How To Start a Business Selling on eBay
Selling on eBay is gives you an opportunity to start a home
based business. Many people have already started a home based
business selling on eBay and many more will do the same.
Virtually anyone can do it.
This guide will walk you through the basics of starting a home
based business selling on eBay.
What you need to Start a Home Based Business Selling on eBay You
will need a computer, an internet connection, an eBay account
which you can get free at the eBay website. You also need to be
familiar with how to list items that are sold, and you will have
to be able get the products sold to the person(s) who buys from
you.
Getting Started Selling on eBay
Before selling on eBay as a business, you will have to
familiarize yourself with the eBay format if you have not
already done so. Simply go to eBay.com browse through the
categories that you feel you will be selling in. It is also a
good idea to register (for free at eBay.com) and buy a few items
yourself to get a feel for the process.
A few of the questions you will want to answer are what are you
going to going to sell, where you will get products from and at
what cost, and who are your buyers going to be?
If you are serious about making serious about starting a
profitable home based business selling on eBay, you are going to
have to develop a marketing strategy.
The first important decision that you will have make is What to
Sell."
What to Sell What can you sell on eBay? Pretty much anything.
When you first start selling on eBay, the items sold will most
likely be things that are "lying around the house unwanted."
It is almost always better to focus your time and energy on
selling a few items or related items.
Where to find Products for Sale? A major part of the success of
your home based business will being able to reliably find
products that you will be able to sell for a profit.
Personal items - Selling personal that you do not want is a
great place to start.
Garage and yard sales - You can spend some of your time shopping
at garage and yard sales looking for items that you may be able
to sell for a profit.
Estate sales - If you have a way of moving a lot of items that
are being sold at estate sales, you can make a good profit by
practically buying whole estates. However, if a professional is
handling the estate sale, you may not be able to buy the items
at a low enough cost to benefit you.
Established retailers - You may be able to buy overstock,
discontinued, damaged, seasonal products that were not sold from
retail stores at a discount.
Buying from wholesalers - If you are careful in who you choose
to buy from, what to buy, and all of the costs associated with
buying wholesale, this can be a good way to have a steady stream
of products to sell. The most important decision may be who you
choose as your wholesaler.
Finding a Niche Market Once you have an idea of what you want
will be selling on eBay, you need to focus your efforts more and
find one or more niche markets. If you sell books for example,
you can consider selling mainly college textbooks. This will
allow you to better know the items that you will selling and
more importantly your target customers and the categories which
they buy from on eBay.
Choosing Categories to list your Products in Browse the eBay
categories that are most relevant to the product(s) that you are
selling and list them in the categories that have the most
visitors and buyers also the ones the ones that are the most
specific to what you are selling. In most cases, you should list
your items in no less than 5 categories.
Keeping Track of you Auctions You will need to be able track an
auction from beginning to end. When you begin to have a large
number of products listed for sell, you will need to develop a
system to keep track of all of them. If you list only a few
items at a time, you may be able to keep track of them with a
spreadsheet or on a piece of paper. If you will be listing
numerous items at once, you want to use software.
If you will not be using software to keep track of the listings,
be sure write down the item number, URL, listing price, listing
date and time, and the category(s).
When an auction ends, write down the time it ended, the selling
price if any, and the buyer's contact information. Index the
auctions by auction number for future reference. This system
works if you have only a few items listed at a time. It is very
important to keep track of all of your auctions, especially for
tax purposes.
Posting Pictures One aspect you will want to become very
familiar with will be posting quality pictures. If you will be
selling any physical product, this is essential. All that you
need to post a picture is a digital camera and a way to upload
the image(s) to your computer.
Develop a Strategy for Selling on eBay Again, I have to stress
that when starting an eBay business, treat it like a business if
you are serious about making real money selling on eBay. Develop
a strategy before you begin to invest any significant amount of
time, energy and money into your eBay business. Ask yourself
questions such as: What will I be selling? Who will I be selling
to? Where will I get the products? Will I be selling a high
volume of products at a low profit margin or a low number of
items for a higher profit per sale?
Many people have already started and are operating a successful
home based business selling on eBay. If owning and operating a
home based business is what you want, selling on eBay is one
more idea and opportunity to do so.
You are free to reprint this article if you include the
following the following text and link
If You Are Starting a Business visit
http://www.AGuideToStartingABusiness.com