How to Decide What to Sell on eBay

Everyone appears to be making money on eBay. But how do you find the right product to sell on eBay for a profit? If you will be approaching eBay as a source of extra pocket change, then you will want to find a product that is going to be a consistent and constant interest to the eBay buying public. Here are a few steps that you can take to earn extra, part-time or full-time income.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Research skills
• 1 to 3 items to sell

1. The first step is to conduct some research. What types of products are of interest to you, the potential seller? For example, some individuals might collect certain items or have an interesting hobby. These areas could be a starting point to help you to determine what you might want to sell.

2. The next step is to go to eBay and do a search to see if the item(s) that you are considering selling are already being sold. Questions to ask yourself are: If the product is being sold, is the market oversaturated? If there seems to only be a few people selling your product, what can you do to make your product stand out from the others? Can you package it with another item or simply sell a wider selection of color, styles, scents or hard-to-find items? And most importantly, what are the items being sold for? Is it enough for you to make a profit?

3. Once you have a few ideas of what items to sell, test the eBay market. Set up an eBay and PayPal account. Don’t invest a lot of money for products. Sell items that you might already own or purchase one to three items of a product in different styles, colors and attributes. Then set up your auction. By testing and purchasing a small amount of product, you are lowering your financial risk of having a lot of inventory in case your item doesn’t sell. Doing a test auction will allow you to see how long it might take to sell this particular product as well as seeing how many visitors look and bid on your auction.

4. After you have tested the market, you can make a decision. Will this product be profitable or do you need to research other items? If you have been successful with your test items, do another test run to see if you have a similar pattern of interested customers and bidders. Slowly increase your inventory or consider drop ship companies to limit up front costs of selling goods. If you have not been successful, consider re-listing if the eBay fees are low, and you are not cutting into the lowest profit amount that you are willing to accept. continue research new products to sell if your listing has not been successful after several auction attempts. Continuous research will also allow you to add new products to your successful list of items. last, Always have a backup plan for your goods if they are not successful on your first or multiple attempts. Consider another auction site, keep products for gifting to friends and family or relist at a later time.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember, this should be a fun venture. keep an open mind about selling on eBay as there are a myriad of dynamics at work with this medium. For example, your product might only sell well Monday-Friday or only sell on the weekends. Take advantage of eBay sales reports to help you make selling decisions.
• This information has been my experience as an eBay seller over the last five years. It is information that can be helpful as you begin your venture to make extra cash. I can't guarantee that you will have success on your first, second or third auction, but you can be made aware of situations to consider as you make decisions as a potential eBay seller.