How to Make Money on eBay

If you’re like many marketers, you have been trying to learn how to make money on eBay, the world’s largest open marketplace. Every year, billions of dollars passes back and forth between buyers and sellers and for someone with the right niche, products, and marketing tactics, eBay can be a real gold mine.

Choosing Your Niche and Products

The first thing to do when learning how to make money on eBay is to decide which niche you will market your products in. Do some basic research on eBay to see what sells well and what you are interested in. You can also visit sites like Amazon or Clickbank and review hot niche products. Once you’ve chosen a niche, get to know your audience better. Read their reviews, visit forums and blogs and check their buying habits in eBay’s feedback forums.

This first step is vital because only then can you choose the products you will sell. Too many eBay sellers will simply sell whatever they can get their hands on. They may make a profit, but by not specializing at all, they spread themselves too thin and never quite master any one category.

As for which products to sell, you have many options. One of the most popular options is dropshipping. With dropshipping, you use a service that will take the address and payment from your buyer and send them the product directly. You can enter whatever markup you want and then keep the difference. For many marketers, learning how to make money on eBay starts and ends with dropshipping, and services like SaleHoo.

There are other options as well, including digital products from sites like Clickbank or software from Avangate. You can also buy lots and wholesale from other sellers and then break them up to resell for a profit. In this case, however, you will need to maintain an inventory which requires more work.

How to Make Money on eBay through Auctions

While there is something to be said for classifieds, the big money on eBay comes through carefully worded, well researched auction listings. Many marketers unfortunately look at their auction listings as a simple store front, but you need to learn how to really sell people.

To start with, it’s important to sign up for an eBay store. The basic plan costs as little as $15 a month and will provide you with a URL, searchable index, and reduced listing fees. Once you’ve been on eBay for a while, consider the $299 premium plan that will severely reduce listing fees and provide advanced analytics to review your visitors.

When someone asks how to make money on eBay, they often skip the next step – copywriting. I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of listings that are two hundred word blobs of text with poor grammar. Who buys those? You need to be more persuasive and much more professional.

To do this, integrate HTML into your listings to provide images of the product, bright headlines with key benefits and bulleted lists to lay out the details of the auction. Don’t just tell someone you’re selling a “new iPod”. Tell them why they need that iPod and how it will affect their life.

Mastering eBay

When you learn how to make money on eBay, remember that this is not a garage sale. It’s a real business with real customers that have plenty of options to choose from. Price is not always the determining factor in selling your products. Maintain high feedback ratings, keep customer service at the top of you priority list and start studying the intricacies of copywriting immediately – together, these strategies will guarantee a stronger, more successful eBay business.