It may seem that your friends, family, and coworkers have put something up for auction on eBay at one point or another, but this is a far cry from making money on eBay. Most people don't treat eBay as a business opportunity but more of a way to clear out some of the junk in their garage.
Posting items and selling on eBay is not rocket science and even teenagers are doing it, but starting an eBay store or a full time business is considerably more complicated. In the course of one year there are over $50 billion worth of products exchanged on eBay.
This kind of volume means that the competition levels are high which is why you need to learn as much as you can about launching a profitable eBay business.
Top 4 Tips on Earning with ebay
1. Product Choice is Key - There are millions of items that you can sell on eBay but only few will bring in any kind of real profit. Ideally, what you want to focus on is selling unique or hard to find items. This is crucial for many reasons but mainly you cut down on the competition which allows you to profitably price your items.
This may seem daunting but it's not that difficult to pull of. One of the easiest ways to do this is by auctioning items that are only available in your region. For example items that can only be bought in Chicago, and so on.
2. Minimize Costs - The best way to hone your eBay skills is to start with things that you already own. This should evolve into you selling your friends things, for which you will get a percentage in exchange for a quick sale of their unwanted items.
This should go on until you're ready to start your own eBay business, which will include wholesaling products for greater profits.
3. Make Sure Your Listings Get Noticed - This starts with something as simple as the title of your listing. Your title should focus on the specifics of the product such as a model number or the brand name. You should avoid trying to sell in the title with words like amazing or spectacular, by being direct and specific your posts will come up higher in the searches and attract serious buyers.
4. Feedback - Your feedback score is crucial to building trust with your customers. When you're just starting out it's difficult to compete with a low score, but there are a few tips to quickly build up a good reputation.
The good thing is that eBay awards rating scores both ways, you get rating points for selling and buying. Therefore it's recommended that prior to starting selling on eBay for profit you buy up lots of low cost goods. This way you build up a good feedback score even before you've sold your first item. Your ultimate goal is to have a rating of 100, to achieve this make sure that each of your transactions goes through smoothly and strongly focus on customer satisfaction.
Popular eBay Program Reviews
Auction Genius Course - One of the most comprehensive eBay courses ever created and to this day one of a handful of courses to be recognized and endorsed by the eBay corporation as a recommended eBay learning guide...
Auction Monster - Is an eBay training kit that claims it can show you how to make loads of cash from popular auction sites. They use many gimmicks to get people to buy their program including giving away a trial offer for only the price of shipping and handling...
Auctions for Income - An eBay Auction guide by sales guru Dave Espino. This course makes a lot of unsubstantiated claims and it is clear that it is not the best source for eBay training materials...
Beyond eBay - Another Espino product that does not deliver, the book has many flaws that would prevent any serious eBay auctioneer from every making the kind of money that the author promises...
Build a Niche Store - A remarkable piece of software that integrates internet marketing with eBay. This program allows you to quickly build niche sites that are embedded with links to related current eBay listings, allowing you to easily earn commissions...
Dave Espino - Is the author of several how to make money on eBay books. Over the years he has earned a poor reputation due to the low quality of his books and eBay advice...
Jim Cockrum - Is a very successful author who's eBay book has sold over 100k copies. He is well respected in the industry and his products contain tons of valuable information for anyone interested in making real money from eBay...
FastAuction.com - Claims to show you how to profit from eBay, the thing about this company is that their billing practices are very shady. If you do not read all the terms very carefully you will end up paying large monthly costs for using their services...
Internet Auction Secrets - At the time of it's release this was regarded as the definitive eBay training course. Created by internet marketing superstar John Reese this course helped thousands of people increase their income through eBay...
Selling on eBay - If you properly learn to sell on eBay then you can profit from: everyday items that you have around your house, garage sale bought goods, products bought of online shops, and even learn the drop-shipping business...
Silent Sales Machine - The goal of the Silent Sales Machine is to show you how to cut your work hours, lower your fees, and add to your eBay profits. The eBook is very inexpensive and contains information that can drastically improve your auction income...
