2009, Time to Start an eBay Business

How to start an eBay business is one of the most common questions that I have been asked since the economy began going south in 2008. I must say, starting your own eBay business may sound like it could be difficult but it really can be a simple process if you do not over think what you are doing. If you are not familiar with eBay, then I suggest that you head on over and check it out.

The idea is to get familiar with eBay, gain an understanding of a good auction versus a bad one and to find items that you have an interest in.You don’t need me to explain this to you as it will be self evident.

Get yourself registered for an account and begin searching for some products that you are in the market for, know a little bit about or have a general interest in. Take note of the auctions that are most appealing to you as a buyer. It will be fairly easy to spot the sellers that are more successful than their peers. Look at the seller Powerseller rankings.

After you have snooped around a bit I want you snoop around your house for some items that you plan on getting rid, do not have a need for any longer or would just be willing to part with if you could make a few bucks off of it.

The eBay listing process is easy and their Help section will answer almost any question that you have. Be sure to have a good photo of your item (whether your own or the manufacturer’s image) and a good description.
After getting an item listed and sold successfully, do it again.
Rinse and repeat exactly what you have just done.

Repeat this process until you have nothing more to sell. Add up your costs and subtract that from the money that collected from your sales. This is a good indication of how much you made. Once you run out of your own product to sell you can either find a wholesaler online (like World Wide Brands or Salehoo) or find a local establishment where you can buy some cheap items and sell them for more money.

Secrets to Selling on eBay

So you've decided that you want to dabble with selling on eBay? Well, there are few things that you probably need to be thinking about before you jump right in and have too much success!

What to Sell on eBay?

For now, you should be trying to sell some things that you have lying around your house to get your feet wet. So check out some of these items in the auction listings. Look at the prices they are selling for, the amount of items that are out there for sale and how good (or sometimes how bad) some of the seller listings look.

Remember, these guys are your competition so you want to be competitive on price and be able to present the item as good as or better than these guys.

Try to stick with some things that you know a lot about at first. You want to have some familiarity with the items you are going to sell until you get used to eBay, selling at a competitive price and have some killer product descriptions in your listings.

You may not think that you have anything to sell or anything that would be of interest to anyone else enough that they would actually buy it from you. The last thing I will accept hearing from you is that you have nothing to sell!

Valuable eBay Selling Tip As you look through items that are just like or similar to the items you are selling you will notice distinct differences throughout the listings. Some will knock your socks off and others will be complete duds. It’s the ones that knock your socks off that you want to try to be like.

Don’t copy their listings but don’t reinvent the wheel.

People like me can give you that edge, but eBay is always the best resource for the basics AND it’s free to learn from them!

Just remember, not every item sells every time. If you can sell 40% of the items you list you are doing great. So, if your item does not sell the first time around, list it again. You should be able to sell it in your first three tries as long as your listing is good and your pricing is competitive.

How to Make Money on eBay

So why not trek on over to eBay and look around a bit. Search for some items that interest you and see how many of the sellers you see are eBay Powersellers? Now, to become a Powerseller you must sell thousands of dollars each month and sustain those sales for several months. Think about how many Powersellers you see as you search through the auction listings.

Some of these people are selling one thousand, tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands per month. And there are tens of thousands of these Powersellers!
Just the fact that there are so many people selling so much product on eBay has got to give you an idea of the opportunities there are for selling on eBay. I wanted a few hundred extra dollars a month to pay some bills. The sales began happening so quickly (from items laying around my home to boot), that it just grew out of control into a full time business. Once you have a source for product (there are thousands of sources out there) you can run your business without much overhead and from the comfort of your own home!

Even if you don't want to quit your job, like I said before, eBay can be a great source for making a few extra bucks each month.

You can do this relatively easy and make one or two trips to the Post Office each month to ship out your products. Or, you could sell information products like I do now and even automate the entire process from listing the items to having CD ROM’s shipped to your customers!
eBay was a way to continue selling without the hassle of making cold calls, going to the office everyday and just the day-to-day hassles of corporate America.

You can even run your eBay business while on vacation and half of the time the business can run itself. I think that the most time consuming part of the business was handling customer service and even some of that can be automated.

So why not give it a try? If you have some things around your house that you think you can sell, go for it! Check out the item on eBay, see what it is selling for and use their step-by-step wizard to create your own listing and start selling. Be sure to have a good photo and a detailed description and you are on your way. Search through that closet of stuff that you never use, and you will likely find that you have up to a few hundred dollars worth of stuff laying around in there.

Want to ruin your eBay business? Some things NOT to do!

Go through this list and make sure you are not falling prey to any of these eBay business destroyers!

Make sure that your item description is as accurate as possible. Do not delay in shipping out your item. You need to ship it within a day or two unless you note it otherwise on your auction listing or you email the winning bidder up front to explain when the item will be shipped.

Not answering your eBay customer emails: Yeah, you may think that your eBay business is set it and forget it but eBay buyers want answers to their questions and they want them now! If someone is sitting there watching your item or bidding on your item, that question is the most important thing to that buyer and should be the most important thing to you as an eBay seller. One unanswered question could make the difference between selling or not selling an item on eBay.

Sell your item at full retail price: So you got this great product the other day, lost your receipt and figure you’ll sell it on eBay. Well, you probably not going to get full retail for it. Before listing any item, make sure to look for the same item using eBay search and see what other people are selling the same item for.

Not including a photo of your item: I do not care if you are selling a jar of air from the Grand Canyon, people want to see a picture of that jar. Showing your buyer a high quality photo of the item is a must. If there are any flaws in the item, be sure to show those too. Be sure to include as many high quality photos of the item you are selling as you can.

Try to optimize all of your listings, and
your eBay business, by paying special attention to these definite business destroyers.
Good luck and good selling! .

What to sell on eBay for beginners?

There are probably things all around you right now that can be turned into cash.

Since not everyone is going to be able to think of products to sell right away, let’s talk about what you can do to capture some initial sales.Check out these hot top selling items on ebay.

• Old DVD’s, CD’s or video games

• Accessories (ties, purses and shoes make for pretty easy sales)

• Old toys

• Games

• Old electronics (especially stereo equipment, cameras, and portable music players)

• Old computer programs

• Items you find at garage and estate sales

• Thrift store items (yes, there is money to made online from your local thrift stores)

• Lots of items sold as packages on eBay can be broken down and sold as individual items (example: I used to buy large packages from other eBay sellers.

If you are in the least bit stumped about finding something to sell, quit over analyzing and just pick something to get started with and go sell it.

A few things to help you make money on eBay

So you’re looking to make money on eBay or make even more money on eBay than you are now? There are a few simple things that a lot of people will over look even after running their eBay business for a while. But if you ignore these eBay selling principles for too long, it will catch up with you.

Know what the items you want to sell or are selling are being sold for by others, how many are selling each day, what times of day they are selling, if they are new or used items that are selling, max sell price out there, minimum sell price out there, shipping charges for item sold, auction titles, auction photos and auction descriptions.

You need to be intimate with your market so that you can provide the best price, shipping and service possible. If you are not keeping up with the market you won’t sell a thing.

Maybe a seller comes in and takes your market by storm. You do not want to be taking a show in the dark. You need to know everything that you can know about the competition. And if you can do everything a little better than everyone else, you may close more sales and maybe even at a little higher price.

Test and repeat, test and repeat: Have an item that has a great description, great photos but no one is looking at it? Try a better title or maybe a different starting price. Getting a lot of page views but not selling your items? Maybe your description is not as good as some of your competitors? Maybe they give more complete shipping or warranty information. Are others using a subtitle? Can you save a few cents and still sell without one? It is a process of trial and error. You just need to be aware that you should be doing this as a part of your business to help maximize your sales and your profits.

There can be new competitors or eBay can change the rules themselves. Some things that work today may not work tomorrow. Well don’t! A lot of people make a full time living on eBay and you can too.

You just have to be prepared to face the challenges and realize that this is a business and you will face business problems.

So there you have it.

These are just some of the most important things you need to be doing to have a successful eBay business.

How to Sell on eBay for Beginners

eBay makes it quite easy to get your items listed on their site.

Open you eBay seller's account

If you've bought anything on eBay before, then you already have an account with them. You just have to login and click the 'Sell' button in the top right of the page.

Next, click 'Create a seller's account'. If you've never bought anything on eBay before and you never registered with them before, then you'll need to open an account by clicking the 'register' button on the top left of the homepage. Then you can click 'Sell' and 'Create a seller's account' buttons. eBay will then guide you through the account setup process.

Prepare the details of the item you are going to sell.
No matter what you are selling, you have to have some critical information ready before you list your item. Using the manufacturer’s description is ok but you need to add any notes on wear and tear and be honest about the condition of the item.

If there are any flaws, blemishes or wear on the item be sure to capture that in your photos.
Once you click the “Sell” and “Start Selling” buttons you will be well on your way to listing your item. eBay has a great new interface that will walk you through the selling process in an easy to understand, step-by-step sequence. When in doubt, look to the items that make YOU want to buy them and emulate them.

Do not copy them, but follow what you think are the best practices for the listings of the items that YOU would want to buy. The first three things that you have to fill in are the Title, image and description. Again, refer to what the best sellers are doing for some direction here and be sure to use some good, clear photos.

Next you will get into your auction type, selling price or bid starting price and length of listing. Only you can gauge the price that you should be selling at and I have mixed opinions about selling at a set price versus letting the bidding begin at one cent. I have had great results with both so it is up to you. Just remember, using the true auction format can help you sell your item for more than you thought you would get for it by setting a finite Buy It Now price!
The rest of the setup process is straightforward and easy to complete. Now it is just a matter of time.

Wait for your item to sell

Just remember, if your item doesn't sell, you can list it again for free using eBay’s relist feature.
There would not millions and millions of people selling on eBay if it didn’t work! Good selling! .

Looking for eBay Selling Advice?

For now, here are a few things that you need to be thinking of for each item or group of items that you are going to sell.

Have you done due diligence is looking for the same item already selling on eBay?

This is a no brainer. What does your competition look like? How many of the same or similar items are being sold at any one time? What related items are being sold (so you can expand your product offerings)? Will you get the money that you need to get out of this item for it to be profitable for you? Search around a bit and make sure that you understand what you are up against and how you should position your item.

Have you taken photos of your item yet? Remember that your photos have to be of good quality and show the product at all angles. Are there any worn or scratched areas on your item? If so, make sure that you get photos of those.

Every time you receive a question about your item it is an opportunity to be honest with your customer and tell them a bit about your product.

This is your chance to sell them on why they should buy the item and close the deal right there. Great communication is just one sign of a great eBay seller.

Remember, honesty is always best here.

If you were selling this face-to-face and your customer was right in front of you, what would you be telling them about this item? What questions would they ask you if they could thoroughly examine the product? It is best to have all of this information in the description.

Don’t forget to get make sure that you pack your item in a presentable fashion! You should have adequate packing materials so that the item is not damaged during shipping and you should have a presentable box that does NOT 4 resemble a ball of tape! Presentation speaks highly of the quality of operation you are running and can make the difference of someone buying from you again or not.

Last but not least: Follow up on every sale! Your future business could be riding on it and every point of contact that you have with customers has to keep their experience as positive as possible. Customer service is not always the easiest of jobs but as an eBay seller you will be wearing many hats and this may be the most important one of them all.