eBay
An online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide.
Ways to Make Money on eBay
1. Choose Wisely
Anyone who's trolled around on eBay knows that they can find everything from blenders to toilet paper. But peddling mundane household products isn't necessarily a winning strategy. The best eBay businesses sell unusual, hard-to-find items at a discount, says Marsha Collier, author of 'eBay for Dummies.' By sticking to this approach, you'll cut down on the competition and the ensuing price wars that could eat into your profits.
Fortunately, you don't need to know anything about antiques and collectibles to fulfill Collier's requirements. One idea is to look for items unique to your region and sell them at a discount. If she lived in Manhattan, for example, Collier says she would regularly shop at Century 21, a famous designer discount store, and then resell the hard-to-find name-brand clothing at a markup on eBay.
2. Keep Your Costs Low
Nothing eats into your profits faster than high overhead expenses. That's why experts agree that you should start off your eBay business by hawking stuff that you already own. Once you've depleted all of the goodies in your basement, move onto your neighbor's. Take out an ad in a local paper and offer to sell other people's possessions on consignment, says Cliff Ennico, author of 'The eBay Seller's Tax and Legal Answer Book' and an instructor at eBay University, which offers instructional DVDs and classes on selling on eBay. Other than your time, your costs will be virtually zero. And, according to Ennico, your efforts and expertise are worth anywhere from a 30% to 50% cut of the sale.
Once you're ready to graduate to the next level and start your own eBay business -- even if it's a small one -- Collier recommends getting a sales tax number or business license (if you live in a state with no sales tax). This will allow you to contact manufacturers directly and buy items at wholesale. 3. Perfect Your Title
If you do nothing else, make sure the title on your listing gets straight to the point. "It's the most important piece of real estate on the Web site," says Jim Griffith, a dean at eBay University and author of the 'Official eBay Bible.' A common and damaging mistake even experienced users make is thinking that their title should read like a sales pitch and include empty descriptors such as "rare" and "beautiful." Instead, just list the facts, including a brand name or model number. This strategy will help serious buyers find your item more readily since the search engine scrolls through titles when trying to match key words, says Griffith. As for the marketing, leave "one of a kind!" for the description inside your listing.
4. Build Trust
Gaining the trust of the eBay community is one of the biggest hurdles new sellers face. It's critical for you to generate a high positive feedback score or else other users won't even touch your auction. The score tells potential bidders that you don't falsely advertise or exaggerate when describing your merchandise and that you ship your items quickly. Your goal is to eventually get at least 100 positive responses from other users, says Ennico.
Even if you've never sold anything on eBay, you can still work toward building up your reputation. Your score is based on the feedback you receive as both a buyer and a seller. So before listing your first item, buy a handful of inexpensive things just to get the feedback, says Collier. Then, once you start running your own auctions, make sure every person you interact with has a good experience. And finally, be sure you accept PayPal for payments since it offers buyers some purchase protection if a deal goes awry.
5. Grab Eyeballs
EBay is a numbers game. The more people who bid on your item, the higher the price it sells for. That means boosting the number of eyeballs that see your listing is crucial. If you're selling a high-ticket item, you should consider spending an additional $19.95 to "feature" it, says eBay University's Griffith. This ensures that your listing gets some prime real estate on the first page of a given category. That way you not only catch people searching key words, but also those folks who like to scroll through category pages.
I’ve recommended eBay before as a great way to test a new product. For a growing number of entrepreneurs, though, eBay is their sole storefront. The beauty of eBay is that it lets you get into e-commerce without having to go through the trouble and expense of setting up an e-commerce site of your own. These seven eBay selling tips will help you get started selling on eBay successfully and get on your way to becoming an eBay PowerSeller.
1. A picture IS worth 1000 words. It’s old-fashioned, but people still like to see things before they buy them. For successful eBay selling, make sure any products you list on eBay are accompanied by professional quality photographs.
2. Do your eBay research. When selling on eBay, before you list a particular product, spend some time researching other similar products on eBay and following the bidding process. This will help you gauge the interest for your product and help you determine how much your product might be worth.
3. Learn all about shipping. Shipping is under the control of the eBay seller, but some methods of shipping are better than others when you're selling on eBay. You want to find the best method of shipping for your product in terms of expense and reliability and then specify that shipping method in your eBay listing. (And don’t forget to include the shipping cost in your shipping information for potential buyers.)
4. Pay as much attention to the writing of your eBay listing as to your picture. For selling on eBay, you need a powerful eBay listing. And the trick to writing a strong eBay listing is to combine search engine friendly phrasing with concrete details about the product in a way that will entice people to bid on your product. Take the time to craft your eBay listing just as you would any ad.
5. Offer a full slate of payment options, including credit cards. The more payment options you, as an Ebay seller, offer prospective bidders, the more bidders your product will attract and the more successful your selling on eBay will be.
6. Focus on getting positive feedback first. Feedback really matters when you're selling on eBay. If you have a consistent record of positive feedback, prospective buyers will both bid more often and be willing to pay higher prices. So you may want to hold back on placing higher priced products until you have a successful track record as an eBay seller established.
7. Be business-like. Act professionally, provide the kind of superior customer service that will build your reputation, and make sure that you’re following all the business rules that apply, such as registering your business and properly charging and remitting taxes. Selling on eBay is just like any other business; to become an eBay success, you need to follow the rules and provide the kind of customer satisfaction that will translate into increased eBay sales.
Introducing the Five Simple Steps to Making Money on eBay
But if you want to start an actual eBay business -a stable business that will provide you with a comfortable, long-term income -you need to follow a proven process:
Step 1: Research
To be successful on eBay, you can't just dive in and start selling anything to anyone. A profitable eBay business is built on a solid foundation.
So we'll show you how to use the many eBay "data mining" tools available to do extensive research, and learn exactly what's selling right now... and what's likely to be a best-seller in the future.
By removing the guesswork from the equation, you'll be sure to start your business off on the right foot.
Step 2: Source
Knowing what to sell is just the first step. Your success on eBay also depends on finding reliable, steady supplies of low-cost merchandise that you can resell for high profits.
We'll share our secrets for sourcing products with high profit margins that are NOT already being offered on eBay by hundreds of other sellers, so you'll be able to cater to untapped niche markets, for increased profits.
Step 3: List
Creating winning auction listing that get lots of attention is both a science and an art... and this is where the typical eBay seller falls short.
We'll show you how to leave your competition in your dust, by creating polished, professional-looking listings that get the maximum pairs of eyes... and bids.
Step 4: Automate
Who wants to be a slave to their business, 24/7? You'd rather have time to enjoy your new income, right?
So we're going to teach you how to put your entire business on "auto pilot," so you can continue to make sales, even when you're miles from your computer.
Step 5: Promote
One thing that LESS THAN 5% of eBay Powersellers know is that, to achieve success on eBay, you MUST promote your products outside of the eBay environment!
We'll show you the little-known techniques for using the regular search engines (like Google) to drive additional streams of motivated shoppers straight to your listings.
Internet Marketing on eBay – A Built-In Market, Ready to Buy Whatever You’re Selling
Whatever product you’re selling, you can increase your exposure on the internet by selling it on eBay as well as selling directly through your website. Whereas you will have to exercise some real internet savvy to try and drive people to your website, there is already a built-in audience of thousands on eBay, and many of them are searching for just what you’re selling. eBay is an effective marketing technique because it’s already so well-known. You don’t have to go out hunting for people because they’ll come hunting for you.
When listing your products on eBay, the standard rules of good internet marketing still apply. Grab your potential client with an eye-catching headline. Employ good spelling and grammar. Be descriptive. Use persuasive writing to coax potential customers to buy what you’re selling. If there are any problems with the product, be sure to address that up front. This will be crucial to maintaining a good seller rating on the site. And, whenever possible, be sure to include a picture of your product. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and, on eBay, it’s worth even more.There are other tactics specific to eBay that you can utilize as well. When setting the time for your auctions, make sure that they’ll expire when your customer base is sure to be around. If your customers are mostly Americans, set your auctions so that they’ll expire when people from the East Coast all the way to the West Coast will all be awake and fighting to win the auction. Be sure to do everything possible to maintain a good seller rating, especially in the beginning of your business on eBay. But, all in all, it’s not too difficult to turn eBay into an excellent internet marketing tool for your business. Have fun with it, and you’ll see results.
Internet Marketing on eBay – A Built-In Market, Ready to Buy Whatever You’re Selling
When you think of eBay, the first phrase that probably comes to mind is “internet auctions.” That happens for a reason. eBay has done an excellent job of branding themselves as the premiere auction site on the web. They were the first to do it in 1995, and they are widely recognized as the best to do it today. While many people think of eBay as some sort of online garage sale where people sell unwanted goods at reasonable prices (after all, the first item ever sold on the site was a broken laser pointer), many people are now realizing that eBay can be an effective and powerful internet marketing tool as well.
Whatever product you’re selling, you can increase your exposure on the internet by selling it on eBay as well as selling directly through your website. Whereas you will have to exercise some real internet savvy to try and drive people to your website, there is already a built-in audience of thousands on eBay, and many of them are searching for just what you’re selling. eBay is an effective marketing technique because it’s already so well-known. You don’t have to go out hunting for people because they’ll come hunting for you.
When listing your products on eBay, the standard rules of good internet marketing still apply. Grab your potential client with an eye-catching headline. Employ good spelling and grammar. Be descriptive. Use persuasive writing to coax potential customers to buy what you’re selling. If there are any problems with the product, be sure to address that up front. This will be crucial to maintaining a good seller rating on the site. And, whenever possible, be sure to include a picture of your product. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words and, on eBay, it’s worth even more.
There are other tactics specific to eBay that you can utilize as well. When setting the time for your auctions, make sure that they’ll expire when your customer base is sure to be around. If your customers are mostly Americans, set your auctions so that they’ll expire when people from the East Coast all the way to the West Coast will all be awake and fighting to win the auction. Be sure to do everything possible to maintain a good seller rating, especially in the beginning of your business on eBay. But, all in all, it’s not too difficult to turn eBay into an excellent internet marketing tool for your business.
1. Start your eBay sales campaign early.
Online holiday shoppers start early so you need to, too, if you want to increase your eBay holiday sales. If you’re using 10 day listings and put your first listings up October 15th, that only gives you six to eight cycles of listings to maximize your holiday sales.
2. Line up your suppliers.
Make sure you have reliable suppliers lined up in advance so you have the product you need to maximize your eBay holiday sales. You need to know where or not you’ll have a product in stock before you can promote it – and sell it.
3. Focus on “holiday-friendly” items.
Think “gift, gift, gift” – and if someone wouldn't buy it as a gift, don’t list it. For instance, suppose you sell beading supplies and jewelry made out of beads. To increase your eBay holiday sales, focus on the jewelry, not the supplies. The jewelry is a much more likely gift purchase.
4. Stock up on hot/in demand items.
What’s hot in the world at large is what’s hot on eBay, too. For example, if you were selling Ipods on eBay during the 2004 holiday season, you did well. One way to increase your eBay holiday sales is to add popular items to your product listings.
Find out what’s hot on eBay itself by using the tools eBay offers. On eBay's Pulse page, you can view popular searches by Category or use eBay Pulse to check out current trends and hot picks. If you can be ahead of the curve (or even in the first wave) with some of these hot items, you'll increase your eBay holiday sales dramatically.
5. Use more Buy It Now listings.
The holiday season is prime time for impulse buys – and impatience. Using more eBay Buy It Now listings rather than auction-style listings will give your products an edge with those impatient, impulsive online shoppers who don’t want to wait for your auction to end and increase your holiday sales.
6. Consider offering free shipping on Buy It Now items.
Offering free shipping gives online shoppers even more inducement to buy your product. Who doesn’t like a free bonus? Coupling free shipping with Buy It Now listings is an especially powerful way to increase your holiday sales.
7. Speed up the payment process.
Even if you don’t do it regularly, you should accept payment though PayPal as one of your payment options throughout the holiday season if you want to increase your eBay sales. When online shoppers pay through PayPal, the transaction is instantaneous and when you speed up payment, you speed up shipping.
8. Explain your shipping policies clearly in your listings.
Online shoppers don’t just want to buy gifts; they want to know when those gifts are going to arrive. When you make sure that your shipping policies are clearly explained in your listings, you make it easier for them to decide to buy your product. Otherwise, they have to take the time to email you and ask – or just buy someone else’s product.
9. Watch your dates.
Be aware that regular mail slows down during the holiday season. To increase your eBay sales over the holiday season, choose shipping methods that guarantee service within a certain number of days even if they cost a little more. The important thing is helping your customers hit their holiday deadlines by keeping your shipping promises. Also make sure that you inform last-minute shoppers if what they’re buying won’t arrive in time and of any additional shipping charges.
10. Update your default template to give your eBay pages a holiday theme.
When it comes to increasing holiday sales, every little bit helps. While making sure your pages have a holiday theme won’t make any eBay sales in itself, it will help put online shoppers in a holiday buying mood.
Internet Marketing on eBay
In the world of Internet marketing, eBay.com was the first ever online auction and shopping Web site. It is still the world's number one online auction site today and the best place on the Internet where people and corporations can buy and sell their products and services in a global setting. Without a doubt, eBay is a heavyweight when it comes to Internet marketing.
In 1995, EBay first made its presence felt in the United States, where many great Internet marketing tools originate. From there, eBay has expanded its reach to cover more than 20 countries worldwide, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Today, eBay has expanded its business beyond the online auction and now owns other major Internet marketing companies such as PayPal and Skype.
At the outset, eBay was known as AuctionWeb and was only a small part of a bigger site owned by computer programmer Pierre Omidyar. The first thing ever sold was a laser pointer. It went for the princely sum of $14.83, which isn't bad, considering that it was broken to begin with. The sale was so curious that Omidyar called up the winning bidder to ask him what he was going to do with a broken pointer. The buyer explained simply that, "I'm a collector of broken laser pointers." That story has since been part of Internet marketing lore and just goes to show that you can buy and sell practically anything on eBay.
Barely a year after its birth, eBay was able to sign its first major deal with a third party, Electronic Travel Auction. Ebay did a magnificent job of selling plane tickets and other travel products online. It soon started creating waves in the Internet marketing realm.
In September 1997, the company officially changed its name to eBay, a name that was patterned Echo Bay Technology Group, Omidyar's consulting firm. Omidyar actually tried to get the name EchoBay.com first but it was already taken. A year later, the company went public and Omdiyar became a billionaire literally overnight.
Today, millions of products and services are listed on eBay and millions more are bought and sold on a daily basis. On eBay, you can probably find anything that you'll ever need, including computers, appliances, furniture, collectibles, even cars and other vehicles. EBay also has a wide range of services being offered in its listings. In 2004, the company introduced its Business & Industry category and now sells a wide variety of industrial supplies.
If you're looking to buy or sell novelty items, you can do that on eBay too. EBay has some rare and valuable gems as well as thousands of damaged and dusty gizmos reminiscent of the broken laser pointer that it sold way back in 1996.
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