Navigating the Article
Links from Traffic Swarm
On each page of HBB Review we have links for business opportunities drawn from Traffic Swarm. They are there to give subscribers a chance to browse (HBB Research gets no gain from any link), and also to build our SEO position. Go to Traffic Swarm and check it out...it's a neat idea!
|
The Trader Personality in Home-based Business
A Fascination with the Deal
For 90% of the population, web trading means eBay, so that’s where we are going to focus.
There are three main ways of making money out of eBay – all variants on a theme. You can sell something you own – the traditional auction. You can resell something you have expressly bought for the purpose taking the risk that the auction will not cover your cost of sales. Or you can open a storefront and sell like any retail store using eBay as an infrastructure provider.
From the home business person’s point of view the unique trading opportunity is the buy and resale. The traditional approach doesn’t yield enough volume and the storefront is just that: an electronic store. In a way the storefront is a ‘fixed price’ version of the buy-resell model.
There is a cottage industry in producing books on how to be successful on eBay. Most quote these kinds of statistics (culled from a 2003 article - numbers updated to 2005):
There are nearly 125 million eBay users who spend $1000 per second.
Most eBay sellers are individuals and small businesses who sell everything from porcelain dolls to DVD players to Mercedes convertibles.
Every day, more than 2+ million new items are added to the eBay marketplace, more than 10+ million bids are placed, and more than 100,000+ new people register to buy and sell on eBay.
At any given moment, eBay is conducting some 20plus million auctions, divided into more than 45,000 different categories.
One company is grossing more than $5 million per year selling brand-new pool tables on eBay. Their eBay store is so profitable that they've closed their retail location and now sell solely online. That's right, they're making $5 million by selling pool tables—proof that you can sell just about anything on eBay if you know how to do it.
Be aware, however, that eBay is no magic bullet. As any eBay Power Seller (a seller who has at least 100 feedback ratings—98 percent positive—and maintains at least $1,000 in average gross monthly sales for three months, amongst other criteria) will tell you, building a profitable eBay business takes hard work and requires long hours, and often the financial rewards do not make it worth the effort spent.”
What it takes to be Successful
Process
The process of trading on eBay is essentially the same as trading in the offline world.
Product selection: picking what you think will sell is central to any trading operation. Whether you are recycling garage sales stuff or things bought in the Dollar Store, you are essentially making the same bet. You are hoping that the perceived value of something in one location is lower/higher than in another location. What eBay allows is for you to hit ALL locations across the globe so maximizing your chances.
Place the product on eBay: eBay has its rules and ways of operating.
Product storage: you need to hold inventory, how much depends on the scale of your operations.
Shipping: you’ll need to get the product out to wherever in the world the buyer is. In some cases traders arrange for their product suppliers to do their delivery for them (called ‘drop shipping’) so relieving them of the need to hold inventory. In practice the Trader becomes a distributor for the supplier – but unlike the regular distributor their margins can be at real risk.
Critical Success Factors
Product selection: you have to research the competition and what’s selling. What looks like a terrific deal to you where you live and in your circle of friends may be a bust everywhere else? Additionally, what is scarce and thus valuable in your local may have 10 or a thousand competitors on the global marketplace and not be scarce at all
Be deeply aware of eBay’s rating system. EBay uses actual buyer experience to rate its sellers and a low rating resulting from negligence or shady practice on your part will result in you being squeezed out. Do what you have promised to do and do it promptly
Remember eBay’s fees they come out of your profit. EBay charges you to list items for sale and collects a final fee if the item sells
Start slowly. Many people believe that the more items they have for sale on eBay the better investing thousands in inventory and spent hundreds on listing fees. Those are the folks that usually end up with an overflowing garage.
Test, Test, Test. A fair portion of eBay auctions result in no sales, so it's best to test the waters before jumping in with both feet.
Concluding Remarks
eBay trading is a real opportunity. People do make money out of it. But it requires lots of work and focus. It is interesting to note that the suppliers may be the big winners. They have a ‘gambling’ sales force that is directly selling their offerings at no risk to themselves – brilliant! Remember in all web businesses ask yourself “who is really benefiting?”
Recommended Resources: Traders
Trading is About EBay!
There is a glut of books on making money on eBay, plus an emerging glut of 'systems' that will do it all for you. The list of current best keeps shifting so we suggest that you try the following:
For an excellent example of a system go to:
http://www.free-money-kit.com/
Go to Next Article The Investors
Warning!
If you arrived at this site through a search engine, you need to know where you are. You have landed on a subscriber page for HBB Research's Insights Letter or of the HBB Review.
HBB Research is one of the first research programs into web home business linked to a business school.
The Insights Letter and the HBB Review are FREE newsletters that provide ideas and insights to mostly new web entrepreneurs
Subscribe to "The Insights Letter" Now!!
Sign up for HBB Research's FREE "Insights Letter" and receive a long series of FREE insights into the coming boom on web home-based business plus your FREE subscription to HBB Review. No obligation
| |
Top Clickbank Sellers on Traffic
Type the word EBAY, AUCTION, DROP SHIP into the search box below and find the best selling books and tools on traffic sold through Clickbank:
For those of you who are not aware, Clickbank is the web's leading supplier of digital products and is an enormously powerful affiliate engine. If you join nothing else, seriously consider becoming an affiliate of Clickbank.
Top Picks
The Auction Revolution
One of the most comprehensive guides to Power Selling on eBay. The Auction Revolution is not very sexy, but it is stuffed with great ideas. Well worth a look.
Click Here
"How an Overworked, Traveling, Soggy Sandwich Eating Dental Hygienist Made $11,212 a Month Online"!!!
Seriously though, Express Profits Online is a solid program that will get you moving on eBay. The are also highly organized in their marketing - always a good sign.
Click Here
Auction Profit Machine
Forget about stacking up stuff in the garage...or worrying about the next drop shipment...move to digital products on ebay. No inventory, multiple sales of the same offering, endless profit!
Click Here
SalesHoo
Whether you want to buy at wholesale for yourself or to sell on eBay, SalesHoo is a serious network of dropship wholesalers with a active user base. Well worth a look - even for your personal needs.
Click Here
|
