Benefiting from eBay Listings
 MissionFish Fundraising Basics
Item listing notifications
Nonprofits can choose to be notified about their listings in several different ways:
- Never notify me. You will not be notified by e-mail for any of the new listings posted on your behalf.
- Notify me about new listings. You'll be notified by e-mail when someone lists an item for you (except if they are on the "no-notification" list, described below). You will not be notified if they revise or add to that listing.
- Notify me about new listings and listing changes. You'll be notified by e-mail when someone lists an item for you (except if they are on the "no-notification" list, described below). In addition, you be notified if they revise or add to that listing.
If you prefer to monitor listings that benefit your organization, we encourage you to review each listing as soon as we notify you about it. eBay Giving Works listings can be live for as short as 12 hours. Quick action on your part will be important if you choose to police your listings carefully.
The "No-Notification" List
In addition, nonprofits can add the eBay user IDs of well known and trusted sellers to their list of people who can post listings on their behalf without any e-mail notification. The "no-notification" list, as well as your item listing notification preferences, can be edited at any time by going to your Nonprofit My MissionFish account and clicking on "e-mail preferences".
Guidelines for canceling items
There are no MissionFish rules governing whether a nonprofit should cancel an item; the decision is completely up to each organization. Nonprofits have the ability to request that eBay cancel items that are listed on their behalf for any reason. Some common reasons that a nonprofit might cancel an item include:
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The item doesn't fit with their mission (Ex. an animal rights groups might cancel a listing for a fur coat)
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The nonprofit doesn't want to be associated with a particular seller (Ex. A cancer-research groups might decline gifts from a tobacco company)
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The nonprofit needs more information about the listed item.
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The nonprofit doesn't know the seller (some organizations may be particular about this).
How to cancel an item
Change your e-mail notification setting in your nonprofit profile
No shill bidding
Shill bidding is the deliberate placing of bids to artificially raise the price of an item. Shill bidding is not allowed on eBay, and is in fact illegal in some areas. No organization should ever engage in or encourage shill bidding. eBay actively polices for shills, and will suspend users it suspects of shill bidding.
If an employee of your organization legitimately wants to buy an item that will benefit you, ask them to bid using an eBay account not connected to their office e-mail address. It's not shill bidding if they really want to buy it, but other eBay buyers may suspect a shill if john@nonprofita.org is bidding up an item that benefits Nonprofit A.
Learn more about shill bidding in eBay Help.
Five Ways to Fundraise with
MissionFish
Benefit from eBay Giving Works listings
Just register your organization with MissionFish and you'll be able to benefit from eBay Giving Works listings. All you have to do is register, and accept listings when they're offered to your organization.
Sell a single item
If someone offers you an in-kind donation that you can't use, don't turn it down! Sell it on eBay and use the money to support your mission. You can get money from something you don't need, and your supporter can get a tax deduction for the in-kind gift.
You'll need to register as an eBay seller to list it yourself, or you can enlist the help of an experienced eBay seller (a Trading Assistant) in your area.
Learn how to be a nonprofit seller
Spread the word to your supporters
Raise even more money through MissionFish by telling your supporters about this new way to give. Whether someone lists the things they don't need to benefit you on eBay, or comes to bid on items that others have listed, you can raise benefit from online trading!
Your nonprofit My MissionFish has free tools in the Tools and Tips section to help you spread the word.
Put a special event online
Raise more money when you put your silent auction online, or add a new online auction to your gala dinner. Either way, you can tap into eBay's millions of shoppers, attract more people than you can fit into a room, save on the expenses of an in-person auction, and give supporters who can't be at your event a chance to be involved.
Use the free tools in the Tools and Tips section to help plan an online special event.
Sell all of the time
If you have steady access to donated products, you can turn those goods into a consistent revenue stream by listing them for sale on eBay. You can open your own "online thrift store" without any of the overhead costs of running a live store.
Get ideas for opening an online thrift store in the Tools and Tips section.
Free Tools from MissionFish
Nonprofit My MissionFish account
My MissionFish is full of free tools and reports designed to help organizations manage their MissionFish fundraising as effectively as possible.
Sign in to My MissionFish.
Learn more about My MissionFish
Tools and Tips
Our updated Tool and Tips section (formerly known as the Tacklebox) can help you make the most of MissionFish and eBay Giving Works as an effective source of revenue. Inside Tool and Tips you'll find:
- Downloadable templates for sending an e-mail about MissionFish to your supporters
- Information to help you learn about selling, holding online special events, opening a "virtual store", and more (see below for more information)
- A great new tool to enable you to get your nonprofit featured on the MissionFish site
- Plus, tips and best practices on MissionFish fundraising.
Tools and Tips can only be accessed by signing into a nonprofit's My MissionFish account. Once you have signed in, click on the "Tools and Tips" tab at the top of the page.
Feature your nonprofit
As part of our updated Tools and Tips section, we have created a tool that allows you to request for your nonprofit to be featured on the MissionFish site. Being featured can help drive additional traffic to your listings and spread the word about your organization. Because space is limited, we generally feature nonprofits that are:
- Holding a special event auction
- Selling items on eBay during the desired feature dates
- Holding an offline promotional campaign (like National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, or your 50th anniversary)
To use this tool:
1. Log into your My MissionFish account.
2. Click on the Tools and Tips tab.
3. Click on the "Get Featured on MissionFish" link, which is at the bottom of the Direct Selling section.
Your MissionFish Homepage
Each registered nonprofit gets a dedicated homepage on MissionFish. Your homepage is where you are the center of attention! Most organizations that create links to MissionFish use this as their destination page. Find your nonprofit in our database to see your MissionFish nonprofit homepage, or sign in to My MissionFish.
Your MissionFish Homepage includes:
- Your logo
- Your mission statement
- A link to your website
- A list of all live eBay Giving Works listings that benefit your organization
- Plus a "registered since" date
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