Auction Products to Sell on Ebay
By Sydney Johnston
Author of
Make Your Net Auction Sell!
What should you sell on eBay?
You make your money WHEN YOU BUY, not when you sell.
Write that down…It is your key to auction profits.
Bottom Line… in this section you will learn the ins-and-outs of sourcing goods to sell on eBay and other auction sites.
One of the best start-up features about your own Net auction business is that you can “try before you buy.”
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What does that mean? Simple. (Isn’t everything with a Net auction business that way?) You can try selling merchandise that you have in your home, before you risk a single penny buying new items to sell. |
But, eventually, you will run out of goodies to sell on eBay (“Sorry, dear. I didn’t realize that fishing pole was so important to you!”)
Then what?
Then it’s time to CAUTIOUSLY begin buying merchandise that you can resell at a profit.
Caution is critical because…
… You MAKE your money WHEN YOU BUY, not when you SELL!
Please re-read the last part of that statement. “You make your money when you buy, not when you sell!”
It is your key to auction profits. Write it down on a post-it note and place it where it will serve as a constant reminder.
There are four more prudent guidelines to follow when you begin to think about goods or merchandise for your Net auction biz…
1) Start small.
Start small, both in price and quantity. If you are a computer techno-geek, who lives and breathes operating systems and Perl programming, sell a $10 computer accessory rather than a $1,000 product — unless you can sell that expensive product for someone else. In that case, there is no risk to your own capital AND you generate income through a pre-determined commission rate.
Experiment a bit with those $10 accessories. Try selling them one or two items at a time. Ensure that there is a strong market for them before you rush out and buy 500 more.
2) Concentrate on only two or three categories, at first.
It’s safer and easier to begin with two or three categories. The safest route would be one. A limited number gives you the time to research and keep up-to-date on each particular category, without producing a lot of stress.
Even as you grow with experience, you may stick with two or three categories so that you can specialize and become a recognized expert in your selected areas of interest.
3) Know your costs.
This is absolutely critical!
The only cost you cannot absolutely know in advance is the “final value fee.” If you are selling on a site like eBay that charges for auctions, then you will pay a fee based on the sale price (i.e., the amount of the winning bid).
Still, you should have a reasonable idea of where your items will end up. If something is worth $25, you cannot realistically expect someone to pay $100 (sometimes this will happen — but don’t count on it). Develop a checklist of all your costs involved in a sale.
4) Avoid costly mistakes.
If you follow #1, #2, and #3, you will automatically succeed at #4. 
There is one more caveat to add… Test, test, test.
One super advantage of an auction is that you receive feedback very quickly. In as little as three days, you can know if your product is going to sell or not.
If it’s a hit, sell more.
If it isn’t, and you have a good product, change some of your variables to see if you can turn it into a raving success. For example, maybe the item would do better in a different category. Or maybe the content of the listing needs a little reworking to highlight the benefits of the product.
One of the largest DOCUMENTED eBay-earnings total belongs to a couple in West Virginia who were investigated by the Wall Street Journal. According to the WSJ, they averaged $600,000 a month!
This best-selling pair stated that only about 40% of their merchandise sold the first time around. However, they have learned what to do when this happens.
With these guidelines firmly fixed in your mind, you can now decide on your sales strategy — which in turn will influence what sort of goods you will need to source.
There are two basic strategies to sell on eBay…
First, you can sell a multitude of small, LOWER-PRICED items.
This is a simple business model in many ways. You don’t need a lot of specialized knowledge and it’s EASY to find bargain merchandise that will appeal to a general audience.
For example, there is a very successful eBay seller who specializes in printer cartridges. There really isn’t much to know, except for two things — what customers want and a reliable source for a great price.
The downside is that you will have to do a LOT of transactions to make money. For example, let’s say that your profit on a particular item is $2 and you have set a profit goal of $500 for that item. You would need to sell 250 to meet your objective.
The second strategy is to deal in smaller numbers of much more EXPENSIVE items.
The good part of that is that it is much easier to handle one transaction, rather than 250. And the profit margin is much higher when you sell.
The downside, of course, is that expensive products often require specialized knowledge. It is tough to sell on eBay items that you don’t really understand.
And it goes without saying that your target market will be smaller as well.
OK. Now on to the big question…
“Where will I find something to sell on eBay?”
Gee, that’s the really FUN part, especially if you love the THRILL of a hunt.
First of all, there are sources everywhere. It’s just a matter of knowing WHAT you are looking for.
There are a few general principles to keep in mind before you begin your sourcing safari…
1) Buyers are looking for a BARGAIN.
People like the convenience of being able to shop in the comfort of their home and they love the excitement and suspense of bidding. But in the end, it is the potential bargain that makes them play the game.
Visitors looking at your auction listing have to see your product as a real deal, whether it’s for a lower or high-priced product.
2) Most power sellers rely on only a handful of suppliers.
To understand why, let’s look at the natural progression that most sellers go through (visualize yourself doing this)…
First, they sell one-of-a-kind items that they find at flea markets, yard sales and other local outlets. These aren’t repeat products –simply isolated items that attract their attention.
Then, many get Auction Fever. They are having a wonderful time and begin to see the enormous profits to be made in the auction game. So they begin searching for merchandise that they can sell again and again. It doesn’t matter what.
Finally, the majority of sellers begin to specialize. When you get to this stage, you don’t need forty-seven suppliers, but only a relative handful of RELIABLE suppliers.
Let me repeat… RELIABLE SUPPLIERS.
It is critical to your success that you find merchants you can count on, who deliver on time, whose merchandise is as advertised and…
… who value you as a PARTNER.
Evaluate a supplier BEFORE you risk your auction reputation selling their goods.
Free Wholesale & Dropshipping Source Database
– Search thousands of wholesale suppliers with AuctionInsights’ wholesale database. It’s FREE!!
Many successful eBay sellers choose to DROP SHIP. You may be suprised to learn you can sell merchandise you don’t own, may never see, and best of all, don’t have to ship. There are many companies who will drop ship for you.
Is is a sales strategy used by many businesses, especially small companies. These are often companies who can’t afford ads on Super Bowl Sunday or infomercials that run several times a day. They don’t have a large sales staff and they can’t afford big spreads in national magazines.
Therefore, they will sell merchandise at reduced prices to small buyers like us. We sell on eBay – they ship.
It’s a win-win situation. The company sells more merchandise than they could ordinarily sell. Your Net auction business wins because…
a) You don’t have any financial investment in the goods you are selling. If the merchandise sells on eBay – you receive payment from the bidder and send whatever the widget costs to the company. You pocket the profits. Most drop shippers will ship to your customer with your mailing label on the box. If the merchandise doesn’t sell, you have not risked your money and have no capital tied up in merchandise.
b) You do not have to bother with the shipping and handling of these items. You are free to pursue your real love — finding exciting goods that sell on eBay.
c) Many of these companies have professionally created catalogs and/or pictures that you can use on your auction site. The quality may exceed that which you can achieve with your own camera or scanner.
d) There are no goods to store. This can be a huge advantage. My dining room often looks like a warehouse, piled high with merchandise and tape, bubble wrap, etc.
You can develop your own drop ship sources. All it takes is know-how and some effort. However, the best and most reputable resource for drop shippers to sell on eBay I’ve found is the Drop Ship Source Directory. If you are a serious seller, this is definately worth the modest investment. Click here for more information about the Drop Ship Source Directory.
There are those who sell on eBay that SPECIALIZE right from the very beginning.
For example, perhaps you have been a Barbie Doll fanatic since the age of five. You live, breathe and sleep Barbie Dolls and have no interest in selling anything else. If you are like this, you already know great sources of dolls and are able to locate great deals.
Or perhaps you have a business already, and want to promote that business on the auction sites. Your merchandise categories are already chosen. There are many businesses who have discovered the awesome power of auctions and sell their merchandise this way.
Regardless of your interests, though, the time will most likely come when you want… more! More product lines, more quantity, more choices!
Whichever pathway you take, you need to be able to evaluate and locate sources efficiently and effectively. Never spend a great deal of money until you know the product and the supplier. It is all too easy to get carried away by what seems like a great deal.
You can find great sources at close-out stores, factory outlets, tag/clearance sales, inventors’ clubs, craft exhibitions and flea markets. The possibilities are almost endless.
And don’t overlook the obvious. For example, check out the ads in popular consumer magazines. Or visit a local cottage industry (an entrepreneur using her home or garage as her factory).
The excellent eBook, Make Your Net Auction Sell! provides numerous leads to start building your own profitable source list, no matter where you live. Click here to read Bob McElwain’s (Owner of SiteTipsAndTricks.com) review of this book.
NOTE: Make Your Net Auction Sell! is now FREE!
There is one final source that you must consider…
… YOURSELF! Reliability will not be a problem. 
Create your own product to sell on eBay. You will be doing something you love, the profit margin is much greater and you don’t have to look any further than your head and hands.
Convert a hobby into a business. Learn something new and turn it into a product. Write that book that you always wanted to develop… on bird-watching, travelling with children, woodworking, homeschooling, etc.
Actually, digital books (e-books) are the easiest to sell on eBay. You only have to write it once. There are no shipping concerns. And they are simple to update.
Click Here to read an article on how anyone can publish their own eBook to sell on eBay
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One Response to “Auction Products to Sell on Ebay”
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As a PowerSeller, I can vouch that the majority of this article is good information.
Another good reason to start of selling items you have lying around the house is because selling might not be for you. If you sell that old fishing rod and hate every minute of it, you probably won’t like selling Blu-ray movies.
This sentence I have issue with: “You make your money WHEN YOU BUY, not when you sell.”
I hear that all the time. I think what it should really say is: You make your money WHEN YOU BUY, not JUST when you sell.
The truth is I could buy 100 widgets for $1 each that are usually worth $1,000 each. That sounds like a great profit is coming my way. That assumes I can sell them for that price. If my widget ends up being Beanie Babies then I’ll be trying to pawn all 100 of them off for $20 at the flea market.
Granted the cheaper you buy, the better flexibility you have. But I do believe it’s a combination of buying low and selling high.