Friday, November 24, 2006

Mission Impossible - Not eBay - By Pauline Kiselbach

Many people have become successful on eBay. Here you are, maybe just starting out and you ask yourself, how did they do it and can I really make it? Yes you can and if you read on you will see for yourself.

The strategy I am talking about has been used over and over and over again, and is still making people rich. In fact, eBay reports that 750,000 people are doing this already!

Could you be one of them? Look it, if this many people are already doing it, why can't you? You can, but even better, you can learn from those who have gone before you and you can take their success steps and ditch their disasters. Do not look at other vendors in distaste, but learn from them, become friends with them, talk to them, watch how you will grow.

Your mission is simple. It should look something like this;

Sell as many highly profitable items as you can. That is it. You will sell a lot of stuff, making good profit, and becoming more successful.

It sounds simple because it is simple, but at the same time this is a great way to make a living. Be open minded.

Of course you should probably start by selling all the stuff in your closet. Have fun scouring through your "junk", and watch how other people price your "junk".

Look in your attic for merchandise, you have probably forgotten you had most of that stuff right? And now that stuff can bring in income, great.

Have any family? Do they have closets and attics, go ahead and sell their stuff too. Friends? Attics or closets? Yes you are right, sell their stuff too! Oh yes, lest I forget, neighbours? Okay you are getting the picture right?

This is not rocket science. It works. As you are selling all this "junk" you are learning more and more about eBay. How to better list each item, what draws buyers to your auctions, all kinds of valuable lessons.

Do not necessarily rule out larger items. If you can sell them for a good price, the hassle will not seem as bad.

Think about the popularity of your merchandise. If it is really popular you may notice it is harder to sell, if it is a hard to find item, easier to sell.

So now you have pretty much cleared out your house and your Mom's house, your Grandmother's house and every other house you can get your hands on, you are ready to move on. Here is the big question, where do I get more items to sell and what should I be considering?

The answer, RESEARCH. You can never under estimate the power of research. There are many research tools to tell you about, and you will find them in my other articles. eBay has many, but it may seem rather daunting to begin searching them out.

In general, you should first find a product that will sell on eBay, then a source of where to get it.

Keep these 3 points in mind before you decide on any given merchandise.

1. Is the item scarce? If you can find this on the shelf at Wal-Mart, it is probably a bad choice. People are searching on eBay for bargains, but also for things they cannot find anywhere else.

2. Is it an item that people really want? Is it desirable to them? An example would be a DVD player. Everyone wants one, but perhaps a vintage cup, not everyone wants it, but collectors of this type really want it. So both are desirable. If the item is hard to find, and people are looking for that, this is a good choice. You see, the item is rare, there is lots of desire, it sells quicker thus making the item rarer. You see how this works.

3. What is the demand for this item? If lots of people desire it the item is in demand. If you only have scarcity plus desire but no demand, you will not sell much. If a valuable item is rare, it is desirable, and lots of people want it, that is the product you want to launch.

Let's compare new items to this formula. Take DVD's for example. When they were first released and marketed they were very desirable. They sold out quickly and became scarce, but only when they were first released. Do you see my point?

Antiques, vintage and other collectables on the other hand, are always in demand by individual collectors and by nature are rare, making them more desirable.

The rarer and more desirable an item is, the higher it will sell for, versus an easy to find item. Maybe at some point this rare item will increase in demand, which increases the competition, which makes it even rarer, and you now have a bidding frenzy.

Now you too are making serious money.

Pauline Kiselbach is a single mom of two who started with nothing and built a wildly profitable eBay business. She has put together a free multi-part mini-course to teach you how to generate quick and easy profits on eBay. Get it now at: www.auctionmoolah.com