About the Author
Ryan Horne
There really is no exact science on what to sell and not to sel on eBay.
With over 50 million users worldwide, you can surely find a market
for any item you can think of.
Starting out you probably want to keep it simple so you can get the
hang of how the listing and selling process work.
Well let's explore some ideas shall we.
There really is no exact science on what to sell and not to sell on eBay.
With over 50 million users worldwide, you can surely find a market
for any item you can think of on eBay.
Starting out you probably want to keep it simple so you can get the
hang of how the listing and selling process work.
Well let's explore some ideas shall we.
1. Around the House- Look around your house, attic, garage. What
kinds of things do you have laying around that you don't need
anymore? This method is how most eBayers get started selling. One
man's, or woman's, junk is another's treasure!!
2. Garage Sales- The Strategy that works best with Garage Sales is
stop by at the end of the day and offer to buy all the merchandise
they have left. You can often spend $25 - $50 and then resell on
Ebay for $500 or more.
3. Storage Units- If you look around the newspaper sometimes you
will see entire storage units being sold off due to the renter of
the unit not paying. You can find amazing deals at these sales.
You can try calling or visiting local storage facilities as well.
If you form a relationship with the owner and let them know of your
interest, they may give you an inside track or first dibs the next
time this occurs.
4. Search eBay- If you know a market like coins, Antiques, or Stamps
you can often buy items on Ebay at deep discounts from motivated
sellers and then turn around and sell them at a very nice profit.
Another way to search eBay is with misspelled searches.
You would be absolutely amazed at how many auctions get listed with
the main keyword misspelled. When this happens it becomes very
difficult for anyone to find the listing. You can take advantage of
this and get items at extremely low prices and then resell them
(spelled correctly of course) for huge profits.
Go to my website and Use the Misspelled Search Tool to Find
Misspelled listings on eBay right now
Misspelled Search Engine
5. Flea Markets/Swap Meets- Flea Markets/ Swap Meets often have Day
Sellers. Many of these people don't want to load up the stuff at
the end of the day and take it Home. By offering to by all that is
left at the end of the day you can often get great deals.
6. Estate Auctions- If you know what your looking for, estate
auctions can be a great place to find things to sell. In most cases
the owners of the estate want all of this gone the day of the
auction. This is another great opportunity to offer a low price for
a large amount of goods. You can also find many antique items at
these, which sell really good on eBay.
7. Church Bazaars- The Church Bazaar strategy is similar to the
Strategies above. Offer to buy what's left at the end of the day at
a deep discount.
8. Newspaper- The newspaper or local classified ad guides can be a
great place to find deals that you can profit on. People are always
getting rid of old stuff to make some room. You could also place an
ad in the paper offering to remove old junk for free or even for a
fee. You never know what you might find while doing this. Don't be
afraid to ask friends and relatives if you can take there old junk
either. They will probably thank you for it and you can make money
while helping them out in the process.
9. Consignment- Another way you can make money is selling on
consignment. In this case you would sell other peoples items and
work out an agreement with them that you will take a certain dollar
or percentage amount after item sells. You will want to make sure
you a clear on how much and also who is responsible for the fees
involved in listing and selling the item(s).
Ebay actually has a program based on this concept where someone can
search for a Trading Assistant near them. You can get the details
on this by clicking below:
Check out this program now
10. Dropshipping- Dropshipping can be a very good way to run an eBay
business. When you work with a dropshipper you will list the product
and then order from them after it sells. They then ship it directly
to your customer for you. This saves you the hassle and investment
of keeping inventory, and having to package and ship your item.
Some dropship companies will even put shipping labels with your
shipping information on it so your customer will never know it did
not come from you.
Below I have included a couple of wholesale and dropshipping
resources that you can use to get your business going.
Salehoo- Online directory of wholesale and dropship companies
www.salehoo.com
Doba- Online resource for wholesale dropshipper's. Over a million
products available to have shipped directly to your customers.
http://www.doba.com
No matter what you choose to sell, it is a good idea to research
the market on eBay first to see how much the item is currently
selling for. The best way to do that is with a cool feature on
eBay's search tool that allows you to search for items that have
already ended. This way you can know what a certain item is selling
for on eBay at that time.
If you are not familiar with using the completed listing search on eBay
click this link to see how:
How to do a completed listing search on eBay
When you go to do a search click on the advanced search link. Then
on the advanced menu you can add whatever keyword you want to search
like usual, but you will want to click on the checkbox that reads
Completed Listings Only. This will bring up all the listings on that
keyword that have ended within the last 90 days. The prices that are
green mean they sold for that amount. If the price is red it didn't
sell.
This is not a guarantee that your similar item is going to sell for
the same amount, but it does give you a good starting point for
pricing your item.
Well, there are some ideas to get you started. Play around with these methods
and find which ones work for you. Then sell, sell, sell.
Published by Ryan Horne on October 22, 2007 11:55 PM
