I’m a newbie to this whole online business thing. I’ve heard people talk about dropshipping on ebay. Can you tell me more about that and how profitable can it be? Thanks, Chris from Detroit. Continue reading ‘The Ins and Outs of a Dropshipping eBay business.’
Tag Archive for 'eBay'
There seems to be a lot of people these days that are doing without some things for Christmas when in years’ past, those things were plentiful. Whether there’s just not enough on the paycheck this month or whether people have wised up and haven’t gone into debt as much this year, I’m not sure why people don’t have as much. Of course there are a lot of things that we can do without. But we want it!
Well, if there’s not as much in your wallet or on your paycheck this year, why not find cash value in some things that are lying around your home, in your basement or garage. I have been doing exactly that and, if you’re a ‘newbie’ on the internet then I’ll show you how to turn that stuff into cash.
The easiest way to do that is to sell your stuff on auction websites or classified websites. eBay and Craigslist are the first ones that come to mind. eBay is great for selling things that are easier to ship because most likely the buyer won’t live close to you and you’ll have to ship it. Craigslist is great for those items that are heavier, larger, or just plain akward to ship. Expect to pay some fees if you sell it on eBay. Craigslist is free for selling stuff.
eBay >> You can see what I have been listing for sale on eBay by clicking on the link below.
Auctiva is a third-party company that helps you organize your auctions and they offer free tools that are very beneficial to eBay sellers. Find out more at: www.auctiva.com.
Craigslist >> Who’s list? Craigslist! If you haven’t heard of Craigslist, then you better start from the beginning – of the internet, that is! (Don’t ask me what that means.) Craigslist is one of the most popular websites in the world. Pretty impressive for how they started out. (On a side note, I always love hearing stories about how these most popular websites got started.) Anyway, back on track.
Advantages of Craigslist over eBay.
- Sell stuff locally.
- It’s free.
- Create’s great exposure for your stuff.
Craigslist and eBay are both very good for making a little extra cash over the holidays.
I will be putting out some tutorials on eBay. Both for beginners (newbies) and also some more advanced tutorials. How to sell more effectively on eBay…
For more on Craigslist and using Craigslist as an affiliate marketer, check this out.
Today, I’m going to talk a little bit about having an eBay business online. eBay is a great way to start if you are just beginning your online business. This is so for two reasons – First, eBay already has a system in place. A system of selling online through eBay’s marketplace. This makes it easy to get setup with an online selling platform. Secondly, eBay is popular and attracts millions of people per day to find items and products at great prices. So many of those people could be your potential customers if your online business has a presence on eBay.
A lot of you listening to this podcast episode may already be very familiar with eBay for one reason or another but I hope that this podcast episode proves to be a great refresher or reminder to the advantages of eBay for your online business.
I’m going to spend the next few minutes going through an eBay overview and talking about “eBay economics”
1 – eBay is primarily an auction website. The auction format is such that the more interested parties that you have in any particular product, the more bids that you will receive for that product. So the ‘product demand’ is what drives the price up. Makes sense doesn’t it? You will be the most successful on eBay if you offer for auction the products that are in ‘demand’. Beware of doing this though because the more demand that a product has, the higher that the competition will be. That is business basics. Other sellers see that any particular product is selling well and they want a piece of the action. That creates more competition for that product. Let’s take the Apple iPod for example. It’s a very hot selling item. So many people think that they can get rich quick just being able to sell the iPod. But how many other places on the internet can a consumer purchase an iPod? eBay is such a successful online marketplace because it offers consumers “great deals” on consumer goods and products.
2 – eBay is an eCommerce platform. An eBay store can be your own online store. The eBay store can be the center of your online sales efforts. An eBay store can work a little differently than regular eBay auctions. First of all, an eBay store can carry your inventory for 30 days then can be automatically updated instead of the regular eBay auctions lasting up to 10 days. Other differences include selling your products at a fixed price instead of an auction format. Regular eBay listings can be set to run as a “fixed price” or a Buy-It-Now listing.
3 – eBay is an online community. eBay has a feedback rating system that is designed to offer credibility to eBay’s users. eBay also has the eBay MyWorld which is the center of eBay’s online community. MyWorld includes a blogging platform, article directory (Reviews and Guides), social networking (Neighborhoods). Participating the eBay’s online community can help you establish credibility and promote products in your eBay store.
Basic eBay Tools:
- eBay Research – Terapeak
- Photo Hosting – Photobucket, Flickr
- eBay Auction Management – Auctiva
- Professional Auction Templates – vFlyer
**This is only Part 1 of a multiple part Series on eBay.
It has been a few weeks since my last post on this blog. Today we are going to talk about this time of year. I love Spring and everything that Spring represents. Spring is a common time that people are getting out all of the junk in their garage and either donate it to a thrift store they have a yard sale. If you are one of those people that goes through your garage or basement in this fashion just to give items away or sell them for super cheap at a yard sale then why not list those items for sale online. Specifically, eBay or Craigslist! It will take a little bit of time to list those items on eBay but you could have some extra cash laying around that you could sell online and make some extra cash. I know of someone that sold a first edition of The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling on eBay for over $100! These same people was able to sell over 20 other items that they had laying around their home and they made over $700! Not bad for stuff that’s just filling up your basement or garage.
On the other side of the fence, if you are a barterer and a yard sale junkie then you can buy things for really cheap and list those items to resell online. Be a bargain hunter and frequently visit those yard sales and thrift stores. That just might turn into a regular additional stream of revenue.
1. eBay and other auction sites
Using eBay is a great way to start making money online. You can go ahead and sell things from around your house today. eBay is the most popular auction website but don’t discount the other auction websites yet. Some other auction site may offer less competition but just as many bids on a certain item that you’re selling. Be careful with other ‘lesser-known’ auction sites and do your research about their history and credibility. If you’re just starting out, I definitely recommend eBay as a great starting point.
2. Dropshipping and Product Fulfillment
Dropshipping is a great way to sell on eBay. Especially if you go ahead and do the extra work to find suppliers that other eBay auction sellers aren’t using. Notably, you can use www.Doba.com as a dropshipping resource company. Other dropshipping companies include www.wholesalematch.com and www.worldwidebrands.com which are wholesale and dropshipping directories. Other than eBay, you can setup an ecommerce store such as OSCommerce to sell your products from your own website.
3. Information Products
Information products such as ebooks are a great way to earn revenue online. If you know a lot about a certain category such as “car parts” then you could create an ebook about “how to find car part suppliers online” There will be some research involved with this type of product but the advantages of selling an information product outweigh the time and research involved in creating this type of product. Also, under this same category are downloadable audio and video products.
Advantages include:
- Sell through your website any time of the day or night.
- Automated Process of Digital products and downloadable products.
- Low Overhead. Very low cost to create this type of product.
- Sell your product over and over again.
Find a niche market, setup a blog with Wordpress.com and start writing about everything you know about that niche market. When you have enough content, use that same content and create an ebook about that specific topic. Blogs are a great way to start promoting yourself as a knowledgeable person in your niche market.
4. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a method that companies use to promote their services or products and spread the word about their company. Notable companies that have affiliate programs are www.ebay.com, www.yahoo.com, www.apple.com/store, Apple iTunes and many more. You can find these companies and others like them at affiliate networks such as www.cj.com, www.linkshare.com, and share-a-sale.com. Sign up with these affiliate networks and find companies to promote their products for them. They will reward you if someone that you refer makes a purchase of their product. Use you blog to promote these affiliate links.