Research requires due diligence on your part, spend time with research. You must know the average selling price on eBay of the product you have decided to sell. On the main search page, located to the right of the search button is an [Advanced Search] button. Next, open the Advanced Search link, enter a keyword(s) for your product.
Select a category, check Completed Listings radio button, then click Search. What you are seeing is recent items that have closed on eBay. Items that have sold will be shown in Green. Items that have not sold will be shown in Red (Auctions), Black (Buy it Now) items. It is always a good practice to put details into a spreadsheet for further review.
DO NOT LOSE A SALE OVER SHIPPING FEES
eBay buyers have become quite attuned to shipping fees. eBay sellers of old, many times would list a spectacular price on the item. When the buyer went to pay, whoa, shipping was astronomically high (packing in more profit). Many buyers now search for products that promot Free Shipping, this offer gains respect of buyers. Repeat sales can be a future result of Free Shipping, or low priced shipping.
Compare Shipping Fees when doing research, notice the Free Shipping items, or Reasonable Shipping priced items will do better overall than Unreasonable fees. Know what your shipping costs will be to ship the product then allow for it in the selling price. Just consider it the cost of doing business.
BASIC ECONOMICS: SUPPLY AND DEMAND
There must be a demand for any product you wish to sell on eBay. Prior research is a must before any listing follows. If the demand and profit margin are not in line, you may have a shelf full of product that does not sell. Frozen capital will ruin, and severly hurt any business. Enough frozen capital and the business fails. If someone offers to sell you product "X" for $10.00 each, 100 count. You do your eBay research and find that in the last sixty days, only 1 sale was made of 50 offered on eBay, selling price $10.50. You will have a problem on your hands. 50 problems to be exact. Product "X" should not be purchased.
When first starting out, it is a good idea to find a legitimate Drop Shipper. A drop shipper will ship your item after you sell it. This way you do not have to stock product, but still have access to many products. There are many so-called drop ship companies on the net, but many are still middle men. Search Google for Wholesale Sources, or Dropship Sources, but remember to deal with a wholesaler not a middleman.
