Start an Ebay Shop

Ebay is an amazing platform for people who want to start to manage their own e-shop but don’t have the time, finances or skills to create a website from scratch with big orders on products they want to sell. If planned properly, the risk of losing any initial investment is seriously low. All you need is an Ebay account (and a Paypal account is recommended) as well as something to sell! Initially, this can even just be things cluttering up your room that you want to get rid of.

Our main advice as we mentioned is to plan. You don’t have to have a plan to make some money, but if you want this to be a source of real income without wasting hours and hours making pennies, it is important to have a think about what you want to do and how you’re going to do it.

First, you might want to decide on a product category you’re quite familiar with. This is so you know when to spot a good deal when it comes to buying your stock! Next comes the acquisition stage. Basically, you need to get things to sell. There are lots of ways to source products. Websites like Freecycle and Craigslist or the local newspaper will have classified ads put up by people getting rid of things. Sometimes this will include things you’re looking for so it’s important to keep looking. Another great source of products are charity shops and second hand shops but it is important to always think what sort of profit you’ll be able to make on it, if any at all.

Apart from the costs of the items you wish to sell, you also need to remember other hidden costs, in particular Ebay’s listing fees which vary item to item but must be acknowledged if you’re sure to make a profit. Also, the postage costs must be thought about! You can either let that eat into your profits a bit more or let the buyer take them on, but that may put them off slightly. Both of these will be very dependent on the size of the product. Things like books and DVDs are the easiest to sell (but that is why there are so many people selling these too!) But always remember – persevere! Someone will always buy what you’re selling sooner or later. Think about who will buy it and when and plan, plan, plan.