In an effort to find a way to work from home, and actually generate some income with a home-based business, I decided to try my hand at an eBay store. I'd like to share my experiences as a newbie at eBay and show you what I have learned along the way so far. I decided to try my hand at eBay when I had just about given up on everything else. I was working in Direct Sales Marketing and had just about spent every dime I owned trying to get my website out to the masses and I could still not sell a thing. I did not like making about 500 phone calls every day trying to reach someone in order to get them to listen to a presentation - and then being hung up on because they did not remember opting into my website. That just grinds away your spirit.
I also resorted to going back to MLM and thought maybe I could peddle a great Vitamin Juice product but that did NOT work. (Though there are some good and inexpensive online MLM systems out there, just so you know). I then tried my hand at travel memberships but soon found out not everyone has a passion for travel like I do and they would rather spend more money on one vacation then have a great membership that gives great prices on several trips. I guess I'm one of the few, rare, people that likes to travel several times a year. I also tried some affiliate sales and hoped to make a small commission here & there by marketing someone else's already established business and/or products. That wasn't bad (and I still do it). But when I ran into financial difficulties, and I wasn't sure how I was going to pay for my business expenses, I started looking at other options... and along came eBay. When I started seriously considering the possibility of selling something with an online store, I realized that I do have a lot of junk around my house that I could probably sell for a good price. Well, I 'used' to have a lot anyway (wink).
I also have a goal of moving out to the country some day and, when I do, I knew I was going to have to get rid of a lot of the extra junk that I've kept all these years. So I figured, why not start unloading it now? It is amazing what excitement it created when I started thinking about 'the more stuff I sold, the easier my move to out of the city will be.' In my case, that really helped motivate me! At first, I wasn't sure what would sell but I started doing some research using a really valuable eBay tool called "Terapeak." Terapeak lets you research what sells and what does not sell on eBay and it gives you some general information about the most successful techniques used to sell something. For example, say I wanted to sell an old, antique Queen Anne chair. I could research Terapeak with search words "Antique Queen Anne Chair" and see how it did over a specific time frame (30 days, 90 days, etc). Once the search results come back, it will show me what the average price for the item was, what the average shipping cost was, the days it sold best, the time it sold best, and even the best way to sell it using either Auction, Fixed Price, or Store. That's good information.
Anyway, I got started by looking around my home for those things I had tucked away and really had no need for any longer. Old board games, an old Atari game system, books I'll never read again, some musical instruments... basically just all kinds of things. Finally, it was time to start listing my stuff on eBay. eBay has a great system of listing items and it will walk you step-by-step in listing what you want to sell. What I did not know was the fact that there are cheaper ways to list items in eBay to avoid some of the "listing fees" you will pay, which is a big, BIG deal! A friend of mind had told me she avoided eBay because it was too expensive with fees to bother trying to sell anything, but I didn't really pay much attention to what she had said until I started paying those fees myself. They will eat you alive!
One of my first experiences in selling on eBay was paying those fees. It can be mind blowing when you list 3 items and suddenly your see your eBay balance is $10. eBay charges you a listing fee depending on how much you list your item for in your auction (fees vary a little for fixed price and store inventory listings). If you decide to add a bunch of pictures to your listing, eBay will charge you about $.15 for each photo, after the first one which is free. You can save a little by paying for the Image Gallery and so forth, though. If you choose to list your item in more than one category, you will pay for that also. You will also pay if you decide to add a subtitle, which does sometime help you sell better (depending on what your Terapeak research has shown you). You can try something called Auctiva to see how you can save on fees. I found this accidentally when observing another sellers' listings and being very impressed with how it looked. Auctiva can help you set up some very professional listings. Additional fees you will encounter are "final value fees" when your item sells. When you use PayPal, you will be paying a small fee there also. But I soon found out why it is so important to become a Powerseller on eBay - your fees will not be so much when you reach powerseller status. And then there's shipping. That was a struggle at first.
I had no idea what the difference was between USPS Parcel Post, Priority Mail or Flat Rate Box and Envelope. Luckily, eBay has all kinds of information to help you learn the best and most cost effective ways to ship your items. Definitely take the time to learn this one. There is a lot to take into account when shipping Internationally so take your time here and, if you are new at it, consider waiting a little while before offering to ship overseas. Most of the time, you won't need to, anyway. But back to those fees...
You really have to take into account all of your fees when you list an item and decide on a price. You can list something for $.99 to avoid high listing fees, get peoples attention, and get bids, but if only one person bids on it and it sells for $.99, you need to make sure your fees are covered. Remember - there will be a final value fee, a PayPal fee and perhaps other fees as well - and that doesn't even take into account what you might have paid for the item. Then you have shipping to contend with. If you offer Free Shipping on an item, it will get you ranked higher in the searches but that means you are paying for the shipping. Depending on what it is you are selling, that can be expensive! So if you sold an item for $.99, and offered Free shipping, chances are you are actually in the negative loss margin instead of the profit margin. It only takes one time of going into the negative profit on an item to learn not to do this again.
Be be sure you don't make your shipping charges too high either. It is a violation of eBay policy to charge crazy outrageous shipping charges to make up for the cost of your item. Luckily, eBay does have a shipping calculator which allows you to get an idea of what it will cost to ship something. You also have the option of offering flat rate shipping (or calculated) which is what I used in the beginning until I got a better idea of how the shipping thing works. Calculated shipping lets a buyer see what shipping charges would be based on where they are in the US, Canada or Internationally. It also gives them some options on what they are willing to spend to get the item to their house slow via USPS Parcel Post or Priority Mail. Be forewarned though, some buyers will mark you down when they leave feedback because they don't like the shipping costs as compared to those that offer Free Shipping. This is going to be something you'll have to experiment with to find out what works for you.
You've heard the saying, "a picture paints a thousands words" well this isn't always the case on eBay. You need to take great pictures, make sure they are your own pictures, and offer lots of different views and detail when you do. Since people cannot put their hands on the item you offer, they really need to see as much detail as possible and this will help sell your item quicker too. Also, be very honest about any problems, damage, etc with the items you sell. You want to be sure that what your customer gets is what you advertised. Negative reviews are BAD!
Did you know that you can boost you your eBay Traffic using Social Networking and Attraction Marketing?Until you start gaining some sales volume in your store, chances are you won't be getting the same kind of visibility as the Power Sellers and people that have been around awhile. If you don't offer Free Shipping, you won't be placed very high in the keyword search findings on the site either, so it can be very challenging getting people to see your stuff if you are on page 25 of all the travel suitcases. This is where experience and knowledge about Social Networking sites and Attraction Marketing can really benefit you. Another tip for you, when you put your eBay store URL in blogs and Social Networking sites, be sure you add "?refid=store" at the end. Basically what this does is help you get store referral credits when you refer someone to your store through a promotion of some sort and they buy from you. You'll actually earn up to 75% credit on your Final Value Fees when you send people to your store from somewhere outside of eBay. (blogs, website, facebook page, etc)
So does any of this interest you? I can assure you that, if you make a study of it and apply yourself, you can do well. If you are new to selling on eBay, you may want to go to eBay.com and create an account for yourself. You can follow the step by step guides and tutorials and get to the point where you begin listing items for sale on eBay. Start small with that new pair of shoes you never wore, or those old golf clubs you thought you would use more than once. Search around eBay to get an idea of how other people listed items like yours and get some ideas on how to proceed. Be sure you create your own unique listing - do not copy or take pictures from other peoples listings - this can get you in to trouble.
For the more advanced seller on eBay, consider trying Terapeak to research your items prior to listing if you are not doing that already. You might be surprised at how much valuable insight you can gain that will only benefit your listing. Overall, if you take into account some of the things I've mentioned here, you really can make a nice profit on eBay. When you find the perfect thing to sell, and it is something in demand, and you can get it at a great price (wholesale, dropship, etc), you will start making a profit. As with all good things, it does take some time, work and effort, but it will happen. Be sure to do your homework and research what you want to sell to see if it is worth the time, effort, and fees, and to get some great ideas on how to promote the item. Minimize your fees as much as you possibly can, and until you get a higher ranking on eBay and the search engines, consider using a Blog, Article, Squidoo Lens, or Social Networking Site to drive traffic to your eBay Store. Remember to put a Referral Credit link on your eBay store URL to save up to 75% on Final Value fees, and be sure you list an item at a good, reasonable price and do not go crazy on the shipping fees to make up for the price.
Finally, you can also be active in the forums, and other eBay communities to find out how to build a very successful eBay Business. There are many gracious PowerSellers who will share with you how they became so successful.
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