Deciding what to sell on eBay is a key component in your eventual success. For you, the decision may be obvious. Perhaps you love furniture, vintage fashion, military surplus, or art, and you have some resources for buying at prices well below market. Perhaps you are a collector of objects that will interest your fellow collectors throughout the world. If you have a personal passion, that’ s a great place to begin building an online auction business.

If you are not a collector, consider the activities you enjoy. There are potential products associated with your career, your hobbies, or your leisure activities. Aside from the pleasure you will get buying and selling the products you select, your buyers will appreciate your knowledge and experience.

A dizzying variety of items are sold on eBay every day, from beautiful antiques to modern electronics, from cars to real estate. Electronics, computer - related items, and cooking and kitchen items are reliable sellers in online auctions. Many sellers have built healthy businesses selling books, particularly coffee - table books. Jewelry, antique as well as new, is a huge market. Presently, the largest category on eBay is Business and Industrial Materials and Equipment. Many eBay merchants resell used items purchased at fl ea markets, garage sales, and thrift stores. Of course, eBay businesses are not limited to any one category, and many sellers do not specialize in a particular type of merchandise. Instead they look for good purchasing opportunities and sell anything they believe will generate a healthy profi t. To see which items are the most searched for on eBay at any given time, go to http:// pulse.eBay.com.

Finally, you can create your own products. Some people sell original artwork, or crafts ranging from blankets to furniture to jewelry. Writers sell e - books, and software designers sell their software programs. Many eBay sellers have established viable businesses creating products to be used by other eBay merchants, such as eBay account management programs.

In deciding what to sell, and in selecting items to buy and resell, it is useful to understand the curve of supply and demand, both in the retail world and on auction sites. Economists have identifi ed four phases in the life cycle of products: the introductory phase; the in - season retail phase (when the product is easily available in most retail stores); the end - of - life phase (when a new model is about to be introduced, and retail price reductions are common); and the liquidation phase.

The introductory phase is the part of the life cycle of a product when the demand is highest. You are probably familiar with the annual frenzy to purchase hard -to-fi nd toys around Christmas. When new toys or computer systems are introduced in October or November, many eBay sellers buy up the available stock. Then, when retail stores are sold out, the eBay sellers list their stock in online auctions. Recognizing the incredible response of online auction buyers to new products, some manufacturers now introduce their new products on eBay fi rst, before providing stock to retail stores.

All products have an introductory phase, which may last a few weeks or a few months. New clothing designs, for example, are introduced into the marketplace a couple of months in advance of their actual season. Thus summer clothes begin to appear in stores as early as February, and sweaters and jackets in August. Televisions and other electronics usually remain in the introductory phase a few months, until newer, improved models appear. In the case of automobiles, new models appear once a year, and the introductory phase lasts about nine months.

By the time a product has reached the liquidation phase, new models are already on the fl oor. Manufacturers and retail stores make every effort to get rid of their merchandise prior to this phase. For eBay sellers, the liquidation phase presents a potential moneymaking opportunity, because eBay buyers are all bargain hunters at heart. Many of those buyers would prefer to get a good product at a great

price, rather than paying full retail for a product in its in -season retail phase. In fact, a number of eBay merchants specialize in offering liquidation merchandise. However, there are several factors that must be carefully weighed every time you decide to sell liquidation items.

The fi rst consideration is demand. Before you purchase products in the liquidation phase, be sure there is still a market demand for the products. Do not buy fad products whose desirability has already peaked and probably passed. Do not buy products that did not sell successfully during their earlier phases. The best products to sell during the liquidation phase are those with popular brand names. Always research and determine how much of the product is already available on eBay, and avoid introducing more of a product into an already crowded market niche. That would bring prices down, perhaps below your ability to make a profi t. One rule of thumb for larger merchants is to avoid buying more than 10 percent of the available quantity of the product.

The second consideration is your cost of goods. Cost is always important, of course, but it is of primary consideration at this point in the product life cycle. You must buy very low to profi t from products during the liquidation phase. One fi nal note on this subject: If you come across a great purchase price, you may be tempted to overbuy, but always remember, you do not want to get stuck with product after the demand has disappeared.

PRICING

One of your most important decisions regards pricing your auction items. It is useful to do some research before you decide. To research the history of similar items sold on eBay, go to the eBay “Advanced Search” page at http://search.eBay.com/ws/search/AdvSearch. Enter the keyword or item name that most closely matches the items you have to sell. Choose the appropriate category. Check the box that says “Completed Listings Only.” Under the “Sort By” drop-down list, select “Ending Soonest.” This search will bring up items similar to yours and display their actual selling prices.

We also recommend using Google for pricing research. Go to Google.com and enter into the “ Search ” box the keyword and item name. This will bring up every similar item for sale anywhere on the

Internet, including individual sellers through CraigsList ( www.craigslist .com ) and other auction sites. For new or nearly new items, the list will include the manufacturer, various retail stores, and sites such as Shopping.com and Amazon.

The information you glean from this research is only a starting point, of course. eBay shoppers are looking for a bargain, so you want to price your item accordingly. Your strategy is to avoid losing money on an item while encouraging vigorous bidding.

Some sellers choose to set a reserve price, which is the minimum price at which they will part with the item. Auctions utilizing a reserve price work exactly like regular auctions, except that the high bidder must offer an amount at or above the reserve price in order to win the auction. Reserve price auctions ensure the seller will not lose money on items offered for auction. Bidders can see on the sales page that there is a reserve price, but they do not know the amount of the reserve.

Reserve price auctions do cost the seller extra; the eBay listing price for reserve price auctions is tied to the amount of the reserve. If you employ a reserve price auction and the item fails to sell, you can still e - mail the highest bidder and offer to sell the item at that bidder ’s offer price. A better tactic is to simply set the lowest acceptable price as your bottom line, thus saving yourself the reserve price fee and still protecting yourself against losing money. Many eBay customers surveyed state they will not bid on auctions with a reserve price.

Some sellers start all auctions with “$1NR” pricing, which means an opening bid of only $ 1.00 with no reserve price. While this pricing structure may generate lots of bids, it carries a high risk that the fi nal bid will be less than the cost of the item auctioned. You may choose to use this structure to foster initial interest in your business, but it is not a viable tactic over time.

Statistics show that approximately 40 percent of items sell the fi rst time they are listed. If an item fails to sell, you can elect to relist the item at a later time without paying a new insertion fee, under three conditions. First, it must be less than 30 days since the closing date of the fi rst auction. Second, the fi rst auction must not have been a Dutch auction (explained in a moment), and you must not have received any bids on the item. Third, if you held a reserve price auction, you must not have received any bids that met the reserve price specifi ed.

If no one met your reserve price (if one was specifi ed), if the winning bidder failed to pay, or if you have an identical item but did not include it originally as part of a Dutch auction, you can make a second chance offer. Second chance offers can be made up to 60 days after the end of the sale. There is an eBay process for second chance offers. Go to your “ My eBay ” page, then to “ Sold Under All Selling, ” click the “Action” menu, then click “ Send a Second Chance Offer. ” These second chance offers are covered under eBay ’ s buyer protection program. eBay does not charge sellers a second insertion fee for second chance offers.

Страницы: 1 2