One of the most important activities for all eBay sellers is locating products that they can resell on eBay. Those products must fall into the right market niches, they must be readily available, and they must be priced so that a profit can be made. After all the sellers' businesses are being operated to make money on eBay.

Yet locating suppliers that will provide pricing that allows for a profit can be a real challenge. There are some simple truths about wholesale suppliers. One of those truths is that to buy at their lowest prices, wholesalers will expect eBay sellers to make purchases of larger quantities of items.

For many eBay sellers the quantity requirements will simply be too great. The wholesaler will expect so many to be purchased that the eBay seller will be unable to make the purchase.

Limitations might be in the total dollar investment required to purchase the items. It might be in the total quantity and the storage that comes with that quantity. It might be the estimated size of the market and concerns about being able to sell out of the items. No matter what the reason, many sellers will simply be unable to make the purchase. That puts them in the position of being unable to make money on eBay because they have no products to sell.

The good news is that there are other options. The first option should be to renegotiate the order size. Possibly the wholesaler will accept a smaller order for little or no change in price. Possibly the order can remain at the same price, but will be split between you and other buyers who are in the same situation. Possibly the order can be split into two shipments that come weeks apart if storage is the problem.

Are you looking at making purchases from wholesale distributors, closeout and liquidation companies? If so there are four key steps involved in the process. Every seller needs to invest the right amount of time and effort to help insure that they have located reliable suppliers who sell quality products. Taking shortcuts can really impact a seller's ability to make money on eBay with the products that they purchase.

STEP 1: Identify the right products. Don't shortcut the research that you do to verify there is a market for the products you wish to sell.

STEP 2: Locate and check references on suppliers who provide the right products. Invest the time to really thoroughly check out prospective buyers.

STEP 3: Making a profit. Understand the true costs associated with your business. Know where you are spending and look for ways to intelligently reduce costs.

STEP 4: Test before you make a big investment in inventory. Verify that you have a winning product in a solid market niche. Verify that sales will generate a profit after all costs and expenses are paid.

If you make a buying mistake – accept your loss and move on. The key to make money on eBay over the long term is to learn from all of your mistakes! Also make sure that you never run out of merchandise. Being unable to provide in-demand products costs you sales and profits. Anticipate customer needs and have options available to meet sales. If you don't have products to sell it is impossible to make money on eBay

When all options have been exhausted with that supplier, move on to other wholesalers. Keep looking and you may just find the right supplier to help you make money on eBay.