it's not ideal.  Best of all, sit and think about it for a day or so before you sign up - I wish I had.

I am still living in hope that the sun will arrive any day, particularly as we are now in June.  My teenage daughter has just purchased a fabulous pair of Rayban sunglasses complete with case for a mere £7.50.  Now I strongly suspect that these are not the genuine article and I am going to talk about eBay fakes in a forthcoming blog.  However, they look exactly like the real thing, which is of the utmost importance to my fifteen year old, and they were a bargain so she is happy. 

 If you are feeling like a pair of new sunglasses (and who doesn't at this time of year?) there are plenty in the eBay marketplace. At the time of writing there were 7,693 pairs listed.  If you have time you might even want to nip into your local sunglasses retailer and try a few styles on, the chances are that you will find a similar pair on eBay.  Or, if you haven't time for that,  take a look at esthermrn who is offering a pair of raybans for £0.01. Babyadiepops is selling a funky Fendi pair for £0.99 which I really like.  I am reliably told that Rayban Wayfarers are the style of 2008 so have a look at *tommy girl* who is selling a pair for £9.99.  Just log on to www.ebay.co.uk to access any of these sellers.  Avoid any which are listed as coming from Hong Kong or overseas and click on to view seller's other items.  If they are listing lots of pairs of sunglasses, chances are they are a fake.

Another dismal, wet and dreary Bank Holiday.  Right now it seems that the only good thing to look forward to this summer is the release of the new Sex and the City movie.  And it was in this spirit that I found myself this afternoon in the Harrods shoe department (yes I know it's an odd way to spend a Bank Holiday Monday but it's a long story.)  I spent a very happy half an hour amongst the Manolo Blahniks and Jimmy Choos and, without the benefit of windows, was totally cocooned from the endless grey drizzle outside.

Did you know that the IT bag has had its day and that we're all supposed to be lusting after the latest designer shoes instead?  It's true that a pair of shoes is considerably cheaper than a must have handbag but, judging by the price tags I saw in Harrods today, they are still way out of most people's price budget and that's without taking into consideration the credit crunch.

Still lusting after a pair of Carrie Bradshaw shoes but simply can't afford them or justify the expense?  Why not try eBay?  Log on to www.ebay.co.uk and search for Manolo Blahnik shoes.  There are currently 102 pairs listed with bidding on some beginning at a mere £20.  Can't afford the shoes?  Why not buy one of the designer's shoe bags instead?  Ferrariblackhorse has one listed with bidding currently at £2.80.  Personally I have always had a yearning for a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes with their iconic red soles.  There are nearly 100 pairs listed on eBay including a fabulous pair of up to the minute black wedges from yorkwhite with bidding currently at £1.20.  On my trip to Harrods I thought some of the prettiest shoes were from Jimmy Choo and with 182 pairs listed you can be sure of finding some to your taste.  For sheer practicality I was taken by kirstie3792 who is selling a pretty pair of bronze flats.  When I last checked the bidding was at 99p and with a low reserve price of £60 someone is going to get a bargain.  Sadly it won't be me as they aren't in my size.  If you do purchase a pair of designer shoes from eBay remember that you can always resell them for a good price provided they are in good condition.

I have seen some truly awful listing photographs on eBay.  Photographs are frequently displayed sideways on so that you get a crick in the neck from trying to view the item.  I often wonder if it's just laziness on the part of the seller or they simply don't know which button to press to turn the photo the right way up.  Whatever the reason I never buy from these sellers, I just find their attitude too unprofessional.  Another cardinal sin is the item which is photographed against a busy backdrop, hanging in a window for example, with the garden behind, or in the middle of the sitting room with all the family paraphernalia around.  Sometimes the photos are out of focus or the item is only partially in the photograph. 

So here are a few very basic tips for taking the perfect eBay photograph.  Choose a plain background, a white wall (no door handles or paintings in view please) or a plain carpet.  Make sure the light is behind you and spend a minute or so making sure you are happy with the way the item looks in the view finder.  Can you see it clearly?  Is it shown to best effect?  Nothing else in the frame to distract the eye?  Have you managed to include any special features?  Answer yes to all of these and press the button.

I believe that, generally speaking, one photo is sufficient for a listing.  The first photograph is free but you must pay for subsequent ones so, in the interests of keeping your eBay listing charges to a minimum, one should do the trick.  However, if you are selling an item of value you may like to display other photographs to show all the important aspects.  Those Jimmy Choo shoes for example.  A potential buyer is likely to want to see a close up of the heel, the soles and may possibly find a photo of the box, dustbag and receipt extra enticing.

Recently there was a very funny item on the internet which showed a dining table which had been listed on eBay.  In the background of the photograph was a huge mirror and the photographer had unwittingly caught his image in the mirror - stark naked!  You have been warned.

Now in my family I am admired for many things but technical wizardry and photographic ability are not amongst them.  So I delegate.  My husband is a dab hand at putting photos on to the computer and organising them in a file for me.  My son is very interested in digital photography and is still at an age where he likes to be helpful.  Failing husband or son, my daughter will usually oblige.  If you don't have a family member to help out then ask a friend and get them to show you how to do it.  Once  your photos are on the computer just click on each one and make sure it's displayed the correct way up.  This is such an easy procedure that even I can manage it.

I believe that the key to successful eBay selling is professionalism and presentation.  If you were out shopping would you be likely to make a purchase from the store with the messy window display?  Of course not.  Never forget that there are millions of eBay shoppers on the site at any one time and you want to entice them to bid for your item.  A clear and concise photograph is the very first step to persuading them that you are a professional and business like seller.

A couple of last thoughts ... a good friend of mine, who happens to be a prolific eBayer, takes all her eBay photos with her mobile phone.  And very good they look too.  All you need is a cable to connect phone to computer and transmit your photos, as well as a bit of technical know how, and away you go.

eBay are offering half price insertion fees on Thursday May 29th for one day only.  I must try and find time in a busy half term week to pop some more items on and take advantage of the saving.

Last week I promised to talk about taking the perfect photograph. Since then eBay have announced some changes to online shopping and selling which are important for all eBayers so I am going to use this blog to outline some of the new measures for you. I'll get back to photography in the next blog.

Importantly, the changes which have been implemented will benefit buyers rather than sellers which is obviously great if you regularly shop on eBay. More people buy than sell on eBay so this will be reassuring for many of you as you now have a level of protection which simply didn't exist before.

From May 15th the Feedback System has changed so that buyers can leave honest feedback about a seller without fear of retaliation. Sellers can no longer leave neutral or negative feedback for a buyer so, as a seller, my only option is to leave positive feedback. Unfortunately, experience has taught me that buyers do not always deserve positive feedback but at least I can now block potential buyers from bidding if they have been reported for policy breaches or non payment. The idea behind all this is to make feedback a more accurate differentiation between good and bad sellers - again, a real advantage for those of you who shop regularly on the site.

I have always felt feedback is a bit of a double edged sword, there have been times when I have been tempted to expose a buyer (or a seller) who has behaved dishonestly but have been prevented from doing so by fear of receiving the dreaded negative feedback myself. As a seller, mostly, I am now in the position of still living in fear of negative feedback but no longer in a position to fight back with negative feedback of my own.

Within the Feedback System there is also now an opportunity for the buyer to see how other shoppers have rated sellers with regards to postage and packing charges, dispatch time, accuracy of item description and communication. This is definitely a positive move as it may cut down on the number of sellers who vastly overcharge for postage.

From June 3rd eBay are also implementing a new measure that will require every seller to offer PayPal as one of their payment methods. I will talk more about PayPal in another blog but the most important thing to know here is that, if you pay through PayPal, you will have up to £500 free protection.  If you want to learn more, log on to paypal or take a look at the moneymagpie article on how to pay on the internet - online payment systems.

With all these changes eBay are hoping to make the marketplace a safer place to shop - please just remember to reward your buyer with positive feedback if they deserve it. Feedback is so important to eBay sellers and many buyers just don't bother to leave it. It only takes a minute to click on the box and fill it in and, remember, you are helping other buyers as well as being courteous to the seller.

If you want to learn more about these changes log on to eBay and click on the Site Map and then General Announcements.

The Chelsea Flower Show begins today and, as usual, the skies are grey and the temperature is chilly.  However, the forecast is for much warmer weather towards the end of the week so if you are looking for some inspiration with regard to your own back yard there are plenty of tickets for sale on eBay. Log on to eBay and check out the organicgardener who is selling two tickets for next Saturday for 99p and currently has no bids. Tooley26 is also selling two tickets, they have two bids and the current price is 99p.  These tickets have a much higher face value so you could potentially be looking at a real bargain. Both these sellers have 100% feedback, if you are going to buy tickets for an event do please be extra careful who you are buying from and pay by PayPal to ensure that you are protected in case something goes wrong.