I love eBay, but I've never sold anything, only bought. I'd love to supplement my income with a side business of some sort, but I haven't figured out yet what I can sell. The key appears to be to leverage some limited-access source of wholesale merchandise and then resell it at auction -- pretty similar to any other kind of business. That being the case, I imagine the profit margins are pretty similar to offline businesses as well, despite the hype. Nevertheless, here's an article my mom forwarded me with five steps towards starting an eBay business.
Real people are making big bucks on eBay — and thousands have even reached PowerSeller status by maintaining at least $1,000 per month in sales for three consecutive months. Case in point: Angie Cash, 37, a stay-at-home mom who started selling on eBay nearly six years ago because it was "something I could do and watch the kids at the same time." Today, her Kennesaw, Ga., company, Cashco1000 Inc., sells thousands of home-decoration and other items each month on eBay and expects to break $500,000 in sales on eBay this year.
$500,000 in sales means nothing on its own; how much profit did she make? I'm sure that eBay effectively transfers wealth from commercial real estate developers into the pockets of eBay and shipping companies, but how much profit are the sellers making in such a competitive marketplace?
The five steps towards eBay success sound like what you'd want to do for any offline business.
Step 1: Register your business ...Step 2: Find stuff to sell ...
Step 3: Manage the auction process ...
Step 4: Provide great customer service ...
Step 5: Build a brand on eBay ...
Business is business.
I watched a program on CNBC the other night about eBay and they said 400,000 people make their full-time living off of eBay. Don't know if that was global, probably. Don't know what a full-time living is either.
You might ask your TIVO to watch for the show. It was called "The eBay Effect".
Here's a related link on CNBC. The Ebay Effect
Step 1: Setup eBay store.
Step 2:
Step 3: PROFIT!!!
It's best not to go into business unless you have some definite competitive advantage. On Ebay, as Michael says, that would probably be "some limited-access source of wholesale merchandise."
But don't just go into business because you think that it would be fun or easy. If any other person with moderate intelligence and energy could do the same thing, then they will.
Ron: Yeah, a full-time living could be $30k per year.
Phelps: That's exactly what I thought of too!
BB: Yes, I was considering buying a food franchise until I realized that I'd be managing it myself, working 80 hour weeks, and earning like $50k. Hiring a manager would basically eliminate any profits.