eBay has a resource they refer to as their Solutions Directory. The Solutions Directory features eBay and third party software and services (not owned by eBay) that have been designed to improve the productivity of both buyers and sellers. The subheadings under the seller solution section list links that will help sellers with some of the most easily mismanaged aspects of ongoing eBay businesses. Subjects include: Listing Management; Inventory Management; Photo Hosting and Management; Merchandising and Listing Enhancement; Email Management; Checkout Processing; Activity Monitoring; Shipping; Sourcing; and, finally, Category-Specific Solutions.

The subheadings under the buyer solution section include subjects related to Searching; Auction Monitoring; and Payments.

A third subheading within the eBay Solutions Directory is entitled ?Other Solutions?. Subject that fall under this subheading include: Data Analysis; Developer Tools; Marketplace Research; Custom Software Development Services; Integration Adapters; Wireless, which introduces buyers and sellers to transacting trades and business using mobile equipment (i.e., cell phones, PDA's, etc.); Business Services; Technical Services; and, finally, Transactional Services.

Clicking of one of the subsections, like Data Analysis, takes the visiting member to a page filled with links to sites of solution providers like Terapeak. Terapeak is a company that provides free eBay research that sellers can use to determine the best time to sell a given item, determine a highly reliable value estimate of an item, determine when it is appropriate to make use of various listing options offered by eBay like bold lettering, highlighting of auction titles, placement in the gallery sections, etc. Sellers can even go so far as to gain valuable insight into which time of the day, or which day of the week will return the highest average price for a given item, and which categories will insure the widest amount of exposure to buyers who will be most interested. This vital information will help to maximize the final sales price of the item you are selling by increasing the number of eBay buyers that actually view your listing. Remember, if you don't have any traffic your item will not sell or will sell at a very low price.

Advanced eBay research subscriptions through this company offer sellers access to information on individual eBay sellers, information on where to find the hottest selling products, and a great deal more. The free services offered by Terapeak appear at the top of a list of fifteen additional service providers. Not all of the providers offer their services for free, but all of them offer a veritable plethora of services that are seriously valuable, viable, and powerful research based resources that can put a diligent and studious seller leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. If you have never browsed through these services I highly recommend that you do so today. Not only will it give you the industry intelligence that you need but it might just help you increase your bottom line too. eBay listings are on the rise and a smart seller stays ahead of the pack, or in this case, the competition.