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By Kirsten Hawkins
Going full-time as an eBay seller is living the dream: making
a
real income, working from home, being your own boss and all
the
rest of it. It’s the promise of a million scams, and it’s
finally come true – at least for some.
What they don’t tell you in the success stories, though, is
that becoming a full-time eBay seller is by no means for
everyone. You really, really ought to try it part-time before
you even consider taking it up full-time, and even then,
caution is advisable. Before you burn your suit, here’s a list
of questions you should ask yourself.
How Much Do I Earn From eBay Now?
Work out how many hours a week you spend doing eBay-related
things (be honest here), and divide it by the average amount
of
profit you make in a week. If you were doing full-time hours,
would you earn as much as you earn now?
Do I Have a Good Job?
Think about what you might lose if you give up your job to
focus on eBay. If you’re in a well-paid job with good
promotion
prospects then it’s well worth reconsidering: you might get a
few years down the line and wish you’d stayed in your
traditional job, as you’d probably be the CEO by now.
Would I Really Make Much More Money?
Unless you’re selling a large quantity of small goods, most of
what you do on eBay will be waiting for auctions to end – and
you can wait at work just as easily as you can at home. This
is
why whether you would make more money on eBay really depends
on
what kinds of items you’re selling – for low value items,
going
full-time could be a good move. For high-value ones, the
chances
are you’ll hit the limits of how much money you have to invest
in inventory long before you hit the limits on your time.
Is my Home a Good Place to Work?
Quite apart from anything else, you might find that the dream
of home working is more of a nightmare in reality. People can
start to depend on you to get things done that need to be done
during the day. If you have a wife and children then they can
resent the fact that you’re in the house but refuse to have
anything to do with them for large parts of the day. Giving in
to any of these things and stopping work for a while will
cause
your profits to fall.
Can I Survive if it All Goes Wrong?
In the end, would you be able to get by if you had a month or
two where you sold literally nothing? Or would you be
desperately looking around for a job and cursing the day you
ever discovered eBay? That’s the real test.
If you made it through all these questions, then I guess
you’re
cut out for the eBay life – and even if you didn’t, you’d be
surprised just how far you can get part-time. In our next
email, we’ll show you how to think like the eBay elite: the
PowerSellers.
About The Author: Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet
auction enthusiast from Nashville, TN. Visit
www.auctionseller411.com/ for more great tips on how to
make the most from Ebay and other online auctions.
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