So you want to be a successful seller with your own
eBay business; Here's a simple, ten-step path to eBay
enlightenment.
Step 1
Identify your market. Take a while to sit and
watch for what sells and what doesn't out of the items you're
interested in. Any market research data you can collect will be very
useful to you later on. You'll probably see the 'sweet spots' quite
quickly - those one or two items that always seem to sell for a good
price.
Step 2
Watch the competition. Before you invest any money,
see what the other sellers in your category are up to, and what their
strategies are. Pay special attention to any flaws their auctions
might have, because this is where you can move in and beat them at
their own game.
Step 3
Find a product. Get hold of a supplier for
whatever it is you want to sell, and see what the best rates you can
get are - don't be afraid to ring round quite a few to get the best
deal. If the eBay prices you've seen are higher than the supplier's,
then you're set.
Step 4
Start small.The
Expert Guide to Cashing in on eBay - 13 - Don't throw thousands at
your idea straight away - get started slowly, see what works and what
doesn't, and learn as you go. Remember that it's very cheap to try
out even the craziest ideas on eBay, and who knows, they might just
work!
Step 5
Test and repeat. Keep trying different strategies until
you find something that works, and then don't be ashamed to keep
doing it, again and again. The chances are that you've just found a
good niche.
Step 6
Work out a business plan. A business plan doesn't
need to be anything formal, just a few pages that outline the market
opportunity you've spotted, your strategy, strengths and weaknesses
of the plan and a brief budget. This is more for you than it is for
anyone else.
Step 7
Invest and expand. This is the time to throw
money at the problem. Buy inventory, and start spending more time on
your business. Set a goal number of sales each week, increasing it
each time.
Step 8
Make it official. Once you've made a few thousand
dollars worth of sales, you should really register yourself as a
business. Don't worry, it's not expensive or hard to do - a lawyer is
the best person to help you through the process.
Step 9
Automate.
You'll probably find that you're writing the same things again and
again in emails or item descriptions. This is the time to give up on
the manual method and turn to automated software that can create
listings for you, and respond to completed auctions and payments with
whatever message you provide.
Step 10
Never give up
Even when it looks like
it's all going wrong, don't stop trying until you succeed. If you
keep working at it then you'll almost always find that you make a
real breakthrough just when things are starting to look desperate.