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Working With eBay

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Work From Home on eBay: The Basics

It is possible to work from home on eBay. There are many ways to make money
from home using this online auction service. In order to be profitable, a few
things need to be taken into consideration prior to placing your first item on
the auction block.

You will need to have an eBay user ID if you do not have one already. When
choosing an ID, try to make it have some relevance to what you are selling or
wish to sell. Next you will items to sell. There are many considerations here.
Take into account what holidays are approaching, time of year, what sports are
in season -- hockey, soccer, football, etc. Think about what you love to do. Is
it collecting dolls, coins, postcards, antique toys? Are you an electronics
junkie? If you know a lot about what you sell, you will be successful.

The best way to start to work from home on eBay is to use eBay like an online
garage sale. Go through your house and declutter every room. Now you should
have at least a box or two of items that can be sold. Stay away from very
large, hard to ship items. For now, keep it simple. Get these items ready to be
photographed. This means, all glass should be washed, dried, and shined to
remove water spots. Items that are in boxes should be dusted. Silver should be
polished. You want these items to be as new looking as possible. Take note of
any damage as you will need to note this is your ad.

Get a camera. For ideal results a digital camera is best. However, this is a
startup business so for now keep costs way down. If all you have is a 35mm
camera then take really good pictures with it and ask them to put the photos
onto a CD for you.

Now you are almost ready to write your ad. For starters, write up a rough draft
into a word processor. Do this for every item. You will want a title, a short
but accurate description and decide on your shipping and return policies. If
you do this in advance, you will save yourself a lot of time later on. If you
know html you can write your own designer ads and not pay extra: eBay fees will
be discussed a little later.

Shipping your item is very important. There are some precautions you need to
take in order to protect yourself from unscrupulous buyers. Always ship your
products using US Post Office Priority mail with delivery confirmation for
lightweight items. If the item is over a couple of pounds, you will save money
with either UPS or FedEx ground. Be sure to require a signature. For fragile
items, require the buyer to pay for insurance. Know what the cost of the
shipping the item is going to be in advance. Make sure you know what you
packaging costs are as well. These are hidden costs that can eat into your
profits. Never ship an item until payment is received and cleared.

You are almost there, just a few more steps to take to setting up your work
from home on eBay business. You need to accept payments. Do not accept cash
payments through the mail. This is the fastest way to get ripped off. The buyer
has no proof that they paid you. Many people use PayPal. You can start small and
only accept checks or money orders payable to you. You can also set up a
personal PayPal account and once it is verified you can accept PayPal payments
from buyers up to $500.00 per month. After that you will need to upgrade your
account. Only accept PayPal transfers from a PayPal account if you have a
personal account. If a payment from a debit or credit card is posted, PayPal
will hit you with a 4.9% fee plus a .30 transaction fee per item. This can
quickly eat into your profits.

Finally, go out to eBay, list your item through a standard auction and see what
happens. You can add a gallery listing which is when you pay a little more to
have the items picture in the gallery. Once you get the hang of this, start
looking for ways to improve how you sell. The eBay forums are a great way to
learn about how to work from home on eBay.

How To Work From Home On eBay: Beyond The Basics

You know how to work from home on eBay. You have been doing it for a little
while now and you want to take your business beyond the basics. There are other
things that you may be ready to do at this point. Lets take a look.

First lets look at your rating on eBay. In order to start getting into the more
advanced features you must have a rating of 10 or higher. 20 is required to open
an eBay store and 30 is required for certain multiple item auctions. In lieu of
a required rating, you can be ID verified by eBay.

Now that you know about ratings, where do you stand? With a rating of 10 or
greater you can add a buy it now option to your auction listings. This can
really help your sales. A great marketing idea is to price your buy it now so
that the shipping is included in the sell price. Be sure to tell your buyers
that shipping is free with buy it now. You will attract more customers this way
than with almost any other eBay option. It is well worth the small buy it now
fee.

A rating of 20 or more allows you to open an eBay store. Consider this long and
hard prior to doing this. The basic store is $15.95 a month. Every store listing
that is not an auction costs .05 every 30 days plus additional fees for add-ons.
This will add up very quickly if the inventory sits there. To consider a store,
you should be selling a minimum of $100.00 or 10 items a month consistently for
three consecutive months. Then you will have the experience and customer base to
support a store.

You can take your store to the next level with ProStores. This is an eBay
company that interfaces your eBay store with an online e-merchant store. You
will have your own domain name, and they will help promote your website. There
are three levels of service. When you are ready to spend $40.00 a month on
websites and eBay store promotion then consider ProStores.

Other advanced techniques on how to work from home on eBay that will take you
beyond the basics are fixed price auctions with multiple quantities. You need
to be an authorized eBay user for at least 14 days, and you must have a rating
of 30 or higher. If you have a verified PayPal account the rating requirement
drops to 15. This type of auction is for selling items that you keep stock of.
For example you have a case of cat toys. You can list a single fixed price
auction with a quantity of 144 cat toys at a sale price of $3.00 each. A buyer
can order one or more and the listing will not close, the quantity available
will be reduced. It is just like ordering from a retail store online. This is
much easier than entering the same fixed auction 144 times. It is less
expensive this way as well.

There are many tools for you to use once you are selling consistently. Selling
Manager and Selling Manager Pro are ways to keep track of your inventory and
eBay auctions. Turbo Lister is another tool that can help you quickly list
items that you have for sale. It is much easier to design your auctions off
line and then upload them all at once. This saves a tremendous amount of time
and effort. All of these are offered on eBay's website.

You can get many free or low cost tools to help you design auctions. Some of
these programs also include a "turbo listing" feature. Once you are listing 10
items a week or more, you will want to start to use software to automate the
listing process. When you design your auctions have them all uniform in
appearance. After a while, your buyers will know by the auction design if it is
you. This will help you establish a look for your work from home business on
eBay. It is called branding.

Overall, taking your eBay business beyond the basics is not difficult. You
already know how to work from home on eBay, now you need to work smarter.

10 Steps On How To Work From Home On eBay

Here are 10 steps on how to work from home on eBay. Follow the information
outlined here in order to successfully sell your items and start making a
profit. It is easier than you think to have a profitable eBay business.

Step One: Get started the right way. Accurately describe your item. If it is
new say so, if it is not also state that. An accurate description will ensure
that the buyer knows what they are getting.

Step Two: Have great keywords in your title. Look for an item just like yours
in an eBay search. See what comes up. Using great keywords will get your item
further up on the search listings. People can only purchase your item if they
can find it.

Step Three: Use pictures. Now that the gallery is free, there is no reason not
to use pictures. A digital camera is all you need in order to take a really
great photograph. This is what will tell your buyers about your product. Get
this right and your item has a much better chance of selling.

Step Four: Accurately list your shipping and handling charges. Buyers are
turned off when listings are obviously padding their shipping. You are entitled
to have the buyer pay for the actual shipping plus reasonable handling charges.
Another option may be to have a buy it now option with free shipping. This
marketing tool really works well.

Step Five: Use an online payment service like PayPal. Many buyers do not want
to bother with a check or money order. They want to make an online payment.
PayPal is safe and you can start with a personal account and move up to a
premier or business account at a later date. It is difficult to work from home
on eBay without an online payment solution.

Step Six: Promptly ship your items after you receive payment. A delay in
shipping will result in unhappy buyers. This is very important. Make sure you
list all shipping options. It is always a good idea to offer an expedited
service as well as standard. Always ship your item with a form of delivery
confirmation. Require insurance on fragile items.

Step Seven: Keep good communication with your buyer. Email them to let them
know payment was received. Contact them to let them know their item has
shipped. Send them a follow-up email to be sure they were happy with their
purchase and ask them if you can put them on your email list.

Step Eight: Create an email listing of your customers, with their permission.
Let them know when a similar item is for sale. For example if you sold a
customer a Limoges box, let them know when you have similar items for sale.
Developing a list of happy customers is a great way to get repeat business.

Step Nine: Stay informed. Use the eBay Forums and community links to stay on
top of what is going on in the eBay community. You will know when specials are
offered to buyers and when there are events. Workshops are a great way to learn
more about eBay. The more you know the better you can run your business.

Step 10: Know what is hot on eBay. Visit the What's Hot page daily. Make sure
you know what is selling well in your category of items. Developing a niche
market is important. You cannot cover every category. Choose an area of
expertise. Write an FAQ or an informative article and post it to eBay. All of
these tips will help keep you profitable.

Follow these 10 steps on how to work from home on eBay and your business will
be off to a great start. It takes hard work to build any business. Building one
on eBay can be rewarding and fun.

Advantages Of Working From Home On eBay

There are many advantages of working from home on eBay. You can start up an at
home business with very little capital invested. Additionally you can work your
own hours. If you are looking to build an online business you can do this with
eBay while still maintaining current employment. These are just some of the
many advantages of working from home on eBay.

The main advantage of working from home is flexibility and being your own boss.
The same holds true for an eBay business. An eBay business will allow you to
build it gradually. This is a very good thing for individuals with little or no
business experience. You can get a really good feel for how eBay works by
selling a few items and building the business one sale at a time. There are
many tools on eBay's website for you to use on their website. These tools are
designed to help you make the most of your eBay selling experience. Market
research is available for free and there is also an in depth 90 day history
available for a fee. Forums are available on eBay. These forums can help you in
many ways. Sometimes there are workshops on all aspects of buying and selling.
You can converse with other users and get quick responses to your questions.

The advantages of working from home on eBay continue with the ability to earn
good income at a part-time or full-time level. It all depends on the level of
commitment you can give to it. You are the one in charge of your online
business. Listing only what you have the time to ship is the best way to keep
things under control. Another way is to only ship out products one a week. This
is the beauty of working from home. You set the hours, you are in charge.
However, if you want to make money you must work at it. The extra money you
make at selling on eBay can go into a savings account, IRA, or you can use it
to build the eBay business even larger. This is especially true if you are
employed outside of your home. A gradual build up of an eBay business can
protect you from the devastating effects of layoffs and outsourcing.

You can take your eBay business to the next level with many online tools both
in and out of eBay. Using these tools helps to automate the tedious task of
listing your items for sale. Once you start selling more than 3 or 4 items a
week you will understand that automating this process is offers huge savings in
both time and money. The advantages of working from home on eBay and taking the
business full time are many. Once you are ready to make the full time jump you
are most likely a PowerSeller. This is where you really start to make money as
you receive discounts as a PowerSeller that other sellers do not. You are also
selling at least $12,000.00 a year, hopefully more if you are ready to go full
time. One of the benefits to having a full-time eBay business is that you are
not as dependent on your current employment if you choose to still work. Full
time on eBay means making a full time income working part time or off hours.
When you turn that first year of $12,000.00 sales into $100,000.00 in sales
then you are truly at a career level income. It can be done, many have
accomplished this.

The advantages of working from home on eBay are numerous. You can have a great
second income with a little bit of researching and effort. Why not give eBay a
try? You may decide that it is better than what you do now.

Disadvantages Of Working From Home On eBay

There are disadvantages of working from home on eBay. Successful entrepreneurs
are a unique group of people. They have the dedication and commitment to see a
project through. Most people do not have this type of discipline. This is when
working from home on eBay can be a disadvantage.

You read about it all of the time. A little old lady without any means buys a
digital camera, a computer, and becomes a millionaire on eBay almost overnight.
Winning the lottery should be this easy! Reality is, most of these stories are
exactly that: they are stories. Usually you read them as part of an
advertisement for some product or book that will help you get rich on eBay.
Untruths like these get more and more people jumping into eBay when perhaps
this is not what they should be doing. When building any business, you need to
have available money, time and the desire to build a business. One of the
disadvantages of working from home on eBay is that you can lose money if you
are not careful.

Lose money on eBay, you never hear about that! You are right. There are few
articles on how I went bust on eBay. There should be more. The fact is that you
can easily lose money on eBay if you are not careful. Let's start with fees.
When you list something for sale on eBay you have to pay a listing fee. Then
there are other upgrades as well. Gallery is now free however; it used to be an
added charge. You listing fee depends on how much your starting price is. Then
there is the final value fee. This is a percentage eBay charges you when you
sell your item. If your item did not sell, then you can relist it once for
free, then you have to pay. This starts to add up after a while. Do you use
PayPal, this can add expenses too. How about an eBay store? This has a monthly
fee associated with it. Shipping the item may cost you more than you think. In
addition to the actual fee for shipping, the cost of the packing materials and
the cost of gas (if you take it to the shipper) can add up as well. Then there
is the cost of your inventory. If you are not careful you can lose money
quickly. These costs can sneak up on you if you are not careful. Losing money
is the biggest disadvantage to working from home on eBay.

Another problem is locating products to sell on eBay. You have to be careful
when researching wholesalers online. Many will say that they are eBay
certified. The truth is eBay does not certify wholesalers. Be careful of drop
ship scams and other scams that offer you an eBay turn key business for a
yearly fee. You are better off finding the items yourself. If you are going to
be successful on eBay you have to learn how to sell and ship your items. There
is no magic solution to get this done with a click of a mouse. You must work at
it. The high potential to be ripped off is another disadvantage of working at
home on eBay.

Making money on eBay takes time, money and commitment. Many individuals cannot
allocate the proper amount of time and energy into an online business when they
have other work, family and outside commitments. Before you decide to jump on
the work at home wagon, be sure you understand what you are getting into. This
is another disadvantage to working at home on eBay: lack of information. Do
your research before you make a decision you will regret.

How To Work From Home On eBay: Open An eBay Store

Want to know how to work from home on eBay: open an eBay store. An eBay store
can offer your work from home business another avenue for sales. There are many
advantages to opening up a store. Let's explore what eBay stores have to offer
your work from home business.

There are 3 levels to the eBay store option. This does not include the ProStore
option which is different. Fees apply to eBay Stores. As long as you meet the
basic requirements, you can have your eBay store up and running in under an
hour.

The requirements to opening an eBay store are simple. You must have a valid
eBay ID and be a registered user. A score or rating of 20 or greater is
required. New users need to understand eBay basics before launching a store.
Finally, a verified PayPal account in good standing or being ID Verified is
required. If you meet these simple requirements then you can open an eBay store.

Basic Store: Just starting out with your work from home eBay business? Selling
consistently but not in great quantities? Then a Basic Store might be for you.
There is a fee of $15.95 for this store and it is the most basic level offered
by eBay. You will be ready for this option if your sales are at least $100.00
per month and you are selling at least 10 items per month. Sales of less than
$100.00 per month may make the fees and costs associated with the store
prohibitive. The saying" walk before you run" applies here. Get the basics of
selling on eBay down. Then graduate to a store. Here is what a Basic Store will
offer you. Customer/Tech support is offered 6am to 6pm Pacific Time. A store
home page and unlimited product pages are included. You can have up to 5
customized pages added to your store. A unique store website name will be given
to you. Up to 300 different categories can be added to the store at no charge.
The Selling Manager is included in your store fee as well as other inventory
management solutions. Market Place Research is not included in this
subscription.

Premium Store: Upgrading to a Premium Store is a good idea when your basic
store is really outgrowing its space or you need expanded tools that are more
cost effective when included in the $49.95 a month price tag. Before upgrading
to this option your eBay business should be the $500 a month or more sales
level and you should be selling at least 50 items a month. This option includes
everything listed above except that customer service/tech support is 24/7.
Selling Manager Pro is included as well as the Market Research Basic plan. You
will also have your store included in the eBay stores gateway rotation and it
will occasionally appear in searches.

Anchor Store: Ok you have reached the big time. You have a work from home eBay
business that is selling $5,000.00 a month or more and you are sending over 500
items per month to buyers. This is career level income for you and you should be
proud. A subscription to an Anchor Store will run you $299.95 a month. As such,
your store is featured in the eBay stores Gateway rotation and you get priority
in searches. Market Research Pro is included as well as the Selling Manager pro.
You are offered 1 GB of picture storage plus a free subscription to their
picture services. If you are not a PowerSeller yet, this will come to you
shortly. The biggest decision here is to justify the expense of $299.95 a
month. However, if you meet the suggested requirements, you should have no
trouble with this fee.

Knowing how to work from home on eBay is a task in itself. The decision to open
an eBay store should be thought out long and hard. There are many options to
consider and you must take into account how cost effective it will be for you.
Once all of the data is examines you will make a great decision.

How To Set Up a Work From Home Business On eBay

Many people want to know how to set up a work from home business on eBay. This
can depend on what you are selling, but there are some considerations that
every seller should follow. Laying proper groundwork for any business is an
extremely important step. Just like building a house, a business built on a
solid foundation will last for years. Overlooking these details can result in
your eBay business not going as well as you would like.

First you need to have a camera -- preferably digital and internet access --
ideally from home. Without these items selling on eBay will be difficult at
best. Next, you should have a bank account and a PayPal account. PayPal is not
required to sell on eBay, but it is the easiest way to accept online payments
if you do not already have a merchant account. Find an area in your home, shed,
or rent a storage unit for your inventory. Be sure that any rental unit is
rodent and pest free. The same holds for a storage shed or attic. If possible,
do not smoke in the area where you plan to keep inventory.

Now you have the very basics in place. Are you ready to sell? Not quite yet.
There are still a few areas to cover. Check with your zoning regulations for
laws about running a home business. If your area has a property owners or home
owners association and there are restrictive covenants in your neighborhood, be
sure that you can legally run a home business. Starting out this may not be a
problem but once you start getting large deliveries several times a week, if
you are in violation of zoning or HOA/POA rules, someone will complain. Apply
for any variances now, before your business gets really busy. Just a few more
things to cover before you start to sell, get a resale certificate or sales tax
ID number. In order to purchase form many wholesalers this is required.
Otherwise they will charge you full retail price or not sell to you at all. You
can sell under your own name, or file a D.B.A or fictitious name. D.B.A. stands
for doing business as. You can open a bank account in the business name once
you file the correct papers. Finally, be prepared to file quarterly income
taxes. If you are self employed and you make money in any quarter, you need to
file this. Now you are ready to sell on eBay.

You have found out the basics of how to set up a work from home business on
eBay. The foundation is in place. Now what? You need to have an eBay ID. It's
easy to register on eBay. Go to ebay.com and fill out the registration form.
You'll need a credit card to verify your identity. Now you have everything in
place to start selling. Almost, what are you going to sell? Before answering
this I suggest that you take a look and search through eBay to see what is
selling and what items appeal to you. Selling off some of your unwanted stuff
is a good idea, as it generates easy capital for your business and it gets rid
of unwanted items in your home. Furthermore, you can get an idea of how eBay
works.

These are the very basics of how to set up a work from home business on eBay.
There are a lot more details that you should cover such as product selection,
market research, choosing an accountant or accounting software and more. Before
you go and spend a lot of money, go through these basic steps and see how
successful you are at selling a couple of items or two. Then you will know if
setting up a work from home business on eBay is really right for you. This
article was designed to give you just the basics so that your work from home
eBay business starts off on a solid foundation.

Working From Home On eBay: A Stay At Home Mom's Story

I am a stay at home mom and I work from home on eBay. It sounds almost like I
am at an AA meeting doesn't it? Here is a snippet of my life as I homeschool
and run a work from home on eBay business.

It is Monday morning; the kids are all up and starting to eat breakfast. I have
10 items to ship out today and I use the kitchen table as my shipping
department. My children range in ages from 2 to 13 years in age. Right now two
are fighting, the 8 year old is putting the sold items into their correct
boxes, and the 2 year old is pouring his Cheerios and milk into one of the
packages. I sure hope that box is empty!

The two year old has been removed from the shipping area and is now happily
playing in the living room. The fight that had broken out was only minor; the
warring parties have called a truce. They are now building a catapult out of
popsicle sticks and plastic spoons. 2 of the 10 boxes need to be repackaged.
That little one can fill up a shipping box with cereal faster than you can
blink. I have to be sure that the items marked for shipping are really supposed
to be shipped. Sometimes, we get our books mixed up with the customers.

I go to the computer to print out the packing lists and shipping labels. Then I
turn the computer over to those who need it for research. Back to the shipping
department, kitchen area I go. Breakfast is now finished and one of the kids
left the backdoor open. The dog has made a break for it and the three older
children are chasing him down the sidewalk. I expect they will bring him back
soon. Good thing this is a quiet neighborhood (quiet is a relative term). Time
to check on the two year old -- he is still happy and playing with his toys.
Dishes are in the sink, cereal disasters are cleaned up, catapult testing has
begun and I can start to finish packing up these boxes. My 5 year old daughter
is helping me with the packing tape. Well, she will be once she frees herself
from the entangled mass of tape that has one of her arms attached to the table.

It is now noon. Amazingly the boxes are all taped, labeled, and ready to ship.
The children and dog have returned from their excursion out into the
neighborhood. The two year old is napping, the catapult works great -- it can
shoot a lima bean 6 feet! The five year old has been freed from the table and
we are reading together. The rest of the children have their assignments to do.
All we have to do now is to wait for the mailman to arrive, so that he can
pickup the Priority Mail. Hopefully it will be the usual carrier. The kids and
the dog tend to scare off substitutes.

While the chaos has come to a standstill, I quickly run off to the computer to
check email and to see if any auctions have closed. I respond to the email
messages, send out winning bidder notices, check my inventory, and get back to
the kids. Wow -- it's 3pm and I forgot to eat lunch.

Door bell rings, chaos resumes, dog is barking, children are yelling, toddler
is crying. Mail Carrier has arrived to pick up the packages, the landscapers
are here blowing leaves, and the delivery truck has arrived with 4 pallets of
inventory. Where did that dog go... Packages go out; pallets are in the
driveway waiting for the older boys to help unload. Now my living room looks
like a warehouse. I send the 13 year old to go print out an inventory sheet and
get a copy of the purchase order. He and his younger brother check the order for
completeness. This time all is well!

That is a typical Monday in my household. The rest of the week is similar. I
like the fact that I can stay at home, teach my children and earn income. I am
a mom working from home on eBay. This month, I became a PowerSeller! You can
balance your home, work and family with an eBay business. Just keep a sense of
humor and it will all work out fine.

Work From Home On eBay: Buying and Selling

One way to work from home on eBay is buying and selling products. There are
many individuals that do this. eBay is their primary source of products and
their primary outlet for products. This is how to work from home on eBay,
buying and selling products.

Buying on eBay is simple. Find a product you like and bid on it. If you are
looking for products to sell, an ideal place to look is the wholesale lots
category. You can locate great deals here. Be aware that these are usually
large lots of products and if you are just starting out, be sure to know what
you are buying. For a beginner, keep these things in mind before deciding to
make a purchase. First, know what the items are selling for individually on
eBay. Do a search to find this out. Next, keep your price per item at 1/3 the
current selling price. You will be paying shipping charges so look at that as
well and figure it into the total cost. Once you have your costs figured out
set your bid. Many people wait until the last seconds to place a bid. You may
want to watch your item carefully and try to get it at the last minute or two.
This is how many people work from home on eBay: buying products.

Another reason to use eBay to buy your products is if you are new to eBay.
Every transaction on eBay should give you a rating. The fewer ratings you have,
the less inclined buyers will be to purchase from you. Buying products on eBay
will quickly add to your ratings. Once you reach about 25 positive ratings,
your chances of attracting buyers increases significantly. The best way to
receive great ratings is to pay for the auction quickly and to leave feedback
as soon as you receive the item.

Selling on eBay is also simple. Once you have your product selected, you need
to list your item. Keep the auction simple. Every service you add to your
listing costs you money. These little costs can add up quickly, especially if
your item does not sell. Gallery listings cost money, special layouts cost
money, bold faced listings cost money. Watch your costs if you want to make
money. You may want to look into software that is very inexpensive or free that
will make the listings for you. This way you can create designer listings and
add pictures without paying extra fees. Decide on your shipping policies,
return and refund policies, and if you want to ship internationally or not. For
an eBay beginner, you may not want to ship outside the US as there are customs
forms and regulations that can get complicated. Get the hang of selling your
item in the US first. Then decide on how you want payment. If you want to
accept credit cards, a PayPal premiere or business account is better than a
merchant account if you have low volume or low dollar amounts. This is how to
work from home on eBay: selling.

Overall it is not difficult to set up a home based business buying and selling
products on eBay. The great thing about it is that you can start slow and keep
you current job. As you learn more about eBay, you can increase what you buy
and sell and look for outside wholesalers as well. This is how to work from
home on eBay: buying and selling products.

Successful Product Selection For Your eBay Business: Muffy Saves The Day

You must get product selection right if you are going to be successful working
from home on eBay. Without successful product selection for your eBay business,
you will not make a profit. EBay is more difficult to sell on than other venues
because what is hot and what is not seems to change weekly. There are two parts 
to this successful equation: a good purchase price and a good selling price. 
Without these you cannot make a profit.

Here is how I made a great profit with a very inexpensive item. It was late
October and the Christmas shopping season has begun. I began looking for items
to sell on eBay that would carry us through the Christmas season. We went
through all of our wholesalers and found several items that fit our
requirements. One item in particular, Muffy VanDerBear ornaments, seemed to
have a lot of profit potential. What was special about these resin ornaments?
They were collectable, Muffy has a big following on eBay. In addition they were
in original boxes, small enough and lightweight to easily ship, and they did not
break easily. The price we were paying for a gross (144) of assorted Muffy
ornaments was 50¢ each. This is how to make a successful product selection for
your eBay business. Know what will sell, get it at a great price, and sell it
for a profit.

The prior sales were checked to see who was selling Muffy and what the selling
price was. Here is where timing is everything. There were very few individuals
selling these particular Muffy VanDerBear ornaments. We listed one of each type
as a test at $5.00 each. They sold well. Even after PayPal fees, eBay listing
fees, shipping costs, we still made a good profit on these initial sales. We
immediate listed more as each item sold. Other vendors saw what we were doing
and starting cutting the price. Finally, the selling price per bear dropped to
$1.00 and many were going unsold. This happened in about 2-3 weeks time. I
still had a lot of ornaments to sell. My husband and partner in my work from
home eBay business is a marketing genius. He came up with the idea of packaging
the Muffy VanderBear's together into a set. We had a set of 10 and a set of 5.
Nobody was selling the ornaments as sets. The fist set of 10 sold for $45.00
and the first set of 5 sold for $35.00. We were back to making a profit.
Repackaging Muffy saves the day for us. The final outcome was that we sold
hundreds of Muffy VanderBear ornaments. None of them sold for a loss, and most
sold for over 200% profit. When the balance sheet was gone over for this
particular product, we did extremely well for ourselves.

Successful product selection for your eBay business is crucial. This case study
of how Muffy saves the day is a great example of how purchase price, selling
price, timing, and a rethinking of how to present the product put a lot of
money in our pockets. Not every product you choose to sell on eBay will give
you this kind of result. However, if you study what went right with this
situation you will be able to see how you can adopt these successful tactics to
your product line. The best advice anyone can give you is know what is selling
before you commit to a product. Hot items have a very short life cycle but they
will make you a lot of money. The trick is getting to what is hot before
everyone else does. Combining timing, correct product selection and price, a
good selling point and the ability to rethink the product's presentation, will
result in a profitable eBay business that you can work on from home. It's all
in the successful product selection for your eBay business. We did it, so can
you.

Selling Collectibles From Home On eBay

Selling collectibles from home on eBay can be extremely profitable. If you are
into the collectibles market, you can make a decent living selling on eBay. The
trick is to know what you are selling and keeping in mind what is hot this month.

If you are into collectibles then eBay is a great place for you to start
selling collectibles from home. The best place to start is to sell off your
unwanted items. Try to make a profit at this. Before you start listing and
selling you should invest in a decent digital camera and learn how to take a
good picture of your merchandise. Your photograph is all that a potential
customer will see of your product. A great picture will get you a higher
selling price and it may be the difference between your item selling or not
selling at all. Once you have taken really good pictures of the items you want
to sell, look at a few suctions already running. Determine which ones have bids
and tailor your listings to look like theirs, don't make exact copies as you
want to establish your own identity.

Here is what the other ads can tell you. How much is reasonable for shipping?
You will see what the others are charging. Buyers don't like to pay excessive
shipping fees. Then look at the description. Did they mention any special
marks? If the item is silver, did they show the 925 stamp? What other important
information did the ad mention.

Check the What's Hot page to see what trends are in collectibles. Are vintage
Barbie Dolls hot: all of them or just certain dolls? What about toys? Which
games are hot. Are they easy to locate? Can you go through your kids old
matchbox cars and find a few that are in good condition to sell. Old Lego's are
hot too! If you are into collectibles then you have sources for your collection.
Are there other sources that will sell to you wholesale? You should have a book
that will help you know the difference between a real item and a fake. Take
Limoges boxes for example. Don't be fooled by lowering your eBay price because
you saw a Limoges type or style box. These are not authentic and they will
never command top dollar. Know your merchandise. Be prepared to expand your
products into other areas. If you collect Limoges boxes; perhaps you may want
to extend your items for sale into all Limoges glass. Prior to embarking on
this journey, check with the marketing tools on eBay to be sure that these are
items that sell.

If you have a large amount of expensive collectibles that you are storing at
home, then you may want to consider insuring them. This way if the unforeseen
happens, you will not suffer a huge loss financially. This is especially true
if some of your pieces are rare and cannot easily be replaced. One final word
of advice when selling collectibles from home on eBay; require your buyers to
purchase shipping insurance and delivery confirmation. This not only protects
you and the buyer in case of a damaged shipment, it also protects you from
unscrupulous buyers who will claim that they never received an expensive item
and require you to replace the item or refund their money.

Selling collectibles on eBay can be a rewarding and profitable experience. Be
sure that you take measures to protect yourself as a seller and a collector.
The old adage "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" applies here.

I Quit My Job To Work From Home On eBay

I did it. Everyone told me not too, but I didn't listen. I quit my job to work
from home on eBay. Eventually it worked out ok, but the road to ok was a long
and bumpy one. Here is what happened.

I worked at a high pressure job in IT (Information Technology) and I hated it.
The hours were long; I was on salary so there was no overtime. My kids thought
I lived somewhere else and the stress was incredible. I looked for other career
options and quickly realized that changing jobs would lead me to the same fate,
just in a different location. After talking with my spouse, we decided that I
should change jobs. I don't think he realized that I meant quitting my $50,000
a year job to sell items on eBay. I neglected to mention that. After we spoke,
the following morning I gave two weeks notice. Let the games begin!

The very evening I gave notice, I started looking into what it took to sell
items on eBay. Surely it could not be that difficult, everyone seems to do it
and I have IT experience. I have an eBay ID. So I did what most people do to
start out; I cleaned out my closet. The clothes did ok; especially some of the
designer clothes I would no longer need because I was going to be working in my
PJ's at night! Looking back I realized I was delusional. When my husband finally
realized what I was planning, he flipped. Short of threatening divorce, he said
that he was under the impression I would be changing jobs or careers. He never
dreamed I would be quitting to stay at home and play on eBay. He gave me a year
to get it together or back into the corporate jungle I would go.

My final two weeks of employment came to an end and I still am waiting on
payment for one auction. The others shipped out, and I am not sure what else to
sell. I started looking around at what I thought would sell. I know, I'll buy
iPods from the liquidator's websites that are always advertising they have eBay
items. Well, the iPods turned into a pallet of electronics that set me back
$1,500.00. I love my husband; he hasn't tried to kill me yet. My loving spouse
assumed that I would have discussed a pallet purchase with him before I bought
it. Oh well...

About that pallet -- it arrived and I was so excited. It was like Christmas. I
unwrapped the pallet holding it all together; I couldn't wait to see the iPods.
Oh boy was I disappointed. I thought this was new merchandise, not used opened
stuff. 2 of the 5 iPods would not power up. None of the boxes were sealed and
there were several other electronic items that did not work. Wait, it gets
better. These were an older version of iPod, not the new ones that are consumed
in bidding wars on eBay. These are the iPods that only sell once in 4 auctions.
Some of the other electronics I was able to get to work. After spending a week
going through the pallet of stuff, repairing items and repackaging and taping
boxes I was finally ready to take some pictures and list the items that I
could. Out of the 100 items in the pallet, 75 were salable. Of those 75, 25
sold the first time but for a lot less than I had hoped, 15 sold the second
time around, and the other 35 never sold. The end result was an $800 loss! Not
a good start.

What did I learn? First thing is that I really needed to learn what all of
those terms mean on the liquidator's website. If I had known what a pallet of
returns really meant I would have passed on this. The second thing I learned is
that I had a lot to learn. So I spent the next month reading and researching and
understanding it all. Then I finally started to get it right.

I quit my job to work from home on eBay. It was a good decision after all.
However, I could have avoided a lot of problems early on if I had done some
research. A return to the corporate jungle never occurred. I had a successful
business.




I Hate My Job -- Can I Work From Home on eBay

You hear it all of the time. I hate my job! Can I work from home on eBay? If I
could maybe I could finally quit! Well, I would not advise quitting your job,
but you can work from home on eBay.

There are a lot of reasons people work from home on eBay. Now more than ever
before, a third income or a steady is necessary to keep a household together.
Job security in many industries is very low, and everything is getting more
expensive by the day. As a means of keeping financially afloat and as a buffer
against a layoff, many people are working from home on eBay as well as working
a full time job.

You can work from home on eBay. It is quite simple and it does not require a
lot of start up cash. Most people start by decluttering their homes and selling
off unwanted items. This is a really good idea. It will allow you to test the
waters without buying any inventory. You can get a taste of how to list an
item, package it for shipping and collecting your money. After you have sold
off everything you no longer want or need, what next. Here is where you have to
research. Hopefully you have been thinking about this all along and you have
been researching all along. There are many forums on eBay and many tools that
you should be aware of. It is possible to spend a week on their website doing
nothing but reading the how to's and performing market research on items that
you wish to sell. Take this to heart, do your research. The selling environment
on eBay is unlike anything else. You cannot compare it to retail or to flea
markets and swap meets. It is an entirely different animal. The best way to
find out how to sell items on eBay is to read every tutorial you can find. They
even have a mentor that you can call and talk to once for free. I highly
recommend that you do this. Let them know what you want to do and have a mentor
tell you how to become successful at it. It's all for free. As a startup
business free is what you can afford.

The next step would be to select items to sell. Assuming that you have done
your research all you need to do now is list items. You can do this through an
automated process or you can list items individually. Once an item has sold and
the buyer pays you, ship the item immediately. Prompt shipment is the fastest
way to great ratings and you need great ratings if you want to work from home
on eBay successfully. Gradually, over time, build up your eBay business by
adding more items while saving extra cash incase of emergencies.

Eventually, you may be able to take your working from home on eBay business
full time. Seriously this can take up to 5 years. It definitely will not happen
over night. The best way to accomplish a goal of working from home on eBay and
not having another job is to write up a business plan and stick to it. This
will give you an outline of what you need to do to get there. Be sure to put
away money after every sale. This will build you a cash reserve. A reserve like
this is necessary in case of any unexpected expenses or if you leave your job
sooner than planned either because you quit or were laid off.

All too often you hear I hate my job! Can I work from home on eBay? My heart
goes out to anyone who is that stressed in their employment. If this is you,
why not take a look at what you can accomplish with a work from home eBay
business. The great thing is that you can start one up with little or no
monetary investment while you stay employed. With careful planning and item
selections, it is possible to earn career level income with eBay. Just ask any
PowerSeller, they can tell you for sure.

How Work From Home On eBay: Selling Yard Sale Items

Many people want to know how to work from home on eBay. Is selling yard sale
items an option? You can have a business on eBay selling many yard sale items.
However, you have to know what you can and cannot sell as some items may be
restricted on eBay. Many people use eBay as their giant yard sale and you can
too.

Before you start to list your items on eBay check the guidelines for what is
prohibited. Here is just a couple of items that could get you into trouble. You
can sell used clothes on eBay. However, they must be cleaned first. You cannot
sell unwashed used clothes and you cannot sell used underwear at all. Another
area is weapons. Certain types of air guns cannot be sold and there are
restrictions on knives and other items. Be sure you know what is ok to sell.

Here is how to work from home on eBay selling yard sale items. The first step
is to use the items in your home as your first yard sale. This can also give
you a good idea of what sells well and what does not. Not having to buy
inventory for your first sales is a fabulous way to start. Make sure the items
are clean and ready for sale. You want them looking picture perfect. Then take
great photos of them so you can have a wonderful listing.

Here are some ideas of what to sell. Go through all of the clothes that your
kids have outgrown or you do not wear. Designer labels sell well, discount
chain store items do not, unless they are sold in bulk. Check out your old
jeans. Have a pair from college that will never fit again? Vintage Levi's and
other jeans command top dollar. What cost you $20.00 thirty years ago might
bring you well over $100.00 at auction today.

Another group of items to sell are older toys. Vintage Barbie dolls, most toys
from the 1950's -- especially wind up toys or toy robots, sell very well and
command a good price. Hate that china you received as a wedding present 15
years ago, sell it on eBay. This is how you can start making money right away.
Take a good look through your home and declutter. You may be surprised what
someone else will find appealing.

Once you run out of things to sell from your personal stash, you should start
looking at local yard sales for other items. Here is where you can find great
deals. Sheet music, vintage and designer clothes and handbags, china,
depression glass, vintage toys, any educational books that could be used for
homeschool, and many collectibles are great choices. You will have an idea of
what sells well from the sale of your items. Check the What's Hot page and the
eBay Pulse page to know what items are in demand. Take this list with you when
you go shopping. Moving sales are also a great place to look. Remember that
charity events like church yard sales can be a great resource for your items as
well. You know where to look for inventory, what next? If yard sale items are
what you plan to specialize in, that's great. In this particular market it is
very important to keep a list of customers who are looking for a particular
item. If you sold a vintage Barbie doll to a customer, let them know when you
find more. Better yet, ask them what they are looking for when you make the
first sale. Make a hit list of customer requests. If you find one, list it on
eBay, but let your customer know about that listing.

This is how to work from home on eBay selling yard sale items. There is a lot
of money to be made. Your inventory will almost never be the same. If variety
is the spice in your life, then selling yard sale items on eBay might be for
you.

How To Work From Home On eBay: What's Hot

What's hot on eBay? That is a question you need to know the answer to if you
want to be a successful seller. Knowing trends and getting the pulse of what
buyers are looking for is crucial if you want to know how to work from home on
eBay. How can you tell if what you want to sell is really going to work for you?

Before you look to sell anything on eBay, take a look at the What's Hot section
of their website. The fastest way to look is under the sitemap and search for
What's Hot. Click on that link and you will be taken to a page that has great
information for you. The What's Hot list is updated monthly. Read this
religiously and you will have a profitable eBay business. Take a look at how
this can help you out buy your competition. Everyone wants to sell Bluetooth
accessories. These are extremely popular items. Knowing which Bluetooth items
to sell is crucial or you will have so many competitors that you will not be
able to make a profit. This is how to use the What's Hot list.

The What's Hot list is broken down into levels by category. Let's take the
category of cell phones and PDA's. The hot item in level 2 is Bluetooth
wireless accessories. This is ok, but you can pinpoint a better selection than
just a general Bluetooth category. If you look at level 3 you will see that
Bluetooth headsets are very hot. Level 4 breaks down which brand of Bluetooth
headsets are hot. In this case it is Motorola. Now you know to look for a great
deal on Motorola Bluetooth headsets if you want to sell items in the cell phone
and PDA category. This is an example of how to use the What's Hot information
for success if you work from home on eBay.

There is other information on the What's Hot page as well. The eBay Pulse link
is another way to help you decide on what to sell on eBay. This link will give
you the daily trends, hot picks and cool stuff on eBay. Using this feature to
track what is hot can also help you find your niche market. For example
searching the pulse page for antiques category you will find that the top 10
searches are furniture, Victorian, clock, lamp, sterling, antique, chandelier,
oak, silver, and art deco. This is important information. Track these searches
over the course of a week or a month and you will know what products to sell
and what keywords to use in your listing titles. This page also help as it
shows the top sellers in this category. In an instant, you can tell who your
biggest competitors are. Check out their listings, see what they are selling,
and how they word their successful listings. It's amazing the amount of market
research that can be done for you at no cost. When you want to know how to work
from home on eBay, the What's Hot page is a must for market research.

The Market Research page is the final link on the What's Hot page. Of the three
items listed, this one is a premium service from eBay. It's free t certain eBay
store subscribers but others must pay. This page gives you 90 days of complete
historical data on products. You may be wise to buy a subscription for a month
or two while you start to set up your eBay business. This information can be
crucial to you. Market research cannot be overlooked as an important factor in
your business plan. If you want a successful eBay business, you must research
before you sell.

How to work from home on eBay is a question that is multifaceted. The topic of
market research is an important one. This article answers the question of how
to work from home on eBay in the following way: What's Hot.

How To Work From Home On eBay: The Art Of Feedback

How to work at home from eBay has many answers. Feedback is a very important
part of having a successful eBay business. For many it is an overlooked item.
Without a large amount of positive feedback, it will be difficult to make
consistent sales. The art of feedback, getting positive feedback from customers
and giving positive feedback are important aspects of your at home eBay business
that should not be overlooked.

The art of feedback on eBay; how does it all work? In a perfect world when you
sell an item on eBay, they buyer pays your promptly, you ship the item out, and
the buyer receives the item and is happy with the purchase. They leave you
positive feedback and you leave the buyer positive feedback and everyone is
happy. In a perfect world, when you get stiffed by an unscrupulous buyer or
seller you leave appropriate feedback so that others can be aware of this
individual or business. That is what feedback was supposed to be used for; to
accurately describe a buyer or sellers reputation as an eBay business entity.
It has evolved into a completely different animal as we do not live in a
perfect world.

What is feedback like in reality. You have buyers who use feedback to trash a
sellers rating because they did not like the fact that the seller had to ask
for payment more than once. You have buyers who try to force a seller into
reshipping a damaged item without returning the original. You have people who
have nothing better to do with their time than to cause trouble for others. It
is not only the buyers who misuse the feedback forum. You have sellers who will
try to force a buyer into paying for a damaged or item not received. Feedback is
supposed to be important. It is your eBay reputation and a single negative
remark can adversely affect your business. Look at my feedback for example. I
have a rating of 45. Out of 45 sales and purchases, a single person was not
happy. That dropped me to a 97.9% positive rating. A rating like this is too
low to be considered for a PowerSeller. This particular person was offered a
full refund upon return of the merchandise. They refused my offer and left the
negative feedback instead. Yes it was their right to do so, however they did
not mention the fact that I offered to make it right. I had to make sure I
added that remark.

How do you manage feedback? The art of feedback management is important and it
is an art. You as the seller should ask for feedback with every communication
with the buyer. Not overtly, just a line stating that positive feedback has
been left for you. Please leave feedback for me about this purchase. It is
against eBay's rules to ask for positive feedback as this is viewed as coercing
the buyer. As a seller, you must regularly check your feedback ratings. Active
selling requires active feedback monitoring. Always leave feedback for your
buyers. When they pay you promptly and as soon as they receive the merchandise,
leave positive feedback for them. Customer follow up is the best way to get
positive feedback. You shipped the item, delivery confirmation has been made,
now send the buyer an email asking them if everything is ok with the purchase.
Assume if it is not, you will hear from them. However, if you get no response
then leave positive feedback.

The Rules of feedback are changing. You used to be able to leave just a remark.
In an effort to get feedback to what it was intended to be, there is a multiple
rating for every purchase. Ratings are on a 5 star system for each of 5
categories: was the item as described, buyer/seller communication, shipping
time; and shipping and handling charges. With more detail to the rating system
perhaps it will become more accurate again. Part of how to work from home on
eBay is managing your feedback.

How To Work From Home On eBay: Selling Electronics

How to work from home on eBay selling electronics is something that many people
want to know. Just go to eBay's main page and you will see some type of
electronic item featured, whether it is a MP3 player, TV, iPod, or cell phone,
there is sure to be something. Everyone seems to be selling electronics and
making money: right?

Wrong! Everyone who is selling electronics on eBay is not making money. Some
are. Some vendors are making a lot of money but they know what they are doing.
Before jumping onto the selling of electronics bandwagon, have a good idea of
what to do. Create a niche market for yourself and you too can make money with
this. Here is the answer to the question of how to work from home on eBay
selling electronics. Get selective about your product line and create a
specialty market for your business. This is what is called a niche market.

How do you know what to sell? There is a page on eBay called the What's Hot
page. You can find it easily using the site map. On this page are 3 links. The
first two are free. The third link is for a fee based service called Market
Research. All of these services are useful and you should always take advantage
of free market research when you can. The first link is for the Hot Items By
Category List. Here is where you start to find what your niche can be. Let's
take consumer electronics for example. This category is too broad to be a niche
market. Using the Hot List we can determine that super hot item categories are
Car Electronics, Gadgets and Other Electronics, and Vintage Electronics. These
are still pretty large categories so let's limit them further using the list.
Level three shows that car alarms are a super hot category in Car Electronics.
If you take it to level four you will see that remote start/alarm combos are
super hot. That is a great niche market for your electronics business. In the
Gadgets and Other Electronics, level three shows voltage converters are super
hot and AC-DC 12 volt is the super hot level four category. Are vintage
electronics for you? Then you can see that reel to reel tape players are super
hot, and level four shows that Pioneer Brand is really super hot. Using the Hot
List By Category sheet is how to work from home on eBay selling electronics.

The next link is for a page called eBay pulse. This is updated daily and you
should research this prior to making any inventory purchases. Using the same
category as above, consumer electronics -- car electronics, we see who our top
5 competitors are. The top 10 searched keywords are also listed with "alpine"
being the number one. You will also see the top 10 most watched items in this
category. Today you will see a 1200/1400 voltage converter listed. Good choice
to sell, these are listed in the super hot category above. A search of vintage
electronics will show that "jbl" and "pioneer" are in the top 10 keywords
searched and Pioneer brands are in the top 10 most watched items. By using
these two free links, we have enough information to set up a work from home on
eBay electronics business. 

The third link is Market Research. This is free to certain store owners but the 
rest of us have to pay for it. When starting out with your eBay electronics 
business, it may be a good idea to subscribe to this. Market Research gives you 
90 days detailed market research on eBay items. This can be very helpful, as you 
want to have items that sell consistently month over month. If you were to stock 
inventory in a hot item, and a week later that item is now undesirable or the 
market is flooded, then you have a lot of inventory you cannot sell. Market 
Research is a way to help avoid this pitfall.

Hopefully, this has given you enough information to tell you how to work from
home on eBay selling electronics. Do your research first and then start selling.

How To Work From Home on eBay: PowerSellers

When you are considering how to work from home on eBay, you will run across a
term used often: PowerSeller. What is an eBay PowerSeller and how do you get to
that level? This is not something you can reach overnight. You do not just sign
up for PowerSeller status. An eBay PowerSeller has to meet certain
requirements. Knowing about these requirements is part of how to work from home
on eBay.

The eBay PowerSeller is a status that you should look to achieve after selling
on eBay for a while. In order to qualify for this status you must meet certain
requirements. A seller must have a rating of at least 100 in order to qualify
for PowerSeller status. This takes time. A rating of 100 on items you purchased
will not help you much. In order to become a PowerSeller, you will need to sell
a lot of items. The second requirement is that you have a 98% or better
positive feedback. When you buy and sell items, be sure to pay promptly and
ship promptly. When selling be sure to accurately describe your products, don't
pad the shipping, and stay within all eBay guidelines. Happy customers will
leave positive feedback.

There are selling requirements for becoming a PowerSeller. You must be at the
point where you are selling at least $1,000.00 a month or 100 items a month.
Initially eBay looks at the prior 3 months sales in order to determine if you
are eligible for power seller status. There is also an annual requirement of
$12,000.00 in sales and 1200 items sold for the prior 12 months. As you can
see, becoming a PowerSeller is a commitment of time and energy. If you are
willing to learn how to work from home on eBay and become a PowerSeller, you
can make a decent part-time or full-time income.

In addition to the above requirements, there are other rules as well.
PowerSellers are considered the eBay elite. You will be required to maintain
certain ethical business practices as well as meet sales requirements. Staying
in compliance with all of eBay's policies is a must. You will lose your
PowerSeller status for too many violations. As a PowerSeller you must have an
active eBay account in good standing. The account must have been active for the
past 90 days and you cannot be late on paying your eBay fees or be in dispute
with a buyer or seller. The rules for eBay PowerSellers are changing as of July
2008. A new requirement will be a DSR rating (detailed seller rating) of at
least 4.5 in order to qualify as a PowerSeller. This new rating system may
shake up the PowerSellers ratings for a month or two but it is for the better.
It is going to make getting to PowerSeller more difficult as you will have to
sell items in order to meet that 100 rating.

PowerSellers get discounts and privileges not available to other eBay sellers.
This is the main reason to try to achieve this status if you are serious about
your eBay business. As a PowerSeller you get discounts on final value fees for
unsold items, you have better customer support from eBay, your listings get
priority on searches, and there are many other options as well such as
wholesalers that will only sell to eBay PowerSeller. If you want to know how to
work from home on eBay, strive to attain PowerSeller status as quickly as
possible. This way you will have the benefits of lower costs and a higher
profit margin. If you are serious about your eBay business and want to take it
to full-time status, you really need to become a PowerSeller. Successful
sellers know how to work from home on eBay: PowerSeller status.

How To Work From Home On eBay: Full or Part Time

How to work from home on eBay; full or part time is a question you will have to
eventually decide on after you have been selling for a little while. Building
an eBay business, just as any other business requires a commitment of time,
money and energy. Ask yourself this question; what do I want out of my eBay
business? You answer will determine whether you want a part-time or full time
eBay business.

This is how to work from home on eBay part-time. If you have limited resources,
then perhaps working part-time on eBay is what you should do for now. Use all of
the resources that eBay has to offer you. This includes the What's Hot page, the
forums and the eBay community. Many of these areas will give you great insights
into how to build a successful business. The goal at first is to create a
steady income stream from eBay. If you can accomplish this, then you are well
on your way to eBay success. As you become more adept at selling profitably on
eBay, think about what you want to do. Many individuals use eBay as a secondary
income. You can work from home on eBay part-time and still maintain your current
employment. Eventually you can take this full time if you wish. Stay at home
moms will benefit from part time working at home on eBay. They can generate
income, involve the kids in all or part of the business and still be there for
them. A part time business will allow for driving to and from school, sports
and other activities. You can earn an income and stay at home with your kids
when working at home on eBay.

How to work from home on eBay full time. When you are ready to take it to the
next level and jump into becoming a full time eBay reseller, then you should
aspire to become a PowerSeller. To reach this goal will take a lot of time,
energy, effort and good marketing. The products you choose will greatly help to
determine how fast you get to this point. There are mentors on eBay to help you
get to this point as quickly as possible. You can get a free session with one
of these mentors just by asking. Also, take part in the eBay workshops and try
to attend an eBay Live event. In order to really take your eBay business you
should get a tax ID, and have an official business name (either a DBA or other
legal structure). You should set up a separate bank account for your business.
For a full time eBay business you will need to have a reliable source of
products. An accounting system will also be necessary. Making the jump to full
time might be expensive up front but it will pay off greatly in the long run.

The question of how to work from home on eBay -- full or part time can be
answered with a simple evaluation of what level of commitment you are willing
to give to your business and what your needs are. It is rare to jump in to eBay
full time without giving it a trial run first. Most people start out part time.
Few become full time resellers, but those that do have the potential to make a
lot of money. Working at home on eBay can be a wonderful and profitable
experience for you.

How To Work From Home On eBay: Forums

If you want to know how to work from home on eBay, check out the eBay forums.
This area of eBay is open to all. You can get great information on all aspects
of eBay through these forums. All you have to do in order to join the eBay
forums is to be a registered eBay user. For anyone wanting to know how to work
from home on eBay, these forums are a great way to start.

Forums on eBay are easy to access. All you have to do is sign in to your
account and then click on the eBay forums link. Once you are there you can
browse topics and find out information that you are looking for. You can post a
question about anything eBay related or you can just browse through the topics
and see if what you are looking for has already been answered. For anyone new
to eBay or for anyone looking to start a home business on eBay, this is a great
place to start. Advice from eBay personnel and seasoned eBay veterans is
available on the forum. Hot items for sale are also discussed,. So are all of
the additional features of eBay, such as the eBay store, and other for fee
features that are of use to some but not all sellers and buyers. You can even
ask the simplest question of "how to work from home on eBay" and get many
different responses. For those just beginning their eBay adventure, the forums
are a great help. Best of all, it is free.

Are the forums useful to more seasoned eBay users. The answer is: absolutely.
We all run into issues with eBay from time to time. Sometimes the eBay store
features are difficult to use and updating or changes to the store are not
going the way you want. Other times loading pictures to the gallery becomes
difficult or the eBay accounting features are not behaving to your liking. The
forums are the place to go for all of these answers. If you are not a
PowerSeller, getting customer support or tech service from eBay is not easy.
Your questions will take a lot longer to get answered if you go through eBay's
support feature. Using the forums is faster and you will not receive a "canned"
response from eBay's knowledge base. Real users who have experienced your
problem will be able to offer you solutions quickly. This is extremely helpful
if your problem is preventing you from listing an item. Also, the forums can
help alert you to unscrupulous buyers and sellers. Many sellers will post when
they have had multiple issues with a particular buyer. Another question
seasoned eBay users may want to ask is where to find additional wholesale
sources. Overall the forums are a great place to find out how to work from home
on eBay.

Now that you know all about the eBay forums you can go and get your questions
answered for free. Why not take a look before you get involved in selling and
setting up a home business? The time spent researching your business prior to
embarking on that first sale will pay for itself many times over. The forums
are a way to learn from others mistakes for free. Sometimes free advice is not
helpful at all. In the case of the eBay forums, the free advice is priceless.
Free business mentoring is something that any startup business needs. When
considering how to work from home on eBay be sure to check out the forums as
your first step.

How To Work From Home On eBay: Finding Products

One of the most often asked questions is how to work at home from eBay. Then
there is a question of finding products. How do you find products to sell on
eBay? You read about looking in your house for items, but frankly you just
don't have that much stuff. Perhaps you use lawn chairs for living room
furniture. What then?

Although many articles about making money on eBay focus on selling your
unwanted items, many people either do not have a lot of unwanted items or what
they have is not suitable for sale on eBay. Then you must go looking for
products to sell. You should decide if you want to sell new or used items. This
needs to be done because the avenues to pursue for products is very different.
If used goods are your ideal product then flea markets, yard sales, moving
sales, estate sales, and swap meets are going to be your main source of
products. You can also check into storage unit auctions. This is where those
that did not pay their rent have had the units repossessed and the storage
facility is now selling off the contents. This is where you find products to
sell when you work from home on eBay.

If new items are your hearts desire, then you need to locate wholesalers and
liquidators to buy from. Here is where you need to understand a few terms, A
wholesaler usually buys products from a manufacturer and sells them to
retailers. It is more expensive to buy from a wholesaler than directly from the
manufacturer however, many times you cannot purchase direct. This is what a
wholesaler does. A liquidator also resells to retailers but the merchandise is
different. Here is where you find shelf pulls, customer returns, items that
were overstocked, slightly imperfect, "fire sales", etc. There is a good chance
that some of the merchandise you receive from this type of business cannot be
sold. This is especially true with anything electronic. For your first few
purchases, stick with wholesalers until you understand the terms that the
liquidators use.

What about liquidators, are they rip offs? No, they are not. Many big chain
stores such as Big Lots and Burlington Coat Factory are actually liquidators
that sell to the general public. There are really good deals to have, however,
you need to know what to look for. Understanding the terms liquidators use will
help you make the correct type of purchase. The most commonly used terms are
overruns, shelf pulls, customer returns, overstock, and imperfect. These are
also associated with store codes. Here is a brief description of each.
Overruns, this is where the manufacturer made too many of an item. Shelf pulls
are pulled form the shelves at the end of a season. Customer returns are items
that people have returned after purchasing them. Boxes are usually opened and
they may or may not be complete. Overstock comes from a store, not a
manufacturer. They bought too many and cannot sell them. Imperfect items are
usually clothing, linens, rugs, or home decorative items like curtains. These
items have slight, imperfections in them that do not effect the items
usability. Perhaps a small part of the seam is not straight, the fabric may not
have been woven perfectly. These items are flawed and cannot be sold as first
class merchandise.

Now you know how to work from home on eBay. Finding products should be easy for
you because you are in the know!

How To Work From Home On eBay: Build A Customer Base

In order to have a successful business, one must have customers. Without buyers
a business will quickly fail. Want to know how to work from home on eBay? Build
a customer base. It is not as difficult as you would think and the extra effort
will pay off big time.

What exactly is a customer base? This is a base of people who have purchased
from you in the past and it can be a literal gold mine. It is easier and less
costly to sell to current customers than it is to go out and get new ones. All
of the how to sell on eBay articles will talk about your listing and what to
sell, but very few articles or books talk about your existing customer base and
how to effectively use this information to increase sales and profitability.

Every sale should be your most important sale. Treat every customer as your
most important customer and you will get return business if you ask for it.
That is the key. Asking for repeat business is crucial to running a successful
eBay business from home. Getting customers to return is not difficult, just ask
them.

Here is how to generate repeat business from your customers. Start a wish list.
Ask your customer at every sale if there is a particular item in your category
that they are looking for. This works especially well in the collectibles,
antiques, vintage and designer clothes, books, and other media categories.
After a customer receives their item and you know they are happy with the
purchase because you provide outstanding customer service, ask them if there
are any items they would like for you to look for and also ask them if you can
email them with auctions that might be of interest to them. Most will say yes.
In addition, ask them if they want to sign up for your newsletter. That's
right, you need a newsletter.

The newsletter and why it is important to have one. Customers have short
memories. If they do not hear from you every 30 days or so, they will forget
you. The trick is to give them the information they want and need without
becoming annoying. This is where a newsletter comes in. Let your customers know
that newsletter subscribers get promotional discounts that others will not have.
Your newsletter does not have to be long. You are not writing the NY Times, just
a page, no more than 600 words. Remember it is going out via email and there are
people who use dial up services. Feature one topic of general interest to your
customers, for example if you sell collectibles, write a little bit on how to
detect fraudulent collectible items on eBay. Then offer a discount to anyone
purchasing or winning an auction that month. For example, you can offer free
gift wrap during November. Have a code so when they pay online they can contact
you about the newsletter special.

Now that you have a list of customers here is how to work from home on eBay
using that information. Check your wish lists prior to ordering inventory and
after receiving a shipment. If an item that is wanted has been obtained by you,
email the customer and let them know that you are putting this item up for
auction. When you list the item, offer a buy it now option with the auction so
that your customer can purchase it quickly if they desire. Be sure to ask again
if they want their wish list updated. Good communication between you and your
customers will result in repeat eBay business. This is a technique that many
PowerSellers use but do not share with others.

You have the tools and you know how to work from home on eBay. Build a customer
base and be sure to stay in contact with them. Doing so will ensure that your
business grows.

How To Avoid Fraud While Working From Home On eBay

There is a lot of money to be made selling items on the internet. One venue
many people are aware of is eBay. The great thing about eBay is that it is so
popular. That is also its downside. With so much popularity, there is a great
potential for fraud. The question is how to avoid fraud while working from home
on eBay.

To be fair, I am not stating that eBay is a rip off -- far from it. There are
many reputable sellers on this site. Overall, most people are honest and they
try to do the right thing. That said there is fraud on eBay and by unscrupulous
businesses who wrongfully claim to be eBay business partners. How to avoid fraud
while working from home on eBay is a very important topic to discuss.

Take a look at eBay. All of those wonderful products for sale and many are at
unbelievable prices. Here is the key if that designer bag is priced so low that
it is too good to be true -- it probably is a fake. Does the seller know if it
is fake: maybe? Here are some tips to keep you from unknowingly selling fake
merchandise.

First, know you vendors. Where did you get the merchandise from? Are they
reputable? Do not rely on longevity as a sign of selling reputable merchandise.
There are deals to be had, however, when you get into higher end merchandise or
rare antiques and collectibles be very careful. In North Carolina, a local flea
market had a vendor who was there week in and week out, selling designer bags
and shoes at insanely low prices. These looked exactly like the designer bags
should. All of the correct marks appeared to be there. There were many people
who bought from them and resold these bags on eBay and at other online venues
as well. Unfortunately, these items were counterfeit and the flea market was
raided. 11 people were arrested. Buyer beware!

Another scam you can run into is a company offering drop ship services. Some of
these vendors claim to be eBay certified. FYI -- eBay does not certify
resellers. They might have agreements with some, but most of those involve
PowerSellers. How can you tell if a drop shipping company is legitimate? Take a
look at their website. Do you need to supply a credit card in order to get
pricing? Do they offer a "special deal" to set up your eBay business for a
yearly fee? Is there a customer service number posted on the website? Do they
answer it -- call them and find out. If you need to provide a credit card or
other payment information in order to get pricing information -- run don't walk
to another vendor. A legitimate vendor may ask you for a tax Id number or sales
tax resale number, but they should not require you to provide a credit card to
get pricing. What special deal are they offering? You can set up your own eBay
business for free, why do you need to pay them? Do you have to sign up for this
plan in order to get drop shipping? That sounds kind of shady to me.

The best way to check on a potential vendor is not the Better Business Bureau.
Instead, check with the State Attorney General's Office in your state and in
the state where the company claims to be located in. There is no fee to
inquire. You will get an answer right away. Another place to check is to see if
the company is incorporated. Check with their state's Department of Treasury.
You should be able to tell if the company is in compliance with state laws and
reporting procedures. If they are not, choose someone else.

Overall, you just need to exert a little caution when figuring out how to avoid
fraud while working from home on eBay. Make sure you know what you are buying
and selling. Check out all vendors carefully. This way you can rest assured
that the bargains you get are genuine.

Can I Make Money With An eBay Home Business

For every eBay success story you read about on eBay's' website or on the
internet or in a book somewhere there are a thousand failures. The reality of
pulling some obscure item out of your attic or garage and finding out that it
is some rare collectible worth thousands does not happen very often. Having it
happen more than once is almost freakish. You want to know can I make money
with an eBay home business. Yes, you can.

Do not go into this expecting to get rich overnight: you will be disappointed.
Building any business takes time, money and effort. If you lack any of those
ingredients, you will not make money. Before making the jump into
entrepreneurship, ask yourself these questions. How much money do I have for
shipping supplies, inventory, eBay fees, and unforeseen expenses? How much time
do I have to devote to this business? Do I have the energy and drive to get this
business off the ground or do I need to be asleep by 9pm every night? Your
answers to these questions will help direct you to the right course of action.
You may only have enough time and energy to run the business part-time. This is
ok; most people selling on eBay have other jobs. You have to pay the bills and
it is unlikely that an eBay startup business will immediately replace your
income. That can take years. Money is another issue. What was your answer? Do
you have available funds or are you just scraping by paycheck to paycheck. If
it is the latter, try selling unwanted items from your home that are easy to
pack and ship. It is a great way to start to build a business fund.

Money, time and energy have all been looked at and you know where you stand.
What are you going to sell? Here is where most people go awry in their quest
for a successful eBay business. Not everything sells well on eBay. Some items
never sell because there are 50 other people selling the very same thing.
Before you decide to list items, do market research. There are several free
resources for you to use on eBay. Take advantage of all of them before listing
your first item. Correct use of the marketing tools available will give you an
edge that others did not bother to look at. The information you glean from this
research will be what you use to create your niche in the eBay marketplace. Are
you nuts about vintage jeans? Are you a gemologist with stones to sell? Does
the word techno junkie fit you? Combine your interests with what is hot in
smaller markets and you will do well. Don't try to take on the mass marketers
with ratings in the thousands and an inventory that rivals Wal-Mart, you can't
do it. Instead find your niche, your little corner of eBay and sell your heart
out. It is far better to sell 10 beautiful Limoges boxes or powder jars for a
premium, than it is to try to beat out all of the vendors selling Limoges style
or Limoges type merchandise for a buck or two. In the end, your customers will
come to know and trust you. Your reputation will grow faster and so will your
following. In a short amount of time, you may start to look to expand into the
other Limoges items like plates. As you slowly expand and adapt your business
to what is hot in Limoges or whatever category you choose, your profits and
customer base will grow. Eventually you will be in a position that you can cut
back on your employment and eventually make the leap into full time eBay
selling.

Can I make money with an eBay home business? Yes, you can with a good business
plan and proper planning. Every business has to be run using sound and proven
business tactics. The same holds true for eBay. Take the time to learn how it
works, take advantage of all of the free tools eBay has to offer you and you
can make money with an eBay home business.

Buying Products From Liquidators To Work From Home On eBay

Buying products from liquidators to work from home on eBay can be a financially
sound business plan. It can also lead to disaster if you do not know what you
are doing. Liquidators differ from wholesalers in many ways. Knowing their
terms and what to expect are crucial to making a liquidation business
successful.

A liquidator usually buys from retail store chains and sometimes manufacturers.
3 very well known companies that sell liquidated items to the general public are
Overstock.com, Big Lots, and Burlington Coat Factory. These companies are
successful due to the fact that they are well capitalized and their buyers know
what to put in the store. The same principles are going to apply to you and your
eBay business.

What do liquidators buy? They purchase odd lots, returns, shelf pulls, over
runs and overstocks, imperfect items, bankruptcy sales, and store closings.
Let's look at all of these terms so that you know what to expect.

Odd Lots: These are the last of a lot, or sometimes a small test run of a
product. Usually these lots come from the manufacturer and were not in a large
enough quantity to be sold through their regular retail venues. Merchandise in
this category is very desirable and without flaws.

Returns: This is exactly what it sounds like. Customer returned items to the
store. You can expect that there will be opened boxes, incomplete packages,
missing parts, non-working items, damaged items, and clothing and shoes might
have been worn once and returned. You can expect electronics to have a certain
percentage of DOA (dead on arrival) pieces. Some items may not be suitable for
sale. Your best chance of getting enough good items with store returns is to
buy in large quantities. This way there will be enough of great quality items
to offset what cannot be sold.

Shelf Pulls: Shelf pulls can be risky. These items are pulled from the shelves
and racks at the end of the season. Items in this category may also have been
sitting on a clearance rack or shelf for a while. Boxes may be opened or
missing. Electronics may or may not be working. Display items are included in
this and their condition is always questionable. Purchasing large quantities is
a must. Many clothing items will not have the brand labels. Know what you are
buying.

Over Runs and Over Stocks: These are items that too many were either purchased
or made. For example merchandise that is sold based on a recently released
movie frequently makes its way into this category. This merchandise is usually
easily sold and there should not be damaged items.

Imperfect Items: Not perfect, so they do not always sell well. For example, a
shower curtain may be printed upside down. This does not effect the actual
shower curtain's ability to perform its task, but it looks awkward. Caution is
in order here. Slight flaws are fine but some of the items will not easily
sell. If you sell these items you are required by law to state that they are
slightly imperfect and not first quality. If you do not do this you can get
yourself into trouble. Be careful buying imperfect products from liquidators to
use in your eBay business.

Bankruptcy Sales and Store Closings: This is exactly what it sounds like. The
stores have closed and whatever merchandise was not auctioned off or sold off
at the closing or bankruptcy sales goes to the liquidators. You can expect a
vast array in the quality of merchandise. There are deals to be had, just know
what you are purchasing.

Buying products from liquidators to work from home on eBay is a great way to
add products to your inventory. Know what to expect before you buy and you will
do just fine.


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