eBay Magic: How to Make Money as an eBay Entrepreneur

eBay has grown from a small auction site to become one of the largest e-commerce sites on the Internet. Selling items on eBay can be a lucrative venture if you know what to sell and how to market your products. Posting a few “antiques” for sale that you found in your garage and hoping for a sale is not the best way to discover your selling potential. To become the best eBay seller possible, the following advice will teach you proven methods and tools to use to secure your financial success.

Research What to Sell

The greatest thing about eBay is that with a little patience, a buyer can find anything he or she is looking for. However, it is not a good idea for sellers to try to market any and everything they can possibly think of. Instead, serious sellers should thoroughly research the latest trends and “hard to find” products within a specific “niche market” to learn their true market value.

Conducting a Google search will help you find out the average price of a particular item and whether there is a market for your item. Another tool that can help you research what to sell is Terapeak.com. This website analyzes eBay sales and provides information about the best items to sell and the time of year to sell them. If you focus on items that you are excited about and that you know will sell, you will generate better sales results.

Purchase Products Wholesale

Buy wholesale products that people want and need instead of listing one or two products of your old stuff. A Saturday garage sale is a better way to discard of old jeans, unwanted tools, broken electronic devices, or anything else that is taking up space. Think about how to create a business selling other stuff on eBay, such as brand name items or discontinued items from wholesale dealers.

The team from Directliquidation.com states that buying from companies that sell overstock or out-of-date items at wholesale prices can boost your inventory without putting you in the poor house. Wholesale liquidation companies are trusted sources to purchase your product from, and they have a large inventory of mixed products to choose from.

Take Clear Pictures of Products

Once you have decided on the type inventory you would like to list on eBay, you should take pictures of those items to post on your eBay page. While you do not have to be a professional photographer, make sure the pictures you take are not blurry or too graphically enhanced. Also, posting clear photos of the items you are selling helps buyers know everything humanely possible about the items they are about to purchase from a complete stranger.

Keeping up with inventory can be time consuming, and paying to upload “extra photos” through eBay can become expensive. Free apps, such as Garage Sale, enable sellers to upload extra photos to their servers and manage listings.

List and Market Your Products

Many sellers neglect to fill out all the fields in their listing, as well as state very little about the product’s description. When you list your products on your eBay page, fill out all of the fields and provide important information about the product. Put yourself in the buyer’s position, and incorporate valid information when creating a product description; also, use keywords in your item title and description.

For example, if the product is a brand name item, make sure to include the color of the item, the brand name, and watch your spelling. Also, using creative strategies such as building a Facebook page for your eBay store or creating a blog post to advertise and write about your eBay page can drive traffic to your page.

Here are two great tips on how to remain competitive with all the other sellers:

• Use the “10 day listing” option, starting on a Thursday. In that weekends usually have the highest traffic, this gives you two full weekends to allow buyers to browse products on your page.
• Try not to use “reserve pricing,” which is a hidden minimum price you are willing to accept for your item. If the listing term ends without any bids that meet the minimum price, you do not have to sell the item. This wastes time and keeps inventory sitting on your shelf. With this in mind, start your bid at the lowest price you will accept. This will keep your pricing competitive with the other seller’s prices.

Selling anything takes time and effort. The more time and effort you take posting an item, the better your sales results will be. If your page has a professional appearance, buyers will see that you are serious about selling a quality product and spend their money on your products. Also, a page with clear photos, full product descriptions, and comparable pricing will make you an eBay sensation in that consumers will know that you are an honest online retailer.

Remember that once your eBay page is looking great and items are selling, you must keep your records in order. Accurate records keeping will continue to help you make money on eBay because you will be able to see which of your items sell the most, which items are in-demand, and how to price your inventory. Excellent record keeping can also help keep track of customers and determine your next steps to expand your eBay business.