Monday, December 29, 2008

Success on eBay - Learn 3 Tips from a PowerSeller

By Johnathan Z Moore

PROPER RESEARCH IS NECESSARY FOR SUCCESS

Do not skimp on research. Time spent in research will save headaches and lost sales in the future. Knowing the average selling price of the items you would like to sell is key. Do this by selecting Advanced Search button from the main search page, it is located just to the right of the Search Button. After opening the Advanced Search link, type in your keyword(s) of the product you want information regarding.

Select a category, check Completed Listings radio button, then click Search. What you are seeing is recent items that have closed on eBay. Items that have sold will be shown in Green. Items that have not sold will be shown in Red (Auctions), Black (Buy it Now) items. It is always a good practice to put details into a spreadsheet for further review.

SHIPPING IS ANOTHER CRITICAL STEP

In order to take care of your customer, you must be sensitive to shipping fees. It was a common practice recently to have a low priced item, but overcharge for shipping. A way of hiding additional profit. Buyers have caught on to this, and are very selective to products when it comes to Free shipping vs. Overcharged Shipping. When I speak of Free shipping, even a reasonable shipping fee is acceptable.

As you perform your research, notice that many of the products that Sold, have either Free Shipping or Low cost shipping. Overall, Free shipping or reasonably priced shipping products will do better in the long run. Make sure to keep the majority of your shipping cost priced in your product, while maintaining your profit margin, and keep your price competitive.

CONSIDER SUPPLY AND DEMAND

There must be a demand for any product you wish to sell on eBay. Prior research is a must before any listing follows. If the demand and profit margin are not in line, you may have a shelf full of product that does not sell. Frozen capital will ruin, and severly hurt any business. Enough frozen capital and the business fails. If someone offers to sell you product "X" for $10.00 each, 100 count. You do your eBay research and find that in the last sixty days, only 1 sale was made of 50 offered on eBay, selling price $10.50. You will have a problem on your hands. 50 problems to be exact. Product "X" should not be purchased.

Many successful eBay PowerSeller recommend when starting out, is to have a Wholesaler Dropship products for you. Dropshipping is when you post a product, sell it, collect the money, then a Wholesaler ships the product for you. You do not have to stock any product and are not in danger of having obsolete inventory. When using a Wholesale Dropshipper make certain they are legitimate. I say this because many retailers, pose as wholesalers, giving a small discount from retail. You are only dealing with a middleman, not a true wholesaler, which is costing you profit. Google Wholesale Sources, or Dropship Wholesale, compare pricing and make certain you are truly dealing with a wholesaler.

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