How to Set Up a Home-Based Business for Selling on eBay
Selling on eBay is a challenging endeavor, as it places you in a digital marketplace with sometimes thousands of competitors, all vying for your customers. Selling on eBay also has some distinct advantages over the traditional brick-and-mortal store, as it allows you to market to individuals around the country, or even the world, who otherwise never would have found you. If you want to set up a home-based business for selling on eBay, you will need to make some important preparations before your first item hits the digital marketplace.
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Instructions
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Choose your business type. Whether you plan to sell DVDs, designer perfumes or homemade quilts will have a profound impact on the setup of your business, so decide your inventory up front. To prepare, you should also visit eBay and search for the type of inventory you want to sell, which will give you an impression of the product's profitability. For example, if you want to sell model cars, perform an eBay search for "model cars," and find out if eBay users are buying model cars at a fair rate.
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Obtain a fictitious business name, a legal name by which your state will recognize you as a business entity, such as "John's Used Books" or "Imperial Jewelry." Sometimes called a DBA ("Doing Business As"), a fictitious business name will help to establish you as a legitimate seller when (and if) you attempt to establish accounts with wholesale providers and manufacturers. In addition, most states dictate that you must obtain a fictitious business name if you plan to conduct business using any name other than your own legal name. To obtain and file the paperwork for your fictitious business name, contact or visit your local county clerk's office. You must file in the county where you plan to conduct business.
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Obtain an Employer Identification Number with the Internal Revenue Service. You can obtain your EIN online in a matter of minutes after answering a few simple questions at the IRS website (see Resource section). It will enable you to file your quarterly taxes after you begin selling on eBay.
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File for a resale license or seller permit. In order to obtain the necessary paperwork, you will need to contact the department that handles revenue in your state. This may be a Board of Equalization, Department of Taxation or Department of Revenue. See the Resource section to find a complete, state-by-state list of the appropriate government departments.
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Obtain your inventory. If you plan to make your own merchandise, such as beaded jewelry, bath soaps or fabrics, you will need to purchase the supplies and create your product. If you plan to buy and sell secondhand merchandise, you should begin visiting used bookstores, antiques stores, estate sales or other locations where you might find your desired merchandise. If you plan to purchase wholesale merchandise for resale, contact factory wholesale providers and inquire about becoming a client. If you do not know how to find wholesalers for your type of merchandise, contact the manufacturers. For example, if you want to sell DVDs, contact the sales departments for studios like Fox, Sony and Universal, and explain that you run a small business and would like to request a list of the company's wholesale providers.
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Sign up for your free Ebay account (see Resource section).
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