eBay Tips
How To Make Money Selling On Ebay - Introduction
In the jungles of the world, probably the biggest jungle of them all is Ebay.
There are probably more people buying and selling things on Ebay than at
any other auction site online or offline in the whole world. Needless to
say, because of the popularity of this auction giant, everybody and their
grandmother wants to sell on Ebay. However, unless you know how to do this
properly, your auction can turn into a virtual world nightmare. In this article
and the series to follow, I'm going to give you some tips on selling on Ebay.
Hopefully, after reading this series you'll be prepared to tackle this monster.
The first thing you need to know about Ebay is that contrary to popular belief,
this isn't a place where if you build it, they will come. In order to have
success on Ebay, you have to build a presence there. Not only that, you have
to have something to sell that people are going to have an interest in. Building
a presence on Ebay is not something that happens overnight. The way the Ebay
system works is basically what I call the reward system. The more sales you
make with positive feedback, the more presence you establish. But you have
to start somewhere. The question is, where?
In spite of the fact that most people want to start off by wholesaling tons
of inventory, it is best to start on Ebay by selling the few odds and ends
that you have laying around the house. There is an old saying that one man's
junk is another man's gold. This isn't to say that you can sell things on
Ebay that are falling apart. Anything you sell must at least be in good
condition. Plus, you better make sure you wrap it up well for shipment. The
last thing you want is for your item to arrive in pieces.
As far as finding things to sell, this shouldn't be hard. Unless you have
been living in a cave all your life, you should have been collecting things
over the years such as comics, cards, china, electronics and a number of
other things just from day to day living. Maybe you just got a new stereo
to replace the one you were thinking of getting rid of, even if it is still
working. As long as it's in good condition, there's no reason to throw it
in the trash. Sell it on Ebay and make a few bucks.
As you begin to establish a presence on Ebay by building up positive feedbacks,
you'll be able to move into more advanced selling such as wholesaling. The
key is to take your time and do things the right way. When I say the right
way, I mean that there are certain steps that you are going to have to take
in order to get your Ebay career off the ground correctly, from the actual
opening of your account to writing your ads to shipping your items. Each
step must be done just so or you run the risk of turning your Ebay selling
career into ashes before it even starts.
How To Make Money Selling On Ebay - Getting Started
In our last installment of making money selling on Ebay, we briefly introduced
the concept. In this installment, we're going to dive right into the specifics
of actually creating an Ebay account and getting your first auction up and
running. Hopefully, by the time this series is completed, you'll have a good
head start to selling on Ebay.
The first thing you want to do is create your own Ebay account. This is a
fairly simple process that is completed by going to the Ebay site and following
the instructions under the link that says "register". You don't have to supply
them with too much information. Basically, you give them your name, where
you live, an email address and finally an Ebay ID and password. They'll send
you an email to confirm all this and then once you have done that, you're
ready to start selling on Ebay. Well, almost.
The next thing you should do is open up a PayPal account if you don't already
have one. Most people who buy on Ebay prefer to pay via PayPal so you will
need to open up an account with them. This is also pretty simple and the
procedure is very similar to the one with Ebay, which makes sense since they
are both run by the same parent company.
After you have opened up all your necessary accounts, the next step is to
find something to sell. Now I know you're tempted to dive right in and start
selling high end electronic products at wholesale prices, but until you develop
a reputation on Ebay and get some buyer feedback, you should probably start
off with selling things that you have around the house.
A lot of people have problems with this part of the process because they
don't know where to begin to find things to sell. My philosophy about this
part of the process is very simple. The things that you have around the house
are there for a reason. They didn't just fly in through the windows. You
either bought them or somebody gave them to you as a gift. My point is this.
If you have an item, then somewhere in the world, there is a demand for that
item. All you need to do is offer it at the right price. Once you've done
that, if the item is in good condition, you have a very good chance of selling
it.
If you're having problems finding something to part with, do what I do. Look
around the whole house, especially in the basement, and ask yourself if this
particular item was no longer around, would you miss it or even know it was
gone? If the answer is no, then wrap it up and put it up for auction. If
you can't find anything, go to some local garage sales in your neighborhood.
You're bound to pick up something real cheap that you can sell for a nice
profit. Like I said, there is a demand for everything that's out there. You
just have to make the price right.
How To Make Money Selling On Ebay - Ad Writing
In our last installment of our series on Ebay, we got you started with creating
your Ebay and PayPal accounts and also worked on finding you something to
sell. In this installment we're going to work on what is probably the most
important part of selling on Ebay, or anywhere for that matter. I am talking
about the art of ad writing. With any type of selling, if your ad doesn't
captivate people, you're not going to make sales. Hopefully, these few tips
will get you writing ads that will bring results.
Unfortunately, it is very easy to write a bad ad. Most people do it. Here's
an example of a bad ad.
For Sale...Rolex watch...Brand new...$100 or best offer.
Sounds like something off of a Wall Street ticker tape. If you want to make
sales on Ebay, you have got to write ads that jump off the page and literally
bite people on the rear end. You have to make them want to read your ad,
and that starts with the headline. A bland headline is a dead headline. The
headline may actually be the most important part of the ad because if the
headline doesn't grad them, they won't read the ad.
Here's a headline I would write if I was selling a Rolex watch.
Steal My Rolex For $xxx
The xxx is whatever price you want to sell it for, assuming that you are
going to put a minimum bid on your item from the start that isn't a dollar.
We'll get to minimum bids and when to use them in a future installment. The
point is, this headline is going to get people reading. The keyword steal
indicates that they are going to get a very good deal on this watch. The
Rolex tells them what it is and the $xxx tells them how much it costs. If
the minimum bid is attractive enough, trust me, they will read the rest of
the ad.
Okay, what about the ad itself? Well, you want to continue the momentum that
you started with your headline. Remember, a Rolex is a symbol of prestige.
It's the top watch in the industry. So you want to drive that point home.
Here's an example of how I would continue from the headline.
"Want to be the envy of everyone around you? Want to REALLY make an impression?
Get the Rolex that you thought you could NEVER afford for the ridiculously
low price of $xxx or best offer above that. Don't let somebody else take
this from you because you will NEVER get this opportunity again."
And you would then continue by describing the watch, the condition it's in
and so on. At the end of your ad you need to write a call to action. Something
like "Get Yours TODAY" works very well. You will almost certainly sell that
watch at the minimum you set and more likely than not, you will get some
decent bids.
The art of ad writing for Ebay takes time, but once you get the hang of it,
using this example as a guideline, you should do just fine.
How To Make Money Selling On Ebay - Do's And Don'ts
In our last installment on Ebay, we briefly went over the art of writing
an ad for your Ebay auction. In this installment, I thought I'd go over some
basic do's and don'ts. You'd be surprised how many people make a mess of
their Ebay campaign, not so much because of the things that they do wrong,
but from the things that they're supposed to do that they don't do at all.
In this article, I hope to touch on a few things that will make a big difference
between success and failure when it comes to selling on Ebay.
One of the biggest mistakes that people make when selling on Ebay is they
just don't treat it as a business. They figure this is just some part time
hobby and treat it in that fashion. Let me tell you, Ebay is one of the most
serious business models out there. If you treat it casually, you'll end up
getting negative feedback and ultimately, not very many sales. As I tell
all my people, either do it right or don't do it at all.
If you're going to do this right, especially if you're selling physical goods,
you're going to need to get an excellent quality digital camera. You MUST
include photos with all your ads. Photos reinforce for the buyer what he
or she is getting. If it's a used item, they will want to see what kind of
condition it is in. You just telling them that it's in good condition is
not going to be good enough. There is an old saying, seeing is believing.
So do yourself a favor. Do this right and get a good digital camera. You'll
be taking a lot of photos.
Another whopper of a mistake that people make is that they buy too much.
They have all these visions of selling hundreds of a product and then when
the smoke clears, they've only sold a few items. Don't dream. Be realistic
about your expectations. Buy ONLY what you feel confident you can sell. Unless
you are wholesaling, where you have to buy in bulk, you can always go back
and buy more of the product.
Here's a big mistake that people make and I really don't even want to bring
this up because I like to think that most people are honest, but unfortunately,
many are not. So I will say this once and I hope it sinks in. Don't even
THINK about perpetrating a fraud at Ebay. If you are caught, your account
will be deleted and you will be banned for life. Run your business honestly
and ethically.
Finally, and this isn't something that's required, but I do suggest it. As
your Ebay business grows, you will find that you can't do everything yourself.
Get a partner. Divide up the work. You will ultimately make a lot more money
than you can if you are doing this yourself.
By following the above tips, you'll make your Ebay selling experience a lot
easier and a lot more profitable.
How To Make Money Selling On Ebay - Powersellers
In our last installment of our series on Ebay, we discussed some do's and
don'ts that will make your life a lot easier. In this installment, we're
going to cover the subject of powersellers. Becoming a powerseller is probably
one of the most important things you can do and you should do this as soon
as possible if you want to maximize your revenue via Ebay sales. Hopefully,
after reading these tips, you'll have a good head start on your way to becoming
a powerseller.
The first thing you need to know is exactly what a powerseller is. Well,
it's not anything technical but just a reference to somebody who sells a
lot of items on Ebay. Powersellers do a lot of wholesaling where they may
sell hundreds of something at one shot. These are the people who make the
most money with Ebay. So the question is, how do you become a powerseller?
There is a natural progression to becoming a powerseller on Ebay. The first
thing that you need to do is get enough positive feedbacks to open up your
own Ebay store. The number of feedbacks is not much, only 10, but if you're
selling single items, that means you have to run 10 auctions in order to
get those 10 positive feedbacks and then you have to hope that each buyer
is satisfied and that they do leave feedback. Leaving feedback is not mandatory
so this could be a long process if you're first starting out.
Once you have your 10 positive feedbacks, you can then open up your Ebay
store. So what's the big deal about opening up an Ebay store? Pretty much
everything. See, with an Ebay store, you can have all your auctions posted
at one place. Anybody who goes to your Ebay store can see every item that
you have for sale all in that one place. This makes it very easy for people
to purchase things from you.
Once powersellers have their Ebay store set up, most of them then go into
the wholesaling business. They buy hundreds of an item at bargain basement
prices, sell them just slightly over wholesale and end up making a pretty
penny because of the volume of sales. That's why powersellers have such an
advantage. They can buy things cheaper than anyone else and ultimately, sell
them for less than anybody else.
The best way to make use of and take advantage of your powerseller standing
and your Ebay store is to advertise outside of Ebay. Any emails you send,
simply include the link to your Ebay store. If you want to develop a following,
it is best to probably concentrate on one niche. Maybe you will deal in comic
books or collectible cards. The point is, if you specialize in a niche, you
will eventually develop quite a name for yourself.
You don't have to become a powerseller to have success on Ebay. It just makes
things a lot easier.
How To Make Money Selling On Ebay - Wholesaling
In our last installment of our series on Ebay, we talked about becoming a
powerseller and the Ebay store. In this, our final installment of this series,
we're going to talk about the one way to make more money on Ebay than with
any other method, wholesaling. While this is a very complex subject and its
teaching in its entirety is beyond the scope of this article, these few tips
should give you a jump on your competition.
Wholesaling is where the big bucks are. It is also not the easiest thing
to get into. One of the most difficult parts of wholesaling is the minimum
order. Most wholesalers have extremely large minimum orders for products
that are beyond the means of many people. This keeps them from getting into
wholesaling in the first place. However, there is something that most people
don't know about wholesaling that will help greatly in getting around the
minimum order problem.
Most times that you are dealing with a wholesaler, you are not dealing with
the owner of the company. You're merely dealing with an employee. What I
have found to be a great tactic when dealing with employees is what I call
bargaining from a position of advantage. The reason I feel I have the advantage
is because the employee doesn't want to lose a sale for his boss. That's
not good for business. So, what I do is simply offer to purchase a lesser
quantity than the minimum order. For example, let's say you want to purchase
a large quantity of Topps Baseball Cards and the minimum order is 100 cases.
You know you can only afford 75 cases. You simply tell the employee that
you'd like 75 cases. If he tells you that the minimum order is 100 cases,
you simply say to him that you're sure that his boss wouldn't want to lose
a sale over 75 cases, Also point out that after you sell these, you'll be
back to buy some more and will even mention the wholesaler's name in your
promotions.
Yes, you are going to find some wholesalers, the bigger ones, who won't back
down. But there are those out there who will fill your order at the smaller
amount. You may have to make a few calls to get the deal that you want, but
eventually you will. Everybody wants to make money and there are those who
will jump at the chance to fill your order for a few less cases.
The other thing that you need to understand about wholesaling, which makes
it so profitable, is that for the same amount of work as you would do to
sell a single item, you are making a lot more sales. This is true especially
if you are using dropshipping as an option. One tip on finding a dropshipper.
Make sure you get a hold of one with a good reputation. The last thing you
want is your order to be delivered to the wrong address.
Wholesaling is not something you're going to dive into right away, but once
you get into it, and see how much you can make, you may never go back to
selling single items again.
Save Big Time!
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