Profitable eBay income may not buy you a mansion, but it can be substantial enough to allow you a good living. In fact, many people have home based eBay auction businesses which are very successful. Here are 5 steps to help you make money on eBay auctions.

Step 1: The Products

Make sure your products are of the highest quality, or that you warn people about the condition of the products. Profitable eBay income will depend on your trustworthiness--remember the feedback form!

Step 2: The Business

Set up good policies for your business, make them customer friendly, and stick to them as much as possible.

Step 3: Promote Your eBay Auction Page

Tell your friends and ask them to spread the word. Get an email list of potential customers and send them newsletters and notices now and then, especially if you're running a special. Hit the blogs and forums and tell people about it. Let people know what you are doing.

Step 4: Be a Good Businessperson

Always fulfill your commitments. Adhere to the old rule, ?Underpromise and overdeliver.? Also, offer your customers the option of returning items for a full refund. This will add to your credibility, especially if you are new to the auction business.

Step 5: Winning Bids

Let your winning bidders know right away that they have won, and thank them for their business. Also make sure you offer them feedback as well, since buyers are subject to it. Much profitable eBay income depends on return customers.

7 Deadly Mistakes to Avoid on eBay

* Not spending enough time to get a good "Look and Feel" for your site

The first thing buyers see is your home page. If it is messy, badly designed or hard to navigate they are not going to stick around. You may have the best merchandise in the world, but it won't do you much good if no one stays around to look at it.

* Listing your items in the wrong category

Most buyers search for items by category. Be sure to become familiar will all the possible categories. It helps to list your products in the smallest niche possible. Putting it into a general niche such as "toys" will get you listed, but will buyers ever find your item? The smaller the niche, the better chance you have of someone landing on your site.

* Not knowing what is "hot" and what customers are actually buying

Just because you collect butter molds or antique golf clubs doesn't mean others are looking for the same item. Keep an eye on the best selling items and hot seller lists to keep up to date on the latest buying trends

* Listing only a few items at a time

You have a site. Why not use it to the fullest? If you are serious about wanting to build an auction business or even if you just want to make extra money, you have to give buyers a reason to bookmark and return to your site. If you only have 3 items for sale, why would someone pay you a return visit?

* Writing incomplete or bad descriptions

Descriptions are the lifeblood of your site. You must make the descriptions accurate and truthful, but that doesn't mean they have to be dull and boring. Go to some of the sites of your competition and read how they jazz up their descriptions with positive action words. Take some free lessons on the 'Net about copywriting and make your site sell. This is one of the major mistakes to avoid on ebay.

* Posting items with a high starting price or a reserve price

Like any other auction, people come to eBay looking for bargains. A sure way to scare buyers away from your site is to start the bidding too high. Start at a reasonable price or none at all, and you'll find you get plenty of bids. Yes, there are times you will lose money on an item. That's the risk of eBay. More often though, once buyers start bidding on an item, they get caught up in the action and you'll find oftentimes the item will bring you more than you ever imagined.

* Shipping at your own convenience

Always remember, eBay is a business. You may consider it a hobby that you can do at your own pace, but buyers are waiting anxiously for their merchandise. Take your time in shipping and you will find your feedback dropping like a stone.