2. There isn't a week that goes by without someone asking
me how to sell products on eBay. It's a great question! And
I enjoy talking about the topic quite a bit, but my answer
is always the same - sell like a Powerseller! Here's what I
mean...
3. An eBay Powerseller is someone that generates $1000 or
more in sales for three consecutive months. You don't
have look too far on eBay to realize that the place is
literally crawling with Powersellers.
4. I've spent over 5 years studying eBay, as well as, buying
and selling products under several eBay IDs. I noticed that
there are two types of eBay Powersellers:
6. The Niche Powersellers specialize in a particular area - like
antiques, coins, dolls, etc. This particular area is a hobby
to these people and they are very good at finding products
at a low enough cost within this market to sell for a nice
profit. These Powersellers are hard to imitate.
7. One the other hand, the On-Demand Powersellers are not
very familiar with the products they sell, but they are very
familiar with what the eBay community wants and how
they can go about getting it. I call them On-Demand
Powersellers because they seek out products to sell based
on the level of demand inthe eBay community. These are
the Powersellers that you should try to follow.
8. A common misconception that new eBay users have is
thinking that all Powersellers are large retail outlet doing
business on eBay. This simply isn't true. The majority of
the Powersellers that I know typically run their business
out of a basement or garage. Ebay has a great way of
leveling the playing field in this respect. For example, a
student can open an account and create ads that are just
as enticing as any large company that happens to be
selling the same products on ebay.
9. So how can you do business like On-Demand
Powersellers?
10. That's actually an easy question to answer; obtain a
seller's permit, find a demand for a particular product, and
then find a wholesale supplier for that particular product.
11. A seller's permit will allow you to purchase products for
wholesale from wholesale venders. This is the first thing
any legitimate wholesale company will ask for, and if you
don't have one, they could very likely not do business with
you.
13. You can find the demand for numerous products on eBay
by using the eBay 'Hot Items' resource (in link below). This
resource consists of (among other things) a 40+ page pdf
document that lists which items are hot sellers in the
numerous categories. The data is usually for the previous 2
months.
15. After you've identified which items were hot sellers, go to
eBay's Advance Search and conduct a search for those
products to make sure they're still hot sellers (have plenty
of bids). Also do a search for the same product with the
'Completed Items' option in the Advanced Search checked.
This will show you which auctions sold and how much
they sold for.
16. Once you have a product in mind, do a search on Google
for the manufacture of the product. When you get to the
website, look for a contact number, or a 'Dealer inquiry'
number. This information is also usually on the box of the
product itself, so it may take a run to your local store if
you don't have any luck on the web.
17. Give them a call. Inform them that you run a business and
are interested in becoming a dealer of the product. Most
are very helpful in getting you setup. However, be aware,
some may have a minimum purchase order. Never the
less, if you did your eBay research correctly, you'll know
how much these items have recently sold for, and how
much they are currently selling for, thus, you can be pretty
confident that the money will be made back.