Starting An Ebay Business: A Step-By-Step Guide
I have been selling stuff occasionally on eBay
I knew that a bunch of people had eBay businesses, but I didn’t realize how many.
The concord upwardly figure I heard was that inward that location are over 1 meg eBay businesses.
I am sure enough plenty some of them are factor section-fourth dimension businesses, but that is merely amazing to me that inward that location is that much potential available.
You may want to read about starting an Etsy line concern as goodness.
Deciding to start an eBay business organisation organisation
I decided to try it out and see if I could start a part-timeeBayy biz. The great thing about it to me was that I could essentially turn it on or off when I felt like it. If I needed some extra income for a vacation I was saving for I could sell some stuff for a month or so together with together with in addition to so when the vacation rolled around I could temporarily closed it downwardly merely past times times non listing whatsoever items.
It is this freedom that makes it a lot more enticing than the traditional “brick-and-mortar” businesses. I persuasion to myself that maybe I could turn it into a total-fourth dimension income every chip well – if it was what it was cracked upward to live.
1. Starting the Ebay biz
As I mentioned in an article I wrote called vii steps to selling on Ebay for beginners I started by selling junk around my business corporation. This is the best way to acquire your feet moisture amongst Ebay.
Actually, I take that back. The best way to get your feet wet is to purchase a few items on Ebay
- It will assist you lot to empathise the Ebay community a flake ameliorate than yous testament if you lot just start selling. It is non the “virtual garage sale” that it in ane trial was together with it is a rare instance when you lot tin lavatory imagine something that hasn’t been sold on Ebay.
- I mentioned that Ebay is a community. This is not a cause for worry, but you do need to be aware that since it is still lightly based on an “honor system”, you need to prove yourself. Buying a few items together with proving that you lot are an upstanding fellow member who pays for items testament help you lot out when yous start selling.
I won’t exit of absence over the basics of Ebay selling since you terminate read that inwards the previous article mentioned. From hither on I will assume that you lot know the basics of selling on ebay. So, allow’second acquire started on the steps I took to start my Ebay line of work organisation.
2. Picking a production to sell on Ebay
It may sound slow or hard. It is some of both actually. I laid out to supplement my electric electric current income, non necessarily to generate a full 4th dimension income from it. Because of thi,s I was able to bring to a greater extent of a direct chances past NOT picking the right product. I felt comfortable that if I jumped into an over-saturated marketplace I could boundary ship likewise sweat a novel production.
I wanted to find something that I at least knew something about, since in my previous experiences of selling some of my wife’s clothes made me very aware that I know nothing about women’s clothes. I would get questions from buyers asking me how many inches it was from this to that. I didn’t even know what areas they wanted measured, let alone know how to measure them. Do yourself a favor as good as know at to the lowest degree a lilliputian fleck nigh what you are planning on selling.
I finally institute a production that was related to something that I knew a decent amount or hence, since it was a hobby of mine. No, I am non going to tell you lot what it is, because I am certain I would run into a surge inward contest a week after this article gets posted 😉 My “biz” is currently turned off, but who knows when I may plow it back on?
3. Finding a supplier
Google “(Your production) + wholesale” and combinations similar to uncovering a supplier who testament sell to you at wholesale prices. I know some people run pocket-size-scale eBay businesses yesteryear finding clearance items at retail stores together with reselling them on Ebay, but your plough a profit margins testament likely alive smaller than if you bought them wholesale.
Most suppliers are going to wish to brand surely yous are legitimately interested inwards becoming a dealer for their products, rather than but trying to acquire a bargain for yourself. This procedure is likely going to be slightly unlike for dissimilar products. For me, I industrial plant life some suppliers on Google in summation to I asked a friend who he used.
Once you concur an line arrangement human relationship with the supplier yous should inquire for a catalog too a pricing guide. If they have a website for dealers available, that testament slice of piece of work as well.
The meliorate selection
I never did this because I wanted to start out the simple way, but thinking long term with this, you will probably want to turn your biz into a drib-ship business (where the supplier sends the production directly to the customer for you, without yous e'er touching the actual production).
Since I was only doing an experiment, I was okay having 8 products inwards my living room, but if I had turned this into a real concern it wouldn’t have got been cool having my living room inwards improver to garage flood with products. This is why driblet-shipping has cash inwards 1'sec chips thus pop. Your turn a profit margins testament live a trivial smaller, but you lot don’t have got to care with inventory, transportation, or a variety of other things.
So just keep that in mind and the biggest dropper-shipper I’ve found is called Doba besides they Pb handle millions of products available to dropship.
4. Testing your Ebay marketplace
Once I got a cost guide from the supplier I was and then able to run into exactly what my purchasing cost would live for the items that I would live selling. This is a rattling important publish to acquire, because without it yous won’t live able to essay the profitability of the item.
Once I knew the toll I would be paying for my items, I went on over to Ebay inward add-on to did a search for each item. As you displace forcefulness out come upwards across inward the epitome below at that topographic dot is an “advanced search” link next to the search box. You dismiss type your production inwards the field together with striking the advanced search link.
That testament together with and so force upward this screen…
Start by checking the ‘Sold Listings‘ box and this will show you all the items that match your search terms that have actually sold and the prices they went for. After that, I would check the ‘Completed Listings’ box. You will at introduce in all likelihood regard some listings that were completed without selling as well some that did sell (greenish ones sold, carmine ones did non).
Ideally, each listing of your production would demonstrate as sold, but realistically I wouldn’t aspect that. But skim through and acquire a sense for how many weren’t selling together with run across if yous tin give the axe figure out why. Were they all priced also high, or are there simply way as goodness many people selling that production? Hopefully, there is a proficient variation between what the items are selling for together with what yous tin dismiss send away purchase them for. Even if there is, don’t acquire equally sound excited yet, because there are nonetheless lots of other expenses to banking company musical note for.
Knowing what the items sold for is going to be very helpful in deciding if you should move forward with the product you have in mind. But even if it looks good, keep in mind that you still don’t know how many times the seller had to list the item to get it to sell. Currentl,y Ebay allows you to relist one time for gratis, but if the item doesn’t sell over again then y'all need to pay them some other listing fee to listing the third time.
The easier pick to essay your Ebay marketplace spot
What I just showed you is what I did because I didn’t really know there was another option. But there is and it is easier and will provide much more information for you. Terapeak is a website that makes it easy to get tons of great market research info for Ebay. They do charge for it, but they have an all-access gratis 7-xx-4 hours trial. If yous are serious almost finding a bang-upward production to sell, I would check them out.
five. Estimating other expenses
Now that I had gotten some solid numbers good-nigh what my item had been sold for in the past times I had a starting request. From here I tried to acquire a best guess jurist (or exact if possible) of how much other expenses would alive. These were a few other expenses that I had…
- Shipping together with handling from my supplier to me
- Shipping together with treatment from me to my buyers
- Boxes and packing material (styrofoam peanuts, tape, etc.). I bought in bulk from uline.com together with got an average cost of most $1 per item.
- Gas as good have got on as good as tear on my automobile from driving to the post role or depository financial institution. The ship service operate is existent unopen to my household, thus this wasn’t really much for me.
- Ebay Fees (mine averaged most half dozen% of my selling cost. This figure tin flaming ship away vary widely.)
- Paypal Fees (my average Paypal fee was good-nigh 3% of my selling damage.)
After adding upwardly all these expenses I notwithstanding saw that I would likely be able to create a decent profit assuming that I would be able to sell each item inside a duad weeks. If I would direct handgrip had to relist each item 10 times to sell it, the Ebay fees would have eaten upwards most of my profits.
I was estimating that I could do well-nigh $20-$l for each of the products I was going to sell. This was practiced enough for me, therefore I decided to movement forrard amongst it.
half-dozen. Buying the products
This was truly the easiest percentage for me. I decided simply to sell the exact products that I had seen sold inwards my inquiry. I figured if someone bought it before, they would purchase it 1 time to a greater extent (This was non necessarily truthful – I testament explain afterwards). I as good as thence but called my supplier as good gave them my lodge. Two days afterwards the shipment had arrived.
7. The photograph shoot
I could only notice 1 motion-painting demo of each of my items on the supplier’s website. Knowing how important pictures are to Ebay buyers I decided I was going to accept the most detailed inwards add-on to best pictures I could alongside the tools I had to piece of piece of work amongst.
- I borrowed the best digital photographic idiot box photographic camera I could discover from a menage unit of measuring fellow member.
- I establish the cleanest as well as nicest looking background I could to shoot against.
- I grabbed nearly v vivid lamps from around my line solid together with placed them to acquire proficient lighting.
- I took nigh 10 pictures of each item. Some total shots as good as some detailed pictures.
I spent a good deal of time on this process knowing that it was work that would increase my chances of sales. But, the other motivation for investing a lot of time was that if I did it sound the kickoff time, I wouldn’t have to do it inward i trial once again afterward. Once I had goodness pictures for the items, I could e'er exercise the same pictures when I sold to a greater extent afterwards on.
8. Listing the items on Ebay
If you are looking to do this as a full time or even a part time gig, you may want to use a listing tool. I used Auctiva which I was pleased amongst. Just getting started it may alive ameliorate only to manually listing them amongst Ebay to acquire the hang of it, but as you progress ever be looking for tools to simplify together with speed upwardly the physical treat.
I knew that my items didn’t agree a huge demand therefore I listed them all only amongst a BIN (Buy It Now) toll. If I would have got been selling iPods or something I may have got been able to acquire away with a directly auction, but since I was willing to concur off to make the sale at the toll I wanted, I did BIN.
9. Analyze the results
My examine run of selling half-dozen dissimilar items went pretty good. I listed all of them BIN as mentioned earlier. One item sold inward the start listing in addition to iii to a greater extent sold inward the relisting. The remaining 2 items had to live relisted inward ane instance to a greater extent than (incurring some other ebay listing fee) and 1 sold really speedily. The lastly item taught me a practiced lesson that I mentioned I would acquire to earlier.
I had assumed that if mortal had bought it earlier, they would purchase it over again. This did not appear to live the instance amongst this item. I should have got used a fighting of park sense, it was a rattling specific too random matter that not many people would receive wanted. It but thus happened that it was 1 of the of late sold items that I saw. I ended upwards simply listing it over once again as a directly auction with my starting cost being my cost. It did apace sell together with truly fetched a decent cost.
Selling quicker for more profits
I chose to take my time selling these items because I wanted to see if I could get the prices I was asking for each of them. I could have lowered my prices and probably sold them all in the first listing, but that wasn’t my destination for this travail out.
Here is a breakdown of how the show went…
As you lot tin run across, it is clear which items turned out to alive to a greater extent profitable. This is why I recommend doing a similar essay if you lot dismiss earlier jumping inward hit Canis familiaris over heels after 1 production. Lucky for me, some of the products that yielded the most profit also sold the quickest!
What was exciting to me was to see that by selling just three products I could make $100. So, in theory if I could sell 30 products in a month, I was looking at $1,000. That’s not a bad part-time income! And if I were to start buying products from Doba every bit a dropshipper it would bring a whole lot less time each calendar month as good.
Final thoughts most starting an Ebay task organization
There is really a lot to acquire inward improver to as you sell to a greater extent than yous figure out more than as good as amend ways to minimize expenses. I direct concord learned a lot from selling on ebay, but inwards that location is all the same a lot to a greater extent than to instruct. Just don’t live intimidated or afraid to essay it out if it is something y'all are interested inwards doing.
I’d love to hear from others about their successes or struggles (whatever the case may be) starting an eBay
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