Ebay : Can you still make money ?

Selling on eBay is not as easy as some portray. In fact, go to eBay and check out the number of auctions that end without a single bid. Competition is getting tough, as more sellers go to eBay; even the big boys are joining in the eBay marketplace. Add to that the increasing listing and final value fees. The key is to sell products that people actually want. If you want to earn serious money from eBay, you need to have a well-thought out business model. Buying from garage sales and selling on eBay is fun, and good getting a few dollars here and there from ebay. Sometimes, you luck out on an item and hit big, but many times it will just be so-so (assuming you can even get the price you paid for it). In terms of fun factor, it is great. But from a business stand-point, it is not sustainable. eBay has several ways for you to determine exactly what the hot items to sell on their marketplace: Items In Demand = the most popular items currently within that particular category. To see the In Demand page, go to http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/sellbycategory.html Hot Items by Category Report = a monthly report that lists the fastest growing categories on eBay for the previous month. Go to http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/whatshot.html and select "Hot Items by Category" from the menu on the left. eBay Pulse = "a daily snapshot of current trends, hot picks, and cool stuff on eBay". Go to http://pulse.ebay.com/ to see eBay Pulse in action. Merchandising Calendar = eBay promotes specific categories on its home page each month. Savvy eBayers know that this home page exposure results in more interest in such categories. Go to http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/calendar.html to view the current Merchandising Calendar.

Simple answer is yes. 3/4 of a million people may seem like a huge number, but think about how many retail transactions are carried out every single day outside of eBay - basically the eBay system can definitely support a LOT more people making a full-time income because the site itself and ecommerce in general is growing so fast. But you need to think about how you are going to make your income. Some of the more common ways to make an income with the eBay system are: 1. Buy from a wholesaler outside of eBay and resell for a profit on eBay. It is tough to find a legitimate wholesaler with prices where you can make a profit on eBay because eBay prices are pretty close to wholesale most of the time. The trick is to find a product niche where there aren't too many sellers - THIS IS KEY. You need to find product lines that aren't widely available in Sears etc, so that the only way a consumer wanting that particular product is to find it on eBay (and your listing!). 2. Find overseas sources to resell products in your local eBay site. There are sites out there like www.globalsources.com which list suppliers in Asia. The products are often cheap imitations of brand name items, so long as you make this clear in your eBay listing there is a potential to make substantial profit but the costs involved in importing are greater. 3. On a much smaller scale, and much more time-intensive, look for bargains in "the real world" that you can resell on eBay. Examples are stock liquidations, estate sales, garage sales, etc. Your supply probably won't be constant enough to build a big business, but if you know your product area then you can earn some side income. 4. Learn enough about the eBay system so that you can sell on behalf of other less educated people for a percentage of the sale fee. This will take a long time to build up enough of a customer base that you can support yourself, but can be done. An idea is to specialise in an industry that has potential to sell on eBay but that most businesses haven't got the resources to do so, eg car dealers. 5. Buy from eBay and sell in an offline retail store. eBay prices are often close to wholesale, leaving it open as a good product source for a "real world" store. Hope this helps. (If you are wondering how I know all this, it's because I happen to work for eBay.) Good luck!

SURE

if u sell cars;I m sure u can.

keep your eyes open to buy at off peak time and sell at peak time you can make a modest amount without holding any stock. I have bought items for 10 and sold for 20 easily. so the answer is yes you can

The key is finding a product or products to sell, at sufficient markup. Also, it is a bit harder these days.....as many ppl have really been upset about their rising fees. Even to the point of nicknaming them, "Feebay." However, if you have products.....yes, you can make some money.

Kudos to Imisidro's answer! Great information and very good links. Bottom line, find your passion (books, postcards, etc) and stick with it and you could make money--you're not going to make $1,000 a month right away, but it is an obtainable goal. I've been on eBay for 6 years and still learn things every day. It's a full time job just trying to keep up with everything. I'll give you the best story and example I've heard from someone this year... Young lady (in her early 20's) had a cart full of purses at the local thrift store on their discount day. When I asked her if she sold on eBay, she said that she did. I asked what else she sold beside purses and that was all! Why purses?! Turns out that she was one of the counselors for the parish youth group and the pastor said that they had to raise funds for their own group, but would give them 'seed' money ($200) that he expected back in two months. She went on a hunt for GOOD used purses (there's gold in them there COACH bags!!) and within three weeks turned the $200 into $600. She now sells just for herself and does very well....but she knows her purses. It you can't find a connection for getting goods to sell and you don't like the thrill of the hunt, eBay might not be for you.