
William asks…
can anyone tell me how to make money selling on ebay? What I mean is how do you go about getting on and sellin
My husban and I have a lot of things around the house that we would like to get rid of. We think that we can make money selling it on the internet what do you think and how dose one go about doing it? Can anyone help us?

Neil Walker answers:
Your first stop should be eBay’s Guide to Seller Services http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/services.html
eBay’s Seller Central has all the resources you need to learn about the basics of selling on eBay http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/index.html
The key to a successful eBay selling is simple — Sell products that people actually want.
Selling on eBay is not as easy as some portray. In fact, go to eBay and check out the number of auctions that end without a single bid. Competition is getting tough, as more sellers go to eBay; even the big boys are joining in the eBay marketplace. Add to that the increasing listing and final value fees.
Buying from garage sales and selling on eBay is fun, and good getting a few dollars here and there from ebay. Sometimes, you luck out on an item and hit big, but many times it will just be so-so (assuming you can even get the price you paid for it). In terms of fun factor, it is great. But from a business stand-point, it is not. Not sustainable.
If you want to earn serious money from eBay, you need to have a well-thought out business model. Selling on ebay is getting tougher — just look at the number of auctions that closes without a bid. Go to the boards on ebay and you will hear even oldtimers complaining about how stiffer competition plus higher fees make it so much harder to sell on ebay.
One success model of ebay is the couple Jay and Marie Senese (username jayandmarie) of the 1-cent CD fame. They have the highest positive feedback number of all sellers on eBay. Their business model is to buy very low cost CDs in bulk (those that CD stores sell in their discount bins) and offer them on ebay at a starting price of 1 cent http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_23/b3886080.htm Their success is based on the fact that they stumbled on a sustainable business model with products that people really want. They sold their business — where else but on ebay — for $5 million! Now that is success.
eBay has several ways for you to determine exactly what the hot items to sell on their marketplace:
Items In Demand = the most popular items currently within that particular category. To see the In Demand page, go to http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/sellbycategory.html
Hot Items by Category Report = a monthly report that lists the fastest growing categories on eBay for the previous month. Go to http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/whatshot.html and select “Hot Items by Category” from the menu on the left.
eBay Pulse = “a daily snapshot of current trends, hot picks, and cool stuff on eBay”. Go to http://pulse.ebay.com/ to see eBay Pulse in action.
Merchandising Calendar = eBay promotes specific categories on its home page each month. Savvy eBayers know that this home page exposure results in more interest in such categories. Go to http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/calendar.html to view the current Merchandising Calendar.
Other non-eBay sites that teaches how to sell on eBay successfully are:
How To Be a Successful eBay Seller http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/onlinebusiness/a/ebaysellingtips.htm
Resources for Professional Ebay Sellers http://www.skipmcgrath.com/

George asks…
With Shipping Charges So High, How Do You Make Money Selling On Ebay?
Seems like with ebay‘s fees on top of shipping, it’s hard to get a good deal (isn’t that what ebay was about? Sort of?)
and even harder to make anything selling stuff.
Is there some way to do it I just don’t know about?

Neil Walker answers:
Since the buyer usually pays the shipping, the seller is not impacted by the shipping costs. Buyers wouldn’t really buy if the all in costs were higher than what you could get down the street. Its also a way to get stuff that you can not find locally. People are really successful selling stuff, but you have to own it at the right peice since ebay is an active price discovery system tb.

Thomas asks…
How do people make money selling stuff on ebay so cheap, Where do they get thier inventory cheaper than ebay?
Im trying to open an ebay store as a side job, but everything i find to sell is already so cheap that i cant make even a dollars profit on anything. Is it because people buy in bulk or have deals with the manufacturers or what? how is anyone makeing money on ebay?

Neil Walker answers:
While many ebay sellers simply buy lots from ebay to resell or from estate sales, others have manufacturers and suppliers that gives them very low prices and they can afford to mark up their prices pretty well.
For the last four years, I’ve been selling pearls on ebay, among other things. For my pearl products, I source them from the Philippines and I have suppliers. I can get freshwater pearls 6 mm size for only 20 pesos – that’s like $0.40. I start bidding at $20, sometimes less — my base price alone gives me a huge profit margin. Same with Akoya and South Sea pearls – high quality pearls that I sell starting at $199, I only pay a fraction of its price including shipping.
Or batik wall hangings from Indonesia or Thailand that I can get from my suppliers for only $0.50 or less and resell for $9.99.
So I don’t rely on deals that you can see on estate auctions once in a while as I have a steady supply of cheap products that I can resell.

Sharon asks…
Given the cost of an Ebay ad, how do people make money selling things?
It seems hard to make money selling items on Ebay when the ad is expensive in itself.

Neil Walker answers:
I pay a bit more than the 35 cent insertion fee, like the gallery picture and supersized pitcures, but it’s usually less than $2.00 to list things. I agree with the person that said you have to know how to list things- put some general terms in the title along with the exact item you’re selling, so that people searching for “fine china” will also find your “Rosenthal Ivory Soup Bowl”

Lisa asks…
how to make money selling on ebay?
Hi, I would like to know how to make money selling stuff on ebay? Does anyone here know or ever tried selling on ebay? What are the first thing I should know to start selling on ebay? thanks

Neil Walker answers:
try searching for ebooks, guides or tips about selling stuff on ebay. You can really get expert advice.
Here’s a site that has some really good ebooks and guides for ebay beginners.
http://ways2makemoney.awardspace.com
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