I know you might want to find a guaranteed method to make money quick online and start your own business based from your home so I want to share with you today some real life tips I picked up for myself in my own eBay trading biz over a few successful years!
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My Top Tips For Selling Successfully On Online Auctions
This article discusses some central issues about selling on online auctions to make a profit, some extra cash, a second income, or even a small business. Learn how to discover what to sell on eBay to make money. Learn tips to draw the most bidders and obtain the highest profits every time. Decide just how much money you want and how much work you are prepared to do. Decide if this is really the best home based business for you.
First I’d like to say you definitely can and will make money selling on online auction websites. It is one of the few guaranteed money making opportunities on the internet and you can choose how much you want to scale the plan up to earn whatever money you wish to.
The key is that in general, the more money you want to make, the more effort and hours you will need to put in, and the more items you will have to mail. It is a physical hands on internet business and it is not the ideal business for everyone who wants to start a home based business, but if you want to feel sure your time and effort are bringing certain rewards then you will like making money with auctions. You can start a home based business selling on online auctions today!
Take any one unwanted item from your home and list it on eBay. Take a good clear photo of the item and describe it accurately, stating why you want to sell it and the exact condition, and make it sound like something exciting to buy! You have 55 letters to find a winning title for your item. The title is your headline, in effect, to draw people in to look at your sales page. Use critical keywords, an excitement word, a call to view! Use the brand name if the item is branded, or a brief description.
Place the item in the most appropriate category and also consider a second contrasting category to capture more viewers: don’t go with the suggestions given, browse through the categories and find one a little different but appealing. Try the home and garden section, or unusual items or collectibles. Avoid the obvious for a second category. Be sure to check how much the listing is costing – do you really need that sub title or the super sized pictures? Keep it basic. One gallery picture is enough for most items. I rarely use more than two.
Carefully consider your auction length and start time. It is most effective to end on a Sunday evening so schedule your start time accordingly. I list nearly everything on a 10 day auction in the UK, but experiment with different auction lengths and see what works best for your niche. I find the longer the item is on display, the more watchers it gathers and the more bidders I am attracting. More bidders bidding against each other raises my price and my profit!
I send an email to buyers who purchased the previous week, asking if they received their item and hoping they are pleased with it, and adding a note that I have other similar items they may be interested in this week also. These are the best bidders you can get, the people who have already purchased from you. They may add you to their favourites list. I have some buyers who visit my listings every week for more than six months. That’s powerful branding.
So now you have succeeded in selling an item from your home and learned the complete listing process. Go back and browse the categories and sub categories, making notes as you go. You really can’t do this too much! Check out the auctions in categories that interest you – get to know all you can about what is selling well online. Have a look at other country sites like Canada and Australia, too. Are the same items selling there? For greater or lower price? Find anything you can import from one country and export to another?
Get into the habit of sending a quick message to sellers asking if they would like to sell more stock and offering to purchase at a wholesale price for sole rights to sell in your country. This will work well with handbags and accessories and health and beauty products. It will work very well for collectibles but remember there is a great difference between sourcing one-of-a-kind items and mass selling new items.
Many sellers are only selling on their country site and will be very happy to deal with you to sell from your country site. Buy 5-10 items at first to test before rolling out the numbers. What sells well in one country may not sell at all in another. Or you may face too much cut price competition. Can you source any hot category items locally and sell them worldwide? Check out pulse.ebay to see what items are hot this week.
Seasonal items and products people prefer to have delivered at home, such as acne lotions, will always be hot items. Do all the research you can. Aim to source at least four contrasting items to sell long term and keep researching. What items are other sellers similar to you selling? Can you source this? Search online for dropshippers who will allow you to list a new item and when it sells they will deliver it to your customer.
Sounds too good? It probably is! But do your research and be prepared to give one idea a go, and be prepared to lose some money! What? Yes, the only way you will build a successful trading business is by losing money now and then discovering what doesn’t work. It will make you more determined to find what does work, and more appreciative of the value of your money, time and effort. That’s business! Trust your gut feelings. Be a little daring. Scale up what is working and be prepared for competition. Resist cutting your prices – instead add extra value, such as a guarantee, or a free ebook report, or multiple purchases at discount. Never be the cheapest, just be the best! This is the key to really make money quick online.
If you are prepared to research, both trawling through to discover what to sell on eBay to make money, and in the search engines to source products and joint venture partners, then you can become very successful with online auctions. Take the rough with the smooth and accept that nothing lasts forever: be ready to roll out your next item immediately!
My main point is that this is a real hands on business. You are going to sweat packing things to a deadline, you are going to face the occasional angry customer, you are going to have to step carefully through the minefield of rules, and you will need to be prepared to occasionally suffer a financial loss yet get back on track and keep selling. You need to see the bigger picture of a real business. If you opened a corner store, not every brand would sell as well as the others: you’re in for the long haul, and it’s there you profit.
So is this the perfect opportunity to make a little extra cash? Yes, you can, but a little research and a touch more effort will launch you a proper trading business: in effect, mail order. So take the time and see what you can accomplish. What exactly to sell? Anything will sell eventually but ideally you want hot selling items that move quickly in multiples.
Check your local papers too: you will often find something under priced where the seller wants quick cash so buy and list! Become an expert on certain items so you always spot a bargain. I am expert on musical instruments, having been a music teacher for years, so as soon as I see something cheap I try it out, scoop and list. You can establish different trading accounts for different niches if you prefer.
The great thing about eBay is that you can get started for no money down! It’s a real business model, handling real products. You can sell unlimited amounts of popular new items or you can opt to source rare items in high demand from specific collectors. You can sell art, clothes, accessories, beauty products, motors, comics, books, music, furniture. Adam Ginsberg became the first online auction millionaire selling pool tables across the US! You can source items in one country and sell them in another. The only limit is your imagination and your initial budget.
Start small and test everything. Be prepared for competitors to under cut your prices. Maintain your edge by offering bonuses and best service. Follow up by asking for feedback and recommend another of your bargains! Treat your sales as a real business and keep careful records of every transaction. Siphon your profits into a business bank account before drawing your salary. Plan big and act big and grow big. Think one step ahead of your competition constantly. You can profit online!
