Thousands of people around the world are making money by buying and selling products on eBay. Learn how to start an eBay business and make money.
Selling items on eBay is a good home-based small business opportunity that anyone can do. There is huge competition among sellers because eBay offers excellent money-making opportunities. www.ebay.com allows people around the world to join its affiliate programs, auction their products online and earn profits.
How to Start an eBay Online Auction Business
Before learning how to start a successful eBay business and make money by selling products, it is important to understand that most of the business transactions on eBay take place through PayPal. PayPal is a safe and secure and most trusted system for e-commerce and any online business. Anyone interested in doing business on eBay should first open a free PayPal account.
An eBay home-based business doesn’t need a strategic business plan, but it certainly needs some thinking and planning. One should do some study and research and choose a niche. It is also very important to carry out some research and explore potential demand for a certain niche.
Make Money with Online Auctions
Highly-successful auction site eBay provides plenty of opportunities for a home-based business. The array of products and interested buyers alone on this site whets the imagination, creating big dreams of entrepreneurial success. But how easy is it to make money with eBay dropshipping and online auctions? Dropshipping, a method in which online retailers sell goods wholesale and enjoy profit from their markups, sounds fantastic.
The truth of this method, however, is that only extremely detail-oriented professionals stand a chance of using eBay dropshipping to big success.
Pros and Cons of eBay Dropshipping
There are lots of pros and cons associated with eBay dropshipping, the best of which may be the potential to earn lots of money (and the worst of which, is the potential to let down customers and earn a bad reputation instead). Get to know some of the perks and consequences associated with this home-based business opportunity.
? Extra and hidden fees. It’s impossible to make money through eBay dropshipping unless all the various fees are covered on every end of the deal. Look for eBay fees and fees imposed by the drop shippers themselves. Some may charge sign-up fees to their retailers, an added expense that should be compensated for through different sales. Also, be on the lookout for processing (shipping and handling) fees which could affect final profits on every sale.
? Advertising. Want to be successful with eBay dropshipping? Doing a brisk business might require spending money on advertising, a definite con as it costs valuable coins. However, this is a con that can eventually turn into a pro by bringing in more business and therefore, more revenue.
? Stocking concerns. Through no fault of the eBay retailer, the drop shipper offering the product may run out. This could be a huge negative for the online retailer, who has a reputation among buyers to maintain. Monitor stock carefully, and pre-order popular products if the shipper seems to be running low.
? Fluctuating markets. The pet rock. Friendship bracelets. Trapper keepers. At one time, each of these products was a retail sensation, a huge fad that swept nations and become top earners. And without exception, each one fizzled out. Why? Because the market got saturated. Beware of too-popular products and items that everyone seems to be offering. When there are lots of retailers selling the same thing, eventually they’re all going to lose.
Choosing a Successful Niche for an eBay Business
Here are some common ways to choose a niche that is in demand:
1. Google Keyword Tool: Use this Google Keyword Tool to find out the most popular topics associated with a niche.
2. eBay Keywords Tool: Use this tool to find out popular and alternative search terms associated with a niche.
3. Search www.ebay.com to find out the volume of listings associated with a niche.
4. Query a niche in the search engines like Google and Yahoo! to determine the amount of competition in that area through SEO and paid search.
The above techniques should help publishers determine the potential of their niche and how successful it will be.
What are the Best and Hottest Selling Products on eBay?
Finding the listing of the best and hottest-selling products on eBay is easy if one is aware of the right tools. The best tool that can provide this information is eBay itself. Millions of auctions, sales, purchases, and transactions take place on eBay and eBay maintains a record of all these transactions and auctions. They share some of this information with users, sellers, buyers, and publishers. Some of these can be accessed for free, while others are provided as paid services.
Here is some information that can help to determine the best-selling products on eBay:
1. Completed listings search: Use the advanced search option on the eBay website to find the completed listings search. It allows users to access 15 days of eBay’s historical data.
2. eBay Pulse: eBay Pulse is a daily snapshot of current trends, hot picks, and cool stuff on eBay. Here one can find information on the most popular searches, the most popular products, the most-watched items, and the most popular stores (this will also give some idea about competitors).
3. eBay keywords: eBay Keyword is a list of highly popular terms that people search for on eBay. By knowing what most people are looking for, you will be able to predict and understand the general trends on eBay.
4. eBay marketplace research: This is a new service provided by eBay. It is more or less similar to their “completed listing search” with some differences. In eBay’s completed listing search, you can access 15 days of eBay’s historical data. But in this new service you can access up to 90 days of the same historical data but this service is NOT FREE. You are charged to access this service.
More Information on Starting an eBay Online Auction Business:
By paying close attention to the transactions (sales and purchases) on eBay, one will notice the following:
? The top 10 most-watched items are ebooks. Most of the books sold on eBay are “How to” ebooks (how to get rich, how to make real money, how to start a business, etc).
? Most of the transactions are seasonal. After checking the transaction list for October, one will find sales and purchases of many Halloween-related products. But transactions in December are related to sales and purchases of products related to Christmas.
