Making Money on EBay - The Truth Revealed

If you've been living under a rock on the moon for the past ten years then you probably haven't heard about eBay. The massively popular online auction has proven itself to be a key player in the international marketplace and a cornerstone of e-commerce. Thousands of eBay users have built online empires, and millions log in daily to search for bargains. In 1996 Wired magazine predicted that "retailing will become the national pastime," and ten years later, that's not far from the truth. Anyone can make money on eBay but can you make a living on it? Like any other enterprise, making money on eBay requires drive, determination and dedication.

Before eBay arrived, you would have to unload all your unwanted goods in yard sales and classified ads. With eBay, your sale can reach every hemisphere and you don't have to worry about haggling with the bargain hunters. Think of it as a worldwide garage sale. The site gives you the opportunity to make money from home, and, unlike regular businesses, eBay doesn't require a huge amount of investment capital, just an insertion fee and a small percentage of the final selling price.

To help you master the art of online auctioneering and bolster your bank account, the site provides message boards, help pages and umpteen additional features. The chat section is constantly buzzing with comments and questions by buyers and sellers alike, so take the opportunity to ask questions and receive answers from successful sellers. And if you're weary of making financial transactions over the internet, don't be. eBay has designed dozens of protocols that make buying and selling over the net just as secure as regular retail.

So what are the best methods for making a profit on eBay? If you're willing to make a killing, you have to make your item appear desirable. eBay provides colourful backgrounds, borders, and handy HTML codes to brighten up your auction but a successful sale satisfies customer needs in text, visuals and shipment security.

When writing a description for your item, choose the keywords carefully. Attach informative text and try to anticipate the words and phrases that users will search for. Don't underestimate the buyers with adjectives like "awesome," "breath-taking" and "must-have." It's condescending and bidders will see through it in a second.

Photos are an absolute necessity in eBay, and you can virtually guarantee a failed sale if you have no visuals to represent your text. Always use clear pictures; poor lighting, blurriness and ugly backdrops are real turn-offs. A visually pleasing page attracts more attention than one that's dry and dull, so add some sparkle to your auction. A touch of visual style quickly transforms an uninterested browser into an interested bidder.

Packaging and shipment are big responsibilities for the seller, so outline an efficient system. State all your shipping policies clearly and concisely. Bidders are hesitant to buy if the packaging information looks dubious.

Business clichés aren't redundant in eBay. You still have to spend money to make money and timing is still everything. Most eBay users don't start bidding until the closing of an auction and they usually do this on the weekend. Calculate your auction time so that you can catch the busy traffic and capitalize on the weekend surge.

Bidders want a cheap sale, so start with a low minimum bid. With any luck, a low bid will start the ball rolling for a bitter back-and-forth bidding war and raise the price of your item. However, don't start with a low bid if you're auctioning an expensive item. Potential bidders might question its quality. And remember, if you don't make a sale, you can always revise the textual and visual information and re-list the item. Take the chance to fine-tune, adjust or correct your auction's approach.

Unless you've prepared a steady influx of items, you can kiss goodbye to a steady income. Setting up an online empire takes time and you can't expect to make a mint if you're just selling a few bits and pieces. The best way to transform your PC into a full-time money-maker and launch into a successful e-commerce career is to set up a virtual store.

The basic eBay store costs less than $10 a month. eBay recommends dozens of extra tools and services to improve your online shop, such as the store merchandising manager, the selling manager, and SquareTrade's seal of approval. You can even register with Vendio, a third party auction provider that lets you sell through other online selling sites like Yahoo and Amazon. A successful eBay store shows proficiency in presentations, textual descriptions, bookkeeping, packaging policies, and above all, customer service. It's a known fact that reputation is what makes or breaks your business on eBay. If your feedback section contains too many negative comments, then your buying and selling privileges are revoked and your online business will start circling the drain.

The truth is absolutely anyone can profit from eBay. How much you can profit depends on either your marketing skills or the amount of inventory you have at your disposal, or both. There's a lot to gain, not much to lose, and you'll have the wisdom and advice of experienced sellers to support your venture. Whatever your decision may be, don't forget about taxes. Whoever said that the taxman doesn't take a cut of your profits is grossly misinformed. That being said, there's a foot for every old boot, in other words, there's always a potential buyer for each item you advertise. With time, effort, and determination, you can be on the road to online success but don't expect to be lighting cigars with five dollar bills if you're only selling an odd knick-knack.