How to Make Money with eBay?

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There are many online marketplaces on the Internet today. And just like you, in my endeavor to create passive income, I tried a few of them.

I tried eBay, then Amazon, and then eBay again. Today, I would like to share my experience on How to Make Money with eBay?

You will learn if this is an ideal online business option for making money on the Internet? Also, I will share about what I have learned and experienced selling on eBay.

I will list the advantages and disadvantages. And then explain how to make money on this marketplace.

So, why did I say that I tried eBay, and then Amazon, and then eBay again? Well, I did eBay many years ago. Then I stopped.

I moved on to Amazon where I created a private label product, and sold it on with FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon). I also tried drop shipping. That was when I returned to eBay.

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According to eBay, they are “the world’s online marketplace; a place for buyers and sellers to come together and trade almost anything!”

They started as an online auction site. And evolved into a shopping site.

For the online auction, you put up an item for sale. You specify an opening bid price. Over a set number of days, buyers will place bids on the item. When time is up, the highest bid wins.

For the online shopping side, you become a seller, and you list an item for sale. You offer to sell as a Buy It Now, and consumers can buy it at the fixed price that you indicated.

eBay surely has its advantages. That is why many people, including me, do this. Here are some of the benefits:

eBay has 177 million active users. That is a huge market of potential customers for you.

While eBay may not be as powerful as Amazon in SEO, some products do get ranked high. Some even on the first page of search results. This translates to driving traffic to your listing, and getting more sales and revenue.

Shoppers are protected against scams and bad service on eBay. While your brand can be new and unknown to them, they will still buy because they trust eBay.

You can reserve a price so that you do not sell lower than what your product is worth. And you may even get a higher price than you asked for.

The fees at eBay are lower than Amazon. This means you get more profit from your sales.

You get lower shipping costs. This pleases buyers as they get to save as much as 37%.

After some time doing eBay, I soon discover that there are also some disadvantages to this way of making money online.

The products that you put on sale at eBay must be of good quality.

This is expected by the customers as well as by eBay.

To get good quality products, you need to find good and reliable suppliers.

So, do your due diligence.

Do research on your list of suppliers.

If possible, visit your supplier and get some samples

You need to see first hand if they produce really high quality products.

Check your suppliers on how fast and how mch they produce the product you wish to sell.

The worst thing to happen is when there is high demand for your product and your supplier is unable to produce it fast enough to match the sales.

There can be customer complaints that can cause problems for you with eBay. This is because they will listen to the customer, and most often side with them.

An unhappy customer can leave a bad review. This can ruin your chances at succeeding at eBay.

As a result, you will spend a lot of money on advertising and promotion.

Despite the disadvantages mentioned above, you are still keen and ready to make money from eBay? Awesome! Here is the first thing you need to do.

One of the things I learned when I did eBay was – Do not sell everything. The best approach is to choose a niche.

And it should be a niche that you are passionate about. For example, I love to travel. So, I chose the travel niche.

So I find products that are travel related and sell them.

I know how difficult it may be to find and choose a niche. So, here is a blog post to help you. Click on the image below to read my blog post and watch a video to learn more.

Next, you need to choose a product within that niche. It is not easy to find the right product. There are so many things to consider.

For example, is there demand for this product? Is the cost price low enough to give you a decent profit? Can you find a good and reliable supplier for this product? Is the manufactured product of good quality? Who are the competitors, and what are their selling price?

So many questions. And these are just a few. As you research and look at products, you will find yourself asking many more questions.

It may sound weird, but it is actually good to find a product that has competitors. This means it is in demand.

Then look at your competitors, and find out what they are doing. How they sell? And how they are doing?

The tough part is that when you sell the same product as your competitors, consumers will see no difference. As a result, they will buy the cheapest offer.

You have to be very careful with this step. Over the years of doing eCommerce, I realized that finding a good and reliable supplier is very important.

A supplier must produce consistent and good quality products. They must have a good track record. They must offer a variety of payment methods and shipping.

When assessing a supplier, you should ask as many questions as possible to get all the facts you need. For example, ask about their production capabilities. Are they able to cope when your business grows and you need more products? Can they maintain the quality as the production and business scale?

When you are ready, you can set up your eBay store, and add your first product listing. Go to eBay, and open an account with them.

Tip: Consider the fees for standard or paid subscription.

You will also need to have a PayPal account. This is for buyers to pay you with a credit card or a checking account. They can also pay you using PayPal. Also, you can transfer the earnings from PayPal to your bank account.

You can list your item for auction or sale. For auction, you list the item, and give an opening bid. Allow a set number of days for shoppers to place their bids. At the end of the auction, the highest price wins.

Tip: For auctions, set a Reserve Price.

You can also list your item for sale with the option – Buy It Now. You can set the price for the product. Shoppers know your offer, and when they agree, they will buy it straight out.

After you listing has a winning bid or buyer, you need to follow up, and ship the product to him or her. Do this immediately or you will get blacklisted by eBay.

Customer service is very important to eBay. After all, shoppers are their business. And they earn their profits when shoppers buy. So, they must make their consumer base happy.

So, after the sale is done, and payment is made, make sure you ship the item to your customer.

To succeed with eBay, you should get feedback and give feedback. You can always ask your buyers to leave feedback after they have received and used the product. Good reviews can encourage others to buy.

You should also leave feedback to your customers, too. It can help improve their reputation (if it was a good experience). This helps the buyer to enjoy a better shopping experience on eBay.

After you have read the above on how to make money with eBay, I am sure you realized one thing. It is a lot of hard work. That is all fine if you enjoy it.

I prefer to work less, and still make more money. And if you are like me, you would like affiliate marketing.

I found affiliate marketing requires less hard work. And as such, it is more passive income.

Not sure what it is all about? Here is my blog post about affiliate marketing. Click on the image below to learn more.

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Would you like to learn how to start and grow an affiliate marketing business? Join my I Love Passive Income community for more tips and useful business information. Simply fill in the details below, and you will receive an email with instructions on how to join this invaluable community.

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How to Make Money with eBay?

Timotheus Final Thoughts

eBay has been around for a long time. And many people have made a lot of money from this marketplace. So, I do find it works.

But it can also take a lot of time. And money.

If you are starting out, and do not have a huge budget or looking something conservative to start with, then affiliate marketing is the best choice.

You can join the Free Starter Package with just your email. No credit card needed for this Free Starter Package.

There is some free training as well as really powerful tools and features to help you do digital marketing for your online business.

If you have ANY questions, or anything to clarify, please drop a comment below. I will be happy to help you.

I wish everyone great wealth and success.

Timotheus
Digital Marketer, Lecturer, Amazon Bestselling Author & Cancer Survivor