GUEST BLOGGER: Amanda Perkins Tucson, AZ
I asked to write an article on this blog to share a little known fact about eBay .A little known but very profitable fact actually. I'm not selling or endorsing anything just wanted to share some info that has REALLY help me immensely so enjoy. .I've been on the bay for 7 years now
and love it of course it seems like eBay has been around for ever.
Not really just the sign of a great company. I mean as long as you
have the ability to adapt you can also do a pretty good job as well.
I started out selling small Ceramic figures on eBay. They went pretty
well but it was more of a learning process for me as you may have
guessed. Luckily the demand for them back then was relatively high
and I was able to make something in return for my efforts. I sold
them with moderate success for the 1st two years.
About two years ago a strange thing
happened I noticed that American made denim Jeans were on eBay
selling like hot cakes! I immediately got in on this Niche and was
glad because it became very profitable as the price steady rose from
buyers mainly overseas and abroad. I still don't fully understand the
why the “Made In America” tag has gained such popularity here
lately but I am noticing that there is also a demand for other
American Affiliated merchandise such as 1950's and 60's Baseball
Cards, Classic Vinyl (especially Jazz) and antique Books which seems
to becoming more and more popular as collectors items with the
current domination of eBooks.
These items are in fact a lot easier
to find than you might think and the most work comes in researching
exactly what you have then pricing it competitively in the market.
Once you get a pretty good system on how to define and price goods
the rest is down hill. There really is no set place to find goods.
They are literally all around I have gotten merchandise from storage
auctions, yard sales, off of Craigslist, out of the Classifieds, from
Neighbors, family friends like I said from all over the place. I
think the most important rule is simply disregard your own opinion
altogether. The theory “One man's trash another man's treasure”
really applies here. I have on several occasions went to the Goodwill
and spend maybe a few dollars only to see a full blown bidding war
break out on eBay over the same merchandise! We have so many things
here in America we take for granted that are in high demand in other
parts of the world would be the best way to put it. Research
international pricing as well it should give you a better overall
idea of how to set your own price. Ironically eBay is great for price
research and offers several different ways in which to do so.
In the process you will come across a
lot of stuff some of which you simply may not be able to sell on e
Bay. Maybe it too big to ship, a forbidden item what ever reason
simply place them on your local Craigslist Ad of accumulate enough to
have a Yard Sale of your own! I have about 2 Yard Sales a month
mostly clear out inventory and get rid of items that may not have
sold on eBay. A few years ago I started my own website. For a little
balance so to speak plus the fact it has gotten so easy to create and
maintain a website here in the last year. It seems the plausible
thing to do here certain items can stay online for sale indefinitely.
I like my website because I have a little more control and can sell
what items I like there.
So my suggestion is of course you can
still use eBay to make some money. As I mentioned try the “Made In
America” niche and see if you too can make it work. I would add a
website to boot just as sort of an equalizer. The trade off is
simple as eBay does have control of their website but your website
will never get a fraction of the exposure eBay does so the tradeoff
seems fair. So yes as an active member averaging $5,000 monthly on
eBay I would give my wholehearted recommendation to anyone looking
for a solid stay at home e-Business. I'm trying to get my husband to
quit his day job and join me!
Amanda xoxox
