Finding Products to Sell on eBay

Do you know how many people in US are earning their livelihood with the help of eBay? According to a new survey conducted on July 2005 by ACNielsen, a leading research firm, an astounding 724 thousand Americans respond that they rely on eBay for their main or supplemental income. Apart from these professional sellers, another 1.5 million people confirmed that they generate additional income by selling goods on eBay. Last year alone, around 150 million registered users have sold over US$ 34 billionworth of goods on eBay. Isn't it amazing?

Why entrepreneurs are flocking into eBay? Some of the reasons are quite apparent.

? Starting a business on eBay is easy and quick

? You don't require large investment

? Anybody can start an eBay business, no special skill is required

? You can sell virtually anything on eBay

? With your eBay business you can have flexible work time

? You have a ready-made market of over 150 million people and counting

? eBay get 1.5 billion page views each month. You get access to this massive traffic almost paying nothing.

So, there is no wonder that anybody with slightest penchant to have their own business will jump into this great opportunity. But, there are two major problems that many of the would-be eBay sellers encounter. The first is what to sell and the next is where to find it.

What to sell?

According to Forrester Research, a major research company, this year, categories with products purchased by women will have the most growth in online retailing. Some categories are already getting more than ten percent of their overall sales through the Internet, which include: computer hardware and software, tickets, travel, books, consumer electronics, cosmetics and fragrances, toys and video games, and flowers, cards and gifts. While choosing items to sell on eBay, you should also explore the features available on eBay and other places on the Internet that show items people search and items people actually buy.

eBay has a complete section called "Seller Central" dedicated to delivering utmost information to help you succeed in selling products through eBay. Two links from this section should interest you. One is What's Hot (http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/whatshot.html) and the other one is Category Tips (http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/sellbycategory.html).

When you go to the subsection 'What's Hot', check out the following three areas:

Hot Items by Category

This is a comprehensive report of categories, and products within a category by the ratio of bid to listings growth rate in PDF format. The report gets updated monthly and shows which products have increased demand in comparison to last month. Super hot products, for example, have over 35 percentage point difference between bid growth rate and listing growth rate. According to the latest report, by the way, Sunglasses for men, in particular Prada sunglasses are super hot.

eBay Pulse

This is another area where you can see the top ten searched categories, ten most widely watched auctions, list of stores with most active listings, and other cool stuffs on daily basis.

eBay Summer Catalog

This is a new subsection. It's a real catalog with pictures and average price of products. In each category of products there is a list of top ten summer trends. You, definitely, should check this out if you are planning to start selling now.

In Demand

On the page "Category Tips" under each category you will see a link under the name "In Demand". This area will show you a list of ten most sold items of this category as well as most searched items for each subcategory.

You might also like to see what people buy on non-eBay part of the Internet. The Shopping.com Consumer Demand Index (CDI) (http://www.shopping.com/CDI/cdi.cmp) makes a weekly list of most sought after items. This list could give you the needed glimpse to the future market trend!

Where to find items to sell on eBay

Your own home

If you are just planning to start selling on eBay, your first option is to go through your attic, closets and garage. Find those long stashed items that you will probably never need. These may include: books that you will perhaps never read, CDs that you out grew, gifts that you received but did not like much, the list can go on! Take them out, brush them off and post them on eBay for sell.

Flea markets and garage sales

Every body knows that garage sales and flea markets can be real treasure troves! Well, now you can look at them from a business point of view. Your sales experience with own home items, hopefully, will help you understand what will sell well and what won't. Don't go for any costly items as yet.

Local liquidators and auctions

Classified sections of local Newspapers' week-end editions are good place to look for estate auctions. While buying items from local auctions determine what are you going to buy and for what price beforehand and stick to them no matter what! At an auction there is always a risk of getting carried away!

Go visit some local business liquidators. These are excellent places to find items for bargain price.

Drop shippers (http://ezine.rusbiz.com/article/39)

When a manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor or importer, after receiving an order from their retailers, individually pack and deliver the product to the customer of the retailer with retailers address as shipper, this selling technique is called drop-shipping. This is an excellent way to find products to sell on eBay. Drop ship source directory (http://www.worldwidebrands.com/wwb/?8188) is the place to go if you are looking for drop-shippers.

eBay

eBay itself can be a great sourcing place for you. Check out wholesale items and eBay business marketplace from your chosen fields. In order to find wholesale listing, while searching a product select "Items listed as lots". You can buy goods in wholesale and then sell them piece by piece and make decent money. Of course, you have to develop good knowledge of the products before doing this.

If your business has grown and you are considering importing products to sell on eBay, read my article "Importing Products to sell on eBay" (http://ezine.rusbiz.com/article/52).

The bottom line is there was never a better time to start a business. If you feel this is really your cup of tea, just go for it!

Nowshade Kabir is the founder, primary developer and present CEO of Rusbiz.com - a Global B2B Exchange with solutions to create e-catalog, Web store, business process management and other features to run a business online. You can read various articles written by Nowshade Kabir at http://ezine.rusbiz.com.

More Resources

A New Definition of Buyer Beware
"Who's Suzie?"My wife Katrina had been acting strangely ever since I had returned home from my Native American cultural class, not to mention the weird phone call I received just before I left, full of little pauses instead of our usual fast-paced communication. Now that I was home she had been pretty much ignoring me completely, then comes this strange question.
Photos on my eBay Auctions: How Do I Add Them?
On another forum I'm involved with, someone's asked a great question: I want to sell products on eBay, but I want to include photographs with my items. How do I do that? What kind of camera do I need, and what settings should I use?The first step is to buy a digital camera.
The Top Ten Tips For Auction Success!
If you were to look through eBay, or any other online auction site for that matter, you would find that many people make some very basic mistakes. And, they repeat these mistakes over and over again.
The 3 Minute Auction and Minute Auction Explained
Am I the only person who doesn't know what a 3 minute auction is? Looking for fresh content for my site, I discover that "minute auction," or even a 5, 10 and 30 minute auction is a popular item. Some auction sites may refer to a minute auction as a "Live Bid.
Six Steps Towards Successful Buying at eBay Auctions
Buying on eBay can be very rewarding, either in terms of being able to pick up items cheaply or for hunting for hard to find items. Although generally the experience is good, there are instances where things can go badly wrong.
Why Ebay Is The Best Place To Make Your First $1000 Online
I'd like to begin with a question - and I'll bet the answer is going to surprise you (it sure did surprise me!).Q.
Starting an eBay Home Business
Do I need to explain what eBay is?If 'Yes', where have you been living for the past 5 years? On Mars?EBay is the world's largest Internet auction site. There are a reported 30,000,000 users, but that number has probably increased in the time delay between me writing this article and you reading it.
Selling through Auction Marketplaces
Consumers are increasingly feeling more comfortable in buying products through the Internet. According to a report released recently by the Department of Commerce first-quarter retail salesrose 23.
5 Ways to Drive Traffic Away from Your EBay Auction
eBay is a one-stop solution to any one who wants to make money online. Whether you just selling a few unwanted items from around your house or your want to develop a work from home business, eBay removes many of the obstacles for you.
USP on eBay
If you have dabbled at all in the world of Internet marketing, you may have heard the term "unique selling proposition" or USP. USP is a technique that Internet marketers use to set themselves apart from the competition.
8 Collectible Dolls That Sell Well on eBay
From the beginning, eBay's primary growth came from thecollectibles market. There are two basic models for eBaysales:1.
Snipe Your Way to Auction Success
Bidding for a bargain is all part of the exciting eBay experience. But what can really disappoint is when you're all set to win that fantastic, gold plated gizmo and someone else just beats your bid in the very last minute.
eBay Consignments: The Giant Opportunity Hiding on eBay (Part I)
More and more, people are becoming aware that they have potential cash sitting in their closets, attics, and basements. But not everyone has the time or the know-how to tap into it, so these items remain where they are or are given away.
Top Secret Ebay Powerseller Technique: Classifieds Produce Auction Power
I was browsing through all of the classified sections, and stumbled on Wanted to Buy. I noticed that people were placing ads for items they wanted to purchase.
eBay Auction Bidding Strategies--Overcoming the most Frustrating Situation on eBay
The Problem..
Selling Effectively on Ebay Motors
Remember back when selling online was a new experience? Dealers tried everything to sell their vehicles online. Today's market has expanded to include several hot online marketplaces but there is the largest online marketplace, Ebay.
Sell Your Items at Cost and Make a Fortune on eBay!
Like all ebay sellers I wanted to sell all of my items at a profit and what I found was that when I was getting to the end of line items that I was ending up selling them at cost, even though the items were finally selling at a profit price, because I was having to factor in the ebay relisting fees etc.So I took a moment and sat down and thought how I could deal with these items and still make money.
Is Your Trash Cash? 5 Easy Places to Sell Your Stuff
The old adage that says "one person's trash is another person's treasure" never goes out of date. So when you're looking for some extra spending cash and you want to make some space in your home, combine the two endeavors by selling your stuff instead of donating it or trashing it.
Internet Auction Sites : Find Good Deals on Almost Anything
You can find good deals on almost everything you need on internet auction sites. There is almost nothing that you can't find over the internet.
An eBay Computer Purchase
An eBay purchase that turned sour.A story of fraud, deceit, and broken promises.

More Auction Information:

Related Articles

The Quickest Way To Have A Product To Sell On The Internet
Creating a product from scratch that you can sell on the Internet will take some time to do.Writing a book, for example, can take weeks or months to complete.
Smart Ways Your Business Can Benefit From Online Auctions
It seems as if everyone is talking about online auctions. And why not.
Importing Products to Sell on eBay
The interesting thing about online buyers is they are extremely price sensitive. A survey done by Forrester Research shows that 73 percent of surveyed online buyers expect prices on the Internet to be cheaper than in stores.
eBay The Mega Marketplace For Everyone
eBay is one of the world's largest market places with over 35 million visitors per day. That first sentence is worth repeating because I want you to realize that eBay gives you the ability to reach a customer base of millions and millions of people which is beneficial to you.
Professional eBay Auctions Reap the Profits for Sellers
eBay offer an unbelievable amount of traffic for ANYONE wanting to sell on their auction site, so much so that millions of items are listed on it everyday. So with all this competition how do you make sure that your listing doesn't get lost amongst the rest and that customers keep coming back to you.
Fed Up With eBay?
For many people, their first experience of working online involves selling products on eBay. This was how I got started back in 1998 and I know countless other people that have done the same.
An Introduction To eBay Consignment
After I started selling on eBay, I was approached by friends without computers who wanted me to sell their items for them. They had heard stories about the outrageous prices items some ebay auctions brought.
6 Reasons Why an eBay Business is the Easiest and Safest Home Business to Start
Calling internet auctions an "Entrepreneur's Dream" isn't poetic license or part of the get-rich-quick rhetoric. Net auctions are the simplest, easiest way on this planet for the little guy to make money.
Start Your Own Business: Sell Things on eBay
The popularity of online auction site eBay has beenlegendary. With millions of transactions completed daily,it is no surprise why many individuals who do not usuallyshop online regularly purchase items through eBay.
Profitable Paper Piecing on eBay--Part 1
Why sell paper piecings on eBay?eBay is a great way to make a steady part-time or full-time income from a hobby that you love! Selling paper piecings has its ups and downs, but overall it is a rewarding and lucrative venture.Getting and Understanding An eBay AccountTo get started selling paper piecings on eBay, you will need to set up an account.
The Top Ten Antique Categories On eBay!
Knowledge is Power! And this statement could not be more true when it comes to selling on eBay. As explained in my book "eBay Marketing Wholesale SourcePak", being successful on eBay all depends on being in the right place, at the right time, with the right product.
Game Theory, Nobel Prize, & Auctions - Auction Primer Series - Part 1
William Vickrey, highly regarded as the founder of auction theory, was an economics professor at Columbia University when he published two papers outlining his views on auctions:"Counterspeculation, Auctions, and Competitive Sealed Tenders", 1961, Journal of Finance"Auction and Bidding Games", 1962, Recent Advances in Game TheoryIn 1996 he received a Nobel Prize "for fundamental contributions to the economic theory of incentives under asymmetric information." It's important to understand that asymmetric information is an essential component of auctions, where potential buyers have varying levels of knowledge about the value of the item.
How To Sell On Ebay: Pricing Strategy
Many new Ebay sellers make one of two mistakes: eitherthey overprice items to an unsellable extreme; or theylose money on every transaction by setting low startingprices with no restrictions.In this lesson, I am going to go over which pricing strategies to use and when if you are using a ten-dayauction setup.
eBay is the Greatest Opportunity YOU Have to Create a Career Online
eBay's being spoken about everywhere these days. At work, school, down the pub.
7 Simple Steps To Profit Without Your Own Product
Most people do not succeed on the internet because they are selling products no one desperately wants.If you want to be truly successful sell only things that people really really really want to buy!Sounds simple? It is.
How To Profit Using eBays Saved Search Feature
Did you know that eBay will help you locate products you can buy cheap, then flip for a quick profit? No? Then listen up, because I am about to let you in on a little known feature of eBay that can literally stuff wads of cash in your wallet in less than 24 hours.This is an eBay tool that I use every day to locate products that I can buy and resell or buy cheap and keep for myself and my family.
Dropshipping on eBay, Does It Work?
eBay offers any business owner a new global market to sell his products or services on. You are no longer constrained by geographical positioning.
How Professional Ebay Auction Templates Can Boost Your Ebay Sales
Do you like to sell on eBay ? It's easy and fun, isn't it ? In fact, it's one of the easiest online business you can start almost overnight, without any major investments. That's the best thing about it.
From Ebay Zero to Power-Selling Hero: How To Learn New Tricks Without Spending
The Internet is the fastest-changing marketplace on earth. Million-dollar ideas from one year ago might notgenerate a single penny today.
Traditional Marketing Techniques for eBay Auction Ads
Ya know, I sort of giggle when I look at an ad on eBay that's just a black and white description of the item or product that's up for bid. It wasn't long ago at all that I would have done the exact same thing, but once I understood some traditional marketing techniques, not just been exposed to them; everything looked totally different.