Starting an eBay Business

Drop shipping VS. Wholesale

Starting an eBay business is very involved. More so, than most people think. If you haven't already, go back and read Page 1 on starting with eBay.

Now that we have covered what not to sell, lets talk about what you should sell. You want to pick categories of items that are already HOT! Do not go for something obscure that only 5% of the population would know about...go for something that most people are interested in or have at least has heard of. For your eBay business, you will want to target an audience, for example, Webkinz (electronic pets) are hot right now, so your target audience would be elementary and junior high aged children (both boys and girls). Or you may be interested in selling automobile parts, which would make your target audience may be predominantly males, ages 16-50, for example. If you know who you are selling to, it will be much easier to actually sell.

Here is a list of the most popular search categories online:

· Antiques

· Dolls & bears

· Travel

· Art

· Books

· CD's

· DVD's

· Automotive parts

· Consumer electronics

· Computers

· Office supply

· Travel

· Books

· Gifts

· Software

· Apparel & accessories

· Tickets

· Coins

· Stamps

· Toys & hobbies

· Jewelry & watches

In order to give you a better idea of what types of items your eBay business should sell, we have compiled a list of great niche ideas, and they are as follows:

Antique Reproductions Apparel & Accessories Appliances Art Reproductions As Seen On TV Automotive Parts & Accessories Baby Products Bags/Backpacks Baskets Bathroom Accessories Batteries Beads Beauty & Barber Supplies Binoculars Books Brassware Briefcases Calculators Cameras & Supplies Camping Equip & Accessories Candles Candy/Confectionery Caps/Headwear Cellular Products & Acc. Ceramics (kitchenware) Christmas Items Cigarette Lighters Cleaning Products Clocks Closeouts Collectibles Computer Parts & Supplies Convenience Store Items Cookware Cosmetics Crafts & Hobby Items Crystal Cutlery Novelties Office Supplies Organizers & Planners Outerwear Paintball Games Supplies Paints & Painting Supplies Party Supplies Perfumes & Fragrances Pet Products Pewter Items Picture Frames Plasticware Plush Toys Porcelain Posters Potpourri Vitamins Wallets

Decorative Accessories Dollar Store Items Dolls Domestics Electronics Figurines Flags Floral & Supplies Food Products/Snacks Footwear Framed Prints/Pictures Fund Raising Items Garden Products Gemstones Giftware Gloves Greeting Cards Hair Accessories Handbags Hardware Health & Beauty Herbal Products Home Furnishings Hosiery Houseware Inflatables Jewelry Key rings/Chains Knives (Kitchen) Knives (Sporting) Lamps/Lighting Leather Goods Licensed Products Lingerie Luggage Magnets Military Surplus Mirrors Musical Boxes Pottery Replica Arms & Armor Rugs & Mats Safety & Security Products School Supplies Shopping Bags Smoking Accessories Sporting Goods/ Sportswear Stationery Stickers & Decals Store Displays Sunglasses & Accessories T-Shirts Tapestries/Quilts Tools Toys Watches

Now that we have covered what to sell, we need to discuss where you will get your items from. Dropshipping is a great way to start your eBay business because it minimizes risk. Not only do you not have to pay upfront for the goods, but you don't have to bother with shipping the item either. It is a quick and easy way to get yourself out there, and begin getting customer feedback. The drawback would be that you will not be able to compete as much as you would probably like to with the other sellers out there. When you are using dropshipping, you must use their given prices as your starting point, but you must also add in any drop ship fees, listing fees, and shipping costs associated with the product.

However, if you decide to go with wholesale items that you purchase first in bulk, you have much more control over shipping costs, pricing etc. There really is no right or wrong answer with an eBay business...it is just what ever you are comfortable with. You will notice there are powersellers in each category, so it is really up to you. We recommend using wholesale if you are comfortable with that, and can afford to shell out the cash first. You will increase your profit margin many times over, and also have unique photographs to post, and not the same ones other people might be using also.

Selling on eBay

Drop ship VS. Wholesale

Anyone who is looking to start a business on eBay has one very important decision to make before they can begin...and that is where are they going to get their products? Although there are many different ways to get products to sell, because of the new laws that state you cannot sell for another person on an auction site unless you have an auctioneers licence...this really leaves you with 2 choices. You either go with a dropshipping business, or you buy first via a wholesaler. In order to make this very important decision, you must first decide what you want to sell.

Many people make the mistake of wanting to either:

a.) sell electronics

b.) sell only one type of thing

It is critical when selling on eBay, to be diverse, cheap, and you must be sure to play by the rules...or else you may lose your thriving business. Playing by the rules means, not selling products below M.A.P (manufacturers approved price), and selling exactly what you are promoting....not a knock off. One sure way to know whether or not the dropshipping or wholesale site you are thinking of parnering with is a scam, or the real-deal, is by looking at their electronics (if they sell them). The major manufactorers of products like Apple iPhones, Dell computers, wii video game consoles, etc., they do NOT sell to small companies, and ONLY supply large corporations with several hundred thousand dollar orders at a time. That means scammers like dropshipdesign.com who promote themselves as a wholesale dropshipper selling name brand electronics, are really NOT wholesalers at all.

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Wholesale or Drop Shipping..you be the judge

Drop shipping or wholesale??? The question is a hot topic online right now. Although most people online seem to focus on drop shipping...it is not the only option for someone looking to open their own ecommerce website. Buying wholesale (in bulk) is another great option. You would be buying first and selling later. Although there is a risk involved the profit margin is much greater than drop shipping…well, sometimes! I say sometimes because the drop shippers you will find on One Source are selling their products wholesale. However, you will be the one receiving the “handling” fees and shipping the products, which is where some companies “get you”.

Buying bulk items wholesale can give you a huge advantage. Not only will you have more flexibility with your prices (because typically bulk is much cheaper than buying one at a time) but you will also have the capability to ship the items yourself. Shipping the items yourself does require more time spent on your end than drop shipping does, but with shipping the items yourself you will more easily be able to answer customers questions about when something should be arriving, and you will be spending less money for the shipping and “handling” fees.

From my own personal experience, I typically tell people to start with drop shipping, and evolve into buying bulk….but that isn’t for every item, and every person. There are some products that it just doesn’t make sense to buy in bulk. An example would be electronics. You will not find legitimate name brand products being drop shipped or sold in bulk. That is because the big companies/ manufacturers such as Nintendo (for example) will sell only to large businesses in bulk orders of several hundred thousand dollars…and no less.

You would be successful with buying shoes in bulk. Shoes like Sketchers sneakers (for example) would be a profitable investment. There are sites where you can buy a skid load of sneakers for only a few hundred dollars…your profit potential would be huge! It just all depends on 2 personal qualities. The first one being upfront capital…if you have it, great! If not, then stick with drop shipping. The second one being, are you willing to take a risk? If you aren’t able to financially handle a loss then again, stick with drop shipping, and leave buying in bulk to the people who can afford it. There really is no right or wrong answer here. It is simply what you prefer and what you can handle.

What Is Drop Shipping?

Drop shipping is an extremely profitable way to do business, however it is not nearly as well known in the online community as other revenue generating programs such as affiliate marketing.

Drop shipping means that you sell wholesale products but are not responsible for the production, inventory or shipping. In short, you would take orders and payments for products sold on your retail website, forward these orders on to the supplier. The items are shipped directly to your customer. You pocket the difference between the retail and the wholesale cost of the merchandise!!

It's that simple. You market wholesale products and make money on each and every sale. There is no need to invest any money for inventory before it is sold. This lets you devote all of your time to what you do best: selling! You also get these great benefits:

• No losses on unsold goods
• No packing and shipping expenses
• No warehouse costs
• Zero inventory to keep
• Sell unlimited products
• Reduce risk by selling first
• Sell to a global audience

5 Drop Shipping Essentials

1.) Domain Name

2.) Hosting Company

3.) Shopping Cart

4.) Merchant Account

5.) Wholesale Supplier(s)

Marketing Products

Successful business owners tend to do one of 2 things with the products they sell. They either:

a.) Have their own web store

OR

b.) Use eBay® (either with an eBay® Store or auction)

There are plenty of advantages and disadvantages to both scenarios...let's compare:

eBay®	Your own web store
220 million registered users	You must generate your own traffic
Tons of competition	Only your products are shown
Very little cost involved	Hosting fees, merchant account fees, marketing fees
No personal affiliate program	Have an in-house or network program
Must be very competitive with prices	You are in complete control of the pricing for your products