eBay Selling Tips

With so many power sellers making a living from eBay, it’s tempting to get in on the action. Whether you’re an experienced offline trader, or if eBay is your first foray into the world of selling, these are some tips on turning online auctions into a source of income.

The best returns will be from popular items; the product you sell is the most important thing when it comes to making money. People try to find bargains on eBay, especially on things like high street and designer goods. Don’t expect to get full price for these items, but do expect them to be popular. Keep supply limited to drive up bids, and make sure you have popular colours and sizes.

In order to get these goods, you need a reliable supplier. If you don’t have any contacts in the industry, there are other options available. Buying ex-chain store products, sourcing from wholesalers, drop-shippers or from abroad are all possible depending on what you want to sell.
Ex-chain store goods might be end of line, slightly damaged or in unpopular sizes. A lot of cheaper clothing shops sell items like this with the labels cut out; to maximise profit on eBay you should make sure your customers know that they’re buying a brand; this is a mark of quality.

Drop-shippers deliver the goods directly to the customer so they never go through you. You act as a marketer and take a cut of the profits. This is a great way to sell if you don’t have a lot of space for stock or if you don’t want the risk of buying goods that may not sell. Of course, if you want a more hands-on approach this isn’t a great option; although most drop-shippers are reputable, you can’t control the quality of your product or the delivery times.

Buying in bulk from a wholesaler solves this problem, as everything goes through you before it reaches a customer. Again, the product is all-important and you should choose carefully what to source. Check out other auctions on eBay to see how well things perform; shoes, costume jewellery and make-up products are all popular for example.

Research is key to setting your budget and expectations. If you know that your product generally makes £10, make sure that your cost price allows you to make a profit. Some sellers use the trick of a low price, but high postage to make up their profits; this is bad selling and will put a lot of people off buying from you in the first place.

Make sure that you never lose out by setting a minimum bid. This can be as low as a penny to encourage people to bid, or a fair price if that’s what the market expects. Experiment with small quantities of stock to find out what works best.

Finally, be sure to leave feedback for all your customers if you expect them to feedback about your service. Comments are the backbone of eBay and without them sellers wouldn’t have good (or bad) reputations. As you become established your business will improve; a good product and good feedback is a sure route to repeat custom.

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