By Marsha Collier
Get ahead of the competition with these tips for selling
items you know and love.
I'm often asked what the sticking point is that keeps
most people from selling online. "What should I sell?" or
the ever popular, "What item will make me the most
money in the shortest period of time?" are the most
popular questions representing barriers to online success.
People just don't seem know what to sell.
The answer to the second question is much more complex
than the first. To be honest, the lucky individual that
finds a hot item and makes a killing with their sales is
an extreme rarity. Think about it. How many instant success
stories have you ever heard about? It would be nice to think
you could be one of them, but the odds of finding that life-changing,
magic item are miniscule. There's no slam dunk--no magic
key to an "instant" fortune for most of us.
So why not concentrate on finding a group of items that'll
give you a steady stream of income over a long period of
time? It may be a slower way to riches, but at least you
can control your income as your business grows.
To start out, you can easily hone your selling skills
by helping your neighbors get rid of their excess stuff.
Offer to sell for people in your community (post a flyer
at the laundromat or at church) and charge a percentage
(plus eBay fees). This way, the profits you make from selling
the excess in your neighbors' garages becomes the backing
for buying your first "official" merchandise to
resell. You'd be surprised how positive your neighbors may
react, finding it a blessing if you offer to sell their
excess stuff on eBay for them. eBay even backs you in this
endeavor with Trading Assistants, experienced eBay sellers
who sell your items for you on eBay for a fee. By hiring
a Trading Assistant you can take advantage of their selling
expertise, save time and effort, and still reap the rewards
of selling your item on eBay. Visit the Trading Assistant
hub page for more information, including marketing tools
and templates at www.ebay.com/tahub.
Now that you have to actually buy merchandise to sell,
you need to consider selling what you know. Did you have
a hobby as a teenager? Is there something particular that
interests you? For example, if you loved drama in college
perhaps you know a lot about Broadway shows and could sell
Broadway memorabilia like old Playbills and posters. Did
you collect coins? You can get back into what's hot and
what's not by starting out bottom-feeding and buying coins
from people who want to sell off collections.
If you're coming out of a career, think about selling
items that would be of benefit to people with a similar
job. Say you were in the nursing profession--weren't there
a few items that made your job easier for you? Were there
certain things you and your friends just had to have? That's
what you should be selling.
Get it? Sell what you know! Sell what interests you. That
way you'll have a leg up on the competition who has just
randomly picked a group of items to sell. When you sell
the same item as your competitors it's your personal experience
that'll place you ahead. Your experience allows you to move
with the trends far better than someone can who's not an
expert in the field.
If you're still at a loss for an idea, look around your
house. Check out products you use or you think add something
special to your life. Check out the packaging and find out
the manufacturer's name. Google them and make contact. Find
out how you can sell their item online.
Once you've gathered a few dollars and are ready to go
out and buy "wholesale," there are a few steps
to complete. Assuming you and your business are ready to
go, you have to deal with the tax man. Be sure to file a
fictitious name statement, look into local licenses and
file for your Federal Employee Identification Number. Once
you have that you'll need a Seller's Permit. Use Google
to search for your state's sales tax department--that's
usually the group that issues a "reseller" or "sellers" permit.
This permit is the only way you can buy at true wholesale
prices. Legitimate wholesalers won't even let you through
the door without producing your seller's permit number.
Check out my website for a listing of Merchandise Marts
by clicking
here. These are places that have a large group
of manufacturers' salesmen whose job it is to sell wholesale
merchandise to retailers (that's you). Also, check out the website
www.greatrep.com for a list of upcoming trade shows
(huge expos where manufacturers sell their latest lines
of goods).
Once you've established a selling relationship with a
manufacturer or a manufacturer's representative, see if
they'll drop ship some of the bulkier or expensive items
in their line for you. Try not to start out with a drop
shipper since they're basically middlemen marking up merchandise
to sell to you. This cuts severely into your profit margin.
Please send me feedback on my website, www.coolebaytools.com, if you've found a unique way to find merchandise for your
business. In the meanwhile, have a great holiday selling
season!
News Flash
eBay now has a subscription service designed to help inexperienced
sellers set online prices and better understand the eBay
marketplace. The new service, called eBay Marketplace Research,
gives subscribers access to data, charts and graphs to
help them understand the demand for items they're planning
to sell. Subscribers can view top searches within a category
or the entire site to see what buyers are searching for,
with the charts providing information on the average bids
per item, the number of completed items and more. For less
than $10 a month, sellers can follow trends as they play
out online, allowing them to adapt their sales strategies
immediately.
