The eBay business phenomenon has seen millions of buyers and sellers join together in what amounts to the world's biggest virtual flea market. In this world's fast-paced online transactions, that amounts to billions of dollars a day, a person can actually make some money without selling anything he owns. In the world of free enterprise, all it takes is the ability to grasp opportunity and take an educated risk.

Here are some tips on how you can think out of the box with eBay:

1. Promote products as an affiliate. Promote other sites with products. An affiliate program is actually just another way for a company to give its products as much exposure as possible to potential buyers.

Most affiliate programs actually let you join them for free or with a small fee. All you have to do is to list the product, with the highest bidder getting what he wants through you. The company tracks these sales. Depending on the revenue generated, or even the agreement you ad with the company, every sale of a product you make, you get a commission. As an affiliate of a company, you are not an employee or a contractor, receiving no perks nor benefits, except for the commission.

2. Get out there and join the forums. If you are quite passionate about the products you advertise, you can create interest by providing highly relevant content to enthusiasts. Find others like you. You have to let people know you exist. Participate in chats, forums and user groups. Once these people get to know you and your level of expertise in the subject, it gives you a leg up on making "recommendations".

3. Drop shipping products. Another variation of the affiliate program, drop shipping involves just passing on to the manufacturer or wholesaler your customer's order letting them take care of the delivery, and you make a profit from the difference between the wholesaler's price and your selling price.

4. Advertise other products when you post. Most veteran eBay sellers know a large volume of customers can pass through their auctions without people actually buying something. So, in order to maximize their marketing space, they advertise other products in the same space through links. Savvy eBay sellers even edit their About Me links to get people interested in other wares.

5. Create a link to other sites. If you are a web programmer, one outfit suggests you make use of the About Me site in another way. When you create the About Me link, there is a way to take advantage of the HTML layout feature. This layout can be edited with HTML syntax to link users to another site, if you so choose.

As a further explanation, when you create your About Me link, choose any format layout. This may sound strange but you will have the opportunity to enter a code on your own. Next, go to the bottom and click on "Preview". There, you will go to the bottom of the page again, this time clicking on "Edit using HTML". Delete everything in the box and replace it with your own code. If you are not code-savvy, you better hire someone to create the link.

So there you have it, five (out of a lot of) tips to make money from eBay without resorting to selling.