Earning Strategies on Ebay

I've been Ebay'ing since 1997. There are two categories that will help you make money. These categories are Buying/Reselling and Smart Listing. Here are some hints to help you improve both.

Buying/Reselling:

1) Shop the flea markets and negotiate. Always talk the person down. Buy a whole stack of DVDs for $2 a piece and sell them as a lot on Ebay for $9 a piece. There are tons of opportunities like this. You just need to be thrifty and willing to talk to people. Truly one man's garbage is another man's treasure.

2) Research first. Search OOP items (Out of Print) and other Rare items. Get a feel for what things are selling for out there before you buy. Hit salvation armies and stores like that. This is especially important in collectibles. Believe it or not the majority of things now a days are collectibles. You name it, anything from PEZ dispensers to kitchen knives.

3) Hit yard sales. These items are on the side of the road because the person doesn't want them. These little treasure troves differ from flea markets in the fact that the people running yard sales mostly want to get rid of stuff.

4) Check with your local Self Storage place. People are always forgetting to pay their rent at these places and they usually auction them off once a month as lots. I went to a couple of these and low and behold your local pawn shop dealer is there as well. The feeling at these sell-offs is a little awkward cause more than likely the person doesn't want to sell the stuff and the company is doing it for them.

Smart Listing:

1) List your item on a Thursday for 5 days so it hits the weekend and gains maximum views. Make sure you pay attention to the clock because they use PST and you want your auction to end AFTER people get out of work, so shoot for the auction to end 5pm PST.

2) Always chose the gallery option and for that matter always include a picture of don't even bother listing the item. People absolutely have to look at stuff that looks intriguing.

3) If you are just starting with your ebay account it is best to buy a few cheap items you need anyways just to build up your feedback rating so more buyers trust you. The higher your feedback rating the more serious buyers will treat you.

4) GET A PAYPAL ACCOUNT! Without one you are seriously handicapped in the online buying and selling world.

5) Ship priority and try not to overcharge for shipping. The customer should be super happy when they receive the item in 2-3 days and didn't pay $20 for shipping a small item. Remember positive feedback is paramount in your continued success. If I see someone overcharging for shipping i skip right over the listing.

Follow these few little tips and you should do better than you were doing in making some money on Ebay.