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[E30]Earn Money On Ebay

by Amit Chanana, Ami

As with all other business opportunities, conducting research is essential. When you partner with eBay, you are essentially becoming a merchant of sorts, using the site to reach a larger market. As a merchant, you should be able to answer two basic questions: what will you sell, and where will you buy? For all the obvious reasons, you want to provide a unique product, hopefully filling a market need. The key to success is to find a profitable niche where you either can dominate the competitors or one where you have no competitors at all.

I'll say that again: The key to success is to find a profitable niche where you either can dominate the competitors or one where you have no competitors at all.

There are two main types of sellers on eBay. There are business sellers and garage sellers. Garage sellers, as the term implies, are those who sell various personal knick-knacks on the web, much like in a garage sale, albeit to a larger customer base. As a matter of fact, the items are usually pre-owned, and many ebay sellers base their their whole business on garage and estate sale finds! Of course, some garage sellers just want to get rid of some of their older property.

Business sellers, on the other hand, are those who operate on eBay for the primary purpose of earning a profit. While still a minority, many people are being added to this category everyday. Some have earned so much that they have found keeping their day job unnecessary! To attain this level however, you will have to keep a few things in mind.

First, treat your eBay venture like a legitimate business. The trick to making money with an eBay business is to simply treat it like one. It might start off as a hobby or a sideline, but you should very quickly get serious if you want to earn significant amounts. You may want to create a business name, open separate bank accounts, and accomplishing the necessary paperwork to establish your venture. After that, give it your best shot. Offer great products at low prices, back it up with excellent customer service, and you have a recipe for success.

Second, specialize. You can't be an expert in all the categories in eBay; you can't possibly understand the value of EVERYTHING ON EARTH! To be successful, you should concentrate on just one or two areas, and focus all your energy on those areas. Become an expert in your chosen areas, and the chances of making good trades (and therefore making more money) exponentially increase.

Third, learn to communicate well. Napoleon used to tell his secretaries, ?Be clear, be clear, be clear!? You must follow the same policy. Learn how to write auction listings that accurately describe your product, and don't neglect to include all relevant details, such those involving shipping and handling, return policies, etc. Not only must you communicate well, you must communicate in a timely manner. Try to respond to all questions promptly and courteously, and try to be in touch with your winning bidders from the start of the transaction to its close. This, along with a profitable niche product, is the secret to making money with an eBay business.

Even if you don't have an item or sources of products of your own to sell on eBay, you can earn money through eBay's affiliate program by serving pages with auction listings specifically organized around any eBay category, according to James Dillehay, author of Sell Your Crafts on eBay.

An affiliate is an independent contractor who agrees to send traffic to a merchant who sells a product or service and pays the affiliate a commission of each sale.

eBay developed a sophisticated affiliate tool called the eBay Editor Kit that allows you to build highly targeted interactive graphic banners which list specific types or categories of items for sale.

Which Categories to Target

Let's say you have a family oriented web site with an article page(s) on wedding-related topics. As an eBay affiliate, you can insert code they provide through an easy-to-use toolkit online that allows you to serve up current auctions on wedding dresses, wedding favors, wedding supplies, or any other category you choose.

Another example would be a site providing visitors with facts of interest on actor, John Wayne. At the bottom of a page about John Wayne's movies, the site owner/eBay affiliate can place code which serves up all current eBay listings for John Wayne movie DVDs or video tapes.

If this sounds too complex, relax. You don't have to be a programmer or a geek to get this to work. The eBay Editor Kit is an interactive form available to affiliates which allows for quickly entering in your affiliate ID code, product category(s) you want to serve listings for, and a few other details. Using the affiliate interface, I've created code to generate targeted eBay listings and placed it on my web pages, all in less than two minutes.

How Much Does It Pay

The program pays affiliates between 40% and 70% of eBay's revenue (not item sale price) on all winning bids or Buy-It-Nows within 7 days of an affiliate action and up to $20 for each new active registered user who arrives from your affiliate links. These rates may change at any time but were current as of this writing.

Why Would Anyone Click

The more targeted your site traffic, the more likely people will click-through to specific auctions. Studies show ads related to your page content get higher response rates.

Since using the eBay Editor Kit and placing graphics displaying targeted auctions, my recorded click-through rate has averaged between 50% and 70%. This compares to a typical click-through rate on my other affiliate links of between 2% to 15%.

The Ultimate Market Research Tool

The beauty and ease of the above system is you can serve your customers great deals on items they are specifically searching for and earn money in the process. But that could just be the beginning of profits for you.

With the sophisticated tracking statistics available to you as an affiliate, you can track which types of eBay listings get higher click-throughs, higher closing bids, and learn about items that sell best throughout the year.

You can then pick and choose best-selling items for your site's traffic, find inventory at wholesale or closeout sources, and then list your own eBay auctions which you already have evidence of sales history. You'll earn lots more than you would have just as an affiliate.

You should note that it is against eBay's affiliate policies for you to use eBay Editor Kit to link to your own eBay auctions.

To become an affiliate for eBay, your web site must be approved. Your site must get steady traffic, look good and all the links should function. Typically, eBay is interested in well designed, high traffic sites to partner with. To apply, go to www.cj.com, Commission Junction and search for eBay.

Article Source : Pg. 14

About Author

Both Amit Chanana & James Dillehay are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Amit Chanana has sinced written about articles on various topics from Internet Marketing, SEO linking and Food And Drink. For more useful tips & links, please browse for more information at our website ">www.auction-words.com. Amit Chanana's top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.

James Dillehay has sinced written about articles on various topics from How to Sell on Ebay, Arts. . James Dillehay's top article generates over 1600 views. to your Favourites.