Q: I hear so much about people who started selling on eBay and eventually turned it into their full time business. Is it really possible to build a profitable business just selling junk on eBay?

– Alex K.

A: If Fred Sanford were alive today, Alex, I’m sure he’d be earning his ripple money by selling quality junk on eBay. While it’s also true that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure (I have a garage full of treasure to prove this point), your chances of building a profitable business selling “junk” on eBay (or anywhere else, for that matter) are slim to none.

While there is a lot of junk/treasure for sale on eBay, it is typically sold by individuals who have “I break for yardsales!” bumper stickers on their cars and not serious business people.

For serious entrepreneurs, however, selling on eBay can be a good way to start a new business if you are willing to put in the time and energy required to make the business a success. eBay is also a good option for existing businesses to expand their reach by selling online.

Everyone from small used car dealers to giant companies like Dell Computers have discovered that eBay is an excellent place to hawk their wares simply due to the huge number of folks who visit the eBay site on a daily basis. Nowhere else on earth will you find such a large pool of potential customers.

Consider these numbers: • There are nearly 69 million eBay users who spend $59 million every day. • Most eBay sellers are home-based businesses that sell every- thing from porcelain dolls to locks of Elvis’ hair to $100,000 Mercedes convertibles to $5 million dollar vacation homes.

• Every minute of every day more than 150 new items are listed for sale, more than 500 bids are placed, and seven new people register to shop on eBay.

• At any given moment, eBay is conducting some 12 million auctions, divided into about 18,000 different categories.

• About two million new items are offered for sale every day, and 62 million registered users scour the site to find them. • One company is grossing more than $5 million dollars a year selling brand new pool tables on eBay. Their eBay store is so profitable that they have closed their retail location and now sell solely online.

That’s right, $5 million dollars from the sale of pool tables: proof that you can sell just about anything on eBay if you know how to do it.

Be aware, however, that eBay is no magic bullet. As any eBay Power Seller (a seller who sells a minimum of $1,000 in goods per month) will tell you, building a profitable eBay business takes hard work and requires long hours, and often the financial rewards do not make it worth the effort spent.

When it comes down to the mechanics of it all, running an eBay business is no different than running a brick and mortar business. You still have the same considerations regarding product selection, inventory purchasing, product pricing, inventory management, order processing, fulfillment, customer service, etc.

You must also consider the legal and accounting aspects of the business. Just because you’re selling online does not mean that Uncle Sam won’t expect his piece of the pie. Revenue generated by an eBay business is just as reportable and taxable as revenue generated from a brick and mortar store. And if you sell to customers within your state you may also be responsible for collecting city, county or state sales tax.

One of the biggest obstacles to building a successful eBay business may be the stiffness of the competition. Many sellers sell identical items and the price wars often get ugly, but that’s to be expected in a free market place, which is exactly what eBay is.

You may be the only store in town that’s selling that one of a kind, custom made just for you, broke the mold after they made it, Dale Earnhart Memorial Bobble Head Action Figure (Earnhart fans would string me up if I called it a Doll), but do a quick search on eBay and you’ll probably find a hundred others just like it.

So, can you build a profitable business selling on eBay?

Certainly, thousands of people have done it and so can you.

Here are a few tips to help get you started.

Sell Quality Products Don’t sell junk! Leave the knick-knacks and fake leather jackets to the less informed. You should offer only quality products at a fair price.

Research The Competition Once you have your product in mind, don’t invest a dime on inventory until you have spent some time on eBay to see what the competition is doing. If you want to sell motorcycle helmets, for example, you should look at current auctions to see how many others are selling similar helmets and what prices they are charging. This step is vital since you may discover that you can’t compete with current sellers on price or there is simply no market for what you have to offer.

Start Slowly Many people believe that the more items they have for sale on eBay the better. They will invest thousands in inventory and spent hundreds on listing fees (yes, eBay charges you to list items for sale and collects a final fee if the item sells). Those are the folks that usually end up with ten thousand Ginsu knives forever in their garage.

Test, Test, Test A fair portion of eBay auctions result in no sales, so it’s best to test the waters before jumping in with both feet.

List a few items and see how they sell. If an item doesn’t sell, list it at least twice more. Some items might not sell the first time, but may the second or third, then sell steadily from then on.

If an item gets no bids the first time, consider adjusting your price or your terms. If an item sells well, keep it in stock and then experiment with another item.

Do Your Homework eBay is too broad a subject to be covered fully here, but there are a multitude of books available that can help you start an eBay business. In fact, I bet you’ll find most of them for sale at this very moment at eBay.

By: Rahul Nardia

About the Author:

From my perception of the situation there appears to be 3 different reactions. Some have completely ignored the changes and continued on eBay without any considerations of other options. Some have exited entirely trying to awaken the alternative venues that are currently just beginning. The third reaction I have found are those sellers who have chose to continue to rent space, but who are also actively promoting themselves and the chosen developing venue.

I am curious to see which response will bring success to the actors. I’m putting my faith in those staying at eBay while aggressively building their business and that of their chosen venue, such as Wagglepop, up into the public view leading to certain success.

The other two approaches to the situation will inevitable prove to be failure. Those who have made themselves martyrs of eBay and have vowed to never again grace the eBay venue with their business are throwing themselves- their business off of “main street” and have put their sign behind all the skyscrapers completely out of view. The work that will have to go into creating visibility will be long and lacking in funds. Eventually, they will concede and believe with even greater certainty to eBay’s arrogant brainwash of their having no other choice but to continue to rent space on eBay’s venue and pay the fees while thanking them for allowing them the opportunity to participate in eBay venue to make eBay money. Diving into the oblivion of eBay’s strangle hold swallowed whole never to be seen again. They will suffer the same fate of those who have remained oblivious in the wake of the eBay’s horrific attack.

As the rollout of changes progress the eBay “marketplace” is feeling the assault with greater intensity every day. While the changes are being implemented gradually the consequence is bludgeoning the eBay community. What was once a harmonious agreement of appropriate conduct has viciously degraded into what I termed as eBay civil unrest.

Some general buying members of eBay mistakenly believing that the feedback changes had taken place in February seemed to have set with the index finger poised for clicking action as soon as the clock struck midnight on Feb 20. The raging voices of sellers on various forums including the eBay discussion boards spat the outrage of their receiving a negative without provocation. Of course there is no way to determine if this was a heyday for some scorned buyers who decided to take their rage out on any seller of opportunity or if the feedback score was legitimately applied.

As the date of feedback changes races toward sellers they are meeting the evil that has sat in wait for their moment to arrive. With near uncontainable excitability with the anxiety of anticipation bursting undeniable into exuberance as the threats pour from their fingertips into the seller’s eMail box. A deep and thorough analysis is unnecessary. The seller’s reputation will be scarred as a result of deviant customers and the image that eBay has portrayed of its customers will finally express their version of the eBay seller community. Commerce will rapidly decline as it becomes impossible to distinguish the bad from the good on both sides of the transaction.

It is then that eBay meets its consequence of stupidity by falling into the oblivion of self inflicted failure.

Unfortunately, eBay’s oblivious brainwashed followers will be found along side eBay at the site of the crash- there are no eBay survivors.

Oh wait maybe there are survivors. Some of those eBay sellers had prepared for the crash. They spent the last days of eBay’s “glory” creating their own existence in online auction selling. They stayed and rode the gravy train until the boat broke using all of the advantage that eBay still possessed - revenue to build their new existence, customers to promote their new business to, and time to settle into their new cozy home! To survive eBay’s personal demise- they have played their cards right and walked away with a smile.

You’re standing at the crossroad- which way are you going to go? And how are going to get there?



By: Mechelle Ridenour

About the Author:

alexus2587 asked:

What I Bought On Ebay

If your eBay auction is for selling to businesses, then you need to figure out the business hours for all your targeted companies in your niche. A good reputation at eBay auction is value its weight in gold, whoever was given a powerfully positive consideration by their customers at previous auctions on average achieves noticeably higher returns. eBay auction is a worldwide trading platform where over 147 million 72 million US registered individuals, small businesses and enterprises, buy and sell millions of items, in thousands of categories, from collectibles like trading cards, antiques, dolls, and house wares to practical items like used car.

Serial Number Following the eBay auction is the serial number of the watch if applicable and or available. Make sure the amount you are asking for in your eBay auction is reasonable. Hot concerning thumbnails on a message board, personal webpage, or eBay auction is allowed, but direct linking large images is only allowed for paid premium members. The idea of an eBay auction is to allow the bidders to set the final price. Using a flat rate shipping charge for your eBay auction is a great idea. Purchasing property or a home through an eBay auction is a rasping idea to some.

After you eBay auction is successfully listed you are done at eBay. If the only image that you are using for your eBay auction is the one in the pattern then be sure and check mark. I favor Pay Pal because I can offer more payment options, on top of that, the entire payment process for your eBay auction is completely computerized if you use Pay Pal. High quality photos and a professional looking eBay auction is an important step for an eBay power seller.

When an eBay auction is completed, the goods shipped and payment made, you and your buyer can comment on each other in eBay feedback forum. Although the highest bid at any one time on an eBay auction is only one addition higher than the second highest bid, it is possible for the price to go up much faster than that if two people are prepared to pay enough. Shipping and handling fee provided by me at the eBay auction is only an Estimate of the Shipping cost for most of the time it will cover the US 48 stats. The greater part of the bidding on an eBay auction is in the last few minutes, seconds. How To Place a Bid Bidding on an eBay auction is very simple, provided you are logged into your eBay account.

eBay the World Online Marketplace is the place to go when you want to buy or sell anything on the Internet. eBay lets its members sell items on the Internet via Auctions, which include bidding, and through the Fixed Price plan, which means that there is a set price for items on sale. eBay Auction is the more popular selling method between the two. eBay Auction will automatically compare your bid with others and does not bid the highest amount you entered.



By: BR SANKHLA

About the Author:

jmetal88 asked:

This is the music video for Chumbawamba’s “On Ebay” from 2004’s “Un”. The video was created by and is available from the website http://www.finctank.co.uk/