Sometime he does really well and sells something for $100 that only cost him $10. Of course he does not always make such spectacular profit margins as that but generally he does pretty well. In fact these days, like many thousands of other people he makes his main living from selling through eBay.

In fact there is only one problem, he is spending more time and working harder than he did in his former “regular” job. He is up early to get best bargains at flea market, then when he gets them home he has to research and write up item description and take a photograph. Doing this for a couple hundred products every week doesn’t leave my pal much spare time. When I met him at a party other week he was really looking tired and depressed.

“OK I am my own boss but it is like being on a treadmill, if I stop money stops. I think I might be better getting a regular job again”.

The outcome was that I agreed to take a look at his business to see if there was anything that I could suggest that would help him.

When I started to look at his operation two things struck me at once. He was not aiming at any specific market. He was just going out and buying whatever was available so in one week he might buy some books, children’s games, some DVDs and office machinery. This might be fine if you are treating eBay as a hobby but not if it is your business.

Whenever you read about any form of online selling words “niche market” will quickly appear. There is a good reason for this, if as a small trader you want to succeed you must target specific niches. It makes sense to find an easily targeted niche because they will be far more profitable in long term than trying to sell to world.

The second mistake my friend was making was that all his sales were one off and rarely did a customer make more than one sale. This was not because of any bad products or service just fact that someone buying a fishing rod almost certainly would not be interested in a foot spa or whatever else my pal was offering following week.

These days more and more people are realising that eBay should not be your single method of selling but part of a fully integrated marketing plan. EBay offers you one of cheapest and easiest ways to build up a highly targeted opt in mailing list and as everyone will tell you money is in list. But very few people take advantage of this.

1. Write a simple description and do not clutter your auction with unneeded items like animated Gifs, and colored backgrounds. Remember, you are selling not entertaining.

2. Charge a flat rate for shipping, and mention shipping costs prominently within your auction description.

3. Write a title that accurately describes your item. Use manufacturers name and model number within title if applicable.

4. Write a detailed description that allows prospective bidders to make a decision about purchasing item. A basic tip is description can never be too long as long as it is describing item.

5. Include large clear photographs. Invest in some lights and a quality camera. Your investment will pay for itself in higher eBay selling prices within only a few auctions.