What a changing market place we live in! Ten years ago whoever would have thought I could be sitting here in a Hotel coffee lounge typing this post on on a notebook computer while receiving emails from eBay all over the world and all without any Cables!
With over One Billion Computer users worldwide, there has never been a time to make money online. From this coffee shop I can buy and sell virtually anything ALL OVER THE PLANET not just on eBay but many other online sites including your own website.
Never, ever have we had such an opportunity to work from home.
The biggest question everybody asks me is "what can I sell on eBay"?
My answer comes in multiple parts. These days we have a separate lab with multiple servers crunching the web 24/7 to find products for us then we source them mostly from Asian countries however you can start much simpler and we tested this strategy many times and it works.
Firstly, like everything I teach, start to make money in YOUR niche.
Ask yourself what your niche is. What I mean by niche is simply this: we are knowledgeable about certain subjects simply because we are passionate about them. Examples: Gardening (gardening equipment), Music (CD's, Hifi equipment etc), Fitness (Fitness products etc). The secret here is find your niche and start buying and selling products in your own specific niche. What magazines do you read? What is your job and past jobs?
You can expand you niche later.
How many times have you heard the saying, "This is so expensive in this country". Well guess what - just buy that product on eBay from that other country and sell it in your country. Where to buy eBay products
The most profitable way to way to make money is to import direct from manufactures however checkout online Auction Houses in your country. The sneaky easy way to find these sites is to see which website everybody else is going to.
To do this, go to alexa.com and download the free Alexa toolbar. This is an extraordinary addition to your web browser. No matter which web site you go to, it will show you where everybody else has been beforehand. All you need to do is find one auction site and then follow the trail to find others. I have found some amazing sources of cheap products this way.
A good source for products when you are starting out is from the Saturday morning garage sales. In some countries these are called car boot sales. I recently went to three of these on one Saturday morning in Sydney Australia where I live for research and here are my results.
Item Cost Price Sold on eBay Profit
Sewing Machine
Cost $30
Sold $141
Profit $111
Video Camera
Cost $150
Sold $260
Profit $110
Wooden Puppet
Cost $2
Sold $27
Profit $25
Saxophone
Cost $10
Sold $280
Profit $270
Small Hifi System
Cost $40
Sold $118
Profit $78
Sewing Machine
Cost $20
Sold $127
Profit $107
Compact 35mm
Cost $25
Sold $291
Profit $31
6 Total
Cost $277
Sold $983
Profit $706
So, after three garage sales, a profit of $706, which I reckon that is a pretty good profit.
Another place to buy products from is to buy BADLY MARKETED products from places like eBay or the paper, and especially products with the wrong spelling, i.e. LAPTOP instead of LAPTOP.
I recently purchased an Aluminum boat which was missing the word "boat" from the advertisement and the auction finished at 1:30am!!
These mistakes cost the seller dearly however make for bargains for the astute buyer.
These days we buy direct from manufactures in China, Hong Kong Korea and Japan. The most economical method to do this is to buy at least 1 cubic metre of goods and send them via sea. Only get into overseas importing once you have gained the experience using the above strategies and start small. You can find many products in China and Hong Kong at http://www.alibaba.com
A fantastic way to start which I think every beginner should do is to sell items in your house which you do not use any more. It is also very good feng shui to eliminate clutter in your house. If your house is completely bare and there is nothing you no longer use, be creative and ask around to find something you can sell. All you need is a couple of dollars to start and then turn it into $10 then $100 etc.
You know the saying "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink!" That is how it feels to me sometimes. Many people say to me "Neil, you have this great lifestyle, what can I do to make the money you have and all the free time you have?' When I tell them to build their own Internet Business, 9 out 10 will NOT do anything about it. Sometimes I wonder what people would need to hear before they finally do something.
It would appear you can sell something for more money on eBay than you can in the paper. One of our client buys cheap cars from the newspaper and then re-sells them straight away on eBay and makes a nice profit.
The great thing about eBay is it has a much bigger audience than any newspaper so products tend to sell for more.
Marketing is everything, not just for eBay but for everything in life, even getting a partner! Profit from others lack of marketing skills. Marketing sells, the profit difference between a good ad and a bad one can be massive. If you want to learn to be a good marketeer, just model on others - it is that simple. Problem is most people's ego gets in their way.
Buying eBay products.
The old saying of "you make money when you buy" is so true. Don't get into a bidding war! Whenever I buy houses, I stand at the front right corner so I see the auctioneer and the buyers. I never get involved in the bidding war, rather wait until the hammer is just about to fall and just before the hammer hits the block I make hopefully my first and last killer bid! The advantage of this is there is no point in getting into a bidding war with everybody. The only person who wins out of this is the seller! Wait till the very end of the eBay auction before you place your bid. I do it in the last ONE minute!
Selling Products
Obviously the reverse. Advertise your product for as long as possible. In eBay's case, 10 days and set your start price as low as possible. I start most of my products at 99 cents. The advantage of this is you collect loads of people not only bidding and watching, but they also start getting emotionally attached to your product. Although we like to think we only buy out of logic, reality is we buy from emotion. If we all bought cars through logic, we would all be driving old Volvos!
Please let me know how you go or if you have any questions.
Best regards,
Neil Waterhouse
http://www.neilwaterhouse.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Neil_G_Waterhouse
