Thursday, September 29, 2005
10 Steps To Successful Selling On Ebay
by Kirsten Hawkins
So you want to be a successful seller with your own eBay
business, do you? Here's a simple, ten-step path to eBay
enlightenment.
Step 1: Identify your market. Take a while to sit and watch for
what sells and what doesn't out of the items you're interested
in. Any market research data you can collect will be very
useful to you later on. You'll probably see the 'sweet spots'
quite quickly - those one or two items that always seem to sell
for a good price.
Step 2: Watch the competition. Before you invest any money, see
what the other sellers in your category are up to, and what
their strategies are. Pay special attention to any flaws their
auctions might have, because this is where you can move in and
beat them at their own game.
Step 3: Find a product: Get hold of a supplier for whatever it
is you want to sell, and see what the best rates you can get
are - don't be afraid to ring round quite a few to get the best
deal. If the eBay prices you've seen are higher than the
supplier's, then you're set.
Step 4: Start small: Don't throw thousands at your idea
straight away - get started slowly, see what works and what
doesn't, and learn as you go. Remember that it's very cheap to
try out even the craziest ideas on eBay, and who knows, they
might just work!
Step 5: Test and repeat. Keep trying different strategies until
you find something that works, and then don't be ashamed to keep
doing it, again and again. The chances are that you've just
found a good niche.
Step 6: Work out a business plan: A business plan doesn't need
to be anything formal, just a few pages that outline the market
opportunity you've spotted, your strategy, strengths and
weaknesses of the plan and a brief budget. This is more for you
than it is for anyone else.
Step 7: Invest and expand: This is the time to throw money at
the problem. Buy inventory, and start spending more time on
your business. Set a goal number of sales each week, increasing
it each time.
Step 8: Make it official: Once you've made a few thousand
dollars worth of sales, you should really register yourself as
a business. Don't worry, it's not expensive or hard to do - a
lawyer is the best person to help you through the process.
Step 9: Automate: You'll probably find that you're writing the
same things again and again in emails or item descriptions.
This is the time to give up on the manual method and turn to
automated software that can create listings for you, and
respond to completed auctions and payments with whatever
message you provide.
Step 10: Never give up: Even when it looks like it's all going
wrong, don't stop trying until you succeed. If you keep working
at it then you'll almost always find that you make a real
breakthrough just when things are starting to look desperate.
Once you get into the swing of things, you might start thinking
that you should quit your job and take up eBay selling part
time. But it's not always as easy as that - there are all sorts
of factors that you need to consider. The next email will weigh
up the case for and against taking up eBay full-time.
About The Author: Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet
auction enthusiast from Nashville, TN. Visit
http://www.auctionseller411.com/ for more great tips on how to
make the most from Ebay and other online auctions.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Make Money On eBay
How I Made 11K Per Month On eBay
And How You Can Too!
Click here to learn more.
So you want to be a successful seller with your own eBay
business, do you? Here's a simple, ten-step path to eBay
enlightenment.
Step 1: Identify your market. Take a while to sit and watch for
what sells and what doesn't out of the items you're interested
in. Any market research data you can collect will be very
useful to you later on. You'll probably see the 'sweet spots'
quite quickly - those one or two items that always seem to sell
for a good price.
Step 2: Watch the competition. Before you invest any money, see
what the other sellers in your category are up to, and what
their strategies are. Pay special attention to any flaws their
auctions might have, because this is where you can move in and
beat them at their own game.
Step 3: Find a product: Get hold of a supplier for whatever it
is you want to sell, and see what the best rates you can get
are - don't be afraid to ring round quite a few to get the best
deal. If the eBay prices you've seen are higher than the
supplier's, then you're set.
Step 4: Start small: Don't throw thousands at your idea
straight away - get started slowly, see what works and what
doesn't, and learn as you go. Remember that it's very cheap to
try out even the craziest ideas on eBay, and who knows, they
might just work!
Step 5: Test and repeat. Keep trying different strategies until
you find something that works, and then don't be ashamed to keep
doing it, again and again. The chances are that you've just
found a good niche.
Step 6: Work out a business plan: A business plan doesn't need
to be anything formal, just a few pages that outline the market
opportunity you've spotted, your strategy, strengths and
weaknesses of the plan and a brief budget. This is more for you
than it is for anyone else.
Step 7: Invest and expand: This is the time to throw money at
the problem. Buy inventory, and start spending more time on
your business. Set a goal number of sales each week, increasing
it each time.
Step 8: Make it official: Once you've made a few thousand
dollars worth of sales, you should really register yourself as
a business. Don't worry, it's not expensive or hard to do - a
lawyer is the best person to help you through the process.
Step 9: Automate: You'll probably find that you're writing the
same things again and again in emails or item descriptions.
This is the time to give up on the manual method and turn to
automated software that can create listings for you, and
respond to completed auctions and payments with whatever
message you provide.
Step 10: Never give up: Even when it looks like it's all going
wrong, don't stop trying until you succeed. If you keep working
at it then you'll almost always find that you make a real
breakthrough just when things are starting to look desperate.
Once you get into the swing of things, you might start thinking
that you should quit your job and take up eBay selling part
time. But it's not always as easy as that - there are all sorts
of factors that you need to consider. The next email will weigh
up the case for and against taking up eBay full-time.
About The Author: Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet
auction enthusiast from Nashville, TN. Visit
http://www.auctionseller411.com/ for more great tips on how to
make the most from Ebay and other online auctions.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Make Money On eBay
How I Made 11K Per Month On eBay
And How You Can Too!
Click here to learn more.
