Mighty Bargain Hunter

Making money with an eBay Store, Part 1: Introduction

August 3rd, 2007 | by mbhunter |

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According to Stanley and Danko’s The Millionaire Next Door, self-employed individuals, which comprise 20% of the workforce, comprise two-thirds of the country’s millionaires. Getting a side business going during “spare time” is a great step toward a nice side income, less dependence on a daily commute, more time with one’s family, and a bright retirement.

If you can spot deals or if you like to bring goods to people who want them, then starting up a side business through eBay Stores may be a good match. I’ve started one called Back Mags Plus. It’s been pretty successful for the items I’ve put in so far. I had been finding back issues of magazines — “plus” other items! — for good prices at thrift stores, auctions, yard sales, and other places, and had been listing them on eBay, but the auction format by itself was hit or miss. Listing a bunch of magazines at a price lower than what a similar bunch of magazines just sold for didn’t always guarantee a sale in the seven days the auction was up.

So the magazines weren’t selling as fast as I was accumulating them. They were displacing other possessions in our modest home. They were also displacing our peace of mind. I had enough of them that I could justify the setup cost and open an eBay Store, and then it was just a matter of getting the products in there, which I’ve partially done.

I’ve found out first-hand some of the advantages of this selling method:

• Instant audience for your goods. With few exceptions, if you’re looking for something, you can find it on eBay. Those unusual items that people have hanging around and can’t get rid of at a yard sale will probably find an audience on eBay.
• Powerful free listing tools. Turbo Lister is quite good, and it’s being improved all the time. Turbo Lister takes a lot of the repetitiveness out of listing auctions and store items. And it’s free!
• A reasonable fee structure if you have enough to sell. It does cost money to run an eBay store but so does listing individual auctions. With enough items, the store format becomes cheaper than listing items individually.
• Instant cross-promotion when you do list auctions. There’s a link to all of your other items in your store when you list an item for auction.

So what I plan to do is to put together a bunch of posts on how to make money with your own eBay Store. I’ll share what I’ve learned along the way so that you can learn from my mistakes and learn from what has worked well for me so far. Some of the articles will focus on the specifics of the kinds of products that are in my store, but there will be enough general content that you can apply to whatever you want to sell. I have a few ideas on what I’ll talk about, but I know others will come up as this develops!

Here’s what has transpired in the series thus far:

Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: What is it and do I need one?

Part 3: Starting and minding your business

Part 4: Obtaining product at the right price

Part 5: Setting up your store

Part 6: Streamlining your listing process

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