Mom eBay Business - Sourcing Products for your eBay Business
By Matt Hodkinson
One of the most-popular and simplest ways for a Mom to start a home-based business is to follow the millions of eBay sellers already making huge profits every day.
For any Mom starting out in the world of eBay selling for profit, the best place to start is the eBay site itself. It makes sense that by providing individuals with the tools they need to succeed with their auctions, eBay will grow in terms of seller numbers and as a brand on the whole. That’s why your first stop needs to be the “Seller Central” area. Here you’ll find lots of tips, from getting started with auctions and listing, to advance techniques and best practices. Some of the techniques outlined in the Seller Central pages could just give you the edge over your rivals.
To get a handle on what products are selling well on eBay at any given time, check out the “What’s Hot” section on Seller Central. There are a number of sections here, which provide a snapshot of the best performing listings and categories. “Hot items by Category” shows the categories and sub-categories receiving the highest number of conversions from listings to sales, whilst the “eBay Pulse” section shows you the most-searched terms within each category on the site.
It’s important to do this research before deciding upon the types of products you’ll sell. After all, you stand a much better chance of turning a profit if the items you sell are in high demand; the main driver for auction sales.
Once you’ve decided what you want to sell, there are a number of places you can go to stock up your inventory:
At Home
What could be easier than searching round your own home for products that you no longer need or use? This is a great way to get into the practice of listing items and going through the sales and fulfilment process on a small scale. The experience you’ll gain from listing your own items, answering the many questions from bidders, and packing & shipping the items, will be invaluable when you find yourself doing it on a larger scale.
Garage Sales
If you have an eye for a bargain and have done your research into hot items and potential profits, you should be able to go into any flea market or garage sale and pitch for the right price. Many people clear out their homes of clutter and surplus items on a regular basis, and will often be gladder of the reclaimed space than of turning a huge profit. Look for garage sales in your neighborhood and see what bargains you can find.
Bankrupt Stock & Auctions
It’s a sad statistic that many businesses fail in the early stages, and are forced to liquidate their assets. Bankrupt stock auctions happen on a regular basis, and this can be a great source of bulk stock at low prices. Search the Internet or local press for auctions in your area, and see what items are on offer. It’s a good idea to visit an auction without bidding, so you can get a feel for the highly-charged atmosphere it provides, without the added pressure of securing your first purchase. Once you'’re comfortable, you should be able to find some great acquisitions with great profit potential.
Manufacturers
The Internet makes it easy to do direct deals with manufacturers around the world. China, for example, manufactures more products than most countries combined, and makes many of their items available to eBay sellers across the Globe. Scan the pages of eBay and you will see many listings described as “Ships from Hong Kong” or similar. This method is generally known as “Drop shipping” and means that sellers don’t hold the stock, instead instructing a manufacturer to deliver goods direct to winning bidders.
This saves on costs of shipping to the Seller, import duties, inventory costs, as well as packing and shipping between the Seller and the winner. Check out sites such as Ali Baba and Made in China for contacts. The advantages are numerous, but there are also many possible pitfalls in dealing with a supplier so far, geographically, from you and your customers.
The “eBay Secret Reports” provides a highly-successful system for starting and running a drop-shipping eBay business, with many great tips on avoiding scammers and finding the right suppliers for your customers.
One great tip when considering which products to sell on eBay is to target items which are small, but expensive. This combination provides the best opportunity for profit as an eBay seller, due to the high mark-up, generally associated with high-ticket sales, the low costs incurred in storing small items, as well as the reduced packing and shipping costs. For a little investment, it’s possible to benefit from the experiences of successful eBay Power-Sellers, and get up-and-running in a fraction of the time.
Follow these tips to source the best products for your Mom eBay business and you could join the millions of home-based business success stories.
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