Q: Where do I find
products to sell on eBay?
A: Unfortunately, most
sellers keep their product sources a closely guarded secret. Still,
there are some good places to start.
Some eBay sellers find initial sources of good merchandise at
local store discount or closeout sales, as well as at liquidation
auctions and sales. Consult your local newspaper for more
information on potential sources in your neighborhood.
Content Continues Below
You can also find wholesale lots on eBay. Go directly to any
category, and look for a subcategory for "wholesale
lots." You can find the entire list of eBay wholesale
categories by going to the eBay home page and scrolling down to the last category
in the list of categories located on the left-hand side of the
page.
Some sellers have found a product source by contacting a
manufacturer's sales department directly and arranging for bulk
purchase of merchandise for resale on eBay. But remember, no matter
what product source you decide to use, it's very important to
sell something you know about and preferably are passionate
about.
See "May the
Source Be With You," for more tips on product
sourcing.
Q: How can I determine
the hottest items or categories on eBay?
A: There are many ways
of viewing, searching and sorting eBay listings to view those with
the most activity and the highest bid amounts. Within any given
eBay category, you can sort the category list by highest price
first to view those with the highest prices. You can then scroll
through the list to see the items with the highest number of bids,
a good indicator of an item's desirability. It is not possible,
however, to sort by number of bids.
You can also filter a search or category to show only Completed
Items (items that have sold within the past two weeks), and then
scan those for the number of bids and highest bid amounts.
To view Completed Items using a keyword search of the entire
eBay site:
- Click on the "Search" link found at the top of any
eBay page.
- Click on the "Advanced Search" tab.
- Enter your keywords.
- Check the box for Completed Items.
To view Completed Items using a keyword search of a single
category:
- Navigate to the first page of the chosen category.
- Enter keywords into the box provided.
- Check the box for Completed Items, found on the left-hand side
of the page.
- Click the "Show Items" button.
If you want to view all Completed Items for a particular
category:
- Go to the category's first page of listings.
- On the search results page, check the box for Completed
Listings under the "Search Options" section on the
left.
- Click the "Show Items" box.
eBay has made this even easier by compiling a Hot List for
sellers. Simply log on to www.ebay.com/sellercentral and click on
"What's Hot" from the menu on the left.
For more information on keeping up with product trends, turn to
"Bestseller Lists."
Q: What is an eBay
Store? Should I start off with one right away?
A: eBay Stores provides
you with your own e-commerce destination where you can list all
your eBay inventory in one place under a brand name of your own.
eBay Stores is the best way to help serious sellers maximize their
businesses on eBay. If you have your own eBay Store, you get to use
powerful and easy-to-use tools that allow you to successfully build
your own brand on eBay and encourage repeat customers.
If you're a brand-new eBay seller, you should first
familiarize yourself with the regular eBay site before you consider
opening your own eBay Store. However, eBay Stores can be a perfect
solution for businesses that carry large inventories. To learn
more, visit http://stores.ebay.com, and click on the "Stores
Help for Sellers" link.
Get additional information about eBay Stores in our
"Way to
Grow" feature.
Q: Will I need any
listing-management tools to help me with selling on eBay?
A: Initially, probably
not. But as your business on eBay grows, you may need to employ
software or tools to help eliminate the repetitive tasks that come
with listing on eBay. For the brand-new eBay seller, the built-in,
free tools that come with My eBay are usually sufficient for
listing and managing 10 to 20 items per day.
Once your business volume starts to increase beyond 20 items per
day, you should sample some of the other tools that eBay offers,
such as Turbo Lister, a free bulk uploading tool; eBay's
Selling Manager (Basic or Pro), which adds enhanced features to the
Selling page in My eBay; or Selling Assistant (Basic or Pro), which
features a full suite of listing management tools.
For more information on software or eBay Listing Tools:
- Click on "Services" at the top of any eBay page.
- Look for the section marked "Listing Solutions," and
click on "Seller Tools."
- Other software: Under "Listing Solutions," click on
"eBay Solutions Directory."
To read more about software to help with your business on eBay,
see "Easy Does It" in our "Tools" section.
Q: How do I offer my
listings to buyers outside of the United States?
A: Listing items so that
buyers in other countries can see them is easy. Simply use the
"Sell Your Item" form (access it by clicking on the
"Sell" link at the top of any eBay page) as you normally
would. But in the "Ship-To Locations" field of the
"Shipping & Payment Terms" section of the form,
specify either: "Will ship worldwide" (for maximum buyer
audience reach) or "Will ship to the United States and the
following" (then select the countries/regions from the list to
which you are willing to ship). The latter provides a larger reach
than domestic only, but with less complexity than full
international trading.
Jim "Griff" Griffith is author of The Official
eBay Bible and dean of eBay Education.
Page
1 | 2