Yes, it's possible to make money by selling on eBay,
and yes, there are people out there who make very very
good money indeed.
That's the good news.
The obvious news is that it is one heck of
an effort to do so! Now, don't get me wrong -
if you're of the right temperment and can methodically
follow up on details and processes, you can really
enjoy yourself and increase your income as well. But!
It takes bunches of time and bunches of patience.
I should know - I am a
certified
Education Specialist
from eBay, sold items on eBay myself, and have written
three books about eBay (one of which is tailored to
newcomers to online auctions).
So let's first get to the basics. Awhile back,
I wrote a free white paper entitled
Auction Conquest based upon my own
selling experiences over the last 2 years.
This 60 page free guide will walk you through
selling on eBay and other auctions plus give
you pointers to great resources for making
money via auctions as well.
Simply click on the link
about to start reading it right now (it's a pdf
file - if you need a free pdf reader, you can download
one at
Adobe Acrobat), or download a zipped up
file of Auction Conquest here.
Let's talk a bit about what's really
required to sell successfully on online auctions again
and again. I've boiled it down to:
- Your Drive and Dedication - remember, each
listing benefits from writing out
descriptions that compel viewers to want to learn more,
creating fast-loading digital pictures, letting others
who might be interested in it know about it, following
up with customers, and the like.
- Your time commitment - How much time do
you have to dedicate to building up a solid income?
Do you, like me, have a real life as well? If so,
you need to schedule your time wisely.
- Your willingness to tweak - If you
put up an item and it doesn't sell....are you willing
to analyze potential reasons why it failed, tweak
your listing and try again?
- Your profit margin - How much money
do you want/need to make to make this all worthwhile
I vividly remember taking the time to put up 20-odd
auctions for great childrens clothing...took all
the pictures, optimized them, listed them....the whole
shebang. Upon the conclusion of this task, I took into
account the time spent packing the items, driving to
the post office, and the final selling price, and realized -
gee, I had made, well, not a lot at all! Wah. Selling childrens
clothing was not for me (which of course doesn't mean it
might not be for you!). On the other hand, a Gone with the
Wind second edition I picked up for less than $10 went for
$150 due to the marketing process I implemented (my book,
7 Days to Your Auction Success goes into detail about that.
Other things are required, of course -
what will you sell? Can you start from scratch?
Can you find new items for free on the Internet
and sell those? etc.etc.etc. All of these
are answered in my white paper
Auction Conquest.
Read it soon - it will give you some great
springboard ideas.
There are lots of free sites online
to help you learn how to sell too!
eBay offers a free online course
for How to Sell on eBay.
There's also a special forum entitled
Auction Forum Listings where you can post
your auction selling questions too.
Other auction resources online that
I can recommend include:
By far, the
only one I can wholeheartedly at this point recommend is Sydney Johnston's
Auction
Genius class. Why? Sydney is one of the most respected auction
experts online - she's the author of the first really big ebook on eBay
success (Make My Net Auction Sell!). After many years, Sydney has gathered
up information on just about everything relating to selling online. She
now offers a 16 hour Live Instruction course via the Internet and phones,
and is available to answer specifically targeted questions regarding particular
.
Compiled
by Robbin Tungett, this low-priced membership site gives you lifetime access
to over 25 auction-related ebooks, 35 ebooks you can resell or give away,
auction software and more! Robbin
has been selling on eBay for several years now and certainly knows
her stuff.
Put together
by Jim Cockrum, this great ebook walks you through how to powerize your
About Me page
and increase your overall selling. Jim left a corporate job to sell on
eBay - you'll certainly benefit from his ideas.
Written by
Diane Ratcliff, this ebook is wonderful for helping *you* (as in YOU, not
generic you) zero in on what product would be the best for YOU to sell.
One of her opening sentences captures this idea perfectly:
"What
many people don't consider (which is why I'm discussing it FIRST, both
halves of the equation are important) is how *they
themselves* impact the auction success equation....."
Now, I adore
garage sales. But I'll be the first to admit, I've never made antiquing
and collectibles my living! But Terry Gibbs has. Designer of the Collectors
Strategy Manual, he gives you the benefits of his years of experience in
this particular niche arena. He's been a collector of trains now for years
and has built quite
a business regarding it! If you're into the antique/collectibles
buying/selling market, you should certainly check it out.
Written by
Jim Kaiser, he considers himself more of a distributor of various products
and just happens to use eBay as one of his many tools of distribution.
He teaches you
exactly where to go to find your products, how to decide if they
will be profitable for you and how to set up your system of buying, listing,
selling and shipping so that most of it is on auto-pilot and will require
little of your time to manage. He's also included some charts that he uses
to help him determine the optimal price and number of days to list for
the most bids and highest profit.
Jim Wilson
has one of the best forums for auction enthusiasts! His knowledge about
eBay has allowed him to write the Pathway to eBay Success ebook package
(includes full resale rights!). This comprehensive
suite of ebooks include Jim Wilson's eBay Secrets, the iNet Wholesale
Select ebook and AuctionHints II.
Written by
Karol Gadja, this ebook shows you some really neat ways to find great products
online that offer substantial rebates (thus reducing your initial
investment quite a lot!). I was rather impressed by some of the ideas.
Containing
a whole plethora of resources, you will find detailed business licensing
research, drop shipping guidance, auction kits, mini websites with information
about you and your business (if you don't want to build one yourself),
wholesale resources and more. Produced by Natalie Williams, she specializes
in helping the newbies to online marketing make a successful go
of their personal business.
Hope this has been useful! Continue
learning about the benefits online auctions
like eBay can offer you via the links below.
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