Ebay Advice

By Donny Lowy

If you are ready to start an eBay business your more than likely trying to decide what to sell. You have many choices, ranging from used clothing lying around the house to brand new products from a local distributor.

While selling used products will give you a high profit margin you will face the challenge of securing a steady flow of merchandise.

You might make money selling your used items, but you will soon run out of what to sell.

The other approach will give you a steady supply of merchandise, but your profit margins will be small. And as more eBay sellers use your supplier your profits will drop. Since more eBay sellers will be selling the same products, the price of the items being sold will drop, further cutting down your profits.

But there is an alternative available for eBay sellers.

eBay sellers can build their online auction businesses by buying and selling closeout merchandise.

Closeout merchandise consists of overstock, going out business, liquidation, and surplus products.

Since the merchandise is sold at pennies on the dollar, it can give eBay sellers a sizable profit margin.

Another advantage of dealing with closeout merchandise is that the quantities are limited. eBay sellers dealing with closeout merchandise will not be faced with thousands of other sellers offering the same products.

And even if there are other eBay sellers buying the same merchandise, the closeout seller has a vast advantage since his cost of merchandise is lower.

How can an eBay seller find closeout merchandise?

There are many closeout businesses which advertise online. Using a simple online search through a wholesale search directory such as http://www.wholesalequest.com can yield thousands of closeout sellers.

By Heather Walsh

An eBay business is an ideal way to work from home for virtually everyone including retirees, the disabled, families, individuals, and college students. Selling on eBay levels the playing field and gives anyone the opportunity to start a home-based business. What few realize, however, is that selling on eBay is more than running auctions. What they soon discover is that they are faced with the question of where to find stuff to sell on eBay. For many, the process of finding stuff to sell on eBay is the hardest element of beginning an eBay business.

Before you can find the answer to the question of where do I find stuff to sell on eBay; you first have to determine your experience level on the auction site. If you are just starting out, then garage sales are an excellent option for locating stuff to sell on eBay. After investing some time and effort you will find that it is much easier for you to find garage sale items that will sell for a profit on eBay. Many people have started collecting inventory from this source and have been able to enjoy incredible profits. Garage sales can be excellent sources for antiques, books, CDs, software, DVDs, and a variety of other items. While this is an ideal way to begin your venture into the world of selling on eBay it is unlikely that you will be able to generate revenue consistently with garage sales as your only source of inventory.

As your eBay selling experience grows you may decide to make the transition from hobby seller to home-based entrepreneur. If you decide to make this transition then you need to find a permanent source of stuff to sell on eBay. From this point on your best sources for stuff to sell on eBay will be either drop shippers or wholesalers. It will be up to you to determine your individual situation and decide which is ideally suited to your circumstances.

For those starting an eBay auction business, dropshippers make it easy to get up and running. Dropshippers can save a considerable amount of time and effort for those selling on eBay. When choosing a dropshipper as your inventory source you must be careful as many will claim that they have the best selling items on eBay at the lowest prices, which may not be the case. Also, if a dropshipper doesn't require you to have a resellers license then he is most likely a middleman. It is important, therefore, to fully investigate your options to find a trustworthy dropshipper. After all, your reputation on eBay depends on it.

Some don't like to outsource to dropshippers and prefer to have complete control over every aspect of their eBay business. For these individuals, wholesalers will be their best ally in the quest to find stuff to sell on eBay. You must beware when choosing a wholesaler, however, as some charge such a high markup that it is impossible for sellers to make good money reselling the items. That is way it is important to do your research in order to find reputable wholesalers who offer products at a low enough cost for you to resell items at a profit.

While many quickly realize that eBay is the most efficient place online to sell almost anything it usually takes much longer for them to determine where to find stuff to sell via the auction site. After deciding to take the plunge and enter the eBay marketplace it is then simply a matter of overcoming the hurdle of finding stuff to sell. With the information provided above, as well as a little research to find a reliable and reputable source, you will soon be on your way to powerseller status.