Most people say the only way to make money from eBay is to sell
on eBay.
They are almost right.
They are actually tons of other methods to profit using eBay,
and selling is only one of it.
As oppose to selling, buying can be your first step to profit
from eBay. And, it can be your starting point to have a
successful online or offline business, provided proper selection
and long term strategies are applied.
** What to Buy? **
I am a guy who don't like to waste time, and I don't like to
make mistakes. So, when it comes to eBay, I wanted to know
exactly what to buy in the first place? Buying the wrong
items/services/products/businesses can be the starting point of
losing money, not making money.
It is essential to know what sells before we buy. Make sense?
Seriously, can anyone make money only by buying? No way! You
have to sell it at some point to make money, to make a profit.
So, to make sure that whatever you buy today will make money for
you in later time, make sure it sells first.
Let me shares one of my experiences, I was looking to buy a
portable dvd player sometimes ago, but I don't like the normal
flip-over type, which I can find it all over eBay. I got to know
that there is a new design, a slot-in type, which retail stores
are selling around $ 400 per pcs. That was too high and I know I
can get it at a better price, and I started to look around at
eBay for it.
I found the same product, which are selling at eBay around
$300-350 (there are a few guys who are selling it that time),
and this product are getting some good amount of bids. What does
it tells you? this product sells! After that, I did some
research using some other methods, and it tells me that it
sells.
Now, I know that this product is worth buying, and I started
buying it. The results? I ended up selling it at $ 300-350 per
pcs, and my cost? $200 per piece. and when more people start
selling and profits dropped, I stopped with this product.
What I did was with tangible products, where I can only buy and
sell for profits per product (and sometimes, when the profits
ain't so good, I will have to drop the idea). The moral of the
story? Do some researches before you decide to buy!
** Where to check? **
Now that you agree that knowing what to buy is important, you
are asking, where you can get all these important information?
the following is some of the tools that you can use especially
when it comes to eBay:
1) Marketplace Research, eBay.com
2) Pulse.ebay.com
3) inventory.overture.com
These 3 places will give you ideas of what are selling well now;
how much it was sold; and an indication of how many searches
were there in overture networks that a particular terms had been
searched in past months.
** How to Re-Brand? **
You may have a question at this stage, how do you going to
distinguish yourself especially when some other people are
selling the same thing? For example, in my case of DVD player?
Well, the answer is simple and straight forward: Most seller in
eBay do not have a proper sales letter. A sales letter is very
crucial when it comes to getting a bid to your products. And,
this is one of the methods you brand, or re-brand.
The fact is, most business on sale does not have a proper sales
letter, does not have a proper marketing campaign and does not
have a clue how to do it. The simple thing is, find out these
businesses, re-brand it with a sales letter, with a proper
marketing campaign, and you can start making money out of it.
And, remember, you don't even have to sell the business, you can
actually making money using the business you bought, and it is
over and over again.
Besides that, you can sign up for some affiliate programs with
the relevant market where your web-business are, and you can
promote their products and makes more money with your
web-business.
** Conclusion? **
So, would you be agreeing with me that with proper planning and
knowledge, buying from eBay can make money for you?
With proper research, intelligent decision, re-branding
technique and marketing campaign, buying from eBay can always be
as profitable as selling on eBay.
About the author:
founder of
www.12ebaycourse.com
