A lot of eBay sellers start out selling odds and ends they have
around the house-and for good reason. For items that are in good
condition, you'll probably get more money for them on eBay than
at a garage sale. You probably have plenty of stuff that you'll
never miss and you really don't need to store or dust anymore.
And it's a relatively risk-free way to test the waters of eBay
selling.
If you can't bear to part with anything you already have,
start with products you know and have experience with. Choose
things that have demonstrable market demand (that is, you know
people are buying them). Don't make the mistake of selling only
things you like, or the trendiest, coolest things you can find. If
your goal is to make a profit-and it should be!-then you need to be
selling things people will buy.
If you are considering selling an item, do a search on eBay and
see if that product or similar ones are being offered for sale. If
the market is saturated, you may want to reconsider trying to sell
that product. At the same time, if absolutely no one else is
offering the product for sale, you need to figure out if that's
because no one else has thought of it, or if it's because no
one will buy the item.
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Depending on the category, seeing a lot of similar items up for
sale may work in your favor or against you. For example, you may
see a lot of the same item pop up in response to a search because
people are buying. Or, observes antiques seller Sue Rudolph,
"It might also mean the market is flooded and nobody wants
it." You have to do more than just count the listings, she
says. Look at the individual auctions and see if people are bidding
on the items-that will give you an indication of the strength of
the market. Then check the completed auctions for the item you
searched for. That will tell you what the item is selling for (if,
in fact, it's selling at all).
Whether you have a specific product line in mind or are still
trying to come up with some ideas for what you can sell on eBay,
consider these issues:
- Cost. how much will the item cost you? There's more
to cost that simply the price on the item-do you have the cash
required to make the purchase or are you going to have to borrow
money (and therefore pay interest) to acquire the inventory? Will
there be any additional expenses, such as shipping to you or
repairs if the item is not in saleable condition?
- Storage. Do you have room to adequately and safely store
the item while you are waiting for it to sell?
- Shipping. What are the labor and cost issues associated
with shipping the item to your customer once it sells? Is it very
fragile, an unusual shape or extremely heavy? These are issues that
can make shipping a challenge.
- Product life cycle. How long can you expect the demand
for the item to continue? You may have something that is wildly
successful today, but next year you won't be able to pay people
to take it away from you. Beanie Babies and other fad collectibles
are a great example of this. Some high-tech items are also at risk
of having a short life cycle due to technology advances. If you pay
attention to product life cycles, you can maximize your profits
while the item is hot and avoid getting stuck with excess inventory
when the demand declines.
- Season. When you put an item up for sale on eBay,
consider the time of year. Heavy coats and sweaters don't sell
well in the spring and summer. Lawn and garden equipment is not
going to move as well in the winter as it will in the summer. If
you have room to store items, you can make a nice profit buying
off-season items and holding them until they sell.
One of the most exciting things about selling on eBay is that
merchandise that will sell for a profit is virtually
everywhere!
- Your home. Start by looking around your own home at the
stuff that's collecting dust on shelves or stashed in the back
of closets, or in the attic or garage.
- Flea markets. Flea markets can be a tremendous source of
bargain-priced merchandise that will sell on eBay.
- Garage and yard sales. Savvy eBay sellers can make a
comfortable living spending one or two days a week shopping garage
sales for items that will fetch many times what they cost when
auctioned on eBay.
- Estate sales. If a professional is already handling the
estate sale, you're not as likely to get really great bargains.
But if you have access to a truck and storage, you can advertise
that you can buy entire estates. When you make such a purchase,
select what will sell best on eBay, put those items up for auction,
and then sell the rest through other channels.
- Established retailers. Stores need a way to move items
that aren't selling. Once Gotham City Online, a eBay company
that focuses on clothing and accessories with sales exceeding $1
million annually, was established, co-founder Jonathan Garriss was
able to approach retailers and offer to help them solve their
overstock problems by selling those items on a consignment basis on
eBay. Eventually, he began purchasing that inventory outright.
- Discount stores. Look for clearance items at discount
department and drug stores. Cindy Mayer of Cindy's Collectibles
routinely buys infant's and children's items at the end of
the season and stores them until the following year. "I buy
out of season, and I have found great sales in drugstores,"
she says.
- Friends and family. Tell people you know not to throw
anything away. Laurie Ayers says that members of her church will
give thing they are going to throw away or donate to charity, and
if she can sell them on eBay, she does.
As your business grows, you may choose to start buying from
wholesale sources and selling on eBay at retail. This can be very
profitable, but only if you choose the wholesaler wisely.
The Internet is full of opportunities to buy lists of
wholesalers, often for just a few dollars. Save your money. You can
get the same quality of information (or maybe even slightly better)
for free by using any of the popular search engines and plugging in
keywords such as "wholesale," "manufacturer" or
"drop ship." But even that is not the best route to
take.
Instead, be more specific in your approach. Think about the type
of products you want to sell, and then look for manufacturers,
wholesalers and distributors you can work with. Find companies
whose products meet your quality expectations, that have prices and
terms you can work with, and that deliver the service level you
want to provide your customers. Get sample products so you can see
the quality yourself. Some companies send free samples, while
others charge a nominal fee-either way, don't try to sell
something you've never seen. Be sure it is truly worth what you
expect to sell it for.
Be sure you're dealing with a true manufacturer, wholesaler
or distributor, and not another middleman who is marking up their
prices and increasing your costs. Ask for and check references. You
want to talk with others who are buying from these sources. In
addition, check with the Better Business Bureau, any industry
associations, the consumer protection agency of the state in which
the supplier is located, and any other source that may be able to
verify their claims.
Legitimate manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors will also
want information about you, including proof that you are a
legitimate business and that you have any necessary licenses and
tax identification numbers. A supplier who doesn't ask for this
information is probably a middleman whose ethics couldn't stand
up to moderate, much less close, scrutiny.
How do you figure out what will be a hot seller on eBay?
It's a challenge for new sellers. "They're hopped up
to sell, but don't know what to sell," says Jim
"Griff" Griffith, dean of eBay Education.
In fact, "What should I sell on eBay?" is the most
common question new sellers have, says Todd Lutwak, eBay's
director of seller development, adding that "eBay attempts to
provide as much information as possible to help people spot
trends."
Seller Central is the place where new sellers can find
hot lists that reveal the top search terms or keywords by category.
Sellers can learn, for example, if computer buyers recently using
the site preferred to use laptop or notebook as their main search
term.
"It's great data for sellers," Lutwak says.
"By looking at the keywords, you know what's selling. And
it's a leading indicator of how you should be selling it."
eBay also e-mails sellers information regarding the top-selling
categories for the last month.
In the "What's Hot" section at Seller Central,
sellers will find a Merchandising Calendar that reveals what items
tend to sell at certain times of the year based on holidays and
events. Outside sources such as Andale.com, meanwhile, provide
information about hot sellers on eBay for a monthly fee of
$3.95.
Lutwak sees strong growth in all of eBay's major categories.
The products that sell best, he says, sell because of inventive
sellers who are able to differentiate a commodity product through
eye-catching listing information and innovative sales tactics such
as 24-hour shipping or bundling an entire solution. "They try
different ways of selling or accentuate different things about
their selling strategy," Lutwak says.
To become a better trend spotter, keep track of eBay's hot
categories, items and search words, Lutwak advises. Then be a
pioneer in your sales strategy. "Try new things and become a
trendsetter," he says. "That in itself is a best
practice."