What things could i sell that i could make a profit from , i refuse to sell dodgy goods thats not my type of thing just genuine things people are interested in buying.
Thank you xWhat advice would you give to new Ebay sellers?
Well, if you consider the millions and millions of prospective buyers and the fact that most everyone collects or wants 'something or other,' the chances are good that you can sell YOUR stuff rather than looking for stuff that sells well. Also, keep in mind, if you sell items that are popular and good sellers on ebay, you will also have more competition meaning you better offer the lowest starting price if you want to be competitive.
Here is a little more info鈥︹€︹€︹€?
You can go to ebay for a tutorial on how to be a seller:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/newtoebay/get鈥?/a>
The basics in getting started can be found via online tutorials and books. But to get to the nitty-gritty of listing an item:
Be honest and accurate in your descriptions 鈥?One-sentence descriptions are for lazy sellers. One paragraph should be sufficient for most items. My general guideline is the more expensive (read higher priced) an item, the more you should 鈥榯alk it up.鈥?It won鈥檛 be time wasted. Use lots of adjectives in your descriptions. Adjectives make prose and your items come alive. Without them, prose is dull and your items less appealing.
Be professional - use good English with no spelling errors
PICTURES:
Including at least one picture is a MUST, more pictures for higher priced items. Make sure your pictures are clear. There are far too many pictures on ebay that are dark. If prospective buyers can鈥檛 see your items clearly, your items, more than likely, will not fetch the closing prices they deserve. To remove darkness, use any photo editor to add some brightness and a wee bit of contrast.
Eliminate clutter. Prospective bidders don鈥檛 want to know what kind of cereal you eat or what kind of kitchen table or bedspread you have. Use a SOLID backdrop when taking your pictures as you want to focus all of the attention on your item. In short, the one and only thing you want in your picture is the item being sold. A SOLID white or light blue backdrop is best. However, there are certainly items that won鈥檛 show well on a light backdrop. In these cases, use a darker backdrop. And for gosh sake, don鈥檛 even think of using a plaid blanket as a backdrop for your pictures as I once saw on ebay. You should also crop the photos in your photo editor. Good pictures can add 5% to 10% to final closing prices.
GOOD DESCRIPTIONS + GOOD PICTURES = GOOD PRESENTATION. This is what you should strive for.
COMMUNICATION / CUSTOMER SERVICE:
GOOD Communication is a must - Always notify buyers when you mail their items. It is not only a courtesy you would want and expect as a buyer but it is also both good customer service and good business practice. After all, you are the 'President %26amp; CEO' of your 'company' running your business but using ebay as your selling medium. In short, conduct your business so that it reflects well on you as a person. Treat everyone as a human being, not a living being, and this includes people who have inquiries about your items, not just your buyers. Prospective buyers making these inquiries could ultimately be the winning bidders and possible repeat customers
TIPS TO MAXIMIZE PROFITS:
Do not limit your auctions to one country. SELL WORLDWIDE. The reason is elementary. You now have access to the largest market ebay has to offer. Limiting your auctions to only one country also limits your potential profits. A basic business tenet is, 'the greater the potential market, the greater the potential to maximize profits.' But do note in your listing that PayPal is the only form of payment you will accept from overseas bidders/buyers. Through experience, you will learn that there are certain problem countries. Italy seems to be one of them. Mail sent to buyers in Italy very often 鈥榤ysteriously disappears.鈥? If this is the case, just note in your listing you sell to all countries EXCEPT (name(s) here).
However, if you decide to limit sales to only one country, such as the USA, never say NO when you receive an email asking if you would ship to Taiwan, Germany, Australia or wherever. The reason is that you have a 鈥楩ISH ON THE HOOK!鈥?This person will bid! When he or she does, this may force a previous bidder to enter another, higher bid or force later, first time bidders to come in with higher bids. So always say YES to these emails if you want to maximize your profits. But do say that PayPal is the only form of payment you will accept from these overseas bidders
Avoid selling 鈥榥ickel and dime鈥?items. People who list and sell a steady stream of items that close for $5 or less are wasting their time. Less expensive, similar items ($5 or less) are best sold as a group to save time. If you have a large number of these cheaper, similar items, divide them up into sub lots of four or five.
More expensive, similar items are best sold separately to maximize profits. There are ebay 鈥榲ultures鈥?who just love to swoop down on similarly grouped items in one listing. When they win these auctions, they turn around and sell the items individually and, in most cases, get one and a half to 2 times and sometimes three times what they paid for them on an average item basis. I know this works. When I had more time (read unemployed), I was one of these 鈥榲ultures.鈥? This is one of those situations where the parts are worth more than the whole. However, do be cautious if you venture into this arena. You have to know your merchandise. Stay in those areas you are familiar with. You can鈥檛 jump in blindly to any and every auction that has grouped items.
If you can buy a large lot of similar merchandise for $100 to $200 and turn it around for $300 to $600, it works out very nicely, indeed! Most buyers of these large lots will be vultures as well so you could be 鈥榖utting bids.鈥?Keep in mind that the higher the closing price at ebay, the less your profit on the turnaround. It鈥檚 not an exact science and it does take a little experience to really know what you鈥檙e doing but you can鈥檛 be afraid to go out on a limb. That鈥檚 where the fruit is. When I see an auction of grouped items it tells me loud and clear that the seller is far more interested in getting rid of their stuff the quickest, easiest way possible and 鈥榖e done with it鈥?rather than in making a decent profit or profit at all.
Short of items to sell and where to find items to sell? Garage and yard sales, church bazaars, flea markets, estate sales are obvious as are 鈥榡unktique鈥?shops. If you want to let your fingers do the walking, you too can be crafty 鈥榲ulture鈥?like a select group of other ebay sellers. Become a member of several smaller auction sites and search for bargains there. But as before, 鈥榮tick with what you know.鈥?br>
If you want to do your listings OFFLINE, download the TURBO LISTER program free from ebay. Once you have finished with your listings, you can upload them anytime or schedule a date and time when you want your auctions to start.
Lastly, keep in mind that experience is the best teacher. Start off slowly listing only one or two items and see how that goes for you. Once you get your feet wet and gain confidence, start listing more items on a weekly basis. You will soon learn the ins and outs and the dos and don鈥檛s in short order and ultimately settle on a system that works best for you. If you are conscientious and put in a little extra effort, you will do well. If you are lazy or indifferent in selling your items, you won鈥檛. Good luck %26amp; happy selling!What advice would you give to new Ebay sellers?
My advice would be sell mobile phones, and never act like a business or a shop people hate buying from them people buy a lot from me...
Always describe the item accurately so if there's a scratch on something tell them to avoid refunding money and getting the Item returned it's a hastle when refunding an item..
Good Luck :)
DVDs, Books (any genre from kids to educational), new/nearly new clothes/shoes/bedding, games (PC, WII, DS etc), mobiles? (even for spares and repairs), toys/teddy's that kids have grown out of but are not ripped etcc, ornaments? jewelry?
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Study other sellers' listings; how they present their items, postage costs, etc. Beware of fake emails, with Paypal/eBay headers on them, although these are only likely on more expensive items. Take the time to study the rules!
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