Simple Strategies To Help eBay Users

eBay was created on September 3, 1995 in San Jose California by Pierre Omidyar, a computer programmer. the first item sold on eBay was a broken laser pointer for $14.83. The first president of the company was Jeffrey Skoll in 1996. Meg Whitman replaced Skoll as president and CEO in 1998. at that time the company had 30 employees and 500,000 users. eBay went public on September 21, 1998. The target share price was $18, but ended at $53.50.

eBay has become a giant online. And a lot of people have sold on eBay. But I believe it has become very hard to make money on eBay for many years unless you can get your products to sell at a great price.

FINDING PRODUCTS TO SELL

How do people find products to sell on eBay? New products that is. That is a million dollar question. There is a forum that specializes in all aspects of finding products to sell online. The Wholesale Forums. You can Google that. A UK website. This forum is huge, and has tons of info, tips, etc. on how and where to look for wholesale products. A lot of people on here have sites and sell products. Mostly electronics and designer clothes. But what I discovered is no one will tell you where they buy their products from. No one. Oh they will try and sell to you. Say they are wholesale prices. Forget it.

Here's some important tips I learned from this forum. Most people try to buy products from China. This is where the best prices are because of the low labor cost. Also, never buy from someone or a company who only accepts payment in ETF (electronic transfer funds). I can't tell you all the people on the forum that have been ripped off by this. They are so gung-ho on buying products for resale, they make this stupid mistake. A lot of people tells stories of losing thousands of dollars at a pop. Sellers are constantly advising people to only buy products using paypal or credit cards. But good luck with that.

Also, no matter what you hear, this is a steadfast rule: You cannot buy name brand products from China. Like Nike, Sony, iphone, etc. If you do, they are probably all fake and garbage. There are tons of scammers out there advertising products at low prices. They even set up websites that look legit. But most are scampers. So ask yourself. How are people finding products to sell on eBay?

After spending hundreds of hours reading all the ins and outs of buying wholesale, trying to find products to buy in Asia, It finally hit me. I decided to try something else. Something safer. Buying wholesale products from American distributors.

In order to buy from distributors you have to have an FIN (federal identification number). You cannot get around this. You can get your number at the IRS website. Then you need to register with the state you are in. And also so you can collect sales tax. If you start buying products from U.S. distributors, and your state finds out you are not paying sales tax, the hammer will come down on you. Be on the up and up here.

So I did all of this. Now it was time to find U.S. distributors. I had only one product in mind. A computer related product. But I did look for many other products also. So I did my Google searches and found U.S. distributors. I filled out and faxed my applications to each one. Received my user name and password for their websites. Now it was time to get prices. There is a rule about buying wholesale. The more you buy the cheaper the price. However, you have to find the right prices for this to work. I could not. Every distributor I contacted the prices were ridiculous. WAY too high. I couldn't believe it. I talked to some of the salespeople on the phone and told them what's the deal? I can buy their products cheaper on eBay and cheaper when it is on sale at brick and mortar stores. They had nothing to say. So for me, I had invested hundreds and hundreds of hours for nothing. I finally gave up. I did not want to. I am a very determined person to find a way to succeed or make things work. But I gave up on the computer related product I wanted to buy.

So the bottom line is this. As far as the product I wanted to start selling, I don't know where or how eBay sellers are getting it, but they are very lucky. I tried to get it too. I think they have contacts in China. That is the only place they can get this computer related product and sell it at such a good price. Maybe it is the real deal. Maybe it is a knock off. Only a buyer will know when they try it out.

I do not believe it is as easy as websites and people say to buy good wholesale products at good prices. Like I said before, I spent over 4 months, 10-14 hours a day looking everywhere online. Do not be fooled by all the websites for wholesale buying. I believe you will get burned easy. Example: Liquidation.com. A lot of the bulk items are on pallets. You can't really see what your bidding on and buying. Plus figure in the shipping cost. Definitely be careful here. also I joined Salehoo.com to start buying products. After less than a week I saw that I could find the companies online for free that they are associated with that cost you money to join. They have a 60 day money back guarantee, and they honored that when I requested a refund. The old rule if it sounds too good to be true it probably is is almost always true. There are tons of websites that are pure scams. A good resource to verify online scams is ripoffreport.com.

SELLING ON eBAY

I am going to assume that you already know how to sell on eBay. There are plenty of places to learn. It is really that hard to set up an account and sell. I have a few special tips to make you move product at a good time and the right time. It's very simple.

First thing, selling on eBay is not that hard. Personally I have always kept my auctions simple. There is no need to spend a lot of time on listing an auction. Time is money. Keep it simple. I have been a seller on eBay since 1998 with my ex-wife. In 2003 I opened my own account. I have a feedback rating of 100%. I have used my feedback at other places to sell things. I have always sold good products and given great customer service, Fast shipping, 14 day money back guarantee, and combined shipping for multiple orders at the same time.

A friend of mine in Orlando who sold a lot on eBay told me years ago to always start a 7 day auction on Sunday night. That way of course it ends Sunday night, with the theory being more people are home in the U.S. on that night than any other. It's always worked well for me.

eBAY TIPS:

Tip 1: Always list your item when you have little competition. The more items listed, the harder it can be sell and get a good price of your item. The less competition increases your ability to sell and get top dollar for your item. This is the most important thing. Supply and demand theory. That is why one of a kind items sell for so much. No competition.

Tip 2: Always have a money back guarantee policy. This has always worked well for me. Think about it. You want to buy. You want to bid. Wouldn't you rather put a bid in on an item where the seller has 100% feedback AND a money back guarantee? I believe so. I know as a eBay buyer myself, I will always buy first from a seller who offers these two thing. Trust. You want to buy from someone you can trust. That is key as a seller.

Tip 3: Always start an auction at .99 cents. Buyers love the competition of trying to outbid each other. They love it. I have seen lots of auctions that started at $9.99 with no bids, but auctions that started at 99 cents went through the roof with bids. Now let me give you this other tip also. A lot of bids can come in the last few minutes or less. If the price for your item is not as high as you want to let it go for, or you are not willing to see it sell for less than you would like, stop the auction. Just stop it. There is a place to do this. Don't do a reserve price auction. It's a waste of money to pay extra for this. Don't do it. I don't. Just stop the auction.

Tip 4: It is crucial to have a 100% feedback. You increase your chances tremendously of selling your items with perfect feedback. Again, trust is very important. However, an example, if somebody has a 99.8% feedback, and you really want to buy what they have, always read their feedbacks first. Sometimes a jerk will leave bad feedback for a stupid reason. This seller could be still be top notch, even with a couple points knocked off their feedback.

If your new, have some friends bid on your stuff, pay the fees, and then list it again if your friends didn't really want it. It's a simple strategy. You just want a couple quick transactions with positive feedback to get you started.

eBAY FEES

A lot of people in the last several years have complained about high fees which hurt a seller and profit. Please check these carefully before you sell on eBay. Don't get shocked.

Clothing, shoes and accessories final value fees: 12% on the first $50, then an extra 9% on the remainder, up to $1000. The amount after $1000 is an extra 2%. That's 23% total. WOW.

Consumer electronics, video game systems, cameras/photos final value fees: 8% on the first $50. Then 4.5% extra on the next $50.01-$1,000. Then anything over $1.000.01 is an extra 1%.

Computers and Networking final value fees: 6% on the first $50. Then 3.75% extra on the next $50.01-$1,000. Anything over $1,000.01 is an extra 1%.

Books, music, DVDs/movies and video games fees: 15% on the first $50. Then 5% more between $50.01-$1000. Plus 2% more after the $1000.o1 That's 22% total. WOW. There are other category fees. You can see it for yourself. But I have pointed out these examples.

Also the lowest listing fee is for auctions starting at 99 cents or less. I always use this when I have sold in the past. Never start an auction higher than 99 cents. Don't throw away money.

SOME OF MY PAST eBAY SALES

I bought these Nike socks new around 1983 for $8.50. I wore them maybe three times. They were like new. In 2004 I took them out of my drawer and sold them on eBay for around $49.

I sold a black Gucci bag, the satin type that the store puts your purchase in for over $100. I found this in the recycling bin at the condo I use to work.

My co-worker gave me a new Ritz-Carlton laundry bag. She worked there part time in housekeeping. I sold that for over $100.

When I sold these items I waited until there was very few similar items, or none at all. I hope these tips will help you sell on eBay.

Now I know everybody has tips for becoming an eBay seller. And that is good. But my tips I have tried to keep simple. Sure there are more. But again, I make my auctions simple. also for what it's worth, A lot of people are trying to sell on craigslist before eBay. No fees. I know I have sold things on craiglist many times. Once I sold an item in 20 minutes. Another great alternative over paying all those fees.


I will be updating this from time to time. Thanks for stopping by my little blog. I hope you have picked up a few pointers and will tell your friends about my blogs. All the best to you.