by frenchfinds.co.uk

Use the Power of e-Bay to Make Money Online

With millions of visitors each day,e-bay is a crowning success on the Internet and proof positive of its astounding potential for profit and opportunity to make money.

Of course, there are literally hundreds of detailed books out there promising to help one and all make big profits selling their ”gently used” household items and collectibles. This report will not pretend to go into the detail of any of these other resources but will provide the reader with an overview of the auction side of the e-Bay business along with tips and strategies to help optimize success and make money online.

Hard Facts About e-Bay

Make no mistake about it—the idea of making money from the comfort and privacy of your home is very alluring. So, when someone hears that they can take a picture of their old unwanted items and sell them to the highest bidder to the point of perhaps even quitting their job and doing so full-time—well, many of us leap before really thinking it through.

Inflated Profit Myth

If you post enough items or those with enough value, there is no doubt that you will make money in about a week—but is that really what you made? One of the biggest mistakes made by newbies to the e-Bay scene is to overestimate the amount of profit made from every sale. In truth, the profit would be the difference between what was originally paid for the auctioned item and what it sold for (not including any potential profit from shipping).However, because many believe that since they plan to never replace the item that all proceeds from the sale are thus profit, a self-destructive cycle begins. At the end of the day, a business must generate a product or perform some type of service. Unless there is a structured plan to continually obtain more products to sell for profit, your home will eventually be empty and your cash flow will come to a screeching halt.

Sustained and Successful e-Bay Auction Strategies

• Concentrate on niche market

• Writing Sales Copy for Web

• Reinvest consistent percentage of profits

• Build solid reputation

• Market your company and services using sources outside e-Bay

• Diversify

Niche Market

To raise capital for more merchandise and to make more money, you will most likely auction off clothes, sporting equipment, old doll collections…etc. But when you have sold your item, packaged and shipped it safely, and received your money—what do you invest in?

The Internet and the search engines that essentially guide people through the Information Superhighway are great at getting surfers to the products they want. However, to make more money on e-Bay or in any Internet Marketing venture—you need to concentrate on a specific niche. This will help you save money because you can lump lower end products together in a ”lot” sale. Plus, by consistently selling products from the same niche, it will be easier to standardize processes, vendors, and to become a true expert in your field.

Now there are really two ways to choose a niche market: with your heart or with your head. If you love antique furniture then it would be perfectly natural to want to sell items from this large niche. However, antiques and furniture are not the most popular categories and they can be big items in your inventory—failing to make a sale or two may cause a cash flow crunch or you to take a large loss. It can sometimes be more difficult to maintain objectivity and make sound business decisions when you develop a personal attachment to the merchandise.

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To help you find your niche, you may want to visit http://pulse.ebay.com. From this page, you can discover the most popular item searches that day to see what is hot. While you may not want or be able to sell those particular items, you should be able to see a trend or dominant category.

For instance, the most popular items searched on e-Bay when this report was written include:

1. PS3

2. wii

3. Playstation 3

4. Nintendo

5. Xbox360

6. TMX Elmo

7. iPod

8. PSP

9. iPod Nano

10. Apple iPod

As you can see, the entertainment electronics genre is a very, very popular category right now with some dominant sub-niches developing. However, if you wanted to follow your passion and sell antique furniture, you could also check on Pulse to find the most popular search terms relating to that category as well so it is a very useful tool in both finding your niche and learning the market better. The important thing to remember is that the Internet naturally favors the creation of niches so you need to specialize early on—no matter what!

Writing Sales Copy

If you have any hope of selling 0 worth of merchandise on e-Bay in a week or less—the good news is that you don’t have to write that “killer sales copy” in order to be successful. However, there is a distinctive difference between copy writing for print…and crafting copy for the Internet. To get the maximum number of people to view your product and potentially place a bid—you need to write descriptive copy that is accurate and keyword rich—especially the title. What you really need to understand about e-Bay in order to get the most people to view your object, increase the bidding pool, and ultimately drive up traffic—is the words those potential customers are using to find your product. Using the same Pulse feature, you can determine the best keywords to use when creating your ad for the product. It is especially important to use the keyword in the headline or title but don’t be afraid to look at other ads selling similar products for inspiration and to borrow some good ideas! The copy needs to be descriptive, accurate, and be keyword rich in order to be pull potential bidders in and possibly boost your profits.

Consistently Reinvest in Business

If you are only looking to raise 0 in a week or so while possibly cleaning out your attic or garage, then there is no need to reinvest profits. But if you are looking to start a revenue stream and grow it into larger, then you will need to invest a consistent percentage of your profits into the company. Just a few of the common necessities most Internet businesses, including e-Bay auctioneers, need in the first two years include:

• Accounting/Tax Software

• Server/Other Computer Hardware and Equipment

• Office Supplies

• Increased Office Space

If you were an e-Bay auctioneer who specialized in refinishing/repairing old antique furniture and then reselling it for a profit, then you would possibly invest in tools and equipment related to that activity. The point here is that for tax deductions and the possibility of building the business to a higher, more consistent level, you must reinvest a significant portion of your profits.Ultimately, your determination and consistent hard work will pay off and you will start building a solid reputation as an honest and dependable business. In time and to grow your business even further, you will want to market your products or services in venues outside of e-Bay. Ideally, diversification will become a priority as you look to grow the business through new revenue streams that help solidify your financial foundation.

Yes, you can make money with e-Bay (although it may take a little more time for the funds to transfer into your actual checking account) selling off collectibles, furniture, and other unneeded items that have accumulated over the years. Your initial cost (if selling merchandise that ultimately sold for 0) would include the Insertion Fees (.80) and another  or so in Final Value Fees (you are assessed 5.25% on the first of the final sale price and then 3.25% on the remaining amount which in this case is 5 X .0325%, or roughly ).

Other fees and/or costs that may eat into your bottom line include:

• Paypal or other merchant account fees

• Electronic transfer fees by your bank

• Buy It Now Fees

• Seller Tool Fees

• eBay Picture Service Fees

• Listing Upgrade Fees

• Reserve Fees

eBay does indeed offer a lot of bells that can really wreak havoc on your bottom line but the basic listing service, a compelling ad with relevant keywords, and a little hard work is all you should need to successfully sell 0 in 7 days and walk away with approximately 0 in actual money. Remember, this is not actual profit in the classic sense but you could use that money to secure more merchandise and begin establishing yourself as a legitimate force to reckon with….or, you could go out and splurge on something you don’t really need and return back to your job the following day no closer to financial independence.

Six million people visit eBay every day and you really can turn your old unwanted things, a computer, digital camera, and an Internet connection into a sustainable and growing home-based business. Most people, however, just use it to raise a little extra “mad money” and fail to realize the true potential…will you?

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