Renowned eBiz author Sydney Johnson created the now-famous Auction Genius courses (http://AuctionGenius.com) to aid people wanting to create their own e-businesses. She shares some important tips for anyone looking to learn the online retail industry:

Tip 1Start Small.

Many of Johnsons students are eager to dive in head first, ready to invest all their savings into overseas imports or shopping network returns. But Johnson discourages such risky moves for two reasons.

They havent considered all the coststhe enormous minimum quantities theyll have to buy to get the discounted prices or the tremendous costs of shipping imports.

They have little experience and, therefore, no way of knowing all that these transactions entail.
Says Johnson, Youre going to make mistakesThe way to minimize any kind of horrible error is to go very small. Dont invest a lot to start withlearn with inexpensive items. Start with a minimum investment; and as you begin to make a profit, put that money back into your business rather than buying new golf clubs or tennis shoes.

Tip 2Research the Market and Test your Results.

As you go, youll learn which products sell well and where youre actually making a profit. Johnson has a funnel theory on finding your product niche: You start really broadyou have huge categories. And then you learn how to do your market research and you funnel down andget smaller and smaller until out the other end of the funnel comes a handful of products that you can really do well with.

Tip 3Start on eBay

EBay is a great tool for beginners just learning about online retail. There are several reasons why its a smart place to start:

Its quick, easy, and inexpensive.

The traffic is built in, and the people that are seeing your listings are seeing them because theyre searching for your type of product.

Its a good way to get exposed to the ins and outs of the business.

Tip 4Theres No Such Thing as Get Rich Quick!

Starting an e-business is just like starting any other businessit takes patience and persistence. Dont expect to be magically rolling in money overnight. And dont just jump at every opportunity that comes along for fear of missing out. Research it firstif it sounds too good to be truewell, you know... If you take the time to understand what youre doing, theres plenty of room in the e-commerce industry for you to make money.