Billions of dollars worth of products are sold on eBay and other online merchants every year. Where are people getting all these items to sell? Surely, they've emptied their closets and garages by now. Even if they have, finding stuff to sell online is still relatively easy. Several sources are available for those who want to make a little or a lot of cash selling online.
Home Stuff
Not all garages have been cleared of junk. Weekend garage sales are still popular places to find items to sell. Sales in higher income areas tend to net more quality items like designer clothes, high end furniture, and antiques. However, don't neglect an average Joe garage sale; one never knows what unique items will be unearthed regardless of the neighborhood. Go to these sales toward the end of the day. Homeowners will be more inclined to sell you merchandise at rock bottom prices rather than having to pack up unsold items.
Look through your own garage and closets to find items to sell online. You may be harboring old clothes, books, Cds, and toys that will bring in a few bucks online. Offer to rid your friends and family of their unwanted junk by selling on consignment. You sell their stuff and keep %25 of the profits. Local retailers may also agree to let you sell their overstocks and returned merchandise on consignment as well.
Buy Online, Sell Online
Finding stuff to sell online is as easy as buying it from the same online source. eBay is an excellent place to find everything from antiques to huge lots of merchandise that you can buy and resell at a profit.
Locate other online sources by using search terms such as wholesale liquidators, closeout dealers, and drop-ship services. These same sources can also be found in print media including the Yellow Pages and classified ads in newspapers, trade magazines, and free weeklies.
Auction Action
Unclaimed, slightly damaged, and repossessed merchandise can be purchased at freight claims and government auctions. Check the Yellow Pages for contact information and newspaper classified section for upcoming sales.
There's a storage unit operation on every corner these days. The storage company auctions off the contents of unpaid rental units. Although the contents are sold sight unseen, there's probably enough sale worthy items inside to let you break even.
Estate auctions are another great source for finding stuff to sell online. Like garage sales, high income estates yield the greatest finds, but gems can be found regardless of the estate's net worth. These sales are advertised in the newspaper.
Drop Shipping
Drop shipping is an easy, hands off way to sell online. You send the order to the manufacturer or distributor and they ship the product to the customer. No inventory or shipping hassles to worry about.
Local Events
Bazaars, flea markets, and festivals are good sources for everything from unique handmade crafts to valuable collectibles. Like garage sales, stop by near closing time for deep discounted deals.
Check with the local convention and visitors' bureau to find out about upcoming trade shows that are open to the public. You'll be able to buy from manufacturers and sale reps selling the latest products on the market.
Offshore Action
Asia is a good source for finding stuff to sell online. However, the red tape and cost of contacting sources there can be a hassle. Your best bet is to hook up with a manufacturer's rep who has overseas connections. There's enough available home grown sources for locating products to sell to make this option unnecessary.
This is no brainer if you are able to find out what does your target market want using online research tools (most of them are free). You will need to use different tools for different countries. For example, the tools we use for the UK market is different from the US market, or the Hong Kong market, or the China market.
In the past, Overture keyword research is one of the most popular free online research tool. However, this tool can no longer be used. Instead, you will need to open a pay-per-click account with Yahoo search marketing before you can use its online keyword research tool.
These tools enable us to find out not just how many searches for keywords are done per month, but also the popularity of different types of products under the same category. For example, if you want to sell jewelry, you need to decide to sell which type of jewelry, e.g diamond, silver, gold, fashion jewelry etc. Before you decide on this, you will need to use the online tools to find out which type is in highest demand online.
Once you identify the type of jewelry with the highest demand online, e.g fashion jewelry, then you can do sourcing online using search engines, dropship directory, and B2B portals like alibaba.com.
The physical products we are selling include N95 Masks or Bird Flu Masks, e1Net wireless rechargeable mouse, e1Net Skype ready Headset microphone etc
These tools are equally applicable for other business models such as:
1. Sell services
You can also use the Internet to sell and/or promote services, and even get customers from overseas. For example, we regularly got customers engage us from overseas to offer Internet marketing services to help them promote certain products in a particular country.
E.g. one UK university hired us to do email marketing to get people to visit their exhibition booth in Taiwan. Another popular shoe brand in Europe engaged us to do search engine marketing for their stores in Japan, which resulted in their sales increase by 180% within 3 months!
Another highly successful eOneNet Internet marketing coaching graduate is Alice Sy, who is now running a very successful online domestic helper agency in Hong Kong, www.1maidhk.com . Although a local website, she's also getting customers from Spain, Bahamas etc.
2. Sell Software
This is a very lucrative thing to sell, as once you paid for the development costs, you pratically have little costs in selling the software online. Our software includes the DIY SEO Site Builder and web audio recording software.
Another highly successful example is Christopher Tam, who has made US$36,000 within 2 months of launching a new website, at www.klantcrm.com, selling CRM software. I believe he will be the next Internet Millionaire before the end of this year.
There are at least 5 more making money models online, some of which can be made auto-run.
Interested to find out more, check out eOneNet.com's Internet marketing seminars at www.eOneNet.com or Internet marketing coaching course at www.InternetMarketingCoaching.com
Both Thomas Syvertsen & Fione Tan 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.
Thomas Syvertsen has sinced written about articles on various topics from Make Money Online, E Books and Home Based Business. Thomas Syvertsen is an Internet Marketer. Involved with network marketing and marketing since 2000.Education: Bachelor Degree in Marketing.To find the best home based business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit:. Thomas Syvertsen's top article generates over 3600 views. to your Favourites.
Fione Tan has sinced written about articles on various topics from Internet Marketing, Small Business and Adsense. Fione Tan is eOneNet.com's CEO & head - the No.1 internet marketing company in Asia. As a multi-millionaire internet marketing coach, she is a renown. Fione Tan's top article generates over 1600 views. to your Favourites.