Internet auctions are relatively new having been around since the mid 1990's. There are several Internet auctions including Yahoo Auctions and UBid. But of course the undisputed king of Internet auctions is Ebay. Ebay has over 100 million registered users making it one of the top 10 most visited websites in the world.
I discovered Ebay way back in 1998. At first, I was strictly a buyer. I was amazed at the thousands of items that could be found on Ebay. Just about anything you can imagine can be found on Ebay. And there were more incredible bargains to be found than at any other ecommerce website or brick and mortar store I had ever visited. After about six months or so of buying, I began selling items on Ebay. I had an extensive collection of unbuilt as well as built plastic model cars. I began placing the models on Ebay with starting bids of $5.00 and no reserve. To my surprise, people started jumping all over these model kits. Some of them sold for as high as $70.00. It was at this time that I realized the enormous money making potential of Ebay. The key to being a successful seller on Ebay is selling items that people want. There are a number of ebooks on Internet auctions that tell of the importance of a great headline and a killer ad for your auction. While this is true, it is also important to remember that the best ad in the world will never sell an item that no one wants. The items that do well on Ebay are unique or interesting items. Antiques, pottery, collectables and high-end apparel are just a few of the items that will bring high bids on Ebay. If you can easily find the item at Wal-Mart, chances are it will not do well on Ebay.
There are a number of wholesalers around the country that you can buy merchandise from to sell on Ebay. But before you buy, do your homework. It's very tempting to buy a bunch of electronic widgets that sell for $2.00 a piece. You might think you can buy 20 of the $2.00 widgets and then sell them for $12.00 a piece on Ebay and make a killing. Unfortunately, you discover that no one is bidding on your widgets despite the fact that you have started the bidding at a mere $6.00. In fact, there are very few people that are even viewing your auctions. The end result is you are now stuck with 20 widgets that no one wants. The first mistake here was not doing a search of widgets on Ebay to find out if they're hot or not. The second mistake was trying to sell an electronic item. Yes, I know there is a huge market for electronic gadgets. That's the problem; the market is too huge. It is already saturated. How many times a day are you bombarded with offers for the latest and greatest cell phone or digital camera? If you try to sell in this market on Ebay, you're encroaching on Best Buy's turf, which means you'll be smashed like a bug. On the other hand, how many offers do you receive for NASCAR collectibles or Gucci shoes? Or how about die cast models? These are the hot items on Ebay. These are in demand items and more importantly you can sell these items without competing against Wal-Mart and Best Buy.
If you're new to Ebay, the first thing you need to do is to build positive feedback. Feedback is vital to your success on Ebay. Potential buyers will read your feedback in order to determine if you're an honest seller. If you have high numbers of negative feedback, many buyers will look elsewhere. Take a look at some of the Ebay Power Sellers feedback. Many of them have feedback in the thousands with a rating of over 99% positive. It's no secret how these Power Sellers became successful on Ebay. They take care of their customers. This means they'll have plenty of repeat business.
When you first sign up with Ebay, you'll have zero feedback. Most buyers will shy away from an Ebay newbie with zero or very low feedback. Start building your feedback rating by selling personal items from around the house that you no longer want. This is a good way to get the feel of using Ebay and to build positive feedback. You should invest in a good digital camera. Good clear pictures are an important selling feature on Ebay. Remember to describe your items accurately and honestly. Do not try to trick or deceive buyers in any way. You can't afford receiving negative feedback this early in the game.
I came across a perfect example of a deceptive seller on Ebay a while back. The seller had sold a pair of slightly used shocks for a 2003 Chevy pickup. He used Ebay's Buy-It-Now feature to sell the shocks for just one cent. Wow! What an incredible deal! But wait a minute. The unwary buyer forgot to read the entire auction. The shipping charges were a whopping 60 bucks! The result was a pissed off buyer and negative feedback for the seller. This was an obvious attempt on the part of the seller to make money on the shipping costs. He was banking on the fact that the buyer would not read the entire auction and would simply assume the shipping charges would be reasonable. Do not use deception in your auctions or try to make money on shipping costs. If you treat your customers the way you expect to be treated you will never go wrong and you'll be well on your way to building a reputation as an honest top-notch seller.
If you happen to get a few non-paying bidders, resist the temptation to leave negative feedback for these individuals. Leaving negative feedback will only result in possible retaliation by the non-paying bidder and negative feedback for you. Once again, you do not want any negative feedback this early in the game. Buying items off of Ebay is another great way to build positive feedback. When you win an auction, pay for the item promptly. The result will be positive feedback for you. Most buyers will not care whether your feedback came as a result of buying or selling as long as it's positive.
After you've built a feedback rating of least 25, you'll be ready to start purchasing wholesale merchandise to sell on Ebay. Remember what I said about doing your homework before buying merchandise. If you have your eye on a particular item you think might sell on Ebay, first do a search of that item on Ebay to find out what people are bidding if anything on the item. If it looks hot, at least 7 or 8 bids, then it's probably a good bet. If it doesn't appear to be getting many bids, you should steer clear. You can also do an advanced search for auctions that have already ended. It's a great way to find out the final bid price for a particular item. A few extra minutes of research can save you from a giant headache down the road.
About the Author
Are You Tired of the scams and the get-rich-quick schemes?
Greg Hayes is founding editor of http://www.mammothprofits.com/.
Mammothprofits is the website devoted to helping others filter out
the scams and become successful in a home based business.
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What Everyone Should Know About How To Buy Wholesale
By: Melanie Burns
Finding a supplier for the product you want to sell, at a price that you can profit from, can be a big task. The best suppliers for your online sales or auctions do not advertise their services and often cannot be found online.
Those that you can find online tend to be middle-men. It is often difficult to get a good enough price to make any real profit online.
Let me tell you about my simple 2 step system to find an untapped source for wholesale suppliers. This is so simple that it's often overlooked as a source for product. This system involves thinking outside the box and not letting policy stop you. (continued below)
The First Step to find a supplier is to find someone that already sells or has access to what you want to sell. This could be a website, an eBay seller, a manufacturer, a wholesale outlet, or a regular store in your city. This is the easy step. You know what you are looking for and you can search on the internet, not for a wholesale source, but for anyone already selling what you want to sell.
Another valuable source for a local supplier is your local phone book. The yellow pages are the best way to find local sources. This should be the first place you look. Doing business locally with someone that you can meet face to face is a big plus for your business.
Another potential source for your product is to find a distributor who would be willing to private label a product for you. You could get a very high quality product for a much lower price than if it had the name brand label.
The Second and Key Step is to convince the source you found to become your supplier.
Manufacturers and wholesale sources often have minimum orders that might be beyond your reach if you are just starting out. Online retailers, eBay merchants, and retail stores may be your best bet. Try to find a small store who is looking to expand.
But remember, you are dealing with a human being and they can be convinced to do business with you. Just be sure to sweeten the deal for them. One way is to offer the person you are dealing with at your new found source, a percentage of your profits from the products he supplies you.
Be sure to project it out for him. If he can see the benefit of working with you even though it causes extra work for him, you can be successful in making a deal.
You could offer him 20% of the profit from sales of his products. For example you could show him that you project to make at least $100 profit from each product, and you expect to sell 40 of them per month. The $4000 a month means an extra $800 per month in his pocket. You still make a nice $3200 profit for the month in this example.
On top of that, he will be ordering more products from his supplier and may be eligible for a higher price break from them. This way, his reward for the effort to work with you, is making money on both sides.
There are many benefits you can offer your potential supplier, but no matter how you look at it, the main thing it comes down to is MONEY. What's in it for your potential supplier to do business with you? If can you show him that, you have a better chance of making a deal with him and starting your online sales.
NOTE: When looking for suppliers around your city, don't go trying to impress the big stores with your $800 or even $3,000 extra income per month proposal. Try going to the little stores that are looking to expand their business, they are the ones that are usually more open to new opportunities.
The big stores are making hundreds of thousands of dollars per month in profits, so an extra couple of thousand would probably not impress them the least bit.
So now you see that by thinking outside the box, you open the door to many possibilities and increase your ability to make money online with your products.
About the Author:
Copyright © Melanie Burns
This article is free for reproduction but must be reproducted in its entirety including live links and this copyright statement. Subscribe to the iBusiness How2 Newsletter to receive hot tips, how to's, internet business tools, and relevant product reviews by sending an email to: newsletter@internet-business-how-to.com
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