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By Dave Bromley
As the editor of the UK Auctionline Newsletter I receive a
great number of e-mails from subscribers. Frequently the
question they ask is, “Please tell me an easy way to make
money
on eBay.” I suppose the answer to this question really
revolves
around how you define the term easy.
It is my belief that there is no easier way to make money on
the Internet than by selling items through eBay. What could be
simpler, a straight forward 5 step process.
1. Get something to sell.
2. Photograph it, and write a description.
3. Upload your listing to eBay.
4. Collect your money.
5. Dispatch the item.
What could be simpler than that?
But I suspect what people are really asking is how can I
easily
get products to sell. From my experience this is what both
newcomers and some experienced eBayers find difficult. So in
this article I just want to highlight 5 very simple ways that
you can get products to sell without even leaving your
computer. This I hope that will be easy enough for everyone.
1. What, no photograph?
It is my belief that there is hardly an item listed on eBay or
any of the other online auctions that does not benefit from
having a photograph or image included in the listing. In fact
most items that are listed without a photograph that actually
sell tend to fetch 20% less than those with. In some
categories
the figures are even higher. For instance clothing items
offered
without a photograph average a 78% lower selling price than
those with. So it would seem to be pretty easy to browse eBay
looking for these “photo less” items, buying them and then
relisting with a photograph. Money for old rope really.
2. Finding the poorly listed item.
There are many reasons why someone’s listing fails to attract
any worthwhile bids. Bad title, short or poor description,
wrong category, poor spelling and so on. You can find these by
browsing around the auction site, but I would suggest an
easier
method.
Select the categories that you are interested in and look down
the search feature for items finishing within the next hour.
Here is where you will find the bargains that have failed to
attract any bids for the reasons we have mentioned.
3. Unsocial hours
In any book about eBay you will find tips on when is the best
time for auctions to finish. The most suggested times for most
items are Sunday afternoon and evenings and Wednesday
evenings.
Some experts suggest that for business related items Monday or
Tuesday during office hours are best. If you accept that there
are times when you will get increased bids for your items
there
must also be times when if your auction ends you will not do
so
well. I would think if you have an auction that finishes
between say 5 am and 8 am on a Monday morning you will not
have
too many people lurking to place last minute bids to push the
price up. Again buy and relist with your auction set to finish
at a more sociable time and you could easily make a 20% or
more
profit for very little effort.
4. Buy Collections
One of the easiest ways to make money on eBay is to cash in on
other peoples laziness. If someone has say a collection of 10
china dogs, it is a fact that if they put all ten in one
listing as a collection they will get less than if they had
listed each item separately. But it is amazing how many
sellers
cannot be bothered to do this. I have in the past bought such
a
collection and actually made more from one of the items than I
had paid for the whole collection.
5. Other online auctions.
Over 95% of all online auction sales are on eBay. They have
the
largest number of registered buyers and items listed for sale.
For this reason items offered for sale on eBay get the best
prices. So why not search around some of the smaller online
auctions, because in many cases items listed with them will
not
attract such a good prices as could be achieved on eBay. Then
all you have to do is buy from them and relist on eBay.
So there are 5 easy ideas for you to consider. Why not give
some or all of them a try.
About The Author: Dave Bromley runs the
www.ukauctionline.co.uk web site and newsletter. This
information packed web site contains hundreds of articles,
hints and tips for getting the most out of eBay.To register
for
the newsletter and 6 part mini course visit his web site now.
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