Ebay
Ebay: Not Your Average Garage Sale
What started out as a way for people to clean their closets of unwanted junk has mushroomed into a $2+ billion industry. There are Ebay sellers, Ebay Powersellers, and even brick-and-mortar Ebay stores that do nothing but take your stuff off your hands and sell it (for a fee, of course). Yes, Ebay has become a veritable online business empire.
It’s not hard to make a few bucks on Ebay. You could sell some items that are cluttering up your house, or you could open up your own Ebay store, leveraging the traffic that the site attracts to your own advantage. However, if you are really ambitious, you could earn a 5-6 figure income.
Don’t believe me? Then listen to this: Ebay Powersellers are actually ranked according to how much in monthly sales they generate. At the lowest rank are the Bronze Powersellers, which are required to make a minimum of $1,000 in sales per month for 3 consecutive months before achieving that particular classification. Then there are the Silvers, which are required to have $3,000 in sales per month, followed by the Golds ($10,000 in sales/month). After that, you get into the real heavy hitters, with Platinum at $25,000 in sales/month, and Titanium at $150,000 in sales/month. Titaniums must maintain their $150,000 in sales not just for 3 consecutive months either, but for every month.
Why did I just spend an entire paragraph telling you about Ebay Powersellers? To help prove that Ebay can not only make you a few bucks, but with the right approach, can become your new job (and retirement).
So, how does one make all this cash on Ebay? First of all, you need merchandise. And not just the jewelry that your grandmother gave you. No, you need to find affordably priced high-end merchandise that people will clamor to buy from you. Fortunately, there are entire industries built up on the premise of selling low priced items to end sellers such as yourself. Here are a few of those industries:
Wholesale companies: Wholesalers will allow you to buy merchandise in bulk and then resell it at a higher price. You will need a place to store all this merchandise until it is sold.
Dropship companies: Dropshippers will do the same thing as wholesalers. However, you don’t have to store the merchandise; it is shipped out to the consumer directly from the dropshipper.
Government/police auctions: These are great to hit and a bargain to buy from, but you usually need cash on the spot.
Garage/Estate sales: If you know antiques, fine furniture, jewelry, or some other high-priced niche market, garage and estate sales can be a real boon for your wallet.
Trade shows: Trade shows often sell brand name items at lower than retail cost in order to entice new customers.
Liquidation sales: These are ubiquitous at brand name stores after a particular holiday is over.
Store closeout sales: Stores that are closing almost always sell at loss, which makes it an ideal time for you to buy.
Flea markets: Much like garage sales, flea markets bring out the folks who have lots of stuff to sell and not much of anywhere to store it (not even a garage). Learn to bargain with these folks for even better prices.
Once you have your merchandise, it’s time to think about how it will be listed and priced. While Ebay does provide you with categories under which you may list your items, it pays to make a good title and description for every item. Titles are especially important, so think about what people will be typing in when they search for your items. Select keywords and key phrases, and don’t be afraid to use repetition when describing your item (for example, it’s OK to write the following title “New Mint Precious Moments Doll Figure Figurine”, so that you can hit all the hot keywords). Remember that many people will be locating your items not just by browsing the product categories on Ebay, but also by putting search terms into Google and Yahoo.
If you have lots of items and lots of sales, you may want to consider setting up an Ebay store. An Ebay store provides you with your own store home page, unlimited product pages, five custom pages, your own web address, promotion boxes, 300 store categories, a custom store header, and much more. The going price on having your own Ebay store is currently at $15.95/month.
Want to learn more about selling your stuff on Ebay, or even making a living from it? Click here.
