What to sell on ebay...

LaurenM9

Hi I have been selling on ebay for a few years now but only bits and bobs for fun more than money making. I'm a student now and want a bit of extra income so was wondering what you would advise me to sell that will provide a decent profit margin. I do the odd bit of charity shopping for clutch bags etc but sometmes it seems like pot luck on whether the items will sell or not.
Any suggestions are welcome...

hula-hoops

I don't think anyone will share the secrets of their success too much!

But the main thing is to sell somethig that you know a lot about if you are going to be selling professionally. There is nothing worse than asking a question to a seller on an ebay item only to find that the seller knows absolutely nothing about the product they are selling.

You will need to register as a business on ebay and comply with the rules for business sellers so read up on those rules also.

Think about how much time you can devote to selling and how often you can get your items out to the buyers. If you are a business seller then buyers are naturally going to expect fast answers to their questions and also that their purchases are sent quickly. No point selling professionally if you can only get to the post office once a week or if the items are too heavy and/or bulky for you to take to the post office regularly.

The problem that I find many sellers have is not that they have the wrong product - everything is used by somebody somewhere so there will always be a market for whatever you sell, some markets are bigger and easier to find and appeal to than others - but that they are just not cut out for selling. Selling requires far more than taking photos and writing up a description, taking the money and sending the item. Sell as you would like to be sold to. Calculate discounts for repeat customers. Trim down your Ts and Cs and make them as customer-friendly as possible. Show enthusiasm for what you are selling - not gushy, over-the-top descriptions but something more than just 'black top size 14 brand new'. As I say to my sales staff 'sell the vision, sell the image'.

It's a tough time to be thinking about starting selling professionally unless you are tip-top with your product knowledge, service strategy and budgeting.

Good luck!