Secrets of the eBay

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CHAPTER 1: From Penniless to PowerSeller: Carving Out a Niche 13 Sell Something You Know You can sell anything you want on eBay. In fact, sellers put up for auction everything from grilled cheese sandwiches that allegedly bear the image of the Virgin Mary to homes created from nuclear fallout shelters or commercial airliners. You don’t have to love what you sell or be attached to it in any way. You don’t have to be a devoted collector of the type of merchandise you sell, either. But at the very least, you should be knowledgeable about what you decide to sell in your niche category. If you like what you sell, so much the better. But try to be an authority about what you sell—or at the very least, be enthusiastic about the act of selling it. For many PowerSellers, the act of selling itself is the attraction; the thrill of running one’s own business and making a success is the attraction, not the books, works of art, shoes, or watches they happen to sell online. That’s a good thing, since they’re likely to spend far more than 35 or 40 hours a week selling them online. Finding a Competitive Edge: NYC Designs For Less It took Lori Baboulis a while to find products that she could sell on eBay and that would allow her to beat the competition. She started out the way many sellers do: she wanted to quit her day job in order to stay at home. “I started selling in March of 2003 because I was desperate to find a way to stay home with my newborn daughter, who was born the previous December,” she explains. “After some time off for maternity leave, I had to go back to work from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and have my mom watch Gracie. Not only did I want to stay home with my daughter Gracie myself, but also my mom suffers from multiple sclerosis and I felt terrible about asking her to work every day and babysit. It actually worked out fine and the hours still allowed me the time to start to build my eBay business. I was able to start seriously selling in May of 2003. I made Bronze PowerSeller in August. I reached the Silver PowerSeller level the following and was finally able to quit my ‘real’ job just in time, since Gracie was now far too active for my Mom to handle.”
14 Secrets of the eBay Millionaires Lori proudly displays a photo of herself and her daughter Gracie on her eBay About Me page, shown here: How do you build your business steadily and gain the independence you want? One way is to find the right products to sell. Often, it’s a process of trial and error: You try one type of merchandise and discover that there are plenty of other eBay sellers putting the same types of merchandise up for sale. Like Lori, you move to an area where there’s less competition, and where you’re more certain of making a profit. “I started out selling some of my old maternity clothing and then branched out into new women’s clothing,” explains Baboulis. “It is fairly easy to find cheap sources for clothing. However, because of the ease and the massive supply, there seems to be an overabundance of clothing for sale on eBay. So, I decided to switch gears and sell what I love: cosmetics. I have a friend in the distribution industry so I started my inventory there.” Whether you want to become an eBay millionaire or “just” a PowerSeller, don’t lose sight of the fact that you are in business, and you need to beat out your competitors in order to survive. Competition among sellers is growing steadily more intense as eBay becomes better known. Chances are
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● Each of the items sold on the s
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CHAPTER 3: Connect with Your Custom
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Chapter 4 Think and Act Like a Busi
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CHAPTER 4: Think and Act Like a Bus
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Chapter 5 Identify Sources of Merch
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put on eBay.” The difference betw
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CHAPTER 5: Identify Sources of Merc
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“People Call Me to Say, ‘Are Yo
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een taken professionally come from
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Chapter 6 Reach the Widest Possible
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CHAPTER 6: Reach the Widest Possibl
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Search terms entered here CHAPTER 6
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Chapter 7 Diversify Your Business P
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his situation now: “I could eithe
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“It’s kind of like Filene’s B
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CHAPTER 7: Diversify Your Business
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Lessons Learned in This Chapter ●
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Chapter 8 Provide Instant and Perso
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Business name Abovethemall Seller n
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Comment Learning Point “Super fas
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CHAPTER 8: Provide Instant and Pers
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Business name Blueberry Boutique Se
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place for buyers,” he comments.
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CHAPTER 9: Build a Good Reputation
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“Go on Discussion Boards and Real
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“I Had a Lot of Customers Already
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“I Can Walk a Hundred Yards to My
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“If One Person Leaves Me Negative
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Chapter 10 Acquire and Keep Your Cu
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CHAPTER 10: Acquire and Keep Your C
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● Gives them new reasons to visit
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Chapter 11 Automate to Ramp Up Sale
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markets within 15 miles of Charlott
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“We Are Plugged in Directly to eB
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CHAPTER 11: Automate to Ramp Up Sal
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Business name Jake’s Dog House Se
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company’s Marketplace Manager pac
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● Extensive customer service info
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“There really aren’t that many
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● Don’t purchase merchandise fr
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Appendix A Web Resources for PowerS
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Appendix A: Web Resources for Power
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There are no images, very little sp
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Appendix B Becoming an eBay Million
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Appendix B: Becoming an eBay Millio
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A About Me pages, 36, 37, 38, 79, 2
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customers abusive, 148-153 acquirin
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iSold It, 142 ISPs (Internet Servic
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information on, 232 motivation, 3,
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shoe business, 134-140 Shoetime, 13
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Secrets of the eBay

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