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Selling on eBay
is the Easiest way
for a beginner to make money selling online!
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You need very little capital to start. You could start by clearing
out your garage or attic, or by making a list of items that are in
eBay's "completed items" search.
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Very low risk. It costs just a few dollars to list an item on
eBay.
.35 cents to post the item and a small % of the final selling price.
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You can have your auction business up and running in very little
time.
Check out the
eBay Business Plan for more details
on what you need to do.
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You can do your market research in advance and have a very
clear picture of how well your product will sell before you even put it
on the market.
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No marketing skills
are required. Adding your ad into eBay's listing is
easy to do and there are a lot of
helpful software programs that will automate
most
of the steps for you so they don't have to be repeated.
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You can operate your auction business from anywhere in the world.
If you can get to a computer you can sell on eBay.
A lot of new eBay sellers start out selling odds and ends they have around
the house—and for good reason. For items that are in good condition,
you'll probably get more money for them on eBay than at a garage sale. You
probably have plenty of stuff that you'll never miss and you really don't
need to store or dust anymore. And it's a relatively risk-free way to test
the waters of eBay selling.
If you can't bear to part with anything you
already have, start with products you know and have experience with.
Choose things that have demonstrable market demand (that is, you know
people are buying them). Don't make the mistake of selling only things you
like, or the trendiest, coolest things you can find. If your goal is to
make a profit—and it should be!—then you need to be selling things people
will buy.
If you are considering selling an item, do a
search on eBay and see if that product or similar ones are being offered
for sale. If the market is saturated, you may want to reconsider trying to
sell that product. At the same time, if absolutely no one else is offering
the product for sale, you need to figure out if that's because no one else
has thought of it, or if it's because no one will buy the item.
Depending on the category, seeing a lot of
similar items up for sale may work in your favor or against you. For
example, you may see a lot of the same item pop up in response to a search
because people are buying. Or, observes antiques seller Sue Rudolph, "It
might also mean the market is flooded and nobody wants it." You have to do
more than just count the listings, she says. Look at the individual
auctions and see if people are bidding on the items—that will give you an
indication of the strength of the market. Then check the completed
auctions for the item you searched for. That will tell you what the item
is selling for (if, in fact, it's selling at all).
 Issues to Consider
Whether you have a specific product line in mind or are still trying to
come up with some ideas for what you can sell on eBay, consider these
issues:
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Cost. how much will the item cost you?
There's more to cost that simply the
price on the item—do you have the
cash required to make the purchase or are you going to have to borrow
money (and therefore pay interest) to acquire the inventory? Will there be
any additional expenses, such as shipping to you or repairs if the item is
not in saleable condition?
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Storage. Do you have room to adequately
and safely store the item while you
are waiting for it to sell?
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Shipping. What are the labor and cost
issues associated with shipping the
tem to your customer once it sells?
Is it very fragile, an unusual shape or extremely heavy? These are issues
that can make shipping a challenge.
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Product life cycle. How long can you
expect the demand for the item to continue? You may have something that is
wildly successful today, but next
year you won't be able to pay people to
take it away from you. Beanie Babies
and other fad collectibles are a
great example of this. Some high-tech items are also at risk of having a
short life cycle due to technology advances. If you pay attention to
product life cycles, you can maximize your profits while the item is hot
and avoid getting stuck with excess inventory when the demand declines.
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Season. When you put an item up for
sale on eBay, consider the time of year. Heavy coats and sweaters don't
sell well in the spring and summer. Lawn and garden equipment is not going
to move as well in the winter as it will in the summer. If you have room
to store items, you can make a nice profit buying
off-season items and
holding them until they sell.
Where Will You Find What You'll Sell?
One of the most exciting things about selling on eBay is that merchandise
that will sell for a profit is virtually everywhere!
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Your home. Start by looking around your
own home at the stuff that's collecting dust on shelves or stashed in the
back of closets, or in the attic or garage.
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Flea markets. Flea markets can be a
tremendous source of bargain-priced merchandise that will sell on eBay.
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Garage and yard sales. Savvy eBay
sellers can make a comfortable living spending one or two days a week
shopping garage sales for items that will fetch many times what they cost
when auctioned on eBay.
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Estate sales. If a professional is
already handling the estate sale, you're not as likely to get really great
bargains. But if you have access to a truck and storage, you can advertise
that you can buy entire estates. When you make such a purchase, select
what will sell best on eBay, put those items up for auction, and then sell
the rest through other channels.
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Established retailers. Stores need a
way to move items that aren't selling.
Once Gotham City Online, a eBay
company that focuses on clothing and accessories with sales exceeding $1
million annually, was established, co-founder Jonathan Garriss was able to
approach retailers and offer to help them solve their overstock problems
by selling those items on a consignment basis
on eBay. Eventually, he
began purchasing that inventory outright.
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Discount stores. Look for clearance
items at discount department and drug stores. Cindy Mayer of Cindy's
Collectibles routinely buys infant's and children's items at the end of
the season and stores them until the following year.
"I buy out of season,
and I have found great sales in drugstores," she says.
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Friends and family. Tell people you
know not to throw anything away. Laurie Ayers says that members of her
church will give thing they are going to throw away or donate to charity,
and if she can sell them on eBay, she does.
Buying From Wholesalers
As your business grows, you may choose to start buying from wholesale
sources and selling on eBay at retail. This can be very profitable, but
only if you choose the wholesaler wisely.
The Internet is full of opportunities to buy
lists of wholesalers, often for just a few dollars. Save your money. You
can get the same quality of information (or maybe even slightly better)
for free by using any of the popular search engines and plugging in
keywords such as "wholesale," "manufacturer" or "drop ship." But even that
is not the best route to take.
Instead, be more specific in your approach.
Think about the type of products you want to sell, and then look for
manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors you can work with. Find
companies whose products meet your quality expectations, that have prices
and terms you can work with, and that deliver the service level you want
to provide your customers. Get sample products so you can see the quality
yourself. Some companies send free samples, while others charge a nominal
fee—either way, don't try to sell something you've never seen. Be sure it
is truly worth what you expect to sell it for.
Be sure you're dealing with a true
manufacturer, wholesaler or distributor, and not another middleman who is
marking up their prices and increasing your costs. Ask for and check
references. You want to talk with others who are buying from these
sources. In addition, check with the Better Business Bureau, any industry
associations, the consumer protection agency of the state in which the
supplier is located, and any other source that may be able to verify their
claims.
Legitimate manufacturers, wholesalers and
distributors will also want information about you, including proof that
you are a legitimate business and that you have any necessary licenses and
tax identification numbers. A supplier who doesn't ask for this
information is probably a middleman whose ethics couldn't stand up to
moderate, much less close, scrutiny.
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