There are various reasons that people start selling on ebay. Some people have a house full of stuff and are trying to make more room by selling off a few things they no longer need. Some have seen their friends having a great time buying and selling and want to join in. Some people start off with the idea that they will take advantage of this great business opportunity and start a new business, selling new stock, bought in specifically. But what to sell? The list is almost endless. People buy all sorts of things, from half empty packets of cigarettes to new yachts!
Depending on your own situation, and it would be silly of me to imagine that I could cover everyones situation in aguide like this one, you will have to read the following and decide which is the route for you. Despite the myriad things sold, there are only a few types of item sold on ebay. The types are very basic: Easily post-able, Not-so-easily post-able, and Collection only (The previous types come in NEW and USED varieties). Most items fall into these categories It doesnt matter what they actually are, its getting them to their buyer thats the issue! (Ebay have banned electronic delivery of non-physical items so postage or collection are your chioces.)
Choosing What Items to Sell.The first consideration, or biggest obstacle, when planning to sell an item on ebay is How much will it cost to get it to the buyer? Most items sold on ebay are sent by post, or by courier, to their destinations. If the cost of transportation (postage) is prohibitive, or more than the value of the item, then its usually a non-starter as a suitable item to sell on ebay. However, if the item can be shown to be worth collecting from your address (a concrete garden ornament or a vehicle for instance) and is reasonably portable, then even though you cannot post it, the item can be considered suitable, as you dont have to consider postage charges.
Another consideration is the profit to be made after the auction listing has been paid! If your item is only worth pennies, then it is hardly worth spending valuable time and money,spending around 25p on a listing when the item will be lucky to make 50p. If you want to make ebay worthwhile you have to aim at products that will reward the time and effort, not to mention the money, put in to selling those items.
Researching Your Planned ItemsIt is worth spending a fewminutes using the ebay search to check out your proposed items. If there are a good few entries and they are selling well (Look for number of bids) then it is likely that your item will also sell The trick then is to maximise your auctions appeal to get the best price. If there are hardly any items the same as yours and they sell well, there is an excellent opportunity of which you can take advantage. However, if there are very few on offer and they are not selling, leave it well alone Dont go thinking that the ten steps can sort out the lack of a market! As you go through your ebay life you will probably find yourself spending quite a bit of time researching what sells and what doesn't.
Other ItemsWorks of art, memorabilia and items that are intrinsically valuable are often worth listing because buyers will spend more than would normally be considered too much to have these items delivered.
Get rid of unwanted items.Even if you choose to specialise in a certain type of product, ebay is an excellent way of making profit from those items in your shed and in the attic that have been cluttering up your home for years. Just because you sell DVDs do not think that clearing the unwanted items from your house is below you, or that it would detract from your proper business. This is a potentially untapped resource that is just crying to become an entry in your profit column. In my trading times I have bought childrens toys from plate glass car dealers, videos from plant nurseries, and cherub wall pictures from the owner of Max-Gigabyte-PCs (Name changed).The wonderful thing about ebay is that it is a great leveller, and you must never lose sight of the fact that you can sell (almost) anything!
Buy stock in to sell?If you choose to, you can buy stock to sell on ebay from many sources. You will expect me to say wholesale warehouses and job lots off ebay. Of course they are the obvious ones, and you can get some excellent stock very cheaply that way. That is a great source for new items. Whilst that is one persons bread and butter it may turn another off. So where can you find a supply of stock, at reasonable prices, that will be suitable for tidying up and selling on ebay? There are many places, just be sure of your prices before you buy in too much stock at once. Its easy once you get the hang of it. For those who prefer to sell used items, the places we bought our stock from are as follows: Car-boot-sales, Jumble Sales, Antique Shops (Our first specific ebay buy-to-sell-on item was bought from an antique shop We made just over 500% profit). EBay is a great place to pick up things to sell (There are plenty of people who get no bids because their auctions look horrible! - Two lines of black on white, pictures from their mobile phone, and bad english to boot). Other sources include: techno-phobic friends and relatives, closing down sales, newspaper classified ads, supermarket notice boards, etc. The list is almost endless Wherever there are items going cheaply, or where there is a serious error in selling strategy, there is your ebay stock opportunity.
So what sells best...
If you look at the highest sellers and see what they're selling that's a good guide to what sells particularly well... Bear in mind also that there are two ways to make a fortune... Sell thousands of things with one pound proffit or sell a few things with thousands of pounds proffit! I can't tell you which way is 'best', just that both, and all points in-between, are viable options! It just depends on how many auctions or listings you like to have going at one time, and how much work you want to put into postage
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