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Terry Gibbs has written a great book for beginning eBay buyers:
I LOVE eBay! It helps me be a stay-at-home mom to my kids!!! Very often people ask me for advice on selling on eBay. I wish I had enough time to sit down with each one of you and let you know what I've learned. I've often thought I should write a book about it! But why, when so many great ones are already out there. So, I'll just share my sources with you and let you read for yourself! If you're interested in selling on eBay, here are some good starting points.
Get Started:
Before you do any buying or selling, you must register on eBay. If you have never used eBay before, I would recommend you start buying a few things just to see how it works and to get some feedback. Feedback is very important on eBay!
I've listed many of our favorite books about eBay in the left column. Check them out! Many should be available in your public library. There is usually a waiting list for them at our local library. If you want to invest in a couple, my favorites are Starting an eBay Business for Dummies by Marsha Collier and The eBay Bible by Jim Griffith.
While you're buying pay careful attention to what is selling. When you find your niche, what you are interested & passionate about, watch completed auctions and take lots of notes! Research is key.
I would also recommend signing up for Paypal and Vendio when you start out. Here's why
Paypal -- Many more people will bid on your auctions if you accept Paypal. I've never had a problem with them and it makes the time between the end of the auction & the time I mail MUCH shorter! Probably over 90% of my buyers now pay with Paypal.
Vendio -- This is the bulk lister I use to allow me to work on my eBay auctions at any time while I'm offline. I upload them all at the same time to start whenever I want. They also send emails at auction ending and when I receive payment and ship the item. I wouldn't sell on eBay without using Vendio! They currently have a FREE two-week trial and a Pay-as-you-Go plan if you want to start off slow. (I think it's 10 cents per auction.) The reason I use Vendio instead of one of the eBay products is because Vendio includes scheduled listings and templates.
Start off selling lower priced items. Again, to build up your feedback and so you'll hopefully make all your mistakes without loosing any money! Look around your house, clean out closets, have a garage sale on eBay!
Most eBay sellers are too busy listing items to take time out to answer a newbies questions but there are a few sellers who have made their niche teaching others how to do eBay. You can sell on eBay without ever reading any of these and without ever paying for any training, but if you're serious I wouldn't recommend it. The time and money they will save you is WELL WORTH the money you'll pay them!
Terry Gibbs wrote a great guide book for eBay sellers that are just starting out and he's giving it away!
And once you've read the beginner's guide you may want to invest in one of his in-depth courses:
Start Your Own eBay Consignment Business
"How to Get Into Estate Sales Early
Mike Enos has several eBay related products he sells and information about being a drop seller (I have NO experience with that.) He also has a free newsletter called
Platinum Power Seller that I get a lot of info from. Mike has sold $20,000 - $30,000 a month on eBay before!
Make an About Me Page:
I'm a big believer in About Me pages! Once you find your niche (or even before) build an About Me page. eBay has templates that will do it for you -- you just fill in the info. Make sure you include photos and introduce yourself.
Check out my AM page: If you want to create your own, there is a tiny link down at the bottom of my AM page that says, "To create your own About Me page click here."
The Silent Sales Machine - You've probably heard about this ebook over and over again, but it really is one of the best out there. Not only will it teach you about eBay but you'll also learn how to make money on your About Me page without ever listing anything! (And if you know me, you know that poorly used or non-existant About Me pages are my pet peeve!)
The Silent Sales Machine also has a free newsletter. I have learned soooo much from Jim Cockrum. Definately sign up for this one.
If you decide to make your own AM page after reading this send me a link... I'd love to see it!
Your next step:
After you sell all the extra 'stuff' around your home you can easily start hitting garage sales, thrift stores, and flea markets and find LOTS of items to sell. Again, research is the key. You can spend a lot of money and end up just breaking even or you can make $20 for every $1 you spend (or more). Secrets of Garage Sale Bargains by Sherah Taylor is an ebook that will teach you how to find those best-selling items. This ebook is a BARGAIN at $9.95!!! Sherah also has a subscription newsletter about selling children's clothes on eBay. That's not my niche but I learned a lot from her newsletter, too!
Watch completed auctions on eBay and you'll start getting a feel for what sells.
Now that you've had a little experience, what have you enjoyed selling the most? It was easy for me. We LOVE books and are automatically drawn to them at garage sales & thrift stores. You may be a creative type who wants to auction your own handmade jewelry or a SAHM who always has some outgrown clothes or toys to sell. Or maybe, like my FIL who would have been a great eBay-er if he was still around, someone who can find antiques wherever they go. There are thousands of niches. Just think of your hobbies and what you spend your free time doing. You're going to be spending a lot of time on eBay so why not be doing something you enjoy?
Sellathon -- If you sell on eBay, you need to check out View Tracker by Sellathon. If you would like to know HOW your visitors found your auction and be able to customize your listings to take advantage of the best times and best keywords that will work best for YOUR auctions, this is a program you need to check out. This is not just another "counter" that blindly counts how many hits your listing receives you will be able to see the words used in the search to find your auction, how they sorted, what time of day potential buyers are searching, and more. Don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself. I used it and I LOVED IT!!! Try it FREE for 30 days, I promise you will be hooked from the FIRST time you use it.
Are Books Your Niche?
My e-friend, Julie Anna Schultz has written a great book called Finding Jewels: A guide to Identifying Valuable Children's Literature. In it she not only tells you how to sell books on eBay but tells you what books to sell! She and her husband have done extensive research on which books sell the best on eBay. If you're interested in selling children's books, this one is a must! She also has a service that will send you links every month to top sellers on eBay. She's still working on the affiliate program so make sure you let her know that Ann sent you!
Another e-friend, Elaine Smith has written an excellent ebook for newbies How to Sell Books Using Online Auctions. As the title mentions she gives lots of specifics about books but you could use this info for almost anything you want to sell on eBay. Even though I've been selling on eBay for five years I am still learning from Elaine. Well worth the cost!!!
Maybe Children's Clothes are Your Niche?
I have sold a few children's clothes. These two newsletters are great sources of what & where to buy:
Auction Moms
My Personal Favorite eBooks About eBay:
Finding Jewels: A guide to Identifying Valuable Children's Literature.
How to Sell Books Using Online Auctions.
Secrets of Garage Sale Bargains by Sherah Taylor
Yahoo Groups:
eBay Establishings - This group is run by my eFriend, Julie Anna, who also sells books. Her husband is now working full-time from home selling on eBay!
Entrepreneurs at Home - Rhea! runs this group of Christian entrepreneurs that work from home. Ebay is just ONE of their multiple streams of income!
When you join these groups, introduce yourself and let them know Ann sent you!
Newsletters:
The Auction Moms
eBay News:
"The eBay Buyer's Guide"
"The eBay Seller's Guide by Terry Gibbs"
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