Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Success on eBay - Learn 3 Tips from a PowerSeller

By Johnathan Z Moore

DUE YOUR PART WITH PROPER RESEARCH

Research requires due diligence on your part, spend time with research. You must know the average selling price on eBay of the product you have decided to sell. On the main search page, located to the right of the search button is an [Advanced Search] button. Next, open the Advanced Search link, enter a keyword(s) for your product.

Select a category, check the Completed Listings button, then Search. Now what you have on your screen are items that have recently closed on eBay. The products which have Sold will be highlighted Green. The products that did not sell, you will see highlighted in Red or Black. The Red items are unsold Auctions, the Black items are Unsold Buy it Now items. Take this data and place in an excel worksheet that you might review in future.

SHIPPING IS ANOTHER CRITICAL STEP

Shipping is definitely a very sensitive subject with regards to eBay purchases. In years past, many sellers would give a good price on the product, then gouge on the shipping fees. Free Shipping many times will get your product noticed and respected. And the buyer will come back for more products later on.

Compare Shipping Fees when doing research, notice the Free Shipping items, or Reasonable Shipping priced items will do better overall than Unreasonable fees. Know what your shipping costs will be to ship the product then allow for it in the selling price. Just consider it the cost of doing business.

BASIC ECONOMICS: SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Regardless of the type of deal your supplier may offer you, if your item does not have a demand currently on eBay, it probably will not sell. If someone is offering 50 Harley Davidson Novelty lamps for $25.00 each, and out of the last 50 posts only two have sold for $28.00 each, you may be stuck with some lamps in the near future. Or, worse have to unload them at a loss to clear your inventory.

When first starting out, it is a good idea to find a legitimate Drop Shipper. A drop shipper will ship your item after you sell it. This way you do not have to stock product, but still have access to many products. There are many so-called drop ship companies on the net, but many are still middle men. Search Google for Wholesale Sources, or Dropship Sources, but remember to deal with a wholesaler not a middleman. - 15790

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