Before i dive into the real meat of
making money on ebay using dropshippers or wholesellers, let's get some basic fact and history of ebay straightened out to enhance our background knowledge. So why not grab a drink and i'll tell you a long story.
About 15 years ago today a fellow called Pierre Omidyar established an online market place in San Jose for people to make money on ebay. It was to be the first of it's kind worldwide as he developed the first code for it in one weekend. Ebay as it was later called sprung from the domain he used for his personal site then- Echo Bay. The first item ever sold on ebay (Echo Bay) was Omidyar's broken laser pointer for about fourteen dollars.
As time went by..
Ebay became massively very popular as buyers and sellers converged online to transact goods and services. Sellers listed variety of weird, normal and even odd items to make money on ebay while buyers simply bought these items. Based on trust seemed to be the utmost principle by which ebay was formed and meant that the site could be left to run by itself without further intervention. Ebay had been designed from the beginning to collect minute fees on each sale, it was this money that was used to expand ebay. These small fees quickly added up reaching way more than Omidyar's salary and then quited his job to focus on his online venture.
1997 saw Omidyar change Auctionweb's- and his company name to 'ebay' which people had been calling the site for a while back. He further dedicated himself towards publicizing the "ebay" brand name and had the ebay logo designed. Within this same year, one millionth item was sold- it was a toy version of Big bird on Sesame street.
During the peak of global dotcom boom in 1998, ebay became big business as the need for strategic business direction grew. Senior managers and business strategists got on board thereby floating the organisation on the stock exchange. To enhance it's global domination, ebay began encouraging it's users to sell more than just collectibles. As a result ebay quickly became a big time buying and selling portal where practically anyone could make money on ebay and get what the've paid for whether big, medium or small. Unlike many other dotcom businesses that sprung up that year, Ebay survived the end of the boom and currently, it's still waxing stronger till date.
In 1999, ebay exhibited it's aggressive dominating tendensis by establishing sites worldwide in countries like Australia, Germany and the UK. Later in that same year, ebay acquired half.com an Amazon- like online retailer.
Whilst in 2000, ebay introduced the concept of buy it now within it's online features- this feature is intended for customers to buy actual products or items they were interested in rather than waiting for the auction to end. This strategy meant that buyers got their items quicker whilst sellers also got their money faster as they made more money on ebay. Afterwards, ebay acquired paypal- an online payment service in 2002.
Till date, Pierre Omidyar has made money on ebay of an estimated $4 billion and still serves as the chaiman of the board, he also keeps a personal weblog at http://pierre.typepad.com where he records his activities, plans and even future projects and development. There are millions of different items bought and sold on various ebay sites daily worldwide. and there is plenty of room for people to make money on ebay. It's estimated that for every $100 bucks spent online worldwide, $14 is spent on ebay- one hell of a lot of laser pointers.
And the moral of the story.....If this chap can develop a multi- billion dollar empire from a single piece of idea through persistence, committment and dedication, i believe you and i can as well! Through the advancement of ebay, every one, anyone and someone can make money on ebay, as such, a level playing field has been established. What has never been possible is now a great possibility!
Gone are the days you would ask our sister's mother's husband for capital to start a business...
Gone are the days you would buy the latest suits for a meeting with the bank manager to ask for loan for your business start up.
So, tell me folks; what's stopping you making money on ebay?
Is it getting wholesale suppliers or dropshippers to supply items for you to make money on ebay?
Is it getting the capital to start up so you can make money on ebay?
Is it lack of knowledge on getting started on making money on ebay?
Is it the fear of getting started and failing for you to make money on ebay?
What ever your reasons or excuses, please acknowledge the the fact that to make money on ebay isn't rocket science...
As such, i designed these blog to provide free and useful content on how you can make money one ebay in no time or for the fast learners amongst you , be an ebay power seller in no time. This brings me to the major reason why this ugly looking site was brought to life.
How to make money on ebay for beginners.Most marketers out there would tell you making money on ebay is difficult and complex for you to have to buy their ebook if you really want to make money on ebay selling stuffs. Another set of people will tell you "oi! i'v got thousands of dropshippers and product suppliers' info or list, pay me $29.99 every damn month to get your hands on them."
Folks, do not be fooled. I'v learnt from bitter experiences in the past. Most of them being- buying into suppliers and wholesale lists to get access to product suppliers only to find out that the suppliers are either more expensive than the retail outlet out there, or the quality of their products are below par as such nobody would even take them for free. The only person thats going to be making money are the people selling the lists as there is no chance in hell you're going to be able to
make money on ebay using those lists.
Research Research Research..Before you embark on making money on ebay, first conduct your due diligence- find out what is in demand in various categories in different countries including where you reside . This would give you an idea of what the current market trends are. I normally just use a third party research service called Terapeak.
Terapeak has been offering marketplace research based on eBay data for the past couple of years . They are very reliable and i recommend them!
Based on monthly or yearly subscriptions, majority of ebay sellers often use the Terapeak site on a daily basis to determine item values, find the best keywords, explore hot products, find niche markets, and forecast their inventory schedules. eBay PowerSellers use Terapeak research to keep an eye on their competition and the marketplace, and many new sellers use the research available to get a good picture of the existing market without taking unnecessary risks or creating test auctions.
It's always ideal to know if an item you're about to launch is already selling or in great demand before you approach suppliers and wholesellers. Otherwise, you may end up with a dudd!- Products that won't sell.
No sales no profits! quiet simple!
Moving forward, after your preliminary research, you then need to move on to the next step...
Your competitionYour competition entails other sellers listing similar products that you might be interested in selling as well. As such, keeping an eye on them is vital to your success of making money on ebay. Having a good competitive advantage over your sellers is everything. Being able to match them price for price or even better still....
...the cheaper your listings the more sales you will make. But do ensure your potential customers do not begin to ponder the authenticity of your merchandise due to your low price fixes. But then again you want to be able to attract more customers at same time make profits. So, do endeavour to strive at attaining that equilibrum (balance).
Getting great discounts from your product suppliers is a vital tool to your success as an eBay seller and to your business as a whole. As there is a greater profit margin for you to attain profits.
Potential buyers love free shipping, if it's possible to offer this to your customers whilst within your profit margin, then offer it to get return business.
You may also need to re-evaluate your returns policy as customers prefer a more subtle and relaxed returns policy. But then again you need to see what returns policy your competitors are offering to their customers.
In a nutshell, this is how to make money on eBay- Lesson 101!- I did mention this story was going to be long and windy...
...In Summary...Research your chosen market thoroughly before diving into it- this include finding out what sells and don't! It's all about what product your customers are in desperate need of and it must be a niche that is well known for customers spending. See what your competitors are doing and then try and offer a much more better service to your customers.
Few of these include:
- Giving a better price than your competitors
- Giving your customers a relaxed returns policy
- Offering a free or promt delivery service where possible
- Cross selling to your customers- different range of products within the same niche
We also discussed your market competition:
- Always keep track of what your competitors are doing and then try and offer a much better and enticing version.
- If their prices are lower than yours, there is a tendency they will have more sales than you. Trust me, customers do shop around for cheaper prices. So, if you can match their prices whilst still remaining profitable then go for it.
- Always strive to offer your customers top quality service. As there are gains in return visitors as they build up trust and confidence in you.
"There is no better feeling than seeing your paypal account credited daily with sales proceeds from your eBay transactions"
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