I would recommend experimenting with a few items. You can sell almost anything on eBay, but do some research before you decide what to sell. Find out how much it will cost you to buy and ship the item. You’ll also want to know if there is an audience that is buying the product and who else is selling that item on eBay. Who is your competition? Can you compete on the benefit of price, quality, speed, or product expertise?
Look for more information by looking at eBay Pulse and keeping your eyes on current events and trends. I write this blog three times a week for GoGo Dropship. A few weeks ago I wrote a blog article on the Japanese response to the Tsunami and what businesses can learn from their example. It was not an out of the ordinary blog post. But because it was timely and the keywords used within the post got picked up by search engines, it was on the second page of search results for a few days. I was surprised and very pleased. Keeping current, brought more eyes to my blog post, and a similar thing can happen to you on eBay if you are selling the right thing at the right time.
Keeping up with trends will also give you a competitive edge while selling online. “Early Adopters” or people that influence their friends to buy are a highly sought after group by advertisers because they know that if this group likes a product, their friends will buy it. If you come across a great product before it goes main stream and then sell it, you’ll make a nice profit. But if you get on the bandwagon too late, you may end up loosing money due to extra inventory. But you’ll have to experiment to know when these times are.
This concern may lead you to sell products that tend to sell almost any time during the year. Things like electronics, books, or toys.
How do I list on eBay?
If you are curious about the actual eBay listing process, take a look at this helpful eBay video.
Ebay has other great videos on everything from shipping to taking pictures here.
As long as you’re willing to invest the time it takes to list, take pictures of your product, and ship it or drop ship it, then you’re ready to sell.
What should I do with my unsold items?
Remember to be patient. When you don’t have a feedback score it may take some time for people to trust buying from you. I like this list of tips on what to do if your items don’t sell. Don’t worry, in most cases if your items don’t sell, you can re-list them for free. If you can’t re-list them for some reason, consider selling them on many of the free classified websites or donate them.
What if I lose money?
It’s important to start small and get the hang of listing on eBay before you invest a lot in your business. I’m starting with used items, that if I can’t get a lot for won’t hurt me too bad. I will practice listing, selling, and shipping these items before I start investing more money into my business. Besides, when you first begin without feedback you may have to compensate for your lack of feedback by offering killer deals.
Any new business involves some faith, work, and experimenting. Do your research, find out what works for you, and don’t give up. EBay won’t be a complete gamble if you keep these things in mind. Of course, like everything else in life, most good things come with practice, so don’t be afraid to make a few mistakes along the way!
