Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello all!

I`m looking for some advice on starting a successful ebay bussiness. I`m a stay at home mom-to-be and hoping someone could steer me int he right direction. Example: Things to sell that was make me profit. Things that people are wanting to buy......Etc. If anyoen could give me so help I would really appreciate it.  Thanks all

Ebay is very competitive, especially for commodities.  Finding/creating unique items will work best for you. 

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Travis Tschepen
Hibachi Bros. LLC

--My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.--

I suggest browsing some of sun`s articles and blogs we have an expert that discusses Ebay in our blog heres the link:

http://www.startupnation.com/blog/category.asp?CATEGORY_ID=6

Search:

http://www.startupnation.com/pages/search-cgi/searchResults. asp?zoom_query=ebay&zoom_per_page=10&zoom_and=1& zoom_sort=0&x=14&y=13

 

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He who gets greedy like a pig, gets slaughtered like a hog!

Ebay is very competitive, especially on price. Many of the "PowerSellers" work their tails off for very thin margins.

I find that shipping costs are a turn-off when I shop on Ebay. I`ll search to find a competitively priced item from a seller that looks trustworthy and then I`ll get hit with a prohibitive shipping charge.

On the flip side, Ebay gets more traffic than most websites and a large percentage of that traffic is made up of motivated shoppers.  The key is to think creatively to benefit.

If you use Ebay as part of an overall strategy you can be successful. Consider selling items on Ebay at or below cost as a method to build your customer base. Then employ marketing tactics that promote items sold outside of Ebay - on your own website, through direct mail, etc.

The first link in my signature takes you to a site where I have a page discussing a very successful Ebay entrepreneur who uses some of these strategies.

I know someone who does really well selling upscale children`s clothing ... which you may know something about, being a mom. It is a lot of work, though ... just to warn you.

And in fact, if you can learn the business, I might have a job for you ...

I`d consider also starting a business on Online Auction. We`re doing business on eBay, and the ever-increasing restrictions, rules, problems, and constraints is an interesting challenge to deal with. Not to mention the always upward spiraling fees.

That being said, Google Analytics is showing about a 50-50 split in visitors to our Web flyer, coming from eBay and SuN Marketplace. We pick up regular sales from eBay, but not as many from other locations yet.

Ebay has tremendous visibility and name-recognition, but it`s heavily weighted toward "flea market" items. Lots of people sell expensive upscale items, but the overall perception (we`ve found) is that "If you want it cheap, look on eBay."

Don`t jump right in and buy an eBay store. First try selling a few items as individual auctions, to get the feel for how it works. If you get good reactions, then you can explore the monthly fees of stores and whatnot.

Ultimately, with everyone in the world trying to find something cheap to sell for a profit, you`re going to be in a huge competition. On the other hand, if you can produce something new or unusual, you`ll likely do a whole lot better in the long run. Sell THAT on eBay to start. :-)

Don`t be turned off by those that cry wolf and say that eBay fees are what is killing sellers on eBay. Sellers are killing sellers on eBay. You cannot sell items that everybody else sells on eBay if you want to be successful.

You need to find a product that gives you a high enough net profit margin (profit after your costs, which include all of eBay`s fees) to make it worth your time. You also need to find a product that is unique and hard to come by so that you can limit your competition.

You cannot sell commodity products, as everyone does. This is the surest way to become unsuccessful selling on eBay.

Check out our website Lizard Wisdom to find out more about how to start selling on eBay.

well-written descriptions of your items will increase
bidder interest...

For garage-sale finds, unique items, this is time consuming...
so its a real good idea to develop a line of product that
is unique, gets searched for, and that you have a pre-written
description of.

You will only get ahead selling one-of-a-kind items if you
are unique in what you present and tehy are very profitable
to you.

I have a friend who sells vintage clothing full-time on Ebay
and she says the photography and description affect buyer
perceptions tremendously and push up the price a lot
if done well.

I wouldn`t personally sell anything I didn`t have at least
$10 profit on because by the time you have dealt with
listing and packaging you will barely earn minimum wage
for the work you do.  If its easy to store and mail... like
an information CD you can duplicate, a lower margin is
pretty acceptable... especially if you can have a follow-up
product with the customer.

I have sold on ebay and like said, better descriptions means better price for the seller. Fees and Sellers are killing ebay in my opinion I thought id market through ebay however im starting to rethink that. There are three sites worth mentioning that in my book are or will be competitors.

www.ebid.net
www.onlineauctions.com
www.ioffer.com

Good Luck!