Topic: General advice for eBay newbies

Return to Archives of AuctionBytes


Weight Loss Supplements
Natural supplements that burn body fat,
suppress appetite and support a healthy diet.
Antidepressant Medications
Handle stress, elevate the mood,
treat anxiety disorders.
Shared Movies
Over 80 Million Movies and TV-Shows
No Charge per movie, No download limit!
Casino Classic
Best Online Casino!
Get $500 free on the house!


Posted at June 5, 2004, 8:28 am:

If you’re struggling, just starting, or just thinking about selling on eBay, consider the following. If anyone else has any helpful hints to add, please chime in!

The BEST products to sell when you're getting started are those that you already own but don't want anymore. It gives you real experience without risk and you make 100% profit. And selling info-products, if marketed correctly, is THE way to go online in my opinion.

Don’t try to find the most popular items or the hot item of the month. With over 100 million users, there is a market for virtually anything. Ideally, you want to be the ONLY one offering what you sell. And you want to sell something that you not only have specialized knowledge in, but that you are passionate about as well. So if you have specialized knowledge from a hobby of yours or from your line of work and can use it to sell something that will demanded on eBay, you’re in great shape, especially if it is something you are very interested in. As tripe as it might sound, you are much more likely to stick to something and succeed at it if you are enjoying what you're doing.

Once you’ve decided what you want to sell, research search engines such as Yahoo and Google to try to see if there are any websites related to your niche. You do want to be sure there will be a market for what you sell before you spend a lot of time investing in it or producing it.

Never stop learning about your niche. It's not enough just to have specialized knowledge. You need to keep up to date on prices, trends, new products, etc., pertaining to your niche.

As for specific selling tips, there are several books written about making money on eBay. They range from very useful (combinations of experience, research and theory with specific steps to take to start, run and grow your business) to not very useful at all (i.e. out of date info, general info lacking specifics, info strictly for beginners).

These books and the general concept of "making money on eBay" has been ridiculously hyped over the past few years. This creates a mindset that everyone on eBay makes a lot of money and it is easy to do. As a result, people who buy these books expect a get-rich-quick scheme and aren't ready to dedicate themselves to a business that requires real work.

The myth is that you can "make thousands of dollars per week in 3-5 hours of work!" The fact is those promises are absurd. Selling on eBay is simple, meaning you don't need an advanced degree to do it, but it isn't easy, meaning it takes a commitment to not only do the work involved, but to learn how to correctly do the work involved.

Until you have the proper mindset, no article, post, book, etc., about eBay is going to do you any good, because there is no magic system that is going to make money for you. You have to do it yourself. If you understand that it takes real work and you're dedicated, motivated, ready and able to do that work, you definitely should use an "eBay book" as a reference guide.

Not even the best books contain "exclusive secrets" that you can't find anywhere else. But buying the right book about eBay speeds up the learning curve because you don't have to do hours of tedious research when you're getting started and you have a handy tool to help you with most of the questions or problems you will have.

For starters, you might find the articles and tutorials posted on my website to be helpful (see the link in my signature). Also, message boards such as this, and especially eBay’s category-specific boards, are wonderful sources of great information. Other sellers who sell similar items as you can (and do) offer more specific tips than you’ll get from reading any general books or articles.

Lastly, if I could give one piece of advice to someone who wants to sell on eBay and has heard all the hype, it's that eBay does indeed take a great deal of work, and is the furthest thing from a get-rich-quick scheme. However, it is a great opportunity to make money at home if you do it right, commit yourself to it 100% and make it enjoyable.

I hope you've found this post helpful. Good luck on eBay!

Tim

P.S. – If you’re just getting started on eBay and you have a couple specific questions, I’d be glad to offer my advice. Send me an e-mail (tim at online-auction-expert dot com). I’d love to hear from you.All the best,

Timothy Mina
Author, “Online Auction Expert’s Bible to Selling on eBay”

http://www.online-auction-expert.com
Ideas, tips and techniques to help you profit on eBay

Original of the message was taken from http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/

Replies:

A picture is worth 1000 words.


Other Topics of AuctionBytes:

Anyone Sold to ?

best consignment shop software

MyEZsale Ecommerce Guide Launches

Website or store

WALMART PUSHING INTERNET TAXES !!!!

International Sales With No PayPal Seller Protection

West Coast Silver Repairman?

Newbee seeks info on ligit dropshippers

Looking For--

Civil War Submarine

Could you still use this camera?

Bill Wrote Back ?

What Do You Sell Online?

Reggae & Northern Soul Records

what happens when ebay has been mis-informed

1970 cent errors

Links and Info for Manufacturers Marks

Victorian Hair Art

Another ID please? Crystal Decanter...

The setee

WHY I DO NOT GIVE ONLINE APPRAISALS

Imageevent photo uploading not working.

royal high school yearbooks 73-76 simi valley

eBay disallows racial/ethnic slurs???

Snipe Software????

Online auction ranking list

Can't remember my bid notification to cell phone service

Oddfellow Jewels

Shipping tips & suggestions

Up to the minute precious metals quotes

http://www.*quack*.com/

Brick& Mortar Ant. Mall-- Still good?

Age of w Britain Artillery set

where's froogle?

$ need suggestion on my fixed price market

Fairly New Blog

Search box moved and My eBay Problems

Balance eBay Fees?

Motor Vehicle sales

My First negative Feedback- boo hoo

Value of a Horton Hatches the Egg Dr. Seuss 1947 record?

Too many art forgeries on eBay

Wireless "completed items" access

Selling manager shipping label problems?

Ebay Shop Sellers Directory

The New Yahoo! Auctions! What do you think?

kodak #b 2 folding brownie

AUCTION SOFTWARE NEEDED


File Sharing Service  Image Sharing Service  Usenet Newsgroups Reader
Guide to Serials and Shows  English Subtitles For DivX Movies  Lyrics Catalogue
Over 5000 Cocktail Recipes  Hot News Archive  Funny Jokes and Anecdotes
Cooking Recipes Catalogue  Cool Online Encyclopedia  Computer Games Cheats
Pets Department  Spam Free Guestbook Service  Medical Catalogue


Free Web Stats