How to Buy things to sell on EBay and get started with very little money

Learn how to make money on EBay by selling items you purchase locally or on the web.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• ebay sell acount
• be 18 years old
• paypal account
• a little money to start with

1. Setup a seller account with EBay, and a business account with EBay owned PayPal. This is quick and easy although you have to be 18 to do so, and may have to have a checking account and/or credit card.

2. Gather any items from your house/garage/attic etc that you do not want, these make great items to get your feet wet. The best items to start with are light weight (low shipping cost) items such as DVD's or books.

3. List your items on EBay, start with just about 1-5 items so that you don't get overwhelmed when it comes time to ship items as it can be hectic for a first time seller.

4. This step is where a lot of new EBay sellers quit. You have sold anything you already owned and wanted to get rid of. You've probably made about $10 - $50 profit so far, but don't know where to get more items that you can actually profit on. Read on...

5. Go to your local 2nd hand store, look in the CD / DVD rack for computer programs, great you found a copy of windows 2000. It's only costing you a quarter but surprisingly you can get $25 on EBay for it. That's 10 times your money! Now you see hope. Take your $25 to your local flea market or yard sales. Scour for items that look really old, antiques that are priced to sell. For example you could of bought 5 antique dolls at $5.00 a piece. Cha-Ching they could bring $40 each on EBay.

6. OK this is another common stopping point for new eBay sellers. You have bought a few items and made about $150 - $300 profit so far. But what next? It's getting hard to find deals locally and you can't rely on this luck you've been having. Now comes the fun part.

7. Find a niche. Hopefully something you know all about, like fishing for example. You buy fishing gear all the time for yourself, so you are pretty familiar with the prices/brands/quality etc. Go to your favorite search engine and type "wholesale fishing gear". Browse the results for a company that looks legit. You can tell by seeing if they are registered with the BBB. Don't purchase from companies that are trying to sell to EBay sellers they usually cost too much. Wholesale Prices should be less than half of retail price on most items.

8. Take your $200 from EBay and buy a couple of cases of wholesale merchandise. For example you can buy 100 fishing hats for $2.00 each. Retail price is $16.95 each so you are able to offer them for a discount on EBay at $12.00 each. Sell all 100 and you will have over $500 profit from this deal alone.

9. Research your market. Consider EBay an actual business and dedicate time and effort to it. Enjoy your profits!

Tips & Warnings

• Open an EBay store to list items cheaper.
• Buy small quantities at first.
• Offer free shipping often.
• Be patient.
• Some wholesalers require a Tax-Id. You can get one at IRS.gov or use your SSN.
• Don't buy from "wholesalers" who market to ebay sellers.
• Check any wholesale company out with the BBB before buying.
• Don't be discouraged if your items don't sale at first, try lowering prices.

[lastgunslinger]

on 1/31/2009 Really well written guide to get started on ebay for very little up front cost. 5*

[djvaughn2]

on 11/15/2008 I am impressed by your hustle, you remind me of myself. Great job! 5* If you are interested in a real hustle and make some serious cash online for free email me at [e-mail] you won't be sorry you did!!!$$

[djvaughn2]

on 11/15/2008 I am impressed by your hustle, you remind me of myself. Great job! 5* If you are interested in a real hustle and make some serious cash online for free email me at [e-mail] you won't be sorry you did!!!$$

[Ladymarie]

on 11/15/2008 Great tips. Thanx