By Stephen Bucaro

It seems like just about everyone on earth has purchased something at, or at least visited, eBay. There must be a hundred books out there titled something like, "How to Get Rich Selling Useless Trash on eBay". Well, if you believe that, I have a bridge that I’d like to sell you.

The people that I know who sell on eBay spend many hours tracking down items to sell. Then they have to spend time entering auction information, reviewing status of their auctions, communicating with buyers, and packaging and shipping item. If they counted number of hours used relative to revenue earned, I’m sure they are working for less than minimum wage.

Many people are asking question, "What sells best on eBay?" The answer is antiques, collectibles, and memorabilia. If you don’t have a continuous supply of this type of material, it is difficult to make money on eBay. Lately, there has been a market for "garage sale" type items such as used baby clothes and children's toys. But who has a continuous supply of these?

Along with time invested in locating items to sell, they have to pay $1.00 to list item (whether it sells or not). If it sells, they pay an additional $1.25 and 2.5% of selling price. If buyer pays through an electronic payment service like Paypal or Billpoint, then they pay an additional $0.30 plus 3% of selling price.

Who pays shipping charges? The seller may think that buyer is paying shipping charges. But because buyer considers it when evaluating purchase, in effect, seller pays shipping.

Why do people keep working eBay if they are not making money? The fact is that these people just love scouting out antiques, collectibles, and memorabilia, or used baby clothes and children's toys at garage sales and swap meets. They get excited about posting it on eBay and watching bids come in. Hey, everybody needs a hobby.

To sell on eBay, you have to register by providing your name, email address, and a credit card number (for paying auction fees). Then, with your user ID and password, you can log in. To list your item for auction, click "Sell" link on "Welcome" screen. This takes you to a very long form.

The first thing you have to do is choose a category and sub-category for your item. Choosing correct category is essential. When choosing a category consider your target buyer.

Next, enter a title for your item (45 characters max). Your title should consist of carefully selected keywords. Buyers use keywords to search eBay. At end of your title, you might want to enter letters "NR". This stands for "No Reserve" and means that you are actually willing to sell your item at price you enter as minimum bid.

Let's face it; some people just don't "get it". They won't be nice or reasonable, they need too much 'hand-holding', or they haggle over everything. Lose 'em! Tell them politely that they will be better off getting your product or service elsewhere.

A local auto repair shop diagnosed a clutch problem and did approximately $300 worth of repairs. About 2 weeks later clutch failed when I was 80 miles from home, and I had to take it to a local Nissan dealer. They told me that problem was one of parts that had just been replaced.