Make a living with Ebay
Ebay was founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar. Today, with 100 million active buyers and sellers, eBay has become the world's largest online marketplace.
On eBay you can find everything being sold and traded, from the strange and impractical to the useful and simple. And with eBay's dominance of online auctions, there will be millions of buyers on eBay who are looking for bargains every day. It has become the focus of a new breed of entrepreneurs who make money by trading online. Today, there is a highly significant number of users who trade full time on eBay.
I also highly recommend eBay for people who are new to ecommerce. eBay is an excellent place to start learning how to sell and buy goods online. Moreover, you will have all the marketing tools you need at your fingertips.
Angus McCarey, retail director for eBay UK, said a "surge" of businesses had started up on the site since the recession.
Anthony Ponsford a former lawyer, was working in a 9-5 job earning 55,000 pounds, before starting his company Piranha Trading. He started selling a variety of products using eBay from gazebos to cat scratchers. In 2010 he managed to increase his annual revenue from 39,000 in 2007 to 1.3 million pounds. Add to that the enjoyment of owning a business. Thanks to his online business, he says, ‘for the first time I am motivated to get out of bed in the morning'.
You can even find lots of teens generating a healthy cash flow using eBay. Google "Ben Lang". He started using eBay when he was fourteen.
One of the highly recommended books that sheds light on ebay's journey since it started is Adam Cohen's book "The Perfect Store". Adam was very fortunate to interview Omidyar and listen to his story. Adam's book is one of the highly motivating books about online businesses. If you enjoy successful e-business stories with lots of lessons to learn, and you are also looking forward to become an online entrepreneur, then this book is for you. It tells the complete spectacular story about what can be done, when you have an idea. It also recounts the challenges eBay faced and how they were overcome.
Launching Your Business
You can easily launch your business from your bedroom if you already have an internet connection However, the majority of people get stuck at one question before starting "what do i sell?" Instead of contemplating a lot trying to answer this question without reaching a typical answer (there's never one), you better start thinking about what items can you get and about being flexible. Remember, this is not about selling what you like, it is more about selling what is more profitable.
The key to being profitable is finding cheap products and good deals that can sell for a high margin. Running a business on ebay is just like any other business. There are many different places, where you get products. You can get your goods from wholesalers, dropshippers, antique shops, manufacturers, or you can manufacture your goods yourself.
Steps for starting
A good start is trying to sell items you want to get rid of. Register at ebay, and post your items. This is usually the cheapest way to starting, and getting acquainted with the online market. It will also help you understand the ebay community. The community is one of the most significant assets of using ebay. You will learn a lot from other members who has become successful. The ebay community is one of the most vibrant communities online.
After getting introduced to ebay and its community, now it is time to prick a product. When trying to pick a product for the first time, it is better to choose a product you know. Remember, that you will get questions from people who are interested in your product. Therefore, it will very unprofessional if you don't know your products well. You also have to consider high profit margins, the saturation of the market, competitors, and your storage space.
Your next step is finding a supplier for the range of products you want to sell. If you are running your own offline business then you won't need to. Otherwise, you can take advantage of wholesale suppliers. Finding a suitable supplier selling good products with low prices can be very time consuming.
You can also google "Your Product" + "wholesaler", e.g. "cheese wholesaler". Search products similar to the ones you chose on ebay, and note down the prices at which your competitors are charging. Make sure there's a good margin between the cost of the products your wholesaler is charging, and the price your products will be sold at on ebay. When you make a deal with a supplier, he should also provide you with a catalog of the products along with prices. Another option is to find dropshippers. This will be covered in more details later in this post.
You should also consider your expenses while selling your items. These expense will include:
Packaging
Couriers (shipment to your customers)
Ebay and Paypal fees (around 9%)
Use Spreadsheets for estimating your expenses, costs, profit margins, turn over and net profit. Computer and decide the prices. Moreover, listing your items has now been made easier. Ebay provides a new listing tool called turbo lister for free. Now, take pictures and provide an honest description of your products. Remember, that positive feedback is essential for the continuity and growth of your business.
Analyze, rinse and repeat. Analyze the results, find out your most profitable products, and replenish those products that are in high demand. You will get more experienced every month, and better at choosing profitable products and targeting your audience.
Types of eBay Businesses
There are a few business models that you can adapt while trading on ebay. These models are:
Wholesale-to-Online: The wholesaler model has been discussed earlier. It is the simple model of buying products from a wholesaler and selling them online with a higher price. If you don't already have an offline business, you will have to consider where to store your inventory. Moreover, when you begin, you shouldn't take the risk and buy in high quantities. Always remember, you might not sell. Hence, I cannot stress enough how important it is, to test the market first and your products.
Dropship-to-Online: This model is very similar to affiliate marketing. When you get a deal with a dropshipper, you will be advertising their products. In return you will get a share on the each sale. In this model, you do not have to worry about packaging, inventory, and the high risk of not selling your products. The dropshipper will be responsible for shipping the items ordered to the clients who placed an order on your listings. However, in this model, it can be a bit difficult to generate high profit margins due to the high prices of dropshippers. You will be very lucky to find a reliable dropshipper. Another major disadvantage is that your supplier will do the packaging, therefore your brand will not appear on the packages and your customers will notice that. Try to make a deal with your dropshipper to put your brand on the packaging. Moreover, any delays from your supplier will be blamed on you, and will affect your online reputation.
Unique and scarce products: In this model, you try to sell products that are very unique. If you are a collector you can easily monetize your hobby. Your suppliers can be stores with clearance stocks, antique shops, hobbyists, etc... Sometimes hobbyists are not business gurus, therefore you can easily find a good bargain.
A Few Things to Consider
Your goal will be to launch a successful growing business. The following are a few valid points to consider:
Try to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Be proactive and approachable to your clients. Try to build a loyal customer base. Use personalized emails along with compliments while communicating with your customers. Treat them as your partners, and not as numbers. Retaining customers is always CHEAPER and more PROFITABLE than acquiring new customers.
Be extremely knowledgeable about the products you are selling. You can even create a blog or a forum, to have open discussion with your clients about your products.
Presentation is very important. Try to take high quality pics of your products, to draw customers' attention.
Try selling in different formats. Don't get stuck to one format on ebay, and be professional.
On eBay you can find everything being sold and traded, from the strange and impractical to the useful and simple. And with eBay's dominance of online auctions, there will be millions of buyers on eBay who are looking for bargains every day. It has become the focus of a new breed of entrepreneurs who make money by trading online. Today, there is a highly significant number of users who trade full time on eBay.
I also highly recommend eBay for people who are new to ecommerce. eBay is an excellent place to start learning how to sell and buy goods online. Moreover, you will have all the marketing tools you need at your fingertips.
Angus McCarey, retail director for eBay UK, said a "surge" of businesses had started up on the site since the recession.
Anthony Ponsford a former lawyer, was working in a 9-5 job earning 55,000 pounds, before starting his company Piranha Trading. He started selling a variety of products using eBay from gazebos to cat scratchers. In 2010 he managed to increase his annual revenue from 39,000 in 2007 to 1.3 million pounds. Add to that the enjoyment of owning a business. Thanks to his online business, he says, ‘for the first time I am motivated to get out of bed in the morning'.
You can even find lots of teens generating a healthy cash flow using eBay. Google "Ben Lang". He started using eBay when he was fourteen.
One of the highly recommended books that sheds light on ebay's journey since it started is Adam Cohen's book "The Perfect Store". Adam was very fortunate to interview Omidyar and listen to his story. Adam's book is one of the highly motivating books about online businesses. If you enjoy successful e-business stories with lots of lessons to learn, and you are also looking forward to become an online entrepreneur, then this book is for you. It tells the complete spectacular story about what can be done, when you have an idea. It also recounts the challenges eBay faced and how they were overcome.
Launching Your Business
You can easily launch your business from your bedroom if you already have an internet connection However, the majority of people get stuck at one question before starting "what do i sell?" Instead of contemplating a lot trying to answer this question without reaching a typical answer (there's never one), you better start thinking about what items can you get and about being flexible. Remember, this is not about selling what you like, it is more about selling what is more profitable.
The key to being profitable is finding cheap products and good deals that can sell for a high margin. Running a business on ebay is just like any other business. There are many different places, where you get products. You can get your goods from wholesalers, dropshippers, antique shops, manufacturers, or you can manufacture your goods yourself.
Steps for starting
A good start is trying to sell items you want to get rid of. Register at ebay, and post your items. This is usually the cheapest way to starting, and getting acquainted with the online market. It will also help you understand the ebay community. The community is one of the most significant assets of using ebay. You will learn a lot from other members who has become successful. The ebay community is one of the most vibrant communities online.
After getting introduced to ebay and its community, now it is time to prick a product. When trying to pick a product for the first time, it is better to choose a product you know. Remember, that you will get questions from people who are interested in your product. Therefore, it will very unprofessional if you don't know your products well. You also have to consider high profit margins, the saturation of the market, competitors, and your storage space.
Your next step is finding a supplier for the range of products you want to sell. If you are running your own offline business then you won't need to. Otherwise, you can take advantage of wholesale suppliers. Finding a suitable supplier selling good products with low prices can be very time consuming.
You can also google "Your Product" + "wholesaler", e.g. "cheese wholesaler". Search products similar to the ones you chose on ebay, and note down the prices at which your competitors are charging. Make sure there's a good margin between the cost of the products your wholesaler is charging, and the price your products will be sold at on ebay. When you make a deal with a supplier, he should also provide you with a catalog of the products along with prices. Another option is to find dropshippers. This will be covered in more details later in this post.
You should also consider your expenses while selling your items. These expense will include:
Packaging
Couriers (shipment to your customers)
Ebay and Paypal fees (around 9%)
Use Spreadsheets for estimating your expenses, costs, profit margins, turn over and net profit. Computer and decide the prices. Moreover, listing your items has now been made easier. Ebay provides a new listing tool called turbo lister for free. Now, take pictures and provide an honest description of your products. Remember, that positive feedback is essential for the continuity and growth of your business.
Analyze, rinse and repeat. Analyze the results, find out your most profitable products, and replenish those products that are in high demand. You will get more experienced every month, and better at choosing profitable products and targeting your audience.
Types of eBay Businesses
There are a few business models that you can adapt while trading on ebay. These models are:
Wholesale-to-Online: The wholesaler model has been discussed earlier. It is the simple model of buying products from a wholesaler and selling them online with a higher price. If you don't already have an offline business, you will have to consider where to store your inventory. Moreover, when you begin, you shouldn't take the risk and buy in high quantities. Always remember, you might not sell. Hence, I cannot stress enough how important it is, to test the market first and your products.
Dropship-to-Online: This model is very similar to affiliate marketing. When you get a deal with a dropshipper, you will be advertising their products. In return you will get a share on the each sale. In this model, you do not have to worry about packaging, inventory, and the high risk of not selling your products. The dropshipper will be responsible for shipping the items ordered to the clients who placed an order on your listings. However, in this model, it can be a bit difficult to generate high profit margins due to the high prices of dropshippers. You will be very lucky to find a reliable dropshipper. Another major disadvantage is that your supplier will do the packaging, therefore your brand will not appear on the packages and your customers will notice that. Try to make a deal with your dropshipper to put your brand on the packaging. Moreover, any delays from your supplier will be blamed on you, and will affect your online reputation.
Unique and scarce products: In this model, you try to sell products that are very unique. If you are a collector you can easily monetize your hobby. Your suppliers can be stores with clearance stocks, antique shops, hobbyists, etc... Sometimes hobbyists are not business gurus, therefore you can easily find a good bargain.
A Few Things to Consider
Your goal will be to launch a successful growing business. The following are a few valid points to consider:
Try to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Be proactive and approachable to your clients. Try to build a loyal customer base. Use personalized emails along with compliments while communicating with your customers. Treat them as your partners, and not as numbers. Retaining customers is always CHEAPER and more PROFITABLE than acquiring new customers.
Be extremely knowledgeable about the products you are selling. You can even create a blog or a forum, to have open discussion with your clients about your products.
Presentation is very important. Try to take high quality pics of your products, to draw customers' attention.
Try selling in different formats. Don't get stuck to one format on ebay, and be professional.
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