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According to Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay, more than 500,000 people
were making a living from eBay in 2004. A recent study also
reported $34 billion in eBay's annual gross merchandise sales with
over 135 million registered members. Without any doubt, online
auctions have grown to become one of the greatest money-making
opportunities on the internet.
So you wanna sell stuff and earn money on eBay? Here are few tips
to get you in the right direction:
1. Learn How To List Auctions - First of all, visit the
eBay Seller Central. There is a plethora of information there
on everything you always wanted to know and more. Don’t be
overwhelmed, just take it one step at a time. You’ll see there is
information on listings, on bidding, on photos, on feedback - it’s
all there.
2. Figure Out What To Sell - Before you zero in on a particular
niche you need some experience and feedback. Buyers are generally
wary of buying from someone who is brand new or has a low feedback
rating. While you are getting your feet wet, look around your own
house first. You could list out-grown clothing, tennis racket,
magazines, CD, books, food recipes, and all those goofy Christmas
gifts sitting in your basement. Get the idea? You never know what
someone will want.
Although you need experience, you don’t want to list something
that is unlikely to sell. So do your research before you invest
the time in putting together a listing. An easy method to use is
do a “SEARCH” on eBay, then look up "COMPLETED ITEMS", and sort by
HIGHEST PRICE. Then you’ll see if your 10-year-old Arsenal jersey
is really worth anything. Or you’ll see that your old baseball
cards had 50 listings and not one of them sold.
3. Set Your Item's Prices - Again, you’ll need to do your research
and see what people are going for. Many people come to eBay to
look for a bargain, while some may look for pricey collectibles.
So do your homework, identify the reasonable value your items may
be worth, and consider other costs like listing fees, final value
fees (all explained in the
eBay Seller Central).
4. Receive Payment - The next big question is how do you get paid?
You determine what you would accept. Online payment services such
as PayPal and escrow payment
powered by eBay are very convenient and secured. You can also
decide if you’ll accept money orders or personal checks. The more
options you leave your buyers, the more likelihood you’ll get more
bids.
5. Shipping Arrangement - You need to decide how you want to ship
your items to the successful bidders. Many sellers use USPS,
others may prefer UPS or else. If you use USPS and ship via
Priority Mail, you can get your envelopes and boxes free from USPS.
If you ship First Class or Parcel Post or UPS, you’ll have to shop
around for deals on boxes or envelopes and bubble wrap or packing
peanuts.
Overwhelmed yet? Yes there is a lot to learn, but it’s not nuclear
science. Just take it one step at a time. It’s a learning process.
With over 1.5 billion page views per month and over 9,000 new
registered users every day, eBay brings tons of traffic and save
you enormous advertising costs. Your job is therefore only
focusing on making successful sales pitch to convert your auction
visitors into customers! |
