Most people say the only way to make money from eBay is to sell on eBay.
They are almost right.
They are actually tons of other methods to profit using eBay, and selling is only one of it.
As oppose to selling, buying can be your first step to profit from eBay. And, it can be your starting point to have a successful online or offline business, provided proper selection and long term strategies are applied.
** What to Buy? **
I am a guy who don't like to waste time, and I don't like to make mistakes. So, when it comes to eBay, I wanted to know exactly what to buy in the first place? Buying the wrong items/services/products/businesses can be the starting point of losing money, not making money.
It is essential to know what sells before we buy. Make sense? Seriously, can anyone make money only by buying? No way! You have to sell it at some point to make money, to make a profit. So, to make sure that whatever you buy today will make money for you in later time, make sure it sells first.
Let me shares one of my experiences, I was looking to buy a portable dvd player sometimes ago, but I don't like the normal flip-over type, which I can find it all over eBay. I got to know that there is a new design, a slot-in type, which retail stores are selling around $ 400 per pcs. That was too high and
I know I can get it at a better price, and I started to look around at eBay for it.
I found the same product, which are selling at eBay around $300-350 (there are a few guys who are selling it that time), and this product are getting some good amount of bids. What does it tells you? this product sells! After that, I did some research using some other methods, and it tells me that it sells.
Now, I know that this product is worth buying, and I started buying it. The results? I ended up selling it at $ 300-350 per pcs, and my cost? $200 per piece. and when more people start selling and profits dropped, I stopped with this product.
What I did was with tangible products, where I can only buy and sell for profits per product (and sometimes, when the profits ain't so good, I will have to drop the idea). The moral of the story? Do some researches before you decide to buy!
** Where to check? **
Now that you agree that knowing what to buy is important, you are asking, where you can get all these important information? the following is some of the tools that you can use especially when it comes to eBay:
1) Marketplace Research, eBay.com
2) Pulse.ebay.com
3) inventory.overture.com
These 3 places will give you ideas of what are selling well now; how much it was sold; and an indication of how many searches were there in overture networks that a particular terms had been searched in past months.
** How to Re-Brand? **
You may have a question at this stage, how do you going to distinguish yourself especially when some other people are selling the same thing? For example, in my case of DVD player?
Well, the answer is simple and straight forward: Most seller in eBay do not have a proper sales letter. A sales letter is very crucial when it comes to getting a bid to your products. And, this is one of the methods you brand, or re-brand.
The fact is, most business on sale does not have a proper sales letter, does not have a proper marketing campaign and does not have a clue how to do it. The simple thing is, find out these businesses, re-brand it with a sales letter, with a proper marketing campaign, and you can start making money out of it.
And, remember, you don't even have to sell the business, you can actually making money using the business you bought, and it is over and over again.
Besides that, you can sign up for some affiliate programs with the relevant market where your web-business are, and you can promote their products and makes more money with your web-business.
** Conclusion? **
So, would you be agreeing with me that with proper planning and knowledge, buying from eBay can make money for you?
With proper research, intelligent decision, re-branding technique and marketing campaign, buying from eBay can always be as profitable as selling on eBay.
Kam Meng, Mok
Founder of http://www.12ebaycourse.com