By Johnathan Z Moore

PROPER RESEARCH IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST

Research requires due diligence on your part, spend time with research. You must know the average selling price on eBay of the product you have decided to sell. On the main search page, located to the right of the search button is an [Advanced Search] button. Next, open the Advanced Search link, enter a keyword(s) for your product.

What you do next is by selecting your related category, then the completed listings link, then search. You are now seeing on your monitor closed auctions for products you are considering selling. Green means a sold product. Red means an auction item that did not sell. Black means the product did not sell, and was originally listed as a Buy it Now listing. Forward this critical data to a spreadsheet such as Microsoft Excel.

SHIPPING IS ANOTHER CRITICAL STEP

Shipping is definitely a very sensitive subject with regards to eBay purchases. In years past, many sellers would give a good price on the product, then gouge on the shipping fees. Free Shipping many times will get your product noticed and respected. And the buyer will come back for more products later on.

Compare Shipping Fees when doing research, notice the Free Shipping items, or Reasonable Shipping priced items will do better overall than Unreasonable fees. Know what your shipping costs will be to ship the product then allow for it in the selling price. Just consider it the cost of doing business.

BASIC ECONOMICS: SUPPLY AND DEMAND

There must be a demand for any product you wish to sell on eBay. Prior research is a must before any listing follows. If the demand and profit margin are not in line, you may have a shelf full of product that does not sell. Frozen capital will ruin, and severly hurt any business. Enough frozen capital and the business fails. If someone offers to sell you product "X" for $10.00 each, 100 count. You do your eBay research and find that in the last sixty days, only 1 sale was made of 50 offered on eBay, selling price $10.50. You will have a problem on your hands. 50 problems to be exact. Product "X" should not be purchased.

When first starting out, it is a good idea to find a legitimate Drop Shipper. A drop shipper will ship your item after you sell it. This way you do not have to stock product, but still have access to many products. There are many so-called drop ship companies on the net, but many are still middle men. Search Google for Wholesale Sources, or Dropship Sources, but remember to deal with a wholesaler not a middleman.

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