Pros and Cons of Selling on eBay
Are you interested in becoming an eBay seller? If you are, you are definitely not alone, as eBay has become a relatively quick and easy way to make money online. Each day, a large number of individuals use eBay to make extra money from home and a few lucky ones are even able to make enough money to support themselves or their families. Before you jump on the eBay selling bandwagon, you are advised to take a few minutes and examine the pros and cons of selling on eBay.
One of the many pros, or plus sides, to selling on eBay is the fact that is it is relatively easy to do. Once you create an eBay account, you can start listing items that you have in your possession for sale right away. When doing so, it is also easy to do. eBay has a step-by-step process for listing items for sale, in traditional auction formats or buy it now formats. In fact, eBay also has a program that lets you compile your auctions, with pictures and descriptions, when you aren’t even connected to the internet. As soon as you connect to the internet, you can begin to upload your listings and have them start right away.
Another one of the many pros to selling on eBay is that just about anyone can do it. You don’t have to have big fancy, expensive items to sell on eBay. In fact, a large number of those selling on eBay are just selling items that are taking up space in their homes; items they don’t want anymore. If you are interesting in becoming an eBay seller, but you aren’t sure as to how much you can depend on eBay for income, you may want to think about testing the waters. You can do this by listing the items have you have around your home for sale. Items that tend to sell relatively well are lots, or groups, of toys and infant clothing.
While there are a number of pros, or plus sides, to selling on eBay, there are also a number of cons, or downsides, to doing so as well. One of the biggest cons or downsides to selling on eBay is the competition. As it was previously mentioned, a large number of internet users have started using eBay to make extra money or even make a living. This is what leads to multiple auction listings for the exact same items. While this is nice for the eBay buyers, it can hurt you as a seller. When the supplier is higher than the demand, you may not make as much money off of your items as you had originally hoped to, if they even sell at all.
Another downside to selling on eBay is the fees associated with doing so. In recent years, eBay has redone their fee structure, often to raise their fees. Although these fees are still considered relatively low, they could put a damper on your profits, which alone are sometimes hard to come by. Of course, there are ways that you can the most out of eBay fees. For instance, if you have a “hot seller,” you could start your auction out at a low price, as the fees are less for doing so; however, you are taking a gamble, as you never have any guarantees as for how much your items will sell for. Perhaps, the unknown is one of the biggest downsides to selling on eBay; you never really know if you are going to make money or even if you will end up losing money.
As you likely already know, the decision as to whether or not you want to become an eBay seller is yours to make, but, when making your decision, you are advised to keep the above mentioned points in mind. With a relatively equal amount of pros and cons, you may be wondering what your best option is. For more accurate information, you may want to think about testing the eBay seller waters, as you are able to sell whenever you want, with no minimum auction requirements.
Watch the video related to Sell On Ebay
www.waybyray.com Adam Ginsberg is number one eBay expert and he’s software optimization template is called Template Optimizer, how to sell on ebay and online auction software on internet
Help answer the question aboutSell On Ebay
Is it workable to buy some cheap NHL jerseys and then sell them on ebay?Is it workable to buy some cheap NHL jerseys and then sell them on ebay
November 3rd, 2009 on 1:22 am
Selling on ebay is easy. Write about your items, specify duration, and list them. You pay fees for each item listed, depending on category and initial asking price and stuff. If it doesn't sell, rethink your plan and maybe try again later.
An ebay store is more like an ebay catalog. The things there are always for sale, and when the "auction" time expires ebay renews it automatically. You pay based on "inventory". The fees to list are less, but perhaps the final value fees (when an item sells) are higher. Exposure is also worse, below regular search results. Some ebay stores keep a few regular auctions going on to attract business for their ebay store.
I've been using eBay for years, and I think that's how it works. If you're a regular Joe, just sell like a casual user for now. Once you think you know what you really need to, and see the use of it, then maybe look into getting a store.
EDIT: Sorry, I don't really know much about the true specifics of an eBay store, except that it's probably for the routine sellers.
November 3rd, 2009 on 7:23 am
It might. Plus, the fees are ridiculously high and the bids tend to be ridiculously low. Great place to buy, lousy place to sell.
November 3rd, 2009 on 7:23 am
It depends – if they have enough in the stores to meet demand, you probably wouldn't get a good price on ebay. But if there are still lines and people waiting, then it would be a good move
November 3rd, 2009 on 7:23 am
pros – money
cons – scams
November 3rd, 2009 on 7:23 am
Having an ebay store will get you more exposure and cross promote you other listings.
http://www.mysellerstore.com
They build free ebay stores for ebay sellers and show you how to make money from your ebay auctions by adding only one link o your listings!
November 3rd, 2009 on 7:23 am
PROS
-it can be exciting
-you can sell everything
-you can get more money than
something is worth
-you can make money
the only cons are that you have to ship it and you must pay a listing fee.(if you are not carfull your listing fee can add up to a lot. mine was 70$ at the end of the month)
November 3rd, 2009 on 7:23 am
Pros – largest potential market – close to 200 million members – A basic business tenet is, "The greater the potential market, the greater the potential to maximize profits." Sell WORLDWIDE, not just the USA.
Cons (I don't agree with) – Ebay sellers are increasingly complaining about the high cost of ebay and PayPal fees. I say, try establishing your own business and reach the close to 200 million people that ebay reaches and find out how much your expenses are. To these complainers, I say ‘Kwitchurbellyakin.’ There is always a cost of doing business. Many sellers have left ebay for other auction sites to save on fees. I don’t think this is prudent. They may be saving a few bucks on fees but an item that sells on another auction site with far, fewer members for $10 would likely sell for substantially more at ebay with its much greater membership. This is a classic example of “stepping over a dollar to pick up a penny” and being “penny wise and pound foolish.”
These smaller auction sites are great for buyers for the same reason they are bad for sellers:
Fewer potential bidders = Less competition = Lower closing prices.
These smaller auction sites ‘dangle their worms’ with low and no fees but they certainly won’t tell new sellers their items will sell for less than at their sites than they will sell for at ebay. There isn’t another auction site on the web that can hold a candle to ebay and the tens of millions of members it has. Many have tried and many have failed and yet, many are still trying. Ebay has a virtual lock on this business. This is where you want to sell as ebay has the largest potential market.
The ebay formula:
LARGEST auction site by far = MAXIMUM competition = HIGHER closing prices
TEMPORARY CON: We are in a recession in the USA and sales are soft everywhere, including eBay. That is why it is important you sell worldwide.
Avoid selling a steady stream of 'nickel & dime' items ($5 or less). It will be a waste of time.
I have been an ebay member since 1997 both as a buyer and a seller. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter when you start or end your auctions. Therefore, to pay extra for a specific start / end time is a waste of money for sellers but an additional profit for ebay. Some sellers will say weekends are better to end your auctions. However, many people I know reserve the weekends for family and leave the web world behind. Many single people are out on the town getting soused in their favorite bars. Sundays are good for golf, other sports, watching sports on TV or just having fun with their kids.
On the other hand, Tuesdays have been shown to be the most productive day of the workweek for American workers. So, the way I see it and human nature being what it is, many of these same folks think they deserve a little goof off time the rest of the work week: Wednesdays, Thursdays and/or Fridays. Most often, I have my auctions end mid Wednesday afternoons but this is nothing more than a preference and pure whimsy on my part. It has nothing whatsoever to do with thinking I will get a higher closing price. I do this because it suits me. I figure if I am paid promptly, I can walk across the street to the post office and mail the item(s) before the weekend. It works out well.
You also have to keep in mind that most prospective buyers don’t go on ebay blindly looking for merchandise. 99% of the time, they know exactly what they are looking for and they will find your listing before the auction ends provided you are auctioning what they want. If they don’t find what they are looking for with a search, they can simply use the ‘SAVE SEARCH’ feature. When you use ‘SAVE SEARCH,’ ebay will send an email alerting you to new listings for the items you are looking for, along with the pictures and the links. In addition, many of these same prospective buyers will use SNIPE bids so they don't even have to be online to enter their bids. SNIPING, i.e., last second bids placed automatically for bidders, is rampant at ebay.
This being the case, you may actually want to schedule your auctions to start and end when it is more convenient for you.
Lastly, keep in mind that experience is the best teacher. Start off slowly listing only two or three items and see how that goes for you. Once you get your feet wet and gain confidence, start listing more items on a weekly basis. You will soon learn the ins and outs and the dos and don’ts in short order and ultimately settle on a system that works best for you. The more items you list, the more items you will sell, the more $$ you will make and the harder you will work. Nothing in life comes easy and that includes becoming a successful seller at ebay. If you are conscientious and put in a little extra effort, you will do well. If you are lazy or indifferent in selling your items, you won’t. Good luck & happy selling!
November 3rd, 2009 on 7:23 am
You are personally liable either way.
To keep people from calling you at all hours, use your dba?
November 3rd, 2009 on 7:23 am
1: I would definitely buy my own domain name and see if vendio will embed / redirect your store on vendio to your site — ask if they have any apis you could use to do so and then follow instructions or let me know. If you would like to remain not looking too professional, you could just keep the vendio store on the vendio.com domain name and send it into Yahoo! as well as google base for a large amount of buyers coming your way.
2: In the long haul, you can make much more money on ebay, for having a vendio store, people still need to come to it so you would have to use tactics involving seo, sem, smm and banner ads on other websites. With Ebay, people just come to you. The BEST option is to use ebay, vendio and an amazon account (Free) and sell products on those 3 with the tactics I mentioned above integrated with all.
I'd say sell on all three with vendio.com leading to your website / you embedding your store on your site which could be powered by oscommerce, volusion, etc. AND selling on ebay / putting up listings and selling on Amazon (Amazon rules when it comes to sales)