SEE HOW EASY IT IS TO LIST AN ITEM

My Purpose

If you have not figured it out already, I am relatively new to selling on Ebay and new to blogging. I hope to offer a fresh point of view for Ebay selling. I am not a professional seller or writer. I hope that everyone can find the kind of success that I have had this past year. I know that there are people that make a living on Ebay but you do not need to be a pro to get started. In today's economy I only hope Ebay will help pay some bills and allow my family (and yours)to afford the occasional luxury of eating out or buying something we want rather than only needs.Ebay has helped our family keep our dignity by not having to apply for government assistance. Ebay can make that difference in your finances. Ebay is a second job that does not keep me from my family. I only list items once a week on a day off from my job and I ship items on my way to work. We keep our inventory in a spare room in the house and we stop at garage sales , thrift stores ,flea markets, and other places we use to find bargains on our way out to shop for groceries or on our way to work. My wife and I enjoy working together to find bargains. If you invest a year of your spare time you can easily make an extra $500 a month. Begin educating yourself on the value of items that turn up frequently at garage sales, used book stores , ect..
Browse completed ebay listings and auctions to know average selling prices. Remember to only buy an item that you can at least double your money on because you still have to pay fees associated with your listing.  What we have done anyone can do. We did not read anyone's book and had no guidance. We have no special education. If perhaps everyone took some small initiative to do something extra to provide for themselves then our economy could grow and our reliance on government handouts would diminish. May you and your family prosper.

KEEP YOUR BALANCE

You will experience many highs and lows as an Ebay seller. Enjoy your success and have fun but do not get discouraged with problems.Take care of them quickly and move on. I have had the thrill of selling an Item that I paid $6 for $250! I have also had someone return a $500 item at a great loss in shipping fees and condition of the item. Be careful to avoid mistakes and have understanding when someone has a problem with their purchase. You will make mistakes and learn from them. I learned very early on not to be sloppy or cheap with packaging and to always understate an item's condition. Even with your best efforts you will sometimes come across a buyer who just cannot be made happy or someone who you think is unreasonable and plain stupid. Learn to control your emotions , take a deep breath , act professionally and go the extra mile. While there will be people that take advantage of your service policies your reputation will far outweigh any loss of money. Good reputation creates more business.
You will discover that the more time you invest, the more money you can make. Be careful to not go too far with your ambition. Save time for your family , remember to have fun. You can strive and work yourself to death but it is God who distributes his blessing to whoever he chooses. Be content with whatever profit you bring in and don't let it go to your head. The higher you let yourself fly the harder the crash is when a problem comes. May you be prospered in this new year with your Ebay business!

LOOK FOR ITEMS THAT GO TOGETHER

As you search for bargains bring together a few inexpensive items to create a theme or set or items that go together. It will make your listing unique from everyone else's. You can collect random books with decorative bindings and sell them together, put together a few sets of baby cloths , list video games of the same genre , decorative pieces that go well together, group together books on the same subject, put together kits ( everything you need for a new pet , a baby , tool sets , ect...) It is much easier to sell items in large groups than individually. Often you will get more money this way just because no other listing looks like yours.

START NOW FOR BIG PAYOFFS LATER

If you are just getting started on Ebay use this time to experiment with pricing. Test what little product you have and see just how high you can price it and get a sale. While you are building your inventory there is no need to sell off slow items. Only when your storage are is filling up do you need to worry about moving product.Use only buy it now format and also remember to use Ebays listing catalog. If your item is in their catalog , it will only cost you 5 cents a month to list.You could list your item for a year and still pay less than a dollar in listing fees!You can also use the free auctions Ebay offers.Just remember to make you start bidding at the high sell price - all you need is one bid. By the end of this year you will have a firm grasp on pricing. Your inventory will slowly sell down over the year and you will find many great items this year.You don't have to sell them yet. Make sure you get top dollar, once your item has sold you cannot sell it again - it is gone. This year I had on average $100 in sales a week (not profit - just sales). In November and December I had $100 in sales each day for 57 days in a row. The Christmas rush is the time you need to save your inventory for! Every item that sold made top dollar!

ANOTHER GREAT FREE BOOK

SAVE MONEY ON PACKING COSTS

When you go to the grocery store or other retail stores and you see clerks stocking items to the shelf ask for their boxes. Most of the time it is store policy to give boxes to any customer that asks. You can also call a store in advance and some will save them for you. Sometimes you can even get star-foam and bubble wrap to recycle. Plastic grocery bags can also be used as bubble wrap. If you put your item in a bag and tie it with some air in the bag then stuff that bag into another and tie and then another and tie it provides great padding for your items. I have even used paper bags to wrap small books or other small items. Wrap it , tape it shut and print the address right on the bag. 
While it is ok to save money getting free shipping supplies it is not ok to be sloppy with your packing. Make sure all boxes are sturdy and sufficient packing material to make the box feel solid. If you feel comfortable using your packaged item as a football then you did a good job packing. Most people have seen the awful home videos of delivery men throwing and mishandling packages. Assume your delivery person will be irresponsible. Make your item impossible to break. I have started using duct tape and lots of packing material on my heavier boxes and have had nothing damaged so far with this new technique. While you should fill your box with packing material do not overfill as too much inside pressure can cause the box to burst as well.

KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN

Be aware of what you see every day in your normal routine. At my regular job I count large amounts of money each day. I look for silver coins in the change and other old coins . I also have found lots of unique dollar bills with collectible serial numbers. If the serial number reads the same forward and backward such as 1100660011 it can sell for 20 - 30 dollars. I have found coin errors and paper money errors.
My wife works at a library and there is a library next to the company that I work at. We check the books for sale section every day for great bargains. I pass thrift stores and garage sales on the way to work and stop at these. We have found numerous retail locations that have large clearance sections. Once a week we drive to 15 stores to replenish our inventory.
Don't go out of your way for items just open your eyes to what you see every day!

SELL WORTHLESS ITEMS IN A GROUP TO MAKE A GREAT SELL!

It is very difficult to make any money selling single books or a single pair of pants , a single shirt , a single video game , ect...
Unless you have a very hot item you should group together items of little to no value. You might be surprised that someone would want it. 
If you have a single used romance paperback with markings and folded pages, it is worthless. If you have 50 of them you might find that you can get $20 for them. The same goes for used old clothing or games or anything else. If you have one pair of very used blue jeans it will never sell but if you have 5-10 of the same size someone will buy it.
You will never get more than $1 for an out of date sports video game but in a group mixed with other types of games you might get more. 
This method usually works very well if you are patient. Just make sure you are very honest with condition.

FREE BOOK MAKE MONEY BLOGGING

FREE BOOK FOR EBAY SELLERS!

A free kindle download EBAY 101 FREE on Amazon!
I read this book today. It has a lot of great advice and helpful detailed information starting your business. I do not agree with him on all his advice (he advises loosing money with auctions) but it is still a great book. I highly reccomend it!

MY BIGGEST MISTAKE

Do not use auction format! You can sell faster at auction but usually you will not get top price. Find out how much an item usually sells for at auction and then list your item as a Buy It Now for 20% more. Be patient - it may take up to six months to sell but you will sell it eventually for more money. If you must use auctions then start your auction out at 15% lower than normal sell price with a Buy It Now that is 15% more than normal sell price. Most of the time someone will use the Buy It Now to avoid loosing it at auction. There is a certain  item that I sold at auction last year for $27 and this year sold two of them Buy It Now for $65 each!


Only use auction format for extremely hot items that are rare and very few are listed... something you are sure people will fight over. You won't find items like these very often.


If you start your auctions at $1 and hope they do well YOU WILL LOOSE MONEY.


This is the worst mistake I made my first year. Do not be afraid to overprice - you can always discount later. If someone really wants an item they will usually make an offer anyway.


There was another item that I bought for myself for $50 that I wanted to keep. It was worth about $150. My wife wanted me to sell it so (without telling her) I over priced it so it would not sell. After seven months someone bought it for $350! I was not upset at all to sell this item for that price!

MAKE MONEY WHILE YOU SPEND MONEY

You have to spend money to make money. Why not make money while you spend. I have many business expenses such as paying for shipping at the post office , Ebay and Paypal fees, and buying items to resell. I try to always pay with a credit card that has cash back points. These are also lots of cards that offer sign up bonuses. I have recently used 5 or 6 different credit cards that have offers such as :
spend $500 in 3 months and get $200 cash back
Spend $2500 in 3 months and get a $500 Walmart gift card
Spend $3000 in 3 months and get $500 cash back
Get $100 cash back after your first credit card purchase
Get $50 cash back after your first credit card purchase


I use these cards long enough to get the bonus then I change to another  and another and another..... I make over $1000 a year extra using this method!


There are lots of these available - see the following links
http://www.mymoneyblog.com/get-free-100-bonuses-from-credit-card-promotions


http://www.creditcards.com


http://www.cardbenefit.com/credit-cards/sign-up-bonus.htm

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT AN ITEM IS WORTH?

Take Ebay with you. Look up items on your phone if you have 3g web on your phone. I cannot afford this service on my phone so I use the next best thing. I bought the Amazon Kindle with FREE 3G internet. I look up every Item that I am tempted to buy at a garage sale or thrift store on my Kindle and I never have to pay for internet service. I have checked and this is the ONLY FREE 3G SERVICE ANYWHERE. They are very inexpensive and my best investment to date. I go nowhere without it!

WHERE DO I GET ITEMS TO SELL - WHAT DO I BUY ?

I get most of my items from garage sales , resale shops , Goodwill , used book stores , library book sales , donations from friends/family (stuff they do not want or are throwing away), free items on craigslist, other Ebay auctions that are under priced , ect.. You will not make money by buying something at Walmart and reselling it. Do not buy anything that you cannot at least double your money on. Ebay and Paypal both charge fees for you to use their services. These could be as much as 20% of your sell price. You also have to remember that your buyer has to pay shipping as well. This will affect how much you can charge for an item. Sell small items that are inexpensive to ship and use parcel post or media mail / book rate for inexpensive shipping. As you start out only sell items that you know the average selling prices on Ebay or items that you can get for free or a buck or two. Start with something you know about. I started with sports cards and books. As I learn about other things and their value I expand what I look for to buy. The longer you sell the more you will learn. In a few years you will have a broad knowledge of the value of many different categories.

LISTING YOUR ITEMS

When listing your items, be very careful to accurately describe your item. Always include a photo. Do not be tempted to exaggerate or say that your items are in better condition than they really are. I usually understate the item condition so that my customers get more than they expect. You want to avoid problems at all cost (it takes the fun out of selling). I will not go into detail as how to set up your account as EBAY has more than sufficient information and excellent customer service. They offer live online chat and a number where you can talk to a representative that wants to help you make money.

FINDING STUFF TO SELL

While you are getting started you need to stick with items that you can get for free or very very cheap. You might start with items you already have that you no longer want. When I was a teenager and Ebay was brand new I sold my baseball card and autograph collection on EBAY. I was very attached to this collection and it was very difficult to sell but I needed a car more than cards. I had collected for 10 years and had 300,000 cards and 3,000 autographed items. As I began to sell it was very painful at first but gradually a very helpful thing began to happen. I stopped viewing my collection as something to be cherished and began to see it as money. This is what you need to do before starting your business. When you find items to sell , you must see them as money and not as something to keep. That is why it is probably helpful to sell things that you already have at first. You won't make a profit on these items but the psychological effect has a great value when you begin to sell for profit. I made about $10,000 off my collection ( I probably spent that much on it over the years) but it cured me from being a collector or a consumer and made me a seller - a businessman.

INTRODUCTION

I will be giving advice on how to start an EBAY business. I will share my mistakes and the secrets that I have learned along the way. I started selling 2 years ago and if I knew then the things that I know now I could have made more money and avoided many mistakes. This is what I hope to help you with. I like to see people succeed in life. I want everyone to do well for themselves and I hope to be a help to you. I will offer realistic advice and realistic expectations. My first year I only made $100 to $300 profit a month. My second year I have made between $400 and $2000 profit each month just by selling items that I can find in my spare time. As my business grows I hope you will be inspired to give this a try as well. I still work a full time job 50 hours a week and I have a family. Selling on EBAY can make extra even in your spare time. I will be updating this blog at least a couple times a week with very helpful advice. Please check in often.


Ken Archbold