Ah, eBay. The online auction site that everyone has heard about. Besides for randomly buying and selling a thing here and something there, there is actually great money in eBay. Just ask all those powersellers who make 125.000 dollars a month being a powerseller.
Now, I am now saying that you will instantly become a millionaire if you start selling on eBay. I do know that there are millions of people that go on ebay everyday!
My fiance and I sell baby clothes that we get at swap meets and sales on ebay and make an average of about $1200 a month. We can’t retire off that amount, but working just a few hours each night, eBay basically pays for our house mortgage.
Now, the trick with ebay is a simple one: BUY LOW AND SELL HIGH! The lower you buy an item for, and the higher you sell it for, the more you make. Hit up your local salvation army or second hand store and see what they have. Write down items you think you could always get and go do your research on ebay.
Start small and then build it up. Rome wasn’t build in a day. You can’t go to your local second hand store, buy a bunch of items and think you can go buy that new BMW. Start small and build. Set a goal of $50 profit in a month. Then work up to $100. Then $200. If you are making money doing something, the way to make more money doing it is to do it more! Once you have mastered the second hand selling bit, move on to getting a resalers permit and start purchasing things at wholesale. Then you can find an item that works and literally sell as much as you want.
If you don’t already have an eBay/Paypal account, go get one. Then what I suggest you doing in order to get business is to gain some feedback. Feedback is what people post about the sale. It is basically the trust factor on ebay. In order to build it up, I suggest either start by buying amount 10 items and getting buyer feedback first. Or, offer free shipping and entice people to buy from you that way. Underpromise and over deliver and you will always get 100% feedback. People want to be people, but consumers, to you. If someone has a problem, do what you can to fix it. Don’t dispute it.
And I highly suggest always getting tracking numbers on your items when you ship. The worst thing is knowing your product got delivered, but not having the proof to tell ebay and paypal it did. You have to have proof. You saying so will not do anything.
Ebay is an easy way to make money if you follow the basics:
- Buy Low and Sell High
- Describe your item in DETAIL. Don’t scam people thinking it is something it is not.
- Take clear, detail pictures, even of damaged areas.
- Answer every question customers have
- Ask for prompt payment. If you don’t get it, don’t be rude. Politely ask the buyer to remit payment as soon as they can. Things happen in life. You know that. I know that. Have more trust in people.
- If you NEVER get paid, don’t be afraid to file a unpaid item claim. We normally do this 15 days after the sale closes if we have not heard from the customer. Again, don’t be rude. Simply file the claim and move on.
- Ship your item promptly after getting paid.
- Leave feedback as soon as you ship the item.
- Follow up with the customer to see how they like the item. This adds a personal touch and the customer will keep coming back to you. Most of our sales are repeat business just because we pride ourselves on treating customers as if WE were the customer and how we would want to be treated. 100% feedback is easy to get.
- If you start making money with something, do it more and make more money.
If you have any specific questions on ebay, what to sell, how to sell, or anything else, email us at EBAY@mydomain.com. We also have a few tricks and applications that we know about if you really want to take ebay seriously.