How to Make Money on eBay

Hundreds of thousands of home businesses worldwide are based on ebay and the number of fulltime ebay merchants is still growing. The range of products for sale is massive, anything and everything including aircraft have been sold on ebay.

Pretty much everything is of value to someone, somewhere and the best sellers are those know a bargain when they see it because they know others are willing to pay more than that.

Most ebay sellers start out small, selling some unwanted household item or similar before becoming hooked on selling for profit.

Some seek out items at weekend markets or garage sales with the intention of turning a profit at auction and professional ebay sellers are selling their own products or are reselling products from wholesalers and dropshippers.

Many sellers are selling second hand goods which they have restored or improved in some way specifically for ebay.

Get the best products to sell at up to 90% off retail!

It's a lot simpler to manage a small number of high value items than it is to manage lots of small value ones.

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Beware of listing fees which can really mount up if you use lots of photos, gallery listings and the extras. Best to sell higher value items for this reason also.

Investigate the keywords customers will be using for searches and get them into your title even if the title does not then sound correct! Its those keywords that catch the attention of shoppers.

Try to list your items with a low starting price, to attract early buyer interest and ultimately the best final bids.

Don't sell the same stuff seen in shops and malls. Buyers will favor the mall where they can see the item before handing over their cash, so try to offer specialty or uncommon items wherever possible.

Good descriptions and photos are vital. Use several photos if needed to ensure details are highlighted. Make sure that colors, exact measurements, unusual features, general condition etc are all in your description.

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Use a great photo for a gallery listing to attract more potential buyers.

Communicate! I can't stress this highly enough, you must answer questions, particularly the after-sales ones and send out your goods promptly. Communication stops negative feedback mounting up against you. Give the buyer feedback as soon as he has paid. This can lead to great feedback for you as the seller, so other buyers will get the feel good factor about you.

If you are serious about ebay as an income stream then open an ebay store. This gives you a more professional image and allows you to cross-promote your other items easily.

try to offer a range of payment options. Direct transfers, credit cards, paypal, money orders etc. The buy it now option is great for hooking impulsive buyers.

Consider offering your goods to the international market. The wider the scope the greater the competition for your goods. This won't always be suitable where international shipping costs may be prohibitive on bulky items.

Offer a guarantee and/or refund policy. Buyers are more likely to buy from you when you have a visible guarantee or return policy.

Where appropriate use a little hype, phrases like 'this season's must have' and 'limited stock' can increase sales.

There are some eBay scams to watch out for if you're trying to make a business out of it:

Bid Rigging or Shielding - in this scam, either two bidders work together, or one bidder using two accounts, rigs the outcome of an auction. One bids low on your item then soon after the other bids unrealistically high say two or three times the value of the item. The high bid prevents anyone else from making a competitive bid but of course that bidder backs out before payment time. You're now left with just the low bid to sell to! This is one of the reasons why using a reserve is a good idea.

Damaged Goods - In this one the scammer starts with a damaged item which you happen to sell, then when he gets the new one you've just sold him he contacts you to say he has had his arrived damaged so he demands a refund or replacement. Under threat of negative feedback on your eBay account you agree to refund or send a second item.

Fake Escrow - If you sell high value items beware of offers to pay via escrow sites. While there are several legitimate escrow sites others are set up by scammers to look legit. You'll even be able to confirm that your payment has been 'received' before you dispatch the goods only to find out later that the escrow company has suddenly vanished.

Phishing has become a widespread scam that affects eBay merchants frequently. In this scam you receive an email which looks like its a genuine message from eBay saying there is some problem or update of information needed and inviting you to click a link to login to your account. Don't go there! Invariably these links are to fake sites whose only purpose is to get your login details so they can clean you out later.

These are just a few of the eBay scams you may come across as a seller, there are of course several more and others aimed at ripping off the buyer. As always be careful to watch out for these scams in your business efforts, please don't be a victim.

Sourced from Work At Home Files