Get Yourself A Piece of The eBay Pie

Ebay is without a doubt the greatest internet marketing phenomenon of all time. Millions of people log on every minute and every second there are hundreds of items listed, sold and bought, and of course money is made. It has become the world's largest marketplace, where the potential for selling an item is exponentially increased due to the sheer volume of people who can view the item for sale.

The attraction Ebay holds for the most people is the possibility of selling or buying anonymously, and getting a great bargain. And for the first time ordinary people are making extraordinary incomes selling literally everything from beanie babies to diamond rings and cars. For those who venture out of their comfort zones into the cybermarket place, the following may com in handy as a guide to selling on Ebay:

A. RESEARCH WHAT IS LIKELY TO SELL, DON'T JUST SELL ANYHTING

Contrary to what you might think, not everything sells on Ebay. Your success on Ebay depends on selling what people want and need, and what they will pay for. You can find this out by browsing closed auctions of items you are interested in selling, see how many bids there were for the item and how high the bid price went. The more bids and the higher the closing price the more successful the auction.

B. ASSESS THE COMPETITION

It's no use selling an item that there are hundreds of thousands to choose from. Your chances of success will be severly diminished. The rarer the item and the fewer the number of people selling the same item the better your chances of making a sale. Find out how many similar items there are for sale by using the search feature on Ebay. Avoid items that are oversupplied and that everybody else is selling.

C. FIND THE CHEAPEST SOURCE OF THE ITEM

The best way to begin is by using a dropshipper. This is a wholesaler who will ship single items on your behalf to your customers and does not charge you a fee to do so. You don't have to keep inventory of the items you sell, and you order the item to be shipped to the buyer after you have sold it on Ebay, thereby reducing your risk to near zero. Remember the principle "Buy low and sell high" That is the key to maximizing your profits.

D. LEARN THE TRICKS OF THE TRADE

It is prudent to learn as much as you can about how Ebay works before you start, as there is more to it than meets the eye. There is no surer way to fail than to jump in without doing your homework well and believe me, it is work. If anyone says otherwise they're simply not telling the truth.

E. START WITH A SMALL MONTHLY BUDGET AND STICK TO IT

Don't spend more money that you can afford to lose. As with all businesses it takes time to tweak your skills to perfection. It is very easy to fall prey to internet sharks who promise fantastic returns in a short period of time. It simply does not work that way.

F. GIVE IT TIME

Forget about making a lot of money in a short time. It is slow tedious work,a ndmake some allowances for failure. Don't get discouraged. Find out what works and what does not work and improve yourself as you go along.

c. Michael Schandorf-Lartey 2004

Michael Schandorf-Lartey is an internet entrepreneur, and operates a successful wholesale sourcing website that assists internet newcomers to launch their own Ebay businesses. He lives in Clermont, Florida with his wife and three children.

In The News:


Minneapolis Star Tribune

President Ronald Reagan's blood for sale on auction site
Washington Post
An online auction site is hoping to find out by selling a vial that it claims was used to draw President Ronald Reagan's blood as he recovered from the gunshot wound that nearly killed him in 1981. To top it off, the auction site says, “dried blood ...
Reagan blood sample vial for sale, controversy includedLos Angeles Times
Auction claims it's selling vial with Reagan's bloodMinneapolis Star Tribune
Reagan's son says auction of vial purportedly containing late president's ...Fox News
The Atlantic
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CBS News

Disputed dinosaur fossil auctioned for $1M in NYC
BusinessWeek
By JENNIFER PELTZ A dinosaur dispute is brewing between the Mongolian government and an American auction house, which sold a fossil of a fearsome T. Rex relative despite a court order not to. The 8-foot-tall, 24-foot-long skeleton of a Tyannosaurus ...
Dinosaur Auction: Tyrannosaur Skeleton Fetches $1 Million Despite ObjectionsHuffington Post
Dino fossil sold in controversial auctionWTAM.com
Dinosaur Dustup: Auctioneer, Mongolia Battle Over $1M BonesABC News
Bloomberg
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Hamden police auction rids department of old items while adding to town's ...
New Haven Register
By Ann DeMatteo, Register Staff HAMDEN — Some chairs and desks, three coat racks, six doors, three telephones, a chalk board and an electric pencil sharpener are no longer town property as a result of an auction held at the old detective bureau ...
NHR: Old Hamden PD Stuff to be Auctioned TuesdayPatch.com

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Bloomberg

Treasurys fall as stocks gain; auction on tap
MarketWatch
Last month's auction came at a yield of 0.27%. Yields on shorter-dated securities haven't fallen as much as longer-dated ones in recent weeks because they are more closely connected to interest-rate expectations — and the Federal Reserve has given no ...
Treasuries Fall Third Day Before European Summit, Note AuctionsSan Francisco Chronicle
Treasury Auctions Set for This WeekNew York Times
TREASURIES-Prices fall on profit-taking in new debt salesReuters
Bloomberg -BusinessWeek -Investor's Business Daily
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Spanish, Dutch Funding Costs Move Opposite At Auctions
Wall Street Journal
By Emese Bartha Spain's borrowing costs rose further at Tuesday's Treasury bill auction, underlying the market's unease with the country's funding sustainability as bank recapitalization needs, frail finances in some of its regions and an upwardly ...

and more »

New York Daily News

Babe Ruth jersey fetches a 'Ruthian' $4.4 million at auction
Chicago Sun-Times
By MIKE FITZPATRICK AP Sports Writer May 21, 2012 9:58AM This undated photo provided by SCP Auctions shows a circa 1920 New York Yankees baseball jersey worn by Babe Ruth that sold for more than $4.4 million at auction, Sunday, May 20, 2012.
Babe Ruth's jersey sold at auction: Piece of Yankees' history has mighty price tagnewjerseynewsroom.com
Babe Ruth's Yankees jersey sells for record-setting $4.4M at auction; Lawrence ...New York Daily News
Babe Ruth jersey sells for a record $4.4 million at auctionFox News
USA TODAY (blog)
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Pocklington to auction off Edmonton Oilers' Stanley Cup rings
Edmonton Journal
EDMONTON — Peter Pocklington, former owner of the Edmonton Oilers, is once again putting his Stanley Cup rings up for online auction, meaning some deep-pocketed fans get another shot at buying the last remnants of the Oilers' glory days.

and more »

Brazil Central Bank Calls Foreign Exchange Swap Auction
Wall Street Journal
SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--The Central Bank of Brazil on Tuesday called a foreign exchange swap auction, offering contracts valued at the equivalent of $2.47 billion. The auction offers investors the opportunity to exchange paper linked to interest rates ...
Brazil Rate Futures Yields Rise on Stimulus; Real Extends DropBloomberg

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Guitar World Magazine

Beatles' 'Backwards' Abbey Road Photo Fetches Thousands at Auction
Spinner
A photograph of the Beatles walking "backwards" across the Abbey Road pedestrian crosswalk has just sold for £16000 (about $25000 US) at auction. The photo shown above was not used for the band's Abbey Road album cover and was therefore unseen by many ...
Backwards Abbey Road Image sells for $25000NBC Bay Area
Rare Photo of The Beatles Walking "Backwards" on Abbey Road Sells for $25000Guitar World Magazine
Crossing with The Beatlesbrand-e.biz

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Music Center sells time with Gehry and Domingo in online auction
Los Angeles Times
Its first-ever online auction is going on right now, with 36 items up for bid. They range from what you might expect — living it up at the Los Angeles Opera's opening night gala on Sept. 15, then capping the evening by getting to hobnob briefly with ...

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