Earn Extra Money On eBay Right From Home - In Your Spare Time!
to succeed making a living on the internet. One of the most
important reasons for this is that Ebay gets a significant
amount of traffic. One of the biggest challenges of
succeeding online is driving a lot of qualified traffic to
your web site. So by selling on Ebay you get to tap into
the large amount of traffic that already exists between
buyers and sellers there.
So let me ask you a very important question. What do you
think is the most important quality to get people to buy
from you? As the famous sales trainer Jeoffrey Gitomer once
said people only buy from people that they like and trust.
This is a very important business principle that you need
to apply to your business to succeed online. With Ebay this
is crucial to your success.
Their are other factors which are also important to your
success. These are having products where the buyers are
hungry for it in the niche market that you have chosen. You
also need to ensure that you set your prices correctly. If
they are too cheap then you will not make enough profit. If
it is too expensive then you will not sell many. So you
need to find the correct balance.
However you need to focus on building trust with your
customers in your business. This is the missing ingredient
that most businesses lack to make them work. So let us look
briefly at how this philosophy works on Ebay. Ebay uses a
sytem that shows the feedback rating for a seller. This
rating basically indicates to a buyer if they can trust
you. The higher the rating the higher the level of trust
that you will possess with prospective clients. This rating
is based on the positive feedback that you get from
customers.
So it really becomes important to build this up by selling
small ticket items and offer your customers exceptional
service. Once you have built a good reputation you will
have enough trust to start selling big ticket items.
Do you have a hobby, enjoy doing arts and crafts, or have an attic full of clutter? If so, you have the potential to earn extra income on eBay! Ebay is the most popular online auctioning site available worldwide. Ebay not only provides a medium for auctioning your items, it also gives everyday people, like yourself, the opportunity to start their own home business. You can earn extra income on eBay; it?s simple and thousands of people do it daily.
Not only can you earn extra income on eBay, but you can also start your very own, lucrative, home business. Home businesses have helped thousands of individuals achieve the working freedom they desire. When you work at home, you are your boss. This gives you the freedom you need to tailor your home life around your work life.
If your home life is your work life, that just means more hours and more money for you; for those who have a home life (i.e. raising children), this enables you to put priorities other than work first, yet still earn a decent part time to full time income. Personally, I enjoy working from home much better than the regular ?nine-to-five.? Even though I spend most of the day in my pajamas, I still have the drive and initiative needed to fulfill the daily tasks at hand and watch my business blossom.
?One man?s trash in another man?s treasure,? goes a long way when you want to earn extra income on eBay. You would be surprised at the bids you could receive on those old, dusty trinkets hanging out in a box in the garage. Skilled crafts created by yourself are desirable as well. People all over the globe shop ebay, and by adding your unique products to the assortment, you can avoid common product genres which already saturate eBay?s pages with high competition.
Do you want to earn extra income on eBay? Log in and set up an account today. It?s free, so what have you got to lose? (see below) Once you browse the pages and see what it really has to offer, I?m sure you will see how eBay has great potential to put some extra cash in your pocket. Who knows? After you dabble in eBay a bit, you might decide it?s just the thing for you. Thousands of people earn six figures a year with their eBay home business,?they wear pajamas all day too?and you just might be the next!
How To Sell Information Products On Ebay
Now you might say, "Wow! That's awesome!" Well it is, but there are a few things you need to keep in mind before diving into the drop shipping business and selecting a drop shipper.
1. Make sure to choose a product that there is sufficient demand for, and there is sufficient mark-up to make a good profit.
2. Make sure you are not diving into an area that is too competitive. Check what the competition is charging.
3. Only ship a select few products after doing market research for them. Don't just ship everything you can find. This will ensure that you can concentrate your marketing efforts on a select few profitable niches.
4. Find a good supplier (drop shipper). If it is an online dropshipper than your job just got easier. You want the drop shipper to have every major product in the niche at a good price.
5. Be prepared to deal with backorders and returns. This is still a business. Although you don't have to hold an inventory, don't think that the product you want will always be available and that you will not have to deal with customers asking for refunds.
Treat this like a real business. Don't just set up a free webpage and expect to get rich over night. You need to put in time and effort to see results.
Where To Find Your Online DropShipper?
Unlike many of the scams prevalent online, you want a drop shipper that is trustworthy. An excellent online dropshipper directory is available at SaleHoo. You can read a .
Thanks to the 21st century and the growing number of customer demands, business at eBay is really beginning to look up. However, this means that there's going to be a fierce competition between the sellers online. Due to the growing demand of the consumers, more and more sellers are pouring into the eBay business. In order for you to derive maximum benefit even in these conditions, you need to plan your strategy accordingly.
As they say "Fail to Plan and Plan to fail"; this exactly describes how you should do your business at eBay. This may sound like something right from the books of the Dalai Lama, but it is true. If you want to gain profit with your eBay business, it is time you start planning right now. One thing that you have to remember is that you've got to stick to the plan until it materializes. Planning is important because the products get outdated pretty fast. Look at the Xbox for instance; although it was introduced in 2001, a new model was unveiled within just four years, i.e., Xbox 360. Therefore, it is important that you invest both your time and money in new products so as to attract more customers. That being said, the coming years are predicted to be very good for the prospective buyers, since sellers are doing virtually everything that they can to attract the buyer's attention. Once you've done your homework with regard to the planning process, you should shift your focus on how to achieve your objectives.
Defining your goals in order to take your business a step further requires you to monitor your progress on a daily basis. Do everything that you can to avoid negative feedback from the buyers. In this day and age, one negative feedback is equal to losing five prospective customers, which is equal to a big loss. Once you see that your business is one a progressive trend, don't stop there. Introduce offers like discounts on buying two iPods, etc. Your goals must be in touch with reality of course, wherein an objective of sales revenue reaching up to $8000 is understandable, but something more than $15000 in a month is kind of far fetched, don't you think? Put an estimate, like every month your sales figure should improve by at least 10%.
Speaking of quantitative goals, never forget to keep your products at par with quality. There's got to be a reason why the customers choose your product over thousand other products sold by the sellers all over eBay. When it comes to delivering your products, your shipping charges should be nominal compared to what other sellers are offering. Don't always sell your products at discounts; you have got to look after your own interests too. What is business without any profit!
So you want to sell information products on eBay? It's a wise decision, because eBay.com is one of the top 5 most visited sites on the Web - and most visitors are buyers or sellers.
In this crowded, vibrant, active marketplace where hundreds of millions of dollars of products are sold, you can carve out your niche and get a slice of the huge pie. Infoproducts are a good product category, and can be offered in any niche.
Pick Your Niche
On the front page of eBay is a list of categories. You can browse through this list and select the best categories to offer your infoproducts. Make sure what your infoproducts contain will add value to visitors in the niche. That way, you will appeal to their interest and gain attention.
All or One
Your infoproduct may be available in just one format - or many. For instance, you could be selling ebooks on eBay, or you could also offer similar or related information in the form of a print book, audio tapes, DVD recordings, or a homestudy program. Decide if you want to sell only one format, or all, on eBay.
Create Sales Copy
Audiences on eBay are a little different from regular browsers visiting a website. Your copy selling the infoproduct on eBay must be tailored to be most appealing to a visitor. Use graphics and images to enhance your offer. Make hard-to-resist offers, both in pricing and bonuses.
Auction or Store
eBay offers the option of selling as an auction or even having your virtual storefront. If your infoproduct is available in multiple formats, or in the form of different bundles containing various components, you may prefer to sell information products on eBay stores.
Featured Listings
By paying a premium listing price, you can ensure your auction gets more attention. You will be prominently listed on the results page, can place an icon or tiny graphic beside your auction listing, use formatting of your text links, and other tiny tweaks that get more interest from curious browsers visiting the auction site every day.
Following Up
Most people sell information products on eBay but miss out on this most critical component - the follow up. When someone buys an information product, they are telegraphing their interest in the topic - and this shows you they are potential candidates to buy more stuff related to the niche.
By simply following up to ask if you can help them in any other way, or asking if they might be interested in buying other related products and services you offer, you could double your profit or more - without any fancy advertising or expensive marketing.
It's the right time for you to sell information products on eBay and profit from the massive crowd coming there to buy. Test things in a small way, learn more about eBay selling from experts, buy courses and study ebooks on the subject, and put your lessons to use while you sell information products on eBay.
Tips For Making Money On Ebay
I enjoy sharing my knowledge and stories of the auction business. My goal for article is to help folks get the absolute most out of their auction experience.
Whether your fresh out of the package or a seasoned dealer I think I can offer something in this article to help you with your auciton adventures.
There may be as many reasons to attend auctions as there are types of auctions to attend. Maybe you want to attend an auction to buy items for re-sale on eBay, or some other market. Maybe you want to furnish your home with wonderful antiques, or you want to furnish your home as inexpensively without sacrificing quality.Some folks are just looking for a fun night out. With a little perseverance all these things are possible.
There are antiques and estate auctions, auto auctions, overstock auctions, absolute and no reserve auctions, real estate auctions, specialty auctions where only one genre of items are sold, tailgate auctions, live auctions, online auctions, sealed bid auctions, silent auctions, charity and fund raising auctions and many more.
Can you really buy for pennies on the dollar at an auction? You bet! Many times I've seen folks buy and re-sell at the same auction on the same night for a good profit, although be advised, this should only be done after the auction is over.
There are a lot of ways to find an auction, but here are some tips on how to find and attend the best ones.
Visit the genre of shops in the area that apply to the type of auction you want to attend. IE: If your looking for a good antique auction to attend, stop in the local antiques shops and ask for what there are for good auctions in the area. Sounds obvious right? But listen to what they don't say as well as what they do say. Oftentimes when a dealer speaks poorly about an auction he or she attends, it may be likely that they are trying to keep a good thing secret. Think for a moment, why would a dealer keep attending a lousy auction?
Newspaper ads: I personally like to find ads in the classified ad section rather than flashy display ads. Flashy ads are usually indicative of an auction that will be high priced, may have reserves, (a set price on an item), and usually an enormous crowd. While any auction can be profitable to attend, it is usually best to steer clear of the glitzy ones, at least for the beginner.
Here's the minimum you want to find out before you go. If there is a phone number in the ad, call and ask for the terms of the sale. What forms of payment do they accept? Is it an absolute auction? An absolute auction is one that has no minimum or reserve bids on items. These are the best auctions to attend! Is there a buyers premium? A buyers premium is like a tax that everyone who makes purchases at that auction must pay above the winning bid price. Most auctions these days do charge a buyers premium, 10% is not unreasonable but I feel much more than that is greedy, and the auctioneer that charges over 10% is counting on most bidders not doing the extra math as the bids quicken in pace.
A fair auction will have ample time to inspect the merchandise, usually at least 2 or 3 hours. Find out when inspection starts and make sure to attend! Never attend an auction if you can't make the inspection, not unless your prepared to gamble. Most auctioneers sell at a rate of about 100 items per hour, which is why they sell "as is". They simply don't have the time to give a detailed description of all the items. Since almost all items at auction are sold AS IS, there are sure to be some damaged, refinished, fake and incomplete items at any given auction. Beware of any auctions that offer very little or no inspection time.
Good auctions will usually have 150 to 400 lots. A lot may be one item or a group of items. The exception to this are specialty auctions, auto auctions, real estate auctions etc.
When you attend your first sale, take note of the 1/2 dozen or so dealers that buy the most often. See if you can find out about other area auctions they attend.
When you do find an excellent auction, attend it as often as possible. By frequenting good sales, you help increase the bottom line of that business. It's difficult for many auctioneers to keep the quality of merchandise consistent, so good attendance certainly helps. And when an auctioneer gets to know you as a buyer, he/she will go out of the way to accommodate you, to keep you coming back.
Attend an auction this week, it's one of the only market places where you can set the price.
Thanks for reading and have fun.
If you?re new to eBay, first it is helpful to take a look around eBay and see what is selling. Finding what is popular will help you when choosing products to sell. Take a look at several sellers with a good reputation and a long history. You can learn a substantial about how eBay works from these sellers.
Next, choose your products. It is helpful to choose products that are already selling or to choose a niche to make your items stand out more. You can begin to choose products by just finding items in your home that you don?t use anymore.
When listing products, be sure to include lots of pictures and interesting descriptions. Remember to be truthful, but also be detailed and lively in your descriptions to get buyers excited about your products. Be sure that you include clear pictures, particularly from several angles. Remember that buyers can?t hold the product so pictures and descriptions are the only way they have to decide about whether to buy or not.
When listing products, try to list more than a few items. Buyers will often look through all your items and may buy an alternate item or buy several of your items. If you are selling a niche item, such as antiques, it can be particularly helpful to list several items.
Remember to list products at a reasonable price. People go to eBay to find deals. You may not make a profit on every item, but as you learn what is selling, you can make more money. Remember that bidding wars may make you a profit in the end, but buyers will start bidding if they see a reasonable price.
Finally, it is crucial to keep your customers satisfied. The best eBay sellers have a long feedback list with positive comments from happy customers. If you can keep your customers satisfied, they will keep coming back. I can personally attest to this. The way to do this is to ship the items fast and make sure they arrive safely. It is helpful to double-bag an item or use a box with stuffing so that the product arrives in one piece. Immediately after payment ship the item, and then ask for feedback from the customer so that your rankings continue to improve. Buyers are more likely to buy from proven sellers so keep selling and you?ll get there.
As you get more experienced, it may be a good idea to use a dropshipping company for product sourcing. You can set your own retail price and buy wholesale from dropship manufacturers. Try to use an eBay certified dropshipper like the company.
Now that you know some tricks and basics about eBay, get selling!
Top 5 Reasons To Sell On Ebay
I use my About Me page to give my professional background, promote my newsletter, promote my products, and show affiliate links. Your About Me page is the only place on eBay that users are allowed to show links to non-eBay sites.
Here are eBay's rules for your About Me Page (from eBay help):
"You may link to your own Web store or Web site. However, you may not directly offer any non-eBay merchandise on the About Me page itself.
eBay does not permit its users to place the following types of links on your About Me pages:
Links that directly offer any non-eBay listing or merchandise on the About Me page itself.
Links to other online trading sites or pages, including auctions and fixed-price formats.
Links to sites offering the same merchandise for the same or lower price (including the Buy It Now price).
Links to sites offering merchandise or information not permitted on eBay
On your About Me page, you may link to your own Web site or individual Internet store where you are offering to trade, sell or purchase your goods or services. However, you may not link to any page within online trading sites that offer goods from multiple sellers either in a fixed price or auction format."
If you are not using your About Me Page, take a few minutes to set one up. eBay users look at them and click on the links. Your About Me Page is another place where you can promote yourself, and it is absolutely free.
I don't think that there are many people in the world who have not yet heard of eBay. That is because it is one of the most popular websites on the Internet, and it is a great place for you to find all kinds of new and used items for sale. Many people are content simply purchasing items at a discount on eBay, but other people are intrigued by the thought that they could make some serious money on the website as well. There is a lot of information out there on the different methods of selling items on eBay but perhaps one of the things that most people really want to know is what to sell on eBay.
There are so many different directions that you could take an eBay business. There are some areas, however, that will give you a better opportunity than others. One of these would be selling car and truck parts on eBay, as there is a great demand for this sort of item. Why would you want to start an online eBay business in the car and truck parts area, and what kind of profits could you expect to make?
Many people make a little bit of money selling things that are generally surrounding a hobby niche of some sort. But there is an entire area of eBay that is solely dedicated to the selling and buying of used and new car and truck parts. This is not the same as eBay motors, where you would sell an entire car. It is, however, a very popular area of the main eBay site itself and it is a great opportunity for anyone that has the desire to make good money with an eBay store.
Part of the reason why this is such a good opportunity is because of the diversity in the car and truck parts industry. There are so many different makes and models, as well as different styles of custom car parts for people to choose from. If you are able to find the proper people to stock your inventory as you sell the items, then you have almost won the entire battle. All that is really left to learn is how to put the auctions on eBay and how to get them to stand out in the crowd. So now that you know what to sell on eBay, how much can you expect to make from it?
As far as the amount of money that you could expect to make, that really depends on how much work you put into your business. Some of the top money earners in the are bringing in millions of dollars in sales every month. I am sure that you would not even need to come near to these numbers in order for you to have a full-time working business.
So if you have an inclination towards business and would like a great opportunity to create a successful eBay store, then going with the car and truck parts area is one of your better choices. It will give you the opportunity to sell to a very large audience of hungry buyers and that will add up to profits for you.
There are many people who prefer selling their items online through eBay. Even though the Internet is full of popular websites like AOL, Amazon, Yahoo and Google, no one ever forgets eBay. This is one of the easiest and quickest ways of making money online and it is an amazing and convenient business option that requires no space or shop. Even a simple home- based business can profit from online selling. Due to the rise in popularity of online auctions, it has become easy to reach customers all around the world. Online auctions can be considered as a stepping- stone to a very profitable world. They lead to a significant and positive change in an individual's lifestyle, something that was not imagined a few years back.
EBay is easily the largest marketplace in the wireless world. The model of online auctions that is offered by eBay provides a golden opportunity to any seller to make a profit in a short span of time. This is the reason why many sellers are using it for the benefit of their business and website. You just need to create an eBay store that is not difficult to use, and list in it items that are very much in demand. You can offer a small discount on these items. Traffic can be driven from eBay to your website, which creates revenue and sales for your company through eBay. You do not have to worry about the monthly fee because it is nominal and you can pay it from the profit you will make from few small sales. Your items can be listed automatically at the eBay store and this will not only save your precious time but also make the eBay store maintenance easy. As compared to eBay, many other websites take approximately few years to realize real profits. If you are planning on selling through eBay for the first time, then you need not worry because the process is fairly easy. You just need to understand the rules and know what you are doing, so that it becomes easy for you to benefit from more sales through eBay.
Ebay has a lot of traffic and based on statistics approximately 10 million items are always on sale. Page views are released every month and every month eBay gets at least 1.5 billion auction page views! This is what makes it easy for the ordinary people to use eBay. The only requirement is to take your products to buyers who want it. If you know what you want from eBay, then it will certainly maximize the effectiveness of your auction.
More and more eBay users can find your items, if they are described in the best manner and with the use of the right keywords within the auction title. The search facility is used to look for the items, so make sure that your title is attractive enough to grab the buyer's attention.
Learn to Wholesale Dropship
While the eBay selling strategies can come easy for some, it may be a little bit confusing for someone that has never even sold anything on eBay yet. eBay selling starts out with having an idea on what to sell. Figuring out what to sell is the most important step you must take in order to be successful with this process.
In order to choose what products to sell, you must focus on what people are interested these days that you can offer at a price that doesn't compare to the retail in local stores. Now, with that in mind, you must stay focused and make sure that you do your research before selling anything off the bat.
Here I am going to give you a few ideas of what to sell:
1. Electronics
There is always a rapid need for electronics these days, whether it is an iPod, cell phone, or stereo system. When a new device comes out on the market at an extremely high price, you better believe that you will find people searching for that item on eBay to find a discounted price.
2. Information Products
These types of products are usually delivered digitally. You can find different types of information products (eBooks) to sell on eBay. You can find a whole bunch of them in affiliate sites such as clickbank, or wholesale junction.
3. Antiques
Another reason why people come onto eBay because it is
some what said that eBay is the largest garage sale around. Many people will collect things for many years and then sell them on eBay to make a lot of profit off of their collectibles.
In my opinion, the best way to go is through drop shipping. This way is the best one used by the people that make a full time income on eBay everyday. Drop Shipping is a great thing that anyone can utilize. How it works is, you can go and search products that you are looking for at a discounted price. If you find a great bargain that you think might make your profit, you can list it in eBay.
When the product is sold, you will never have to worry about touching the product. You just let the manufacturer know that the product was sold and then they send it out to the buyer in the packaging.
So, you have a few ideas now on what exactly you can sell on eBay.
Today there are a number of ways to make money online, and innovative internet marketers are finding new ways to make money every day. If you want to make money fast, one of the best ways to do that is to sell products on eBay.
Many successful eBay Sellers started out selling items they no longer wanted or needed. They sold products they found around the house and in the garage. Many an eBay Seller has been tremendously surprised by the amount of money someone else was willing to pay for something they considered to e "junk." Like the old saying goes: One person's junk is another's treasure.
It is quite possible for eBay Sellers to make fast cash on eBay and have it available to them within a few days. This is one reason that eBay is so popular as a way to make money online.
After you sell everything you do not need around the house, you must find other products to sell on eBay. Choosing the right products to sell is one of the most crucial elements of a successful online business. It is also important to size up the competition in a specific niche.
How do you go about finding the really hot, profitable niches on eBay? EBay Pulse is a good way to see what is popular on eBay because the Pulse shows the Top Ten searches in each category. It is important to note, however, that the Top Ten list comes from search statistics only and does not include actual sales. Because of this, a product that is searched a high number of times is not necessarily a profitable product to sell on eBay.
Hot Wholesale Tips You MUST Follow!
1. Thorough market research is the foundation for success
Meticulous market research doubles your chances of making a tidy profit from the wholesale goods you buy. Start off with a list of 5-10 different ideas. Then check completed listings searches on eBay to see what the item generally sells for and the sell-through rate for each one. Use Yahoo's free keyword tool inventory-overture to find out how many people are searching Yahoo for your product per month. You can double this figure for Google. Add the numbers together. If there are ten thousand or more searches per month for an item, this indicates a healthy market.
2. Calculate the REAL cost of your item
One big reason why people fail at the wholesale game is that they don't do the numbers. In other words, they don't treat wholesale like a real business. To accurately discover your true profit potential on an item, you need to add the shipping cost and insurance, eBay fees (or equivalent for other advertising), Paypal and/or credit card fees (these can be a real profit killer), packaging costs and labor involved packaging, and any storage costs to the cost of your item.
3. Verify ALL suppliers found on the Internet
Getting caught out by scammers is a common stumbling block for people new to wholesale. If you are searching for suppliers off your own bat (rather than using a wholesale directory like SaleHoo), it is CRITICAL to check authenticity before making a purchase.
Always take the time to:
Check that the website gives a full business name and a registration number.
Check for a legitimate contact telephone number - this will involve ringing the number. Do not accept a mobile phone number alone. All real companies should have a land line number. A legitimate company will have a domain expiration date in several years time. Most legitimate companies reserve their domain names for 3-5 years or more at a time.
AVOID suppliers who won't agree to use secure payment methods such as Escrow.com, Credit Card and Paypal Verified.
Still uncertain? Ask other sellers what their experiences have been with the company you are interested in on eBay forums.
4. Chinese suppliers give the competitive edge
Chinese suppliers are an essential source for anyone wishing to make money selling online. Manufacturing costs are currently extremely low in China, thus it is the secret to gaining a competitive edge. Dealing with China does have risks, but these can be alleviated if you place a small order first, use secure payment methods, get shipping insurance for 110% of the cost of the items, and use suppliers with a good reputation.
5. A common stumbling block for liquidation and closeout
Always obtain the reasons for liquidation and closeout sales before you buy. Liquidation and Closeout sales can be a fantastic source for cheap products, but you usually have to buy by the pallet load and these can sometimes include broken or returned goods that aren't in saleable condition. To be safe, ask specifically whether broken items and returns are included before you buy.
6. Negotiate on shipping and save
Shipping economically is critical to importing success. Profits can easily get swamped in shipping costs, so take time to get a good deal on shipping. If possible, negotiate CIF (Cost, Insurance & Freight) or DDP (Delivery, duty paid) shipping terms with your supplier as this takes much of the risk - not to mention organization - off your shoulders. FOB (Freight on Board) is the most common shipping term, but don't be afraid to negotiate for better.
7. Drop shipping - can you really afford it?
Drop shipping sounds great in theory - someone taking care of packaging, wrapping and postage - but it can be difficult to profit from this method. Think about it, drop shipping can add another $2-10 to your costs - sometimes even 10% of the cost of the item. By the time you add in eBay fees and any other costs, you may find it is not worth it.
8. Warehouse storage checklist
Asset management is the most important consideration when locating warehousing to store your items. Believe it or not, items can go missing while in storage, causing massive disruption for you. When comparing warehouses, ask questions specifically on how you will authorize the release of stock (by phone or fax?), what will happen if you need to cancel an order, frequency of damage claims, dust management, and whether there is an area you can use to photograph items.
9. Power seller wealth
It's a fact - eBay powersellers are able to command higher prices for their items than ordinary eBay sellers. To get the best profits on your wholesale items, you need to aim to get and maintain powerseller status.
10. Growth with a website and eBay store
The way to increase profits from wholesale is to build your own website and/or open an eBay store. This allows you to cross sell items plus it also makes it easier for people to find what they are looking for. For example, if you sell shoes, then customers can easily navigate to browse all black shoes in size 9 and so on. Always include a sentence at the bottom of your descriptions encouraging visitors to check out your other listings - most people will.
If you are looking for genuine and trusted wholesale suppliers then look no further than SaleHoo! SaleHoo's directory contains over 4000 drop ship, wholesale and closeout suppliers that are independently reviewed and rated by eBay Powersellers and Industry experts. SaleHoo also purchases off them and reviews each supplier in depth afterwards.
EBay Selling, Where to Locate Large Wholesale Lots
The lcom process works as follows: you submit your product information to lcom, including the description, pictures, weight, etc. The staff will then put up an ad for you. I have found them to be both helpful and friendly. After the auction has closed, a third-party shipping company will contact you to arrange the pickup. You can view all of this progress at the lcom Web site. The customer and seller have no direct contact - questions are answered online, but are filtered through lcom.
All lcom auctions start at $100 with no reserve. Normally I can sell a whole pallet of product and receive a price equivalent of what I would receive selling them on eBay one at a time. The fees for your auction are 15% of the winning auction price with a minimum of $150. The $150 minimum may seem high, but the exposure and ability to move a large load of product at eBay-type pricing makes it very attractive. Payment usually takes 7 - 10 days after the auction closes, depending on the shipping times, etc.
The main negative experience occurs when a closed auction goes into dispute. This doesn't happen often, but it can be very costly when it does. The customer has 2 days to review the product after the load has been received. If he disputes the purchase, the seller is notified and the lcom team makes a decision as to whether the reason is valid. If the load is returned, the seller pays shipping both ways, from your site to the bidder's and back, plus the full 15% commission.
I have sold many lots of product on lcom; and the biggest lesson I learned is to select the right category. There are various categories to describe your product such as new, shelf-pull, used and salvage. I have found that it's best to put your product in one category below what it actually is to save any disputes; for example, if you have used computers, list them under salvage.
I have found virtually no price difference in the final sale by putting goods in a lower category, and it limits customer disputes. It may sound strange, but the ended auction price is almost the same. As I wrote earlier, if an auction is disputed, you not only lose your time, but the full 15% commission and shipping costs. Believe me - this is something you want to avoid!
If you have slow movers on eBay or overstock items, consider using lcom as a good venue to sell bulk product.
How to Find Your Own eBay Niche
If you have been thinking about becoming an eBay seller, now is the best time of all. Take action now, and you can join the ranks of successful eBay sellers. This is an excellent time to jump in and get your feet wet. You can do that by just looking around your house for items that you no longer use or need. Try selling them on eBay. Many successful sellers got their start on eBay by selling things they no longer needed, and many have advanced to earning a full-time living selling products on eBay.
After sellers sell everything they can find around the house, it is time to start thinking about finding a profitable niche. There are some small niches that are making eBay sellers excellent profits because the competition is low and the demand is high among a small group of people. There are also products that are in high demand nation-wide, and smart sellers get into these highly profitable niches while the demand is high.
How does one go about finding the really profitable products to sell on eBay? Research is the best way to find these products, but it is time consuming and somewhat complicated for many. Another way to find out the hot, profitable niches on eBay is to have someone else do the research for you. Statistics and numbers do not tell the whole story, so it is best to find information about eBay niches from experienced and reliable sources that include commentary and tips about current profitable eBay niches.
Productive E-Bay and Auctions - Revitalizing Your E-Bay and Auctions
- When you auction an item on E-bay, it is very important that the auctioneer has the flair for giving out enticing and attractive description about what is being auctioned. This is very important because your prospective clients are primarily basing their decision on how the item that is being auctioned is being described.
- It is a must to remember for auctioneers that not all items that you see vintage and antique are potential market hits. This is because people have diverse necessity and demands. There may be times that antiques and collector?s items are selling like hotcakes; however, there are also times that these types of items are not even sold at all. Therefore, the auctioneer should be able to know how they can balance the items that they are auctioning.
- As an auctioneer, you need to remember that you are required to practice professionalism and courtesy at all times. This is a basic human and client relations that every auctioneer must understand by heart. When you are able to project this right kind of an attitude, then you are just winning clients day to day.
Tips To Find Priceless Collectibles and Antiques On eBay
You can win only if you are able to convince the sellers that their unwanted items can be converted into profit, if they sold it to you. If they call you back, you are in control. You can rely on luck as well, when you go to any yard sale. But selling on eBay is a serious business and you need to have collectibles coming on without fail. There is no point in relying completely on luck because there are others waiting to take your place. You require a system wherein the items come to you constantly. Besides, there are many people who prefer selling their items online through eBay, even though Internet is full of popular websites. There are some guidelines that you can follow for success.
Developing an outstanding marketing plan is very important. Make sure that your plan is an outline of how you plan to convince the sellers. Create a strategy that the seller cannot refuse to accept. It should be very effective as this is the psychology of creating a win-win situation. No seller would want to lose, so make sure to tell them that they are getting a good deal because this will bring you more business. Networking also works to a great extent. Don't hesitate in asking people, if they have any collectibles, they would like to sell. Spread word in your community that if anyone is interested in selling collectibles, then they can contact you. Another important strategy is to show off the collectibles and antiques you have. This can be done in any manner you like. People can see your collection and many can even call you to sell their collectibles. Write a letter to your local real estate agents and inform them about your interest in paying cash for unwanted antiques or collectibles.
You can get in touch with other dealers and tell them that you will buy any collectible or antique, they do not want. You can pay people to find items for you. If someone finds something for you, then don't forget to pay that person the finders' fee. You definitely will succeed in finding treasure troves of priceless collectibles and antiques, if you make an effort and have the patience to search for items online, on eBay.
Is Your EBay Store Taking Over Your House
It is important to separate your business life from your home life, even when you are performing these two different parts of your life from within the same location.
Maintaining a separate business area in your house is vital because it helps you to be and remain organized. When running a business you do not want to dig out your invoices and shipping labels from underneath dirty plates and half eaten pizza slices.
Ideally you need a separate room as your business office where you can close the door and work undisturbed. If that is not possible with the space that you have at your disposal, then you need to section off one part of room at the very least.
Within this work area you need to keep things organized as well. Assign separate areas for your item storage, shipping and labeling, computer and printing, photography, and other eBay store related tasks.
You need to keep your space and organization in step with your business growth. Your business will definitely suffer if you try to force a growing business into the same small space that you started out with.
As your business grows, the first new area that you would probably need to find is additional storage space. The next would be the shipping and labeling area that would probably need to move out of your office.
Very soon, if you have a flourishing business, the business will be threatening to take over your entire house.
Family members will begin to complain about all your stuff that is taking up all the room even though they would not complain about the additional dollars that you bring into the household.
This might be the time in your business growth to consider renting an office. Trying to fit a larger business into an already occupied home will not only hurt your family life but it could also stifle your business.
Even though you might feel that you are going back to a more formalized office life, you will still be your own boss and that is all that counts for most people.
The final decision on staying in the house or moving out will depend on what you want to do with your business. If your goal is to build your business as large as it can be, then you will definitely outgrow your house at some point in time.
Best Time to End eBay Auctions
I think the timing issue becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy - a self-proclaimed expert may say, ?The best time to end your listings is ABC day at XYZ time.? After reading the "expert's" information, a huge number of people time their listings to end at ABC day at XYZ time - and viola - suddenly you have a huge number of auctions ending at that time. Sellers were influenced by something they read and tried to make their auctions ?fit? into a specific timeframe.
I have heard that the airing time of certain TV programs can affect eBay buying. I disagree with that theory. Auction sniping porgrams give buyers the flexibility to be away from their computer when auctions end. Buyers are using these programs more and more because some are free, others are very low cost for the convenience they offer, and these programs are much more efficient at submitting the bid than a human clicking a mouse. Not everyone in every eBaying country around the world is glued to their TV to watch American Idol or Desperate Housewives. I know plenty of people who never or rarely watch tv - myself included. With inventions like TiVo, DVR, and TV programs on DVDs, viewers aren?t required to be in front of their TV at a certain time to watch a program. They can record programs and watch them anytime they want.
My theory is that you list when it is convenient for you, and use the scheduling feature if you feel strongly about when to end your listings. The important factor is getting your item out there on eBay so that buyers can see it. If buyers can't see your item, they can't buy it.
Learn more about ebay selling by
Amazing Ebay Income - Revealed - 5 Rewarding Secrets to Make Money With Ebay Income
Once the customer places the order with you on eBay, it is up to you to place the order with the wholesale company. But from that point on, as the drop shipper, you lose a lot of control. You have to rely on that wholesaler company to have the inventory promised, price promised, address placed correctly and ship timing promised and get that product out to your customer. All you can do is sit back and wait and hope that you have chosen the right distributor to get the product to your customers.
At this point in any smart entrepreneurs mind when considering drop shipping, although it can save a ton of money on overhead, it is only a solid business plan if the right, reputable and dependable wholesaler can be found and used. How can that be done is the popular question on everyones lips every time I attend an eBay LIVE! Conference or am at an eBay education seminar. Drop shipping sounds like such an easy idea, and with all the infomercials out there telling us how much money can be made on eBay using wholesalers....it sounds like a piece of cake, right. Lets all just open up eBay Stores and start making thousands of dollars in profits in only months!!!!
BACK TO REALITY PEOPLE.....
Just like most infomercials and products featured in this kind of marketing that you see on TV, just like it says in fine print at the bottom of the screen "Results not typical, each story in unique" Truth be told, like I said there is money to be made using eBay and dropshipping product to your customers. In fact, when in the Powerseller area for eBay LIVE in 2006, most of the platinum powersellers that I met, that were there with MORE THAN 2 employees EACH, were earning a living for themselves and their employees full time working on eBay with various drop shippers and had never inventoried an item in their entire eBay Career.
These people were at eBay LIVE! as Titanium and Platinum level powersellers and the majority were drop shippers simply there to enjoy themselves while the hard work to build their eBay Store was done and other than order placement, the stores could practically run themselves. More proof that it can be done, but proof that as the small print says at the bottom of the screen on these TV infomercials can be translated into:
"Results not typical, each story is unique" = Your results won't be profitable, without some Hard Work"
As with any business and any search for something that is of value, finding it should be hard work and take effort, making the receipt of said object all the more meaningful in the end. Just remember what to look for and what NOT to look for in a reputable wholesaler and educate yourself before being scammed by those "for a small fee anyone can sell our product" type companies.
eBay is one of the most well known websites online today and you can take advantage of this fact by selling products on eBay. Here we share some success secrets for effective selling.
Do Careful Market Research before Choosing Products
If you are going to be selling on eBay professionally then it is important to start your business with careful market research and learn what is going to sell. Do keyword research using keyword tools such as the AdWords keyword tool and Wordtracker, look at the eBay Hot Items list, look in forums and see what people are buying.
If You Don't Have One Yet, Get a Paypal Account
Most eBay buyers use PayPal to pay and some may even be turned off bidding if you do not accept PayPal. If you can not accept PayPal then it is probably best to consider another way to make money online.
Find Drop Shipping Products
In order to make money online with eBay you should look for drop shipping products. Although you may make a little money by selling personal items, if you want to sell a lot then you will either need to be able to manufacture these items yourself constantly or else get drop shipping products. Drop shipping is usually a lot easier and saves you time to concentrate on marketing.
Learn Basic HTML
In order to successfully make money online with eBay you should also learn basic HTML to help customize your sales pages. This would also be useful if you want to start up another website to promote your eBay business or drop ship products.
Promote Your eBay Business as You Would Any Other Online Business
Learn internet marketing techniques and use these to promote your eBay business. Although some people may find you directly through the eBay pages, you will make a lot more money by promoting your business through other means as well.
eBay is a great way to make money online as it allows you to get traffic from one of the most well known websites on the internet today. In order to start a successful eBay business you should do some careful market research first to discover what people are buying on eBay and get yourself a PayPal account. Customize your sales pages with basic HTML and then promote your eBay business using other internet marketing techniques.
Ebay is one of the most popular web sites on the World Wide Web today. Ebay income can be easy and fun. You need to be consistent in what you are doing. There are many people who are trying to make money through eBay. Not all of them are successful in doing so. There are few points which are very important in this regard. Many people overlook such points and as a result these people are not able to make money through Ebay. If you want to make money through eBay, you need to know certain secrets. Pay attention towards these secrets and you will succeed.
1. The first and the most important thing is that most people start investing their money and their time in eBay without understating the web site itself. First of all you need to know how the website works. This will help you in making the right judgments.
2. The products you choose to auction on eBay should be high selling ones. Although there are buyers for almost every product on the internet, but the high selling products give you more profit.
3. You must choose the right category of products on eBay.
4. The auctions should be carried out on weekends. This will ensure a higher participation of people.
5. Promote your auctions properly. Try to auction as many products through eBay as possible. This will increase your earning through eBay.
These are few of the secrets which you need to know to succeed in making money through eBay. A lot of people are doing it. You can also do it. Pay attention to these small points and make a lot of money as a result.
Use 'Buy It Now' on eBay to Increase Sales
Once you have been selling similar products over a period of time, you get a feel for their average selling price. If you don?t know how much an item will sell for, do a search for the item on eBay under ?completed listings.? This will give you listings matching your key words that have ended in the last 30 days, both sold and unsold. This is an excellent way to find starting price, buy it now price, and to find out if there is a demand for the item. Remember, an item?s value is determined by how much someone will pay for it, not how much you think it is worth. You can use this information to make educated decisions about how to set your Buy It Now price. The key to eBay is experimentation!
Searching ?completed listings? is a valuable tool that will help you gain insight on how much an item can sell for. I offer Buy It Now (BIN) on most of my items for several reasons. First, it is only 10 cents per listing to offer BIN on one item. One item sold on BIN can pay for all the BIN fees for the whole month. Second, someone may need the item to give as a gift and time is running short. They need it now, so they want to buy it now. Third, people may be buying items for trips, vacations, weddings, parties, or holidays and they simply do not want to wait for an auction to end. Finally, some people are just impatient and in a hurry. They see it, they want it, and so I give them the chance to buy it immediately. I would rather see one of my auctions end early and get the sale, than to have the customer buy a similar item from another seller, just because he is in a rush.
You can capitalize on those procrastinators by offering BIN on your auction items. BIN is great to use around holiday time ? Christmas, Mother?s Day, Father?s Day, and Valentine?s Day. You can use BIN on 3 and 5 day listings as the holiday gets closer. Just be sure to factor in shipping time so that your customer will receive his item in plenty of time.
Furthermore, offering BIN often encourages early bidding. A customer may see an item with a starting price of $15 and a BIN of $25. He knows that $25 is a reasonable price for the item, and another buyer may quickly purchase the item for $25. So, he places his bid for the starting price of $15 to prevent the another buyer from buying the item on BIN. Now your item has a bid. Research shows that items with early bids will sell for a higher price than items with late bids.
eBayer's Beware!
It?s important you take into account the serious headaches you
may be taking on and the position you could be putting yourself
into in the future!
It?s not all it?s cut out to be. A serious lack of customer support and
a genuine lack of concern for it?s community is more likely what you will find. Seller?s and buyers from around the world experience pains
they never thought possible before joining the online giant.
In my research on the company, as well as from my own personal experience, I have come to the conclusion I made a very large mistake investing my efforts and hard earned money into the company, in hopes of achieving online success.
While the company is bombarded with complaints from its members,
Served with lawsuits from fellow business?s, it sits back and collects large amounts of revenue from us all while shielded by high priced counsel and claiming to be in no wrong.
Investing very little funding comparably into customer support staff or security, the company ignores the communities cries for help and diverts it?s extremely large profits into other types of businesses much like a virus.
The acquisition of PayPal placed the company into the banking business. The acquisition of Skype, placed them into the telecommunications business. The recent further investment into WI-FI/Peer to Peer is scary.
If the company made it this far with poor business ethics think how far they will go with absolutely none.
If you?re a seller, don?t put all your eggs in one basket!
If you?re a buyer, guard your eggs and your basket!
If someone steals your eggs and your basket, file a complaint with SafeHarbor. A canned response will arrive, maybe.
The END!
How to Find Great Live Auctions for Resale Items
Just go to the holiday hot list under seller central. You can find the top 25 list as well as all the top sellers for the holiday season.
Now change all your products descriptions to fit the time of year. You can also add this information into a sub-title. Call them gifts or say they will be suitable for a great gift for so and so. Say something like, will make a great gift for dads, moms, sons, or daughters. This may sound silly, but it really works. Think about it, most people are shopping for family. Hint to them, that this particular gift would be perfect for a member of their family. By you telling the customers it is a great gift for family, they are more open to buy from you for some reason. Maybe it's subliminal. It definitely works, I have tested this little strategy.
There are little gift icons that you can use in the gallery. Use these icons or anything that may cause the customer, to believe it will make a better gift. Offer gift box or gift wrapping services. Tell the customer you will wrap the gift and send it to the recipient if they would like. Sometimes the customer will want to give the gift to someone far away. So offering that you will send the parcel to the gift recipient, can be a great selling point. Make sure you offer some kind of service to promote the season sales.
I usually send a card thanking the customers after December 1st. Make sure you give the customer something to thank them. Buy a cheap box of Christmas cards for a few dollars or make some up on your printer. Either way, the customers really do appreciate the extra effort. You may get a return customer or 2 for your efforts. Also reassure you can get the gift there in time for Christmas. I do not recommend drop shipping for the season. If you do drop ship, make sure you find out your distributors cut off date. Having gifts delivered on time during the rush is very important.
List gifts you want to give for free for each purchase in your auction or website. Offer them free shipping or a free gift is another sure way to bring customers in. Anything you can do more of, that the other sellers are not doing, can be a great boost in sales. From today's date thru Christmas will be very busy and you have to pay close attention to detail. If something is lost, you may not find out until after Christmas. Make sure you offer your customers tracking numbers so they can track their shipment. This way, if anything happens, you can have enough time to fix it for them.
Just remember to be nice and bend over backwards this time of year. There are so many sales that the competition will be tight. Offer more and you will get more. Don't just sell an item this time of year. Offer the customer a warm thank you, when you deliver their Christmas present.
What are the really hot, profitable niches selling on eBay? At this writing, the most popular products include the usual items that are always hot sellers: the latest models of cell phones, the newest video game systems and video games, designer brand clothing and accessories. These are profitable products and often appear in the Top Ten of eBay Pulse. Many eBay Sellers profit handsomely by selling in these lucrative eBay niches.
There are other profitable products that don't show up in any eBay Pulse list but are, nevertheless, profitable products that make tons of money for some eBay Sellers. One of these top-selling product niches is gift cards. The average rate of sales on eBay is 33%. In other words, one in three items listed on eBay results in a sale. Gift cards sell at a rate of 75%, making it a very profitable niche. Although gift cards don't show up on any Pulse list or the Hot Items List, they are very profitable products to sell on eBay.
Many other hot, profitable products selling on eBay do not appear on a Pulse list or Hot Items list. Therefore, smart eBay Sellers depend on other ways to determine what to sell on eBay other than the well-known Top-Ten Pulse Lists.
The best way to stay on top of the most hot, profitable products on eBay is to do research yourself, hire someone else to do the research, or purchase products from those who have performed the time-consuming task of searching and finding the most lucrative products and niches.
Hi, my name is Walt. I'm an auctioneer with 25 years of experience in the auction business and licensed in the state of MA. I own Quick Auction Service, a company that specializes in building and running custom auctions, I'm also the webmaster of my own site and have been on eBay for 8 years. Besides eBay, the types of auctions I run most frequently are antiques and on-site estate auctions, although I've run everything from business overstock auctions to charity & special event auctions.
I enjoy sharing my knowledge and stories of the auction business. My goal for article is to help folks get the absolute most out of their auction experience.
Whether your fresh out of the package or a seasoned dealer I think I can offer something in this article to help you with your auciton adventures.
There may be as many reasons to attend auctions as there are types of auctions to attend. Maybe you want to attend an auction to buy items for re-sale on eBay, or some other market. Maybe you want to furnish your home with wonderful antiques, or you want to furnish your home as inexpensively without sacrificing quality.Some folks are just looking for a fun night out. With a little perseverance all these things are possible.
There are antiques and estate auctions, auto auctions, overstock auctions, absolute and no reserve auctions, real estate auctions, specialty auctions where only one genre of items are sold, tailgate auctions, live auctions, online auctions, sealed bid auctions, silent auctions, charity and fund raising auctions and many more.
Can you really buy for pennies on the dollar at an auction? You bet! Many times I've seen folks buy and re-sell at the same auction on the same night for a good profit, although be advised, this should only be done after the auction is over.
There are a lot of ways to find an auction, but here are some tips on how to find and attend the best ones.
Visit the genre of shops in the area that apply to the type of auction you want to attend. IE: If your looking for a good antique auction to attend, stop in the local antiques shops and ask for what there are for good auctions in the area. Sounds obvious right? But listen to what they don't say as well as what they do say. Oftentimes when a dealer speaks poorly about an auction he or she attends, it may be likely that they are trying to keep a good thing secret. Think for a moment, why would a dealer keep attending a lousy auction?
Newspaper ads: I personally like to find ads in the classified ad section rather than flashy display ads. Flashy ads are usually indicative of an auction that will be high priced, may have reserves, (a set price on an item), and usually an enormous crowd. While any auction can be profitable to attend, it is usually best to steer clear of the glitzy ones, at least for the beginner.
Here's the minimum you want to find out before you go. If there is a phone number in the ad, call and ask for the terms of the sale. What forms of payment do they accept? Is it an absolute auction? An absolute auction is one that has no minimum or reserve bids on items. These are the best auctions to attend! Is there a buyers premium? A buyers premium is like a tax that everyone who makes purchases at that auction must pay above the winning bid price. Most auctions these days do charge a buyers premium, 10% is not unreasonable but I feel much more than that is greedy, and the auctioneer that charges over 10% is counting on most bidders not doing the extra math as the bids quicken in pace.
A fair auction will have ample time to inspect the merchandise, usually at least 2 or 3 hours. Find out when inspection starts and make sure to attend! Never attend an auction if you can't make the inspection, not unless your prepared to gamble. Most auctioneers sell at a rate of about 100 items per hour, which is why they sell "as is". They simply don't have the time to give a detailed description of all the items. Since almost all items at auction are sold AS IS, there are sure to be some damaged, refinished, fake and incomplete items at any given auction. Beware of any auctions that offer very little or no inspection time.
Good auctions will usually have 150 to 400 lots. A lot may be one item or a group of items. The exception to this are specialty auctions, auto auctions, real estate auctions etc.
When you attend your first sale, take note of the 1/2 dozen or so dealers that buy the most often. See if you can find out about other area auctions they attend.
When you do find an excellent auction, attend it as often as possible. By frequenting good sales, you help increase the bottom line of that business. It's difficult for many auctioneers to keep the quality of merchandise consistent, so good attendance certainly helps. And when an auctioneer gets to know you as a buyer, he/she will go out of the way to accommodate you, to keep you coming back.
Attend an auction this week, it's one of the only market places where you can set the price.
Thanks for reading and have fun.
Top Tips to Sky Rocket Your Toy Sale Profits on eBay
* Second?hand toys are always popular sellers on eBay, not just for buyers on a budget, but also because some second hand toys are no longer available new or they are rare collectables. So keep a close eye open for yesterday?s toys at car boot sales and flea markets, at jumble sales and in charity shops. Haggle when buying toys at boot sales and flea markets and negotiate big discounts on items you can resell on eBay. Spend those discounts on paint and cleaning materials and neat new packaging to improve appearance and perceived value of your items. Once done, toys might look like new, but they are not new and you must make this very clear in your eBay listing.
* When you buy second-hand, look for multiple identical items, some broken, some missing spare parts, remove all the good parts and use them to create one perfect version of a popular toy. But remember, it?s still second-hand and you must say so in your listing.
* Here?s a good idea to lift the perceived value of used toys: rather than call them second-hand, call them ?previously loved? or ?previously owned? or ?cherished oldies?.
* Vintage toys and games are popular sellers on eBay and you?ll often find them lurking alongside modern toys and games at boot sales and flea markets. This is especially so on stalls manned by families, not traders, making it more important than ever to arrive early and grab the best deals for yourself. Once traders selling or visiting the event start raking about your chance is gone. But, let me be honest here, let me ask you a special favour. I hate watching television shows where items are valued in thousands of pounds which the new owner picked up for pennies from unsuspecting traders at boot sales and flea markets. Once the deal is done for an item you suspect is valuable, based on sneaky tips mentioned in the haggling article about not letting the seller know he?s just sold a gem for a pittance, at least buy something else from the seller! Make that person?s day, just as s/he has just done for you!
* At boot sales, you?ll find knowledgeable sellers displaying their best toys and games (and other items) prominently on top of the table. Non-specialist sellers, usually families and private individuals, are more likely to pack everything into boxes, some boxes on the table, some beneath. Spend time searching these boxes, you may find the best stuff hidden at the bottom of the pile.
* Instead of listing toys you know are popular sellers and facing heavy competition, look for unusual items and toys you haven?t been able to find on eBay. But don?t risk money buying items that might not actually sell; instead ask permission to use the sellers? graphics in your eBay listings. Or buy just one item, photograph it, create your own description, sell it, see how many Second Chance Offers ensue, then rush in fast to replenish your stock. These toys, no matter how unusual, might actually be tomorrow?s hottest sellers on eBay, only people don?t know it yet, because no-one?s ever seen them before!
* Top toy sourcing tip from a U.S. eBay PowerSeller - visit shops and suppliers in less affluent areas, try corner shops and tiny market traders, they often have toys priced way below their eBay equivalent and some have frequent sales where toys are priced way below their original wholesale value. These are great items to buy and sell as stocking fillers or, better still, use them to create your own ready-filled Christmas stockings and children?s Christmas gift baskets for reselling on eBay.
* From the last tip, make your own unique Christmas gift baskets, make your own unique Christmas stockings. You might even offer to create baskets and stockings to order based on the recipient?s favourite toys, cartoon characters, hobbies, and so on. But you must offer this bespoke service well before the Christmas rush or you risk people getting concerned about delivery times.
* Be careful cleaning, repairing and repainting toys. Some paints and adhesives contain lead and other toxic substances and toys containing them are banned from sale in our country. Jutting nails, spelks in wood, tiny buttons and beads, can all death or serious injury and will get you in hot water with the police and consumer trading authorities and could get you expelled from eBay.
* Do not auction your hot sellers all at once or even in close proximity. Wait to see what Second Chance Offers ensue from one listing and always wait for one auction to end before relisting the item. Listing two similar items concurrently will spread your bidders across your listings and reduce your likely finishing prices.
* Put your product listing inside fulfilment packages and invite customers to visit your eBay store. For multiple sale customers add a gift voucher which they can redeem on their next purchase. You could also join an affiliate program selling other items for children and highlight the web site link on your compliments slip or thank you letters sent out with current orders. People who buy toys, also buy children?s clothing, school uniforms, children?s holidays, and more , so join an affiliate for any or all of these additional products and enjoy a back-end source of income from your eBay sales.
* Study eBay (.com , .co.uk, and other) in the run up to Christmas, see what others are selling successfully, make notes, print out or save other people?s listings, put it all to one side until this year?s big spend season comes to an end. Next year, on January 2nd ? well you deserve one day off to get over the celebrations!! ? take all of this information, study it again, use it to plan your campaign for selling toys next Christmas, and the Christmas after that, and the Christmas...
Dropship Wholesale Beware of Search Engine Results
Who is going to take your money and run? Who will deliver a high quality product that you
know will give you results? Do they offer a guarantee and will they really stand by that
guarantee and refund your money of the product isn't what you bargained for?
These are just a few of the questions you should ask yourself before investing in a dropship
or wholesale directory on the internet. Some more questions:
Have the companies within the dirtectory been contacted recently and are the phone numbers
and addresses accurate and current?
Will the dropship compaines actually dropship products for me in my name?
Do I have to pay a Dropshipping Fee for products that the companies dropship?
Do the compaines within the directory actually have products on hand, or are they a
"middle man" that will charge me more than factory or warehouse direct prices?
Such Middle men will many times claim to be an actual wholesale supplier of products, when in
reality they get in between you and the factory or warehouse of products to take a cut into
your profits.
Is the directory endorsed by a reputable company and not just the author of the directory?
Any dropship or wholesale directory that is advertised for sale should have an address, email
and phone number for contact information. This should be a general rule of thumb for any
product purchased on the internet. If the above questions can't be answered on the website
you should be able to contact the seller of the product and get your questons answered
before you purchase.
As a general rule of thumb when looking for a dropship or wholesale directory remember you get
what you pay for. If you pay a cheap $15.00 to $27.00 for a directory expect cheap results
and poor customer service. A little higher priced item that has contact information will
most likely result in a higher quality item and better customer service.
If you intend to use your dropship directory to actually make money or build a business on
the interent you won't want cheap results. You want to invest wisely where you know your money
will get results.
How to Fix Negative eBay Feedback
An unfortunate problem when you have a global marketplace like ebay, is the guaranteed number of bad apples. Ebay does their best to weed these individuals out, but they can?t get everyone. Every once and a while someone will order an item and it will arrive in the mail damaged, or worse, not even close to what was paid for. Contacting the seller to resolve the issue then results in the threat of negative feedback, and an all caps attack on an otherwise perfect feedback rating. Basically, the seller is employing a method I like to call "mutually assured destruction." In the same way it has prevented nuclear war, it will often allow sellers to get away with things they should not be getting away with. You say ?bad seller? he says ?you never even paid for the product, or, AVOID AT ALL COSTS.? It is a no win situation. Or is it?
The fear of receiving negative feedback not only sours users on ebay, but it also helps that bad seller stay in business. Instead of avoiding the bad feedback experience, embrace it. Turn on the flamethrower and blast the seller, and when you get hit with retaliatory feedback, bury it. How? Simple. Buy positive feedback. While ebay would prefer you don?t, and they take enormous steps to stop people selling it, there are really no fallouts to buying it. So how much does it cost? About .01 cent. Surprised? Many people are. Yet day in and day out millions of positive feedback are purchased for one penny each.
If you find yourself in need of fixing a negative feedback left by another vindictive ebayer, simply do a search for ".01 cent ebook or .01 recipe." This should bring up several thousand auctions; more than enough for you to bury that negative feedback.
Don?t abuse the system, as buying too much feedback can be just as bad as selling it. Buying 25-50 positive feedbacks over a day or two should cause no problem for you as a buyer. I?ve employed this method in the past, testing it as both a buyer and a seller with no problems. As a final note, I suggest buying from sellers who have marked their auctions as private. There is no point in fixing your feedback if anyone can click on the most recent received and see they are all .01 cent buys.
eBay Listing Delays - But Is eBay Really That Much to Blame
You probably have, and you may on occasion have found your listing not present on eBay. Yet! You might wonder: have you made a mistake, did you upload your listing correctly, is there some other reason eBay chose not to accept your listing?
More likely than not your listing is sitting alongside hundreds or thousands more, waiting its turn to go onto eBay?s system.
But how long will you wait, another five minutes, maybe quarter of an hour?
Try 24 hours or more! That?s how long lawyers in the USA are claiming eBay sometimes takes to actually feature listings pre-paid by eBay sellers they are representing.
Lawyers have filed a lawsuit against the online auction site on behalf of eBay customers. The suit claims eBay took payment for listings of specific duration which fell short of the time paid for by their eBay clients.
"eBay has been deceiving millions of consumers over the years by claiming that their auctions start when submitted, when in reality they do not begin for at least several hours, and up to 24 hours," said the attorney leading the litigation, "However, the clock starts running on your selected auction time even though eBay has not posted it yet."
It is estimated that millions more eBay sellers stand to jump on the bandwagon if damages are awarded in landmark cases currently confronting eBay.
Which makes me wonder whether these eBay sellers and their lawyers have actually tried uploading anything to the Internet, have they ever tried uploading thousands of items concurrently to the Internet?
I think not, otherwise they?d know instant uploading just doesn?t happen. Uploading time varies depending on the amount and size of data being uploaded, and pictures, of which most eBay listings have several almost always take longer than text data.
All in all, I think eBay is a wonderful place to run a business, it?s fast, efficient and very inexpensive, too. Try placing an advertisement in a national newspaper for seven days, see how much you?ll pay for that, see how few potential customers you?ll reach compared to the massive target audience possible on eBay. Try contacting someone to correct a newspaper advertisement that?s been printed incorrectly, compare how long that takes to the few minutes taken to review and correct an eBay listing.
Not only that but also:
I list ten to one hundred items on eBay every day, literally every day, and within minutes I go check everything uploaded correctly. How many times have I spotted an item appearing late on eBay? Once! How late was that listing? About five minutes!
All I can say is, I think claimants and lawyers to this suit are not representative of most sellers? experience on eBay, I have never met anyone facing problems they claim to experience and I talk to thousands of eBay sellers every month through a newsletter I edit here in the UK.
It worries me that, if eBay is required to pay up for the odd handful of late listings, the amount could run to millions of dollars, and like any business facing increased operating costs, it could mean higher fees for the rest of us.
And that just isn?t fair, not for the rest of us, not for eBay!
Police Auctions - Cars For $100
Almost every state has what are called ?seizure laws?. These laws allow law enforcement agencies to seize property that was used in the commission of a crime or was bought with money that was gained by the commission of a crime. This means that if a drug dealer is arrested, law enforcement can logically conclude that their assets were purchased with illegal drug money. That allows the police to seize cars, trucks, boats, homes, and even jewelry and clothing. This includes property given to family members and friends. If the purchase of the merchandise can be traced back to the offender, it can be seized. If the person is convicted, all of this property will eventually end up in a police auction. The seizure law is a helpful tool for law enforcement agencies, especially against organized crime and drug dealers.
Other merchandise that shows up in a police auction or government auction comes to them via helpful citizens who abandoned property and turn it into the police hoping they can find its owner. If the rightful owner doesn?t show up to claim it in a certain amount of time, it goes into the auction.
Another source of merchandise is evidence collected when the police make an arrest. Occasionally law enforcement will arrest a thief or an organized ring of thieves who have warehouses where they store stolen merchandise for later resale. Sometimes, especially in the case of chop shops, which are places where luxury cars and trucks are dismantled for their parts, it is impossible to determine the rightful owners. After all, one car stereo looks pretty much like another. While every effort is made to return this merchandise to its rightful owner, there is always some of it left unclaimed. Sometimes, entire warehouses of stolen merchandise and the building can be seized by law enforcement and sold.
Some vehicles that show up in police auctions and government auctions are vehicles that have been towed by the police or their authorized representatives for various reasons. Some have been involved in an accident and need to be removed from the street and some are towed for illegal parking. A small percentage of these vehicles are never claimed. After legal procedures to return these vehicles to their owners fail, the police may put them up for auction.
How do you buy these cars, trucks, and other merchandise? Every day, hundreds of state and local police departments hold these police auctions. Fortunately, there are web sites that list. A membership with one of these sites allows you to purchase this seized, surplus, and abandoned property up to 90% off market value.
A good review of these Police Auctions and Government Auctions web sites is at: .
How to Make Money Selling on eBay - eBay Marketplace Research Levels of Service
eBay?s Marketplace Research provides data for both buyers and sellers. Information that is available includes top searches, average start prices and average sales prices. This vital information moves sellers down the path of how to make money selling on eBay.
There are currently three levels available. They start with Fast Pass, then Basic and finally Pro. Depending on your specific needs, each offers a menu of options.
Fast Pass is the least expensive. It provides up to 60 days of historical data. You can pay as you go in 2-day increments.
Basic is the intermediate level. It provides up to 60 days of historical data. Basic is purchased on a monthly basis. There is added data, including the number of successfully sold items.
Pro offers the highest level that is currently available. Pro provides up to 90 days of historical data. It is purchased on a monthly basis. In addition to the 90 days of data, there is additional data in several categories.
Do you want to know how to make money selling on eBay? Arm yourself with historic data regarding top searches, average start and sale prices and more.
There is power in knowledge. Collect the data, analyze the data and soon the power could be yours. Find out more about eBay?s Marketplace Research.
To Your eBay Success!
How to Use E-Bay to its Fullest Potential When Selling
Rely on the eBay help index for information. Everything you need to know about technical questions, eBay policies, and eBay services is there. Scan through the help index from time to time and educate yourself on all of eBay's options and features. If you have to email eBay support with a question, don't be shy. Ask what you want to learn about. They might take a day or two to answer, but they are very helpful and will usually send a link to where you can find the information you requested.
Use your About Me page for important information. Most people use their about me page to tell their life story or show family photos. Others don't use it at all. Your About Me page is a great place to explain your policies, shipping procedures, selling philosophy, and more. It is the only place that eBay will allow a link to an outside website, in case you decide to sell products on your own website in the future.
Use your item title for relevant words only. Have you ever seen titles with phrases like "must see" or "L@@K" or "WOW!!" included? eBay allows 55 characters for your title. The title and your photos are all the advertising you get. USE THIS SPACE WISELY. Try to use all of the characters by including as much information about the product as possible. For example, if you are selling a pair of Stride Rite shoes, your title should read something like, "NEW NIB Stride Rite sandals size 10 pink." Experienced eBayers know how to use the search feature and you want to use key words and acronyms that will help them find your auction. If they can't find it, they can't buy it.
Make your item descriptions, well, descriptive. Include measurements, color, size, and fabric content, manufacturer, washing instructions, weight, texture and anything else you can think of. Use lots sensory adjectives to describe the item. eBay shoppers can't touch, feel, or hold the item, so you have to help them envision how wonderful it is. Anticipate what shoppers will ask and include that information on the listing. You'll save time in the future because you won't have to go back and take the item out of storage, examine it for the requested information, and reply to their email. If the item has a flaw, be honest and mention it, and show a photo of it. The key is to be honest. You'll have a better reputation when you mention the flaw up front. You will also avoid the hassle of the return-refund process, and you won't risk getting negative feedback.
Use an image hosting service. You can find them at www.auctiva.com, and www.sellersourcebook.com among other sites on the Internet. An image hosting service is a website that houses your photos and provides templates for your listings. The fee is nominal. You will be able to customize your listings and give your items a very professional, clean, appealing look. Image hosting is easy to use and it makes listing your items fun and interesting.
Use all automation that eBay offers. Set automation preferences so that emails are automatically sent to your buyers at different stages in the process. This will save you alot of time. You can revise your email templates whenever necessary.
Use Best Offer. When you move items into your store inventory, you have the option to accept offers from buyers. This is a terrific feature. Best Offer gives shoppers the power to bargain with you, and it gives you the opportunity to sell more items. Let's say that you have a child's coat in store inventory at a fixed price of $10. It has been sitting there for a while. A shopper comes along and offers $8 for it. Certainly, you would accept their offer and take the $8. You have made another sale, will receive another positive feedback, and have created a relationship with another customer. The customer is happy because you accepted her offer. You have empowered that customer and made a sale at the same time. Everyone is happy.
Learn more about eBay selling by visiting my
How to Make Money Selling on eBay - Knowing the Best Days for Your Auctions to End!
Many eBay experts provide information that speaks to which day of the week to have your auction end. Their goal is to achieve the best sales price and the highest number of sales. It is almost universally stated that Sunday is the very best day for auctions to end. This is a time when the majority of purchasers are not at work, and therefore can focus on competing for your products. The resulting frenzy of activity will result in higher sales prices for your items. At least that is the theory that is presented.
We have tested almost everything you can do with our products. Guess what? For us, at the time of the testing, Thursdays were best! We had more items sell during Thursday-ending auctions. We averaged a slightly higher overall sales price for those items. For us, it was an all around better day to end our auctions for the products that were selling at that time.
We checked our results again later. Interestingly, we have also had the same items do better when the auctions closed on Sundays in this follow up. We checked again a few weeks later. The best day had moved once again! The variation occurred not by the week, but rather over longer periods of time.
Knowing requires that you continually check every part of your auction effort. Our suggestion is that you monitor your successful auction rates carefully. We also suggest that you monitor sales prices for non-seasonal items very carefully as well. If either of these go down, re-evaluate your auction ending days. (Of course you should also double check the basics such as pictures, title and descriptions as well.)
Monitoring performance can be done quite easily. It can be done by adding an extra listing or two with new closing days and/or time. No matter which days are best from that small sample, eliminate the days that did not perform as well. Retest the days that did result in more sales and better prices. Narrow it down to the day that actually produces the most sales and the highest purchase prices for you. It is important to periodically check your results. It should become a part of your business routine. Don?t wait for sales to crash before you start examining.
Knowing how to make money on eBay requires that you maximize your sell-through rate AND the prices that you receive for your merchandise. By routinely monitoring those two things, you are setting your eBay business up for success.
To your eBay success!