The Top Ten Products to Sell on Ebay in 2012

1.Ebay sellers should aim directly at the top, by targeting manufacturers. The closer you get to the manufacturer, the cheaper you will get your products, and the more profit you will make! This is impossible with a large company, like say Microsoft. To attain this goal, you'll have to travel up the chain by reaching wholesalers first. Eventually, a manufacturer's contact information will slip through to you. It could be as easy as peeling off the label and seeing the wholesaler's source, or they could leave a packing slip in the box. Or, you could contact them yourself. This is tough, and sometimes a long-shot, but it does happen! You may know a small local company already that wouldn't mind selling their products to you for a good price.

The eBay Stigma

Unfortunately, eBay sellers have a bad wrap. You may have to be a little creative with explaining what you do if you talk to sourcers. Instead of saying "hey, I sell on Ebay!," refer them to your personal website and tell them about how you sell what you do and your expertise in your field.

2.Buying wholesale is tricky. Wholesalers, naturally, are purchasing large amounts of product from the manufacturers, then reselling smaller amounts to businesses. There are plenty of wholesalers, but few who will advertise themselves much. The wholesalers who DO advertise, remember, everyone else will have access to them as well.

Scams

There are many lists of wholesalers online, and on eBay. These wholesale list "providers" know there are thousands of sellers dying to get there hands on a good list of contacts for wholesalers and maufacturers. Don't fall for any tricks...you'll see several ebooks for sale claiming that they have wholesale lists. These are often scams or counterfeiters. If the list were so good, why would they want to sell it? And if it is that readily available for everyone to use, how good can it be? Read here about this.

3.Liquidators are an excellent source of inventory, however, you won't find a constant source of the same product in most cases. Liquidators typically receive damaged items, returned items, or items that bombed in the market they were being sold in. Some liquidators, however, do sell completely brand new items. Like anything else, this will require research online to find the best site. Take a look at the list below for some liquidators, or use a search engine to find hundreds of online liquidators.

4.eBay is one of the best places to find products to resell. Whether a seller listed the item incorrectly or the item is ending at 4 am on a Friday, you can find a great deal. The strategy is to know HOW to buy. You may come across an inexperienced seller with a "0" feedback. Other buyers may not want to bid on this seller's risky items. Here's your chance to swoop in and get a deal!

You'll need to search all possibilities for the products you are looking for...misspellings, items ending at an odd time, awful pictures, items listed in the wrong category...and you WILL find deals. This can require a lot of patience on your part, but can be the most rewarding as well.

5.One of your best bets to find some high quality retail items is to buy out of season. You'll see huge markdowns at the end of every season, sometimes 90%, sometimes 40%. Hitting retail stores may be a good idea, but even better sources are outlets and discount stores. These places already have discounted prices anyway, and the discounts are often steeper at the end of season sales. Either sell these items quick for an easy, speedy, profitable turn-around, or hold on to them for 6 months until they come back in season. You'll get top dollar, and you'll have some items that are no longer available to the public, even at full price!

Some often highly marked-down items are jeans, suntan lotion, scarves, winter jackets, holiday items, bathing suits, beach bags and outdoor toys.

7.You'll find plenty of people desperate to sell some stuff on Craigs List, The Want Ads, or in your local newspaper. Often times these people will be relatively close, and have some great items! One of the other pros to this method is that the price is always negotiable. You can always offer less than what they are asking.

You can also try posting on Craiglist or in the newspaper yourself, with a request to buy items. You can negotiate the terms, and you're sure to get some items this way.

9.It's not unusual to find excellent items at a local thrift store, or even a Salvation Army store. Hardcover books, new clothing, and new toys are often donated to these places to resell. Look for big brand names, and you are sure to make a profit if the item is priced right. This same tactic can be applied to Yard Sales and Garage Sales. Just be sure to check all of the items for damage! The good thing about buying from some of these places is that you're supporting a charity or a small business, so you can feel good about that.

10.Yard sales and garage sales offer the good and the bad. The worst stuff on the planet buries some of the best finds and great deals. To make the best of your yard sale voyages, check the local newspaper for yard sales and start early to avoid the crowds (and competition). Also, consider shopping in the more affluent neighborhoods (no offense, it's just common sense!), especially moving sales. The items can be better quality and sell for more. When it's time to get rid of things or move it, sometimes people are willing to get rid of their items cheap rather than lug it around. Church sales also usually have better quality items donated to them.

How to find items to sell on Ebay at Yard Sales

Using these sources of inventory in combination can give you a huge inventory base. Whether you'd like to supplement your income or work full-time, the amount of work you put into eBay determines your pay. Some other difficult tasks for your eBay business are marketing, customer service, design, listing, and shipping. Once you get the hang of it, it becomes second-nature. Try it out on a small-scale, selling items around your house that you no longer want. This should give you a little taste of what eBay is like. Don't get discouraged! The worst thing you can do is quit. Never give up, and your business WILL flourish!

So where else can you find more stuff to sell on Ebay? Try local established artists for a permanent source of one-of-a-kind inventory (you'll be the only one with that inventory!), other auction websites for cheap deals (like ioffer), and search the internet for what people want. And most of all, sell what you know! By sticking to a niche that you are knowledgeable about, you'll always be able to properly describe your items and know where to find more of it.

More Ebay Selling Resources:

- How to Sell Your Used Clothing on eBay
- How to Save Money on Ebay Fees
- How to Increase Your Ebay Store Traffic
- How to Ship Ebay Items
- How to Drive Traffic with Ebay Guides