LEARN TO BE A GOOD SELLER IN EBAY

Keys to Successful eBay Selling

Why is starting an eBay business so appealing? Because it’s easy, fun and can be done from the comfort of your own home. But what if you want to do more than just sell a few items and actually make money on eBay?

How do you turn your selling on eBay foray into a successful eBay business? That’s what Adelia Linecker wanted to know when she interviewed me. The following interview transcript presents what I think are the keys to successful eBay selling.

Question: What can researching eBay before listing a product or launching a store reveal?

Answer: Researching eBay before listing a product or launching a store will answer three questions that are vital if you actually want to make money on eBay:

* Is there a market for this?
* How much is this item worth?
* How much competition is there?

You need to know the answer to at least the second two of these questions before you bother to list something on eBay.

Question: How important is it to the success of your eBay business that your products are easy and not too expensive to ship? What else should you know about shipping before starting an eBay business?

Answer: Critically important. Take a foolish example. Suppose you want to sell rocks on eBay. It cost $86 to ship each rock to a Canadian address and more to send one anywhere else. However, no one seems to want to pay more than $5.00 for a rock. You can see what would happen to your business if you were dumb enough to sell any rocks under these conditions.

You need to know all the details about shipping before you sell anything on eBay.

Question: What must you include in the description of your products to improve chances they will sell?

Answer: When you’re selling on eBay, the description of your products is your “Unique Selling Proposition”. It’s one of your big chances to get the viewer to want your product. (The other is the picture of the item.) So if you don’t invest time in developing a mouth-watering description of your product, you’re throwing away half your chance to sell it.

So you need to include details (such as colour, size, weight etc.) as well as features that set your product apart from other such products and make it desirable. For instance, you don’t just sell “teddy bears” on eBay. You sell “handcrafted, one-of-a-kind teddy bears”. The trick is to think like a purchaser. What would you want to know about the item? What would make you buy it?

Question: Some people are eager to make “a ton of money” with an eBay business. How realistic is this? What should your focus really be at first so that you can eventually make a decent return?

Answer: Making a “ton of money” is not a realistic expectation - but if you have the right products, do things right and are prepared to work at the business, making a good living is.

Because of the way that eBay works, your focus at first should be establishing yourself as a proven, trusted seller and building up the positive feedback you need to do this. If you want to run a successful eBay business, you have to take the time to do this.

Question: eBay sellers can sometimes come across as unreliable, or at the very least obscure. What can you do to make buyers feel you are a serious business?

Answer: Run your eBay business as a proper business from the get go. That means going through the steps of setting up a real business, charging appropriate taxes, following standard business practices and investing in things such as professional looking packaging.

Question: Any books, Web sites or other reliable sources you can recommend for those who want to start an eBay business?

Answer: eBay itself is a wonderful resource for anyone wanting to become an eBay seller or increase their eBay sales success. Besides the resources on their site, they’re also offering eBay courses/seminars in various cities around the country.  -sbinfocanada

How to start an ebay business

Little bit about ebay

What is ebay?

Internet auction website eBay is one of the fastest growing retail phenomenons of our time. The opportunities offered by an eBay business stretch way beyond the chance to sell unwanted bric-a-brac or discarded christmas presents. eBay has allowed millions of people to go into business who previously wouldn’t have considered it, while growing numbers are making healthy second incomes by buying items and selling them online for profit. The simplicity of setting up an eBay business is a big attraction for many people.

eBay was started by Pierre Omidyar in September 1995 as a result of his wife’s desire to add to her collection of sweet dispensers. The site now has over 181 million customers worldwide, 10 million in the UK, with up to three million items from Britain on sale every day. With so many customers online, it is not surprising that many people choose to start an eBay business.

As any user will know, eBay features just about everything for sale, from the weird and wonderful to the plain and practical. With thousands of UK customers looking for an eBay bargain every day, it’s unsurprising that some entrepreneurs have decided to take advantage and use the website to generate a full-time eBay business.

In fact, more than 724,000 professional sellers in the US alone use eBay as a primary or secondary source of income.

Julie King, from Newcastle, gave up her job as an IT consultant after she found she could buy and sell designer shoes and handbags on eBay for a profit. Her eBay business, Killer Heels, now makes over £6,000 a month buying shoes and bags from wholesalers and selling them on eBay.

Amid all the wacky eBay stories that regularly invade the press, such as the housewife who put herself up for sale for £25,000, there are plenty of thriving businesses taking advantage of the eBay phenomenon.

Wilmamae Ward sold vintage clothing through her eBay business, The Gathering Goddess.

“I had been buying beautiful vintage clothes on eBay for several years and had amassed a huge collection for which I no longer had room,” she says. “I decided to sell some of my collection back on eBay. I was amazed at the prices achieved so I began to sell more and more and it just snowballed. eBay allowed me reach many customers

“I soon decided this was a business I would love doing as I was able to indulge my fashion obsession and make a great living at the same time. It also enabled me to work from home and make my own hours.

“In addition, unlike a bricks and mortar shop which has to rely on passing trade and extensive marketing, eBay provide all of this on a global basis without the overheads.

“I'd be mad to open up my own shop. It makes complete sense to me to have my business on eBay.”

"Starting an eBay business was quite easy, I think the most important thing is to find a niche that few other people are competing in, if you can do this then this is probably the best way to start an ebay business."

eBay provides a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs. Starting an eBay business can be lucrative if done properly, this eBay guide will help you start and run a great eBay business. Whether you are looking to sell personal items on eBay or run a full ebay based business, this guide provides the information you need to get started on eBay and become an eBay success story.