You have sold a few items here and there on eBay and really enjoyed doing it. You got a great price for all your items. You would really like to sell more and, down the road, maybe quit your job. But you don’t have any products to sell, nor is your two-bedroom apartment big enough to keep a serious inventory. So, you wonder whether selling on eBay is realistic for you…………..



If the above is you, I would like to share my experiences with you. But first, let me assure you that not owning products and no space for storage should not stop you from setting up shop on eBay!

If you have a computer, an internet connection and the determination to make it happen, you, too, can be on your way to selling on eBay full time!

Here is how I did it: I started by writing down the areas I know (somewhat) and enjoy, thinking that it would be easier to sell products I know a little about. With this knowledge in mind, I looked for wholesalers that showed an interest in working with me. I also looked for the demand for these products. Based on this information I determined the price I wanted for the products and as a result the profit these products would generate. I picked the ones that seemed to give me the best prices and the biggest opportunity in terms of profit. At this point a lot of questions were answered. But there were still a lot more that needed answers. Questions like: what type of auction to use, and how long to have the auction for. I was not sure either, at what price to start the auction. What would be too much? And can you start too low or too high?

I was wondering how important it would be to have a broad range of products and what the impact would be of the layout of the auction. I decided to use the same layout that worked well for others. This way I figured I would take the least amount of risk.

When I started selling more I started realizing that it would be nice to automate some of the tasks that I was still doing by hand. Like, automatically, sending a conformation e-mail to the person who won the auction. I did this myself for a while, but it does get very time consuming.

I also wondered whether other auction sites are available that are better suited for my products and/or would yield better sales.

Believe it or not, but I did find answers to my questions. Some by spending a lot of time surfing the internet, and some by using a course I found on the internet. The course was particularly effective. I could read the text at my leisure and then, at the end of each step, I would have homework, to practice the lesson learned. It helped me get over my initial hesitation to actually do what I knew had to be done. And after doing it once I could do it again and again and again. I found out how to get more people to come to my auctions and what it takes to make them want to buy my products. It is amazing to me how easy the process really is, once you know how it works.

There are many eBay courses out there and they will all be instrumental in getting you started. I do recommend that you find one that shows you step by step how the process works, and that makes you go through the motions by executing the steps yourself. This way you get over the initial hesitation to actually do what you just learnt. In case you are interested, I used the course from www.howtomakemoneyinauctions.com.

Good luck selling online!