The best way(s) to make money on eBay will be revealed after our review of the "common" methods.

The text in this post edited in italics is a previously compiled list of 11 common methods for sourcing products to sell and make money with on eBay. The article was originally written by a self appointed drop ship guru by the name of Mike Makler AKA "The Coolest Guy in the Universe".

Last Year over 20 Billion Dollars worth of product was sold on Ebay. (Yes Billion with a "B"). Many people are earning $10,000 or more selling on Ebay. Many more would like to sell on Ebay but they face that big hurdle - Where Do I find Items to sell on Ebay. Here are the 11 Best Places to Find Items to sell on E-Bay.

Copyright © 2005-2006 Mike Makler the Coolest Guy in the Universe

Original Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com

About The Original Author: Mike Makler has been Marketing Online Since 2001 When he Built an Organization of over 100,000 Members

1 - Garage Sales

The Strategy that works best with Garage Sales is stop by at the end of the day and offer to buy all the merchandise they have left. You can often spend $25 - $50 and then resell on Ebay for $500 or more.

2 - Storage Units

You've seen those Storage units. If people don't pay their rent the contents are auctioned site unseen. You can almost always make huge profits reselling these items on Ebay and you almost always break even if you happen to get a lemon.

• Breaking even is not the goal - The goal is to create a business on eBay. While this is a better idea than Garage Sale sourcing... because the auctions which list these storage unit sales are organized and localized (i.e. you will spend less time finding product). It is not a way to make money on eBay on a consistent basis unless you have a system to cull through an enormous amount of useless and profitless items packed in boxes and crates to get through to the few items which will make you a profit on eBay.

3 - Household Items

Clean out the attic, go through the garage and even your closet. Most Households have hundreds if not thousands of dollars of "Junk" they can sell on Ebay.

• This has to be the most commonly used and most ridiculous suggestion of all. Do you honestly believe you can sustain a business of any fashion by selling off your personal items? It may be a good way to get a taste of how eBay works, but this is not a way to "make Money on eBay". Breaking even is the only goal here...

4 - Government Auctions

Government Auctions are a great place to find things to sell on Ebay.

• This is almost the best suggestion in the list - Government auctions can be a very interesting way to convert investment into profit on eBay. You must know what it is your buying and how much your investment will cost you to make it salable however. Most of the profitable items in this sourcing pipeline are in the eBay motors categories. Confiscated boats, cars, motorcycles, RV's and more can be purchased at select government auction locations. Finding the real auctions and cutting through all of the bogus lists of these auctions in the first chore. But once you find your local or regional Federal, State, County and City auctions, you can locate some incredible bargains among the wrecked, damaged, and titleless vehicles for sale at these auctions. I would suggest that unless you have an extensive background in vehicle repair and sales that you should avoid this method of making money on eBay. One bad deal can suck up all of the profits from three good deals. Additionally, your costs for advertising the items for sale will be much higher than with general merchandise. Plan to invest at least $75 for each eBay motors listing - then price your Government auction finds low enough to make sure they sell the first time.

5 - Consignment

This appears to be one of the fastest growing small business of the New Millennium. You sell things for other people on E-Bay and you keep 25% of the profit.

• I am an registered eBay Trading Assistant, I have been a Franchise Rep for a multi-national chain of eBay drop stores, I have been working in the trenches of eBay consignment for many years... And while there are numerous reasons why you should add eBay consignment selling to an existing business or retail operation, there is simply no good way to make a profitable business out of focusing on eBay consignment as your primary form of income. eBay consignment is a great way to add secondary income, if done correctly. eBay consignment can and will attract a great deal of exposure and traffic to your retail location and your Internet web presence. BUT if you are about to launch a business as an eBay trading assistant or as a drop store franchisee, your prospects for becoming prosperous or even profitable are very slim. If you are already in this business, you should be looking for ways to bring in additional income streams, eBay consignment will not pay the overhead of a retail store location. The same rules apply here as with the Garage Sale scenario - Every item is different and every item must be categorized, cleaned, photographed, researched, described, listed, and if it sells, it must be packed and shipped. All of this is not difficult to do, but it is time consuming. When you add in the time it takes to turn away good customers because the items they bring into your store will not provide enough profit to make the investment in them to list, then you have a nightmare on your hands. The only suggestion I can provide for those who are in the drop store business, is to consider signing up for an eBay Store and then list every under $100 consignment item which comes through your door as an eBay store item. Add to the size of your web presence, create an attractive eBay store design and use the small items as bait to bring in traffic for your larger ticket items. Then get large ticket items listed - go after cars, boats, and RV's... It is the only way you can survive.

6 - Ebay

If you know a market like coins, Antiques, Stamps you can often buy items on Ebay at deep discounts from motivated sellers and then turn around and sell them at a very nice profit.

• To be honest, this is how I started in eBay - On the surface it seems like the perfect plan but in the end, shipping will kill you and as a business plan, the long term availability of a sustainable niche product is not assured. Of course you can keep an eye on your favorite eBay category and look for bargains usually made available by eBay novice sellers, but as a business plan this is hit or miss. Who really wants a hit or miss business plan?

7 - Retail Inventory

If you happen to own a store this is a great way to get rid of your overstock, Off Season or returned items. Using the consignment idea you can offer to sell (hard to sell items) for local merchants on Ebay.

• While this idea is not completely explained by the author or the original list, as a business plan, this is the best of the lot! If you have a retail store front and your familiar with your product line, have your source of supply already established and have a secure income stream from your existing business... Then by all means, eBay is an excellent addition to that business! Using eBay as a tool to add income, increase worldwide exposure for your business and bring in new leads in the form of satisfied customers, either buyers or consignment sellers, is an excellent eBay business plan! eBay can add o much to an established business, and in so many ways, it is difficult to fathom why more business owners have not caught on to the eBay revolution. If you want to investigate the enormous advantages of adding an eBay component to your current business plan, please contact Scott Pooler at All Business Auctions.

8 - Flea Markets/Swap Meets

Flea Markets/ Swap Meets often have Day Sellers. Many of these people don't want to load up the stuff at the end of the day and take it Home. By offering to by all that is left at the end of the day you can often get great deals.

• Have you been to a flea market lately? If you have, could you tell me what is it that you would be willing to purchase at the end of the day at a flea market, haul home, process, and market on eBay? If it is available at your local flea market, it is most likely available in every flea market in the USA. How many buyers are willing to even pay shipping costs for an item they can find at the local flea market. Not a business plan, this is desperation...

9 - Church Bazaars

The Church Bazaar strategy is similar to the Flea Market Strategy above. Offer to buy what's left at the end of the day at a deep discount.

• OK - I think we are really talking desperation here. What do you find at Church Bazaars? The stuff people could not sell at their garage sale... Don't even go there if you looking for a business plan.

10 Fairs and festivals

Use buy it all strategy above at local fairs and festivals.

• Repeating the same useless "strategy" is somewhat deceptive. If the author is talking about Art fairs or festivals he should also know that the art category is one of the most difficult eBay categories to sell in. People almost must see art in person to be motivated enough to purchase it. I really have no idea what else the author could be speaking about? The image of the Mother Teresa in a cotton candy swirl?

11 - Drop Ship

Drop Shipping is a great way to get items to sell on E-Bay. See the Ebay Resource link below for more information.

• This is where the author of the original article promoted his drop shipping list. Let's discuss drop shipping -

Drop Shipping is a universally touted almost magical elixir for eBay sellers. It sounds so easy, you set yourself up with a drop shipping resource, usually for a fee, you choose from thousands of items made in around the world (insert China), you place these products on eBay for sale, sight unseen... People line up in droves to buy the same off-brand junk every other drop shipping eBay seller is offering, you sell an item, the drop shipper then is supposed to take your order and ship it directly to the buyer.

As a business person, this sounds ideal, you never have to store merchandise, you never have to ship merchandise, you just market it on eBay for someone else, collect a small profit - if any, and hope to the gods that the drop shipper actually delivers the items you do sell.

The only good way to set up drop shipping is if you have an established relationship, one on one with a manufacturer or distributor or name brand products. These products must be in demand, they must be name brand and you will have already researched the profitability of these products before entering into any drop shipping arrangement with the company.

One scenario which would work in drop shipping would be if there were a manufacturer in your town or city, and you were able to get a business relationship established with this manufacturer. The following rules must be applied:

• The products this manufacturer are in demand and are searched for on the Internet.
• The price you must pay for the product allows your to make a profit - AFTER eBay fees and PayPal charges.
• The manufacturer will allow you to have an exclusive eBay or better yet, Internet/Web sales channel for the products.

Without these highly desirable factors in place, you will have no control over the products you sell and therefore you are at the mercy of the drop shipping supplier, and the buyer. If the buyer is unhappy, you will be responsible. Buyers do not care if an item is drop shipped, they do not care about anything but the product and the reputation of the seller. As a seller, your reputation (feedback) will suffer if your drop shipper drops the ball too many times with shipping delays, broken merchandise, or other possible problems.

As a business owner, you must have some control over your product - how can you be if you are in business with a drop shipper you have never met?

How can you really make money with an eBay business plan?

• Do exactly that - Plan to make money. You must have a business plan in place.
• Add eBay sales to your present income stream if you own a retail or wholesale business.
• Create an information product - Information products are a very worthwhile and interesting method to not only earn additional income for your business but also to draw traffic in to your storefront and your Internet website and eBay store.
• Establish a relationship with a manufacturer of name brand products in your town or region and market their product for them on-line and on eBay with a set profit margin in mind.
• Establish and eBay consignment depot within your present business - offer eBay services to your customers and they will come back more often.
• Use eBay to set up a trade-up program for your new retail sales of big ticket items or equipment. Customers will appreciate the convenience and uniqueness of this concept and you will not have any capital outlay in the used equipment while selling new equipment to your established customers.

There are obviously ways to make money on eBay - 20 Billion reasons prove that out each and every year. The trick is to know the tricks and/or to not fall for the commonly proposed methods of establishing an eBay business. The real money is being made by established and recognized retailers who have adopted an eBay strategy and have used eBay to their advantage. There is no reason why your business can not benefit in similar ways and Sears and Circuit City on eBay. You must have a plan and you should not expose yourself or your business to the many methods which will help you to lose more money than you make.

eBay is like any other business - it is not an overnight wealth building magic pill - you must work at it and be smart!

Give us a call if you would like more information about how and why adding eBay and Internet sales to your business plan are good ideas and how you can avoid the pitfalls of starting an eBay business plan.

Scott Pooler - iBusinessLogic & All Business Auctions Founder

Does your business use eBay as a tool?

This may seem like an odd term for the largest online sales producer on the planet... but in reality, no matter how large or small your business is, eBay is an effective and often under utilized tool.

eBay is not the only tool in your marketing toolbox and even though it is a very effective device, eBay should not be the only tool your company uses to generate online sales. Other tools are more familiar, website marketing, Google Adwords, Amazon.com  to name a few.

But why should any business consider using eBay as a part of their online marketing plan? - Numbers - Search - Rankings - Sales - All of the Above

Look at eBay's numbers, they are well publicized, and immediately you will understand the best possible place to be when your goal is to gain exposure for your firm.  With over 230 million registered users and sales figures, even in an off year, which are staggering, the plain truth is that eBay is the 500 lb gorilla in the room when it comes to online sales.

Search - No other single expenditure can yield as much exposure and rankings in search engines than a focused eBay Stores campaign.  When eBay spends 4 Billion dollars of their own money to provide AdWords campaign exposure for its sellers, how can your company leave that money on the table by not participating?

Rankings - When your products, blog posts, item descriptions and other related links are combined with an organized and focused eBay stores program, your own website rankings will rise faster and farther than you could possibly expect with simple SEO optimization.

Sales - An effective, well organized and detailed eBay Stores program is a proven sales producer. We would be remiss to not mention the fact that even if any single eBay stores program did not result in any sales or profit whatsoever (highly unlikely) the benefits listed above in search engine rankings, paid (by eBay) search, and just plain worldwide exposure in the form of Internet advertising of your brand and your products... Any costs associated with an eBay stores marketing campaign can be easily offset by the amazing benefits associated with the program. 

For more information Call 727-596-6900 iBusinessLogic/All Business Auctions
 

Is eBay really a place to get rich quick?

eBay loves to promote stories of sellers who have made it big on eBay. The entire idea seems to be one of getting home based businesses and micro entrepreneurs excited about joinging the eBay family of sellers. Many solutions providers have geared offerings to focus on these sellers as a niche. So, the question remains... Can just anyone make it big on eBay? The answer is yes! Can they do it as easily and as quickly as eBay and many solutions providers try to promote?

No - Not really.

Everyone needs to be aware of some basic and irrefutable laws of business. Any business person knows that to make it big there will be hard work and a great deal of effort involved. You can not expect to start with the items in your attic or garage, without a real business plan, and become a millionaire. The stuff in your garage is worth less than what you paid for it in most cases, so unless you already spent many millions of dollars on the stuff gathering dust in your garage, you chances of making a million by selling that stuff are very slim. You can learn the basic workings of eBay by selling a few personal items, so it is not a bad idea to start with this approach. But keep in mind that if you have a desire to make a business out of eBay and/or you want to move into an Internet based business model, you will need a solid plan.

Business Plans are somewhat scary to most people. It is hard to consider all that you will need to make a solid business plan. Unfortunately, without one you have very little chance of succeeding where others have failed.

If you are already in business and you have a retail or wholesale or manufacturing business, your chances of succeeding in Internet sales and on eBay are much greater than if you are simply starting from your garage. With sources of supply already in place and with a product knowledge most other eBay retailers will not have, your present business can launch your Internet based/eBay business with a bang!

Think about what you have sold in the past, what you are selling now, or what you have sold for other businesses... This is where you should start, online.

AuctionLogic is a web-based eBay listing software platform which has been customized for All Business Auctions by a certified eBay-compatible application developer. 

Auction Sound software is recognized as the most comprehensive and extensive eBay drop store listing tool and as a certified eBay developer has joined with All Business Auctions to provide a fully customized version of their trading assistant and drop store software package.  

“AuctionLogic” is a licensed and customized version of Auction Sound developed by All Business Auctions specifically for use as a brick-and-mortar business eBay listing tool and eBay sales management suite. 

Auction Sound will provide AuctionLogic clients with the same high standard of technical support as it does for some of the largest chains of eBay drop store franchises in America.  With AuctionLogic powered by Auction Sound your business will receive enterprise level software and local level operational support.  

AuctionLogic is the only eBay listing software program which provides the following benefits (in this price range).

·        Easy to use web based platform.  Use it anywhere!

·        Simplified listing management and accounting including QuickBooks export tools

·        Free scheduled listings on eBay

·        Unlimited AuctionLogic listings per month

·        Unlimited image hosting

·        Automatic inventory management tools

·        Integrated Terapeak research panel (Terapeak account required)

·        Discounted DHL shipping & integrated shipping management

·        Quick auction or eBay Stores lister

·        Custom auction template management

·        Employee productivity reports

·        Tiered software access for managers and employees

·        Extensive sales reports and search capabilities

·        Auction default settings

·        Consignment capabilities which are unmatched

This is the most comprehensive eBay auction and eBay store listing and management suite available today for small to mid-sized businesses.  As an AuctionLogic client, your business will get the full benefit and experience of the All Business Auctions staff of experienced eBay Power Sellers and online marketing, advertising, graphics and accounting professionals.

AuctionLogic clients will receive a discount on any additional operational or design services available from All Business Auctions for the life of the software service contract.

AuctionLogic clients will receive a discount on AuctionLogic renewals after the first full contract period.  We offer this loyalty bonus to our seasoned clients who may find a declining need for operational support over time.  We let you run your business your way and simply provide the tools to allow you to succeed in online sales. With AuctionLogic your staff will become eBay professionals in a short period of time but be assured that if any problem or question arises our operational and software support departments will be there to find a solution.

All Business Auctions primary goal is to provide small and mid-sized business owners the means to implement a solid an eBay marketing strategy as a part of an existing business plan.    Our accounting department is capable of developing a complete business plan or help you adjust an existing business plan to accommodate the addition of eBay and internet marketing components to your business.  We have the experience and ability to help you. 

All Business Auctions is prepared to council any business owner on how to take advantage of the amazing profit & advertising capabilities of eBay. We will help you to develop and implement an eBay component to your internet sales and marketing strategies. These eBay strategies are already implemented by Fortune 500 companies such as Sears and Circuit City.  Put your company on an equal playing field by utilizing the eBay marketing power advantage.

EBay is a phenomenal marketplace which is widely acknowledged:

·        eBay is the world’s largest marketplace.

·        eBay is open for business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year.

·        At any given moment there are 4.5 million items for sale in over 18,000 categories.

·        A book is sold every 4 seconds, a laptop every 30 seconds and autos every 60 seconds.

·        There are over 220 million registered users of eBay.

·        Only 5% of those 220 million users are Sellers.  Can you say, “Seller’s Market?”

·        eBay outsells General Motors and Wal-Mart combined!

All Business Auctions will work with you to learn your business and help you formulate your unique sales strategy for eBay.

Every business is different; every product has its market.  We know that you know how to sell your product.  We also know that online sales can sometimes be difficult to cultivate.  With a custom-designed sales strategy made in cooperation with your marketing department, All Business Auctions can help your business experience growth in your online sales segment.

Examples:

·        eBay & eBay Stores

·        eBay combined with your website and existing customer base

·        Amazon.com

·        Overstock.com

An online sales strategy will not replace existing revenue producing sales but it will increase your worldwide and local exposure and increase the margins realized from your already profitable sectors.  Today’s consumers are looking to the internet first before making a buying decision.  If your company and its products are not available on the internet you are missing out on more customers each and every day.  

·        eBay is the world’s largest marketplace.

·        eBay is open for business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year.

·        At any given moment there are 4.5 million items for sale in over 18,000 categories.

·        A book is sold every 4 seconds, a laptop every 30 seconds and autos every 60 seconds.

·        There are over 230 million registered users of eBay.

·        Only 5% of those 230 million users are Sellers.  Can you say, “Seller’s Market?”

·        eBay outsells General Motors and Wal-Mart combined!

·        Accesss to over 200 million eBay shoppers and a $40 billion market

·        100,00 new users on eBay daily

·        Exposure to Potential customers Worldwide

·        Acquire new customers and build your customer base

• Local Support and Training
• No long term contract
• No franchise fee or royalties
• Simple Easy Software to use with compartmentalization, employees only know what they need to know to accomplish a task.
• Ability to deal with the same representative each and every time when additional services needed, no need to research new providers or deal with non-local options
• Scalability and cost control with listing pack solutions
• Freedom to run business, no franchise rules.
• Multiple provider options to fit client needs and budget
• Pricing advantage, All Business Auctions will negotiate preferred pricing on ala-cart services from third parties because of bulk purchasing, this savings passed along to ABA clients