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My introduction to EBay came out of curiosity. A couple of friends had mentioned purchasing items on the auction site, and during a particularly uneventful afternoon, I decided to check it out. After coming across an original, handsigned photo of actress, Julie Newmar, I signed up for an account and hit the “Buy It Now” option. I was so caught up in the excitement of the new purchase that I didn’t even bother to read the info on how the site works. For a moment, I was actually worried that I had done something wrong (especially after seeing the ad disappear from the listings). Everything worked out and I have since come to realize EBay’s immense potential.

EBay can be a very fun, and potentially addictive, option for purchasing everything from rare collectables to cars, to real estate. It is the one place where you can literally find almost everything that you’ve ever wanted (and even a few things you didn’t know you wanted).

The EBay marketplace now boasts 50 million registered users with transactions totalling 5 billion a year. Literally a world of potential customers, along with low start up costs, makes EBay a perfect option for those looking to start a home business. It’s especially useful for those living in smaller communities, erasing the barriers and smaller profits imposed by a limited population, and giving way to an entire world of potential customers.

You can even start selling on EBay while working at your current job, and as your business grows, you may faze out your full time job altogether.

Getting started on EBay is relatively easy. Before starting to sell, you must register and obtain an EBay Id account. It is also recommended that you open a Paypal account. People will bid higher and more often if they can use a credit card and the easiest way to begin accepting credit cards online is through Paypal. Buyer protection is also offered through Paypal, which gives the customer added peace of mind.

The only sales tools that you will need are a computer with internet access and a digital camera.

After deciding what it is that you want to sell, inventory is something that you may want to consider. EBay features several listings every week for huge wholesale lots of various items. These can be bought, broken up, and sold individually for a huge profit.

You may decide to sell informational products such as e-books which can make inventory fulfillment much easier (items only take up space on your computer’s hard drive). There are always listings of large libraries of e-books and software for sale that can become a 24 hour profit machine, if properly marketed.

You can even reach out to the author in you and write your own e-book. Developing a well researched and thoughtful e-book may be time consuming, but the potential rewards are enticing. You may write on any topic, but e-books involving financial gain (such as eBay or Forex trading) seem to be the surest bets. Writing your own e-book is not as difficult as it seems. You simply use a simple word document and convert the finished product to PDF format through a website such as www.adobe.com. It is extremely important to remember to copyright your finished product before its eBay debut.

Another option for those not wanting to store inventory is dropshipping. The dropshipping process basically involves you listing and promoting a company’s product, and them shipping it out to your customer after a sale has been made. Dropshipping is attractive to many eBay sellers due to the fact that inventory is not required, there’s no limit to the number of items you can sell, and you can start selling within hours of finding a good product. Many dropshippers will even include a label with your contact details, so your customer will never know that it was a dropship.

Dropshipping seems too good to be true and it does come with a few disadvantages. For every dropshipping item that makes a profit, there’s at least a dozen that won’t, and finding a profitable item can be both difficult and time consuming. You also have to rely on a third party for your customer satisfaction. If the dropshipping company is slow in shipping an item, it’s your feedback that will take a beating. If you do decide to dropship, it’s important that you contact the dropshipper to ensure that the item is likely to remain in stock for the remainder of the auction.

It would be a good idea to check out the daily auctions, in the areas that interest, you to get a feel for where the market is and what the hottest selling items are. You can research completed listings through the Advanced Search, which can be found in the right hand corner of any eBay page. By entering the name of an item and selecting by “Price: Highest First”, you can get an idea of the potential profit margin of an item that is listed and promoted accurately.

During your time on the internet, you will undoubtedly come across several ads wanting to sell you an e-book or a course on how to strike it rich on EBay. Although some are more helpful than others, they are all basically filled with the same commonsense tips. One of the most common tips for making big money is to combine more than one sales avenue, such as employing both dropshipping and wholesale, in your marketing strategy.

Probably the most important thing to remember is to provide good customer service, such as responding quickly to questions, offering satisfaction guarantees or refunds, and accepting multiple payment options. This can help facilitate a sale and also help maintain a high feedback rating.

When placing an ad, it is recommended to choose multiple listing categories and upgraded features such as text bolding and highlighting. These will help your ad stand out from the sea of competition and also, potentially, help fetch a higher final bid.

Writing detailed, compelling descriptions and taking clear and closeup pictures of your product are the next steps to achieving a great selling price. Always bestow the benefits of the product and make it sound as appealing as possible. Let potential customers know what your product can do for them, and if it seems appropriate, list the current retail price.

You should also offer competitive shipping costs. It’s better to raise the initial price than have a huge shipping cost. On more than one occasion, I’ve experienced the frustration of finding a great item, only to be turned off by ridiculous shipping and handling cost.

Most bids are actually placed during the final moments of an auction, so you should always try to end your listings when the most people are online. This is usually on a Sunday evening between 7:00 and 10:00 PM. You can use eBay’s scheduling tool to help you in this area.

If you’re ever feeling lost or overwhelmed in any aspect of the selling process, EBay offers a very thorough “Help”, as well as a “Selling Tips”, section that should ease you through any confusion.

Anyone thinking of starting a business from home should not overlook the unlimited potential that EBay offers. Several Power sellers make huge profits every week and have been able to turn selling items on the internet into a full time income. I continue to both buy and sell on EBay and have become much more knowledgeable in both areas. It now seems so long ago that the photo of that initial purchase disappeared into the unknown depths of cyberspace.