Secrets of the eBay

4 Secrets of the eBay Millionaires
What’s So Special About PowerSellers?
The most successful sellers on eBay are the ones who are designated PowerSellers—
entrepreneurs who have generated at least $1,000 in gross sales on eBay for three consecutive
months, and who maintain a high positive feedback level. Within the PowerSeller designation,
there are five levels; those at the Gold, Platinum, or Titanium level are the elite. These
individuals—sellers who have become millionaires or are in the process of making their
first million—also focus on their business as a business. It’s not a hobby or a way to make
some extra spending cash. They have a business plan; they set sales goals; they cultivate
relationships with their customers and their suppliers; they are constantly on the lookout
for new software tools they can use to find buyers or conduct more transactions in a given
period of time.
The “eBay millionaires” realize that on eBay, as in other areas of e-commerce, businesses
succeed by focusing on the customer’s needs and meeting those needs as efficiently as possible.
They know that eBay shoppers want bargains, they want a convenient shopping experience, and
they want a vendor they can trust—just the same kinds of things that businesses have always
known. You have to start thinking like a committed, successful eBay seller; before too long,
you’ll be one yourself.
eBay’s requirements for earning the coveted PowerSeller designation are
spelled out at http://pages.ebay.com/services/buyandsell/powerseller/
criteria.html.
How Phil Leahy Chose an Area of Specialty
How do PowerSellers like Phil Leahy, who now has a combined feedback
rating of more than 35,000, get started? The actual circumstances vary. In some
cases, wholesale sellers who have been supplying clothing or other items to
a small group of retail merchants realize that they can start selling directly
to the public on eBay. In other cases, people who are dissatisfied with their
current circumstances look for a way to apply their knowledge and ambition to
making money on eBay: stay-at-home moms realize that they have the time to
make some extra money “on the side”; office workers who spent their energy
in business for someone else decide to go into business for themselves.
Whatever the circumstances, all of the successful eBay sellers start
with the realization that they can do things differently: The status quo isn’t
sufficient for them anymore. Not only that, but they sense that eBay can
provide them with a way to change their lives. With millions of sellers on
eBay all over the world, there are millions of different stories describing how
this “Aha!” moment turns into a concrete plan of action. But for most of the
sellers I’ve interviewed for this and previous eBay books, it starts with a little