Continued from page 1
One of biggest obstacles to building a successful eBay business may be stiffness of competition. Many sellers sell identical items and price wars often get ugly, but that's to be expected in a free market place, which is exactly what eBay is.
You may be only store in town that's selling that one of a kind, custom made just for you, broke mold after they made it, Dale Earnhart Memorial Bobble Head Action Figure (Earnhart fans would string me up if I called it a Doll), but do a quick search on eBay and you'll probably find a hundred others just like it.
So, can you build a profitable business selling on eBay?
Certainly, thousands of people have done it and so can you.
Here are a few tips to help get you started.
Sell Quality Products Don't sell junk! Leave knick-knacks and fake leather jackets to less informed. You should offer only quality products at a fair price.
Research The Competition Once you have your product in mind, don't invest a dime on inventory until you have spent some time on eBay to see what competition is doing. If you want to sell motorcycle helmets, for example, you should look at current auctions to see how many others are selling similar helmets and what prices they are charging. This step is vital since you may discover that you can't compete with current sellers on price or there is simply no market for what you have to offer.
Start Slowly Many people believe that more items they have for sale on eBay better. They will invest thousands in inventory and spent hundreds on listing fees (yes, eBay charges you to list items for sale and collects a final fee if item sells). Those are folks that usually end up with ten thousand Ginsu knives forever in their garage.
Test, Test, Test A fair portion of eBay auctions result in no sales, so it's best to test waters before jumping in with both feet.
List a few items and see how they sell. If an item doesn't sell, list it at least twice more. Some items might not sell first time, but may second or third, then sell steadily from then on.
If an item gets no bids first time, consider adjusting your price or your terms. If an item sells well, keep it in stock and then experiment with another item.
Do Your Homework eBay is too broad a subject to be covered fully here, but there are a multitude of books available that can help you start an eBay business. In fact, I bet you'll find most of them for sale at this very moment at eBay.
What's my bid…
Here's to your success.
Tim Knox tim@dropshipwholesale.net For information on starting your own online or eBay business, visit http://www.dropshipwholesale.net
Tim Knox as the president and CEO of two successful technology companies: B2Secure Inc., a Web-based hiring management software company; and Digital Graphiti Inc., a software development company. Tim is also the founder of dropshipwholesale.net, an ebusiness dedicated to the success of online entrepreneurs. http://www.dropshipwholesale.net http://www.smallbusinessqa.com