Everyone has heard incredible stories of all the people building big money on eBay selling stuff from their attic or "junk" they pick up at garage sales. While these stories build the most skeptical of us tingle at the thought of user friendly money, hard work and determination are the key words for selling on eBay. Sure, there is always the "fly by the seat of your pants" approach, but if you are serious about making money on eBay, my wife, Rachel, has learned what doesnt work on eBay from unending hours of trial and bad choice . She has written the following advice for those of you who are serious about generating a profit with eBay:

1. FOCUS - Choose something to sell that you already understand about; preferably something that you love! When you are already familiar with an merchandise , you dont waste instant wondering whether it will sell or how much you should pay for it. My acquired skill with garage sale shopping and hoping that I picked things that all the people wanted to buy was a total flop because I didnt understand what I was looking for. I ended up with piles of stuff that I couldnt sell and wasted lots of time looking for garage sales. Those of you who have done this, know the total frustration of a wasted Saturday morning.

2. RESEARCH - The other option is to research on eBay what is already selling and then find a cheap source of that item. Garage sales are a workable way to find stuff if you already know what you are looking for. Call ahead to garage sales that are listed in the paper and ask if they have what you are looking for. Dont waste your instant and gas poking around town looking for sales that dont have what you want! Garage sales work best if you know a lot about antiques or collectibles. These items sell well on eBay, but they only work for many people who understand what they are looking for and how much antiques and collectibles are assessment of worth . Other things that sell well on eBay are items that have a model number or item number or an ISBN number (this is for eBays sister site Half.com which lists books by ISBN numbers - this is great for selling old textbooks or out of print items!) People go to eBay looking for deals on electronics, brand-name clothes, video games, computers, and software. Things that might be easily identified with words sell well on eBay. Things that do NOT sell well on eBay are things that dont have a hard and fast description; items that absolutely need to be touched or smelled or rely on aesthetics to sell. Home interior items are examples of things that DONT sell well on eBay. People who shop eBay are looking for something specific. If they do not already know about what you are selling, they arent going to just browse eBays categories looking for your items. Use this as a guide when choosing what to sell. The best way to find cheap sources for these items is to work out a deal with a wholesaler. This way you get the best possible pricing and you can still make a profit! Because, remember, many people shopping eBay are looking for a deal!

3. CONSIDER DROP SHIPPING - This is the best possible method that I have found for generating eBay a profitable enterprise. (Unless you are going the route of antiques and collectibles) Drop shipping eliminates the absolutely need for storing your items, packaging, and shipping them. This ate most of the profit that I would have made because it took so much measure to do all of this. And most of us dont have an empty room we might devote just for storing stuff for eBay and even if we did, we have to come up with a system for inventory. You end up with a lot of the headaches that traditional businesses have to deal with. SO, the BEST way that I have found to make eBay profitable for the average human is this:

research what is selling on eBay
go to the library and go through a copy of the business directory and find WHOLESALERS that sell the merchandise that eBay goers are looking for
contact the wholesaler and work out a deal with them
ask for dazzling pricing in exchange for you selling their item
as part of the deal, arrange for them to ship directly to your customers
So, basically, you are acting as a retailer for them. They benefit, by taking sales with no overhead, and you benefit by being able to be competitive on eBay and not having the headaches of storing, packing, and shipping! It is a wonderful win-win agreement!



If you do choose the antiques and collectibles route, there are nice resources out there to teach you how to do it as profitably as possible. My most admired is Starting an eBay Business for Dummies.



And, as a resource to advertise your eBay auctions for even better profits, I would definitely recommend Seth Godins book Permission Marketing. It is a MUST for growing your eBay business and keeping customers coming back to your auctions again and again. The key is turning strangers into friends and friends into customers!