How to Launch Your E-Bay Sales Empire

I've run several successful small businesses, including an eBay operation and two antiques booths. Over the years, you learn a thing or two---or you go out of business. Well, I'm still in business. If you've bought items on eBay, odds are you've thought that you, too, could sell things on eBay. Why not give it a try? This is one of those rare businesses you can start using little more than your time. Which brings me to the first of my top ten tips to launching your eBay Empire!

---Go an Inch... The number one mistake new business owners make is under funding the venture. They max out credit cards, borrow from relatives and drain their savings to get a business started. Then, the inevitable business slowdown comes along and the harried entrepreneur realizes he has no cushion to fall back on.

This is the beauty of eBay. You may have a notion to become the widget-selling king of eBay. If so, that would entail a business plan and thorough planning like any other business venture...if you want to succeed. In most cases, however, you don't have to invest a lot of money to get started. Most people get started by selling stuff they have outgrown in their own households. And that's great. The key is in using a trash to treasure mentality. It may not be working in your home anymore, but it could be just the thing to finish off someone else's décor. Sell it. See it with the same set of eyes that purchased it in the first place.

---...Then Go a Mile. You'll invariably make money selling off things you no longer want. That's the easy part. If you want to do more than make some pin money selling your own things, use the profit from your initial purchases to buy other things at auction, yard sales, even other eBay sales being run by people who aren't quite as market savvy as you are. If you have to, physically set the money aside or put it into a separate account. If you want to have a business, you must treat it as a business from the start, no matter how humble the beginning. Again, that's the wonder of eBay. There are few business ventures that will allow you to build a business starting from nothing.

---Know Your Market. Even if you are selling one of your own belongings, you must check out the competition. You don't want to under price, or worse, overprice your item. As you are selling on eBay, check out similar items there first. Note how your product is better, worse, etc. You have the capability to "watch" an auction, which I'd advise. That means you can have the auction listed in your "My eBay section" so you can track its final selling price. You'll quickly learn patterns.

---Write a Killer Ad. When you become a bulk seller, you will probably be more commercial in technique. In the beginning, you can be much more creative. Again, you are spending your time, not money. It's a good test to see what works best.

Be personable. I don't just describe an item. If a little story goes with it, I add it. I sold my son's Brio and Thomas the Train collection as a lot. I noted that I had a son who had spent many happy hours with the trains (giving me much needed quiet time), but he was in college with an eye on grad school. He was offering up his prized collection to finance his new dream. A parent can relate to that. He'll get a good deal with the sale, and he'll have the feeling that he's helping a young man get a good start in the adult world.

One of the best ads I've read involved one of the old, rotary dial telephones. I don't think thrift stores would take them if you offered to give them away. A guy put an ad up on eBay about Elvis calling him on this phone. It was a total spoof, but enough of a riot to work. The story itself was worth the $30 he got for the phone.

---Be honest. If there's a chip in the glass you're selling, say so. Include that in the photo if you can. Feedback is all important at eBay especially when you're just starting out. More than that, however, you want to set the tone for your business. Be aboveboard always. Think karma.

---Always add a photo. It's only natural that a person's eye will be drawn to the visual. The first photo is free, so take advantage of it. And while it is paramount to include a photo, it is even more important to include a good photo. A photo that looks like it was taken with a fish eye lens 50 feet from the object won't do. If you have to enlist the help of a friend, do so, then ask that friend to teach you how to do it. It's that critical. All the pretty words in the world won't help if the photo makes the object look ugly.

---Know which bells and whistles matter. EBay offers all sorts of extras---bolding for a first line, adding a second category, extra photo capacity, gallery listing. Each comes with a price. Using all of these options is unnecessary and in some cases, counterproductive. If all ads look the same, they fail to make an impact.

On the other hand, an extra photo is worthwhile if you are trying to show detail, something to set your object apart from the ordinary. If there is a special marking on the bottom of the object, that may be worth the extra photo.

EBay offers to let you list your item in more than one category---for a fee. It's my experience, however, that people search for an object by name, rather than by category.

---Timing Isn't Everything, but It's Something. Auctions generally run one week. Auction fever takes over for most people at the tail end of the auction, so you want to time your auction so that it ends at a time when more people can take advantage of the bidding war. I don't care how many auctions you've attended, it's tough to not get caught up in the thrill of bidding at the end of an auction when you're fighting to get an object.

You don't want to have your auctions ending at 5 a.m. on a Tuesday morning. People will make their last bids before heading off to bed, and they may not find out that a person outbid them by a mere dollar. Had you timed your auction to end on a weekend when the person was home and up, s/he would have had the option (and the human urge) to go that one extra dollar just to be a winner.

---Make it easy on the buyer. If you aren't set up for Paypal, get an account set up. If you are going to sell on eBay in any serious way, you're going to need it. I've passed up auctions that don't take Paypal. I generally pay as soon as the auction is over. No fuss, no muss. Who wants to stand in line (and pay for) money orders.

---Be Clear When It Comes to the Little Things. Little things aren't really little in the eBay world. If you put a flat shipping rate on an item, then have a bidder from the Netherlands win, you're going to see your profit dwindle drastically. In the beginning, I wouldn't ship overseas, just because I knew I wasn't up to speed on shipping. Decide what you will and will not do in this respect.

I include a line in my auction that I must hear from the winner as to how they intend to pay for the item within three days. If you include the "invoice me" option, people will undoubtedly choose that option. It's one more step you'll have to take to complete the sale. It's an unnecessary step, if you spell out the shipping charges.

If insurance is included in the shipping fee, note that and vice versa. Don't leave anything to the imagination---or up in the air to debate.

A final tip should go without saying: be a gracious seller. Send a thank you note, leave feedback and generally acknowledge that you appreciate the person's business.