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HomeIncomeGenerator.com Copyright © 2015 – All Rights Reserved 1

Sell Online Like A Pro www.homeincomegenerator.com

Disclaimer: The information contained within this eBook is strictly for educational purposes. If you wish to apply ideas contained in this

eBook, you are taking full responsibility for your actions.

The author has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information within this book was correct at time of publication. The

author does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions,

whether such errors or omissions result from accident, negligence, or any other cause.


About the Author

My name is Abby and I’m a stay home mum from Melbourne, Australia. Ever since I finished high school I’ve been working as an administrative assistant in various industries. However, my passion has always been with horses. I’ve been riding since I was 10 years old; have worked in different farms overseas, and have owned few horses.

I have two young kids and I was looking for a way to earn money while being home with them.

My story starts after my daughter was born. I was home with her for two years, then decided to go back to work. But when I started my work again I felt unhappy; I felt unmotivated, I didn’t feel I had a place there anymore, and started thinking what would be my next step if I stop working.

My passion has always been horses - I love them!

I’ve owned a few in the past, but because I couldn’t manage to find time anymore, I started looking for a way to enjoy the equestrian industry while earning money.

As a horse person, I’ve always loved to wear T-shirts, jewellery, and watches that have images of horses on them. That is why I decided to open up my own online shop – Love Horse Gifts, so I could sell presents and gifts to other horse lovers like myself.

I sat down and started learning how to establish my own website. I’ve learned techniques for uploading photos, taking pictures, monetizing websites and generating sales. Unfortunately, the sub niche of horses gifts and presents was so small that my website was not getting much traffic.

I decided to open an eBay store and uploaded all of my products there. I started with 30 products, and very soon I started to see sales!

I felt pretty proud of myself, a sense of achievement to be able to sell my items online and get extra cash.

eBay has been here since 1995. When I opened my own store in April 2013, it was already an established sales platform.

I thought I already knew what eBay was all about. I mean, I’d purchased from eBay before!


However, I didn’t really pay attention to whom I was buying from. BUT, I was always looking for 100% seller’s feedback (or very close to it). I felt that if I buy from a seller with 100% feedback, there was less chance of something going wrong.

With strong will and lots of hard work I gained a Power Seller status on eBay, which I am very proud of. Wink!

What’s great about eBay’s platform is that it’s promoting itself all the time. You don’t need to worry so much about web traffic to your own domain. Just make sure you are selling the right products to a hungry market and you will hit success.

So you ask,

How can I find a hungry market?

How do I know what products to sell?

Where would I find products?

This is the reason why I’m writing this book: to help you, in every way I can, earn money quickly and effectively using eBay.

I assume you might have some experience with selling or buying on eBay and that’s good! I’ve created the eBook so every module will follow the previous one in logical order.

However, if you choose to skip modules (which I don’t recommend) please don’t skip module 1 where I explain about researching for the right product and module 3 where you can find 7 different methods to sourcing your products even if you are broke!

I hope you will enjoy the reading and try to implement the ideas & techniques that I’m talking about so you too can achieve success!

Now let’s be clear, this is not a get-rich scheme. It is a process with proven techniques to help you be a successful seller on eBay.

Remember to always look forward, keep trying, keep learning, avoid repeating your mistakes, make it better next time, and most importantly HAVE FUN AND DON’T GIVE UP!

Ok, so lets begin by looking where we can find what products to sell?


Table of Contents

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ..................................................................................................................... 2 MODULE 1: SEARCH AND SELL HOT PRODUCTS ................................................................... 5 BASIC SEARCH .................................................................................................................................................... 5 ADVANCED SEARCH – TERAPEAK .................................................................................................................. 9 BROWSING FOR SOCIAL MEDIA ................................................................................................................... 10

MODULE 2: EASY STEPS TO START SELLING ON EBAY .................................................... 12 YOUR SELLER ACCOUNT ............................................................................................................................... 12 CREATE LISTING ............................................................................................................................................. 13 AUCTION OR FIXED PRICE? .......................................................................................................................... 13 POSTAGE FEES ................................................................................................................................................ 16 MORE FEES ...................................................................................................................................................... 17 DISPUTES ......................................................................................................................................................... 17

MODULE 3: BEST 7 WAYS TO SOURCE YOUR PRODUCTS ................................................ 19 SOURCING FROM HOME – FLIP YOUR STUFF FOR CASH! .......................................................................... 19 SOURCING YOUR PRODUCTS FROM GARAGE SALES/YARD SALE ............................................................. 21 SOURCING PRODUCTS FROM CLOSING DOWN BUSINESS/LIQUIDATION COMPANIES AROUND YOU . 22 SOURCING PRODUCTS FROM OTHER SELLERS THAT ADVERTISE THE PRODUCTS WITH SPELLING MISTAKES ......................................................................................................................................................... 23 SOURCING PRODUCT FROM BIG CHAIN RETAILS STORES (RETAIL ARBITRAGE) ............................... 23 SOURCING FROM WHOLESALERS ................................................................................................................. 24 SOURCING PRODUCTS AS DROP SHIPPING METHOD OR FROM OTHER SELLERS ON EBAY. ................. 29 UNANNOUNCED METHOD: EXTRA METHOD TO EARNING MONEY FROM EBAY IS TO BECOME A TRADING ASSISTANT ..................................................................................................................................... 31

MODULE 4 – KEEPING YOUR FOCUS ...................................................................................... 32 MODULE 5: MAXIMIZING YOUR LISTING .............................................................................. 34 MODULE 6: MISTAKES TO AVOID ........................................................................................... 39 MODULE 7: DOUBLE UP YOUR DOLLAR ................................................................................ 41 CONCLUSION: ................................................................................................................................. 44


Module 1: Search and Sell Hot Products

The goal for this module is for you to have a list of top-selling products that you can start selling. Finding the right products is critical to your success as a seller.

Before we start. If you haven’t used eBay before, I suggest you go ahead and buy a few small items. Spend only a few dollars to check how eBay works for you as a buyer. Pay attention to how sellers present their products, postage fees, and feedback.

Now lets start.

Standard Search

I like to start research for my product at the general search box on eBay.

Let’s say my hobby is fishing, so I would like to see if there is any money in my hobby.

I’d go to the search box and type in ‘fishing rod’. At this point I like to have a generic search, to see what comes up on the first 2 pages.

The reason I’m not writing any brand, size or colour in the searching box is to keep my options open, not to miss any product that might be valuable just because it is not under my keyword.

Ok, now that we have the results we can start to investigate.

The first few items will be (usually) from the most experienced sellers.

When you look at the list you need to look for items (rods for example) with the most bids or that are most popular (how many have been sold)


You can see that a product is popular because eBay will indicate under the title how many have been sold, or how many have been sold in the last hour.

Quite quickly, you will find that some brands sell more than others, some sizes are more popular, and some colours are more popular than others.

At this point I suggest to create a table (in Excel or on paper) with the products that are popular, how much do they sell for, what is the postage fee (roughly) and who are the top sellers that sell those items.

My Top Products List

Product Category Price # Sold in month

Top sellers

Tip: to know how many were sold in a month click on the red sold item number to view the purchase history. (See picture below)


If this is a niche that really interests you, you can subscribe to each of the top seller’s newsletter and start to read how do they advertise the product.

Another great way to start your search for hot products is to use an eBay tool called Advanced Search.

Advanced search gives you the opportunity to narrow your search and do it quickly.

For example, if you want to find items (i.e fishing rods) which are popular among buyers, which means they have lots of bids:

• Key in your keyword to the search box, • Tick the box ‘Number of bids’ – under ‘show results’

Choose a minimum of 5 bids. You will get a list of the most popular fishing rods that are on sale today.

If you don’t know what to look for, I’d suggest starting with a product that you like, maybe related to one of your hobbies.

Before you hit the ‘search’ button, make sure to

• Tick the Location box • Choose your country – so you can find your competition.

By searching this way you will start to ‘feel’ the market. You would recognize the more popular items (Hot Items in the market); What brands are more desirable by customers then others;

Advanced search also gives you the option to narrow your search by:

• Price range • Buying formats, including auction listings, fixed price listings (Buy

It Now), or Store inventory listings • Time left before the listing ends • Number of bids • Postage options, including free postage or local pickup • Location, including items located near you • Sellers, including those on your saved sellers list


Finding products that are repeatedly being sold (could be by different sellers) and are getting more bids than others are a good sign that these items are popular among buyers and worth documenting on your spread sheet/table.

Try different product names, categories and price ranges.

Add as many products as you can to your Top Products List and start thinking of how to source them. (I’ll cover that topic later).

Tip: Get organized by recording the hot products in Excel or on paper. Write down product category, title, price, bids, and links.

Important: Make sure that you select your country only in the Location section of the Search page, i.e. United States. This will ensure that the search results are from sellers in your country.

We want this so we can track our immediate competition and filter out worldwide results. Many Asian sellers crowd the top of the search list. But they don’t reflect the actual sales and profits that you can achieve.

You want to make sure you’re competing against the sellers in your own country, because buyers will prefer to pay a bit extra to get their product faster, from a local seller.

At this point, you should have a list of your top selling products. At least according to eBay.

If you feel confused or overwhelmed by the long list you’ve created, you can decide on the best products to sell either by personal choice and interest in the product.

Or, look at your list and choose the best 3 products. They don’t have to be in the same niche or category; they only need to be ‘hot’ products so buyers will want to buy it.

Another factor to consider is whether or not you can store it in your house/garage.

You need to take into consideration the fact that those products will be stored in your house, so make sure you allocate a place for the items.


I personally like to ship items that are quite small, anything from jewellery to hand bags. They don’t take a lot of space, ship easily, and the postage costs are not high as well.

Advanced Search – Terapeak

After you’ve done the research via the Standard or Advanced search tool, and you’ve got a pretty good idea of what you are about to sell, I personally would recommend to use a software called ‘ Terapeak’. It is the world’s leading provider of eBay, Amazon and Alibaba analytics.

If you want to know what’s really happing in the market then you should start with their 7 days trial and decide for yourself if you want to continue with them. (At the time of writing this book the membership prices range from either $7.49 a month or $14.99 per month for a year membership).

As Terapeak is paid software, I would recommend using it after you feel comfortable with the eBay platform and you’re ready to take it to the next step.

Terapeak provides you with tutorials of how to use it, so I won’t go into details about it. But the benefits are and what is really great about this tool:

You can see what products are ‘hot’ on eBay now

• Search ’hot’ categories in eBay • Study your competitors • View their products • Maximise your listing etc.

Also, the software gives you tools to optimize your product title. On each product you get a score from 100%, and it will suggest what you would need to fix or what keywords to use on your title to get more views and more sales.

As an eBay search can be by categories or by product’s name it doesn’t really mater if you swap a niche. If your product is presented correctly with great photos and you maximised your title, people will view it and buy it.


Tip: Second hand electronics, digital cameras, iPads and iPods are a great start to earn quick money, but I wouldn’t recommend to sell electronics as new items as the competition is very high and you won’t be able to beat the big guys.

Browsing for Social Media

Using social media as part of your research will give you the understanding if a niche that you want to work in is vital or not.

To get the idea if a market is hungry for your products, research the social media i.e Facebook, Twitter etc. for a community or a group in a particular niche. There are quite a lot of sellers that sell their products on one of the social accounts.

You want to see what buyers are looking for and want. Read their comments on the products, read their review/opinion on a certain product and learn what they want.

Look for customer engagement; don’t believe the number of Likes on a page as it is easy to buy likes these days. See if the posts are relevant, people like the products, do they share the post and products?

Search your keyword/item that you’d like to sell on Google, check out the competition. Don’t be afraid if you see that lots of different websites are selling the same products.

Competition is good. It means that are a lot of people looking for these products and you can also have your share

This will be a good cross-reference to check to see if the niche that you are planning to go to is vital. We want to ensure that there are enough customers looking for those products.

If you are a novice, and have never done research for a niche or product before, it might take some time. But if you feel that the social media and the other websites are distracting you, leave it for now, stick to your eBay search and stay focused!


Avoid procrastination and choose 3 products that you are happy to start selling (from your list). At least you are in the game and you will quickly catch up.

Important: there is never a perfect niche. It’s true, you could always argue that one niche is better than the other, but in eBay there are so many people, and you can’t please them all. So all you need to do is pick one niche for now and run with.

If you want to change products/niche later you can always bring other products to your store, and start building categories.

Starting with one niche doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to keep adding products only in that niche. What is nice about eBay is that it doesn’t limit you to which product to sell, so you can always bring new products from different niches.

So by now you’ve decided pretty much what you would like to start selling. GREAT!

Let’s start selling, shall we?


Module 2: Easy Steps To Start Selling on eBay

In this module you will create your seller account, publish your product listing, start selling, and receive payments.

Its easy to experiment selling with eBay. You can start by selling something you already own. Like that fishing rod you bought last year and only used once. Or some Christmas gifts…

Follow these steps to get you started.

Your eBay Seller Account

I’ve made a cheat sheet to make sure you’ve set everything up and you’re ready to go:

Have you got?

• eBay account - Register to eBay. It is FREE it takes only few minutes and you’re on your way. Don’t worry. eBay will get their share with every sell you make.

• Choose a Seller name • PayPal account - You need this to receive payments. This is

also the most common channel for transactions. It is also FREE to register.

• Setup PayPal as your preferred payment method • Link your eBay and your PayPal account Click My eBay at the

top of most eBay pages. Place your pointer over the Account tab, and then click the PayPal Account link.

Click the Link My PayPal Account button.

You'll be asked to login to PayPal to finish linking your accounts.

Done.

A quick note: eBay and PayPal have split - they are now 2 different companies, but this has not interfered with the daily business as a seller. Read more about eBay and PayPal Split here.


Now that we’ve got it all sorted, you can start listing your products.

Create Listing – The Basics

I will discuss it further in Module 5, but I want you to be aware of what eBay will ask of you each time you list your product.

Your listing is like a cake; you want it to be yummy and attractive every time so people will keep ‘eating’ it.

The ingredients to create a successful listing are:

! A product – ready to sell. (You should have the product, don’t ever list a product if you don’t have it in stock)

! Product Title ! Product category ! Product description ! Product photos – take some photos of your product (Lots of tips

in Module 5) ! Selling method: Auction or BIN (Buy It Now) ! Price ! Postage fees

Congratulations! You now have your product listed on eBay. You should start seeing traffic and sales very soon.

Your next step is to focus on and improve your product presentation and portfolio. And improve your sales.

Auction or Fixed Price (BIN)?

Should you advertise your products on Auction or as BIN (Buy It Now)? Which way is better?

Auction is best when you’re not sure how much your item could sell for.

Fixed price is best when you know how much you want to get.


eBay always recommends to starts your Auction at $0.99, to attract more customers. While this is very true, sometimes you can lose a lot of money if you choose to start it as such a low bid.

I once listed a glass cake/casserole dish for only $0.99. Unfortunately I did lose from this transaction as only one buyer bid on it and I had to sell it for this low price.

If you have an item that is really popular (such as a mobile phone), you’ll probably get a lot of bids, the Auction will spark the competition between the buyers and the thrill of the winning.

But if your product is an old chair (even in good condition), I’m not sure if it would be wise to start at such a low bid. You can check what the others are advertising their similar products at and maybe start a bid a bit lower then their price. This way you still attract customers, while making a profit.

eBay actually gives you the option to list your item in an Auction format while entering the BIN price as well. If a buyer is ready to purchase the item on the spot, and willing to pay the BIN price then he can stop the Auction and buy it straight away.

The BIN price must be at least 30% higher than the Auction starting price and will reflect the price you will be happy to sell your item for.

After you’ve selected the listing format (Auction or Fixed price - BIN) you can choose the listing duration. If you’re not in a hurry, choose 10 days and starts your listing on Thursday, so you will get the maximum exposure.

Starting on Thursday will mean that your listing will be ended by the following Sunday. The weekends are mostly the busiest days for sellers.

If for some reason you can’t publish your item for sale on Thursday, don’t worry; you have the option to schedule your listing’s start time. (As shown in the picture below)


Please note: This screen shot is for listing a product as an individual seller, not as a shop seller.

Tip: Read the Auction guidelines carefully as eBay has the power to end your Auction if you breached the listing guidelines.

This is a rare case, but most mistakes are made from listing your product in a wrong category, keyword spamming etc. eBay relies on the community to report violations.

If you find that your listing has been ended by eBay, contact eBay and inquire about it. It might have been a minor mistake of listing your product in a wrong category. Remember to be polite and try to resolve the problem, learn from your mistakes and move on.


Postage Options

eBay gives you a few options of how you would like to determine your postage fees.

I’ll be talking more about postage later on, but for now you can choose between Free Postage (recommended) or postage fees can be determined by eBay or specified by you.

Another option is to offer local pick up as well as a postage option.

If you choose to offer local pick up, and postage options, make sure to tick the box ‘cash on delivery under the ‘Offer local pickup only’ tab.

Under the ‘Offer local pickup only’ tab, you can also choose what are your preferred payment methods are (PayPal, Bank Deposit, Cheque, Cash on delivery, Credit Card or Paymate – that you will need to set it up first on your eBay account). See picture below.

Tip: Postage rate should reflect a reasonable amount that it will take you to post the item. You can include in your calculations the envelope/box costs, wrapping materials, postage fees.

Don’t try to make profit from your shipping; buyers are very sensitive to postage costs. Excessive postage fees will result in either no buyers or a negative feedback from a customer.


Specify your shipping method and policies in your description page.

More postage tips:

1. To evaluate the correct shipping weight you must use a scale. Avoid assumptions, or guessing the right weight. A reliable scale will be very handy.

2. Hazardous materials cannot be shipped in Priority Mail or First Class. They must go in a box. Fragrances are the most common hazardous item eBay seller may encounter. If you’re not sure if the product is listed under hazardous items, here is a link to the full list on the USPS website

3. If you are in the USA the best way to ship your items is via USPS Priority Mail. You can use delivery confirmation to track your packages.

4. The best part is that it is FREE if you do it online, but it will cost you $0.70 to post it at the post office window.

5. When you choose to send your items via USPS Priority mail the post office will give you free envelopes, tape and boxes.

6. A great way to source for your shipping supply is to go to your local gift shop, $2 dollar shops. They receive their merchandise in good boxes everyday with bubble wrap and they usually throw it away. Talk to the storeowner, and see if you can have access to those free shipping supplies.

More Fees

You should be aware that every time you are selling (or buying) anything on eBay you’d be charged fees by eBay (insertion fees and final value fees) as well as by PayPal (if this is your preferred payment method).

I’ve attached a calculator resource at the end of the book, to help you learn about it and determine what price will give you the profit you’re looking for.

Disputes

What happens if the buyer doesn’t pay?

This is a common question from a lot of new sellers.


eBay’s policy is that the buyer must pay within 2 days after purchase of the item (either in an Auction or BIN).

If the buyer hasn’t paid after 2 days, you can contact the Resolution Center.

If the buyer hasn’t come to an agreement with the seller about payment, eBay may record the unpaid item on the buyer’s account.

If the unpaid item closes without payment from the buyer, the seller is eligible for a final value fee credit to their seller account. Also if the seller chooses to relist the item, eBay may refund the insertion fees for that particular item.


Module 3: Best 7 Ways To Source Your Products

In this module I will show you 7 methods to get your products and generate extra income. Some methods may work better than others for different people, but remember if you don’t feel comfortable with one, you can change and try the other one instead.

Most of the methods don’t require you to invest money, and they are very easy to follow.

Sourcing from home – flip your stuff for cash!

No matter if you are a beginner or an advanced seller, there is always some old stuff you can sell.

Instead of doing a garage sale and wasting your time sitting there, waiting for people to come in, use eBay platform where people are always there and they are looking for stuff to buy.

That’s what beautiful about the whole thing. When you advertise elsewhere (not on eBay) maybe on your website, or on other directories, people often visit the website, but they are not necessarily in the mood or the right mindset to buy.

When you come to eBay, you’re in the right set of mind, you want to buy and you’re looking for the right seller with the right price.

For example: I sold my daughter’s pram, toys, books, car seats, home appliances and cameras. I’ve made over $600 a month! I’m sure that if you look closely and think about what you can sell, you will find enough to give you that extra cash you desire.

When posting your own stuff, (old or new) you don’t have to start as a shop. Actually eBay won’t even let you become a storeowner until they see a purchase history and enough feedback to trust you.

If this is your first time posting on eBay, you can easily post your items for sale from your computer, or your mobile app.

Press the ‘Sell’ button on the eBay toolbar, sign in, follow the instructions, add up to 12 photos, and that’s it.


Photos guide to success

Studies have shown that nice attractive photos will sell your product faster, so avoid blurry photos. You want to post high-resolution photos.

The buyer will find a link to enlarge the photo to view it better, by uploading high-resolution photos you don’t risk your photo being grainy or blurry.

If the item is small lay it next to something like a coin to explain the size of your product.

Avoid cluttering your photos; you want your space to be clean of other products.

It is recommended to use a tripod if you have one, but if not, try to make the photo as clear and sharp as possible. (You might need to try a few times before you get a good photo).

Remember you can upload up to 12 photos for each listing, so you can try lots of different ways/angles until you find the right ones.

If there are defects in the product, you will need to mention it in your product description, as well as show it in your photos. Don’t hide it. The customer needs to know everything there is to know about the product.

I like to place my items either by a white or black wall (depends on the product’s colour). Or if it were a small item, I would place it on white cardboard.

I find that the white background makes it seem more professional, not cluttering the picture, and the client can see the product very clearly. I even went and bought a small white shooting tent to make it even more professional looking.

If you’re selling small items, take a picture with a ruler next to it or measuring tape to indicate the dimensions and the size of the product.


Sourcing your products from garage sales/yard sale

Garage sales or yard sales are a great opportunity to shop for cheap products, then flip them on eBay and earn you money.

I would suggest that before you are going to a garage/yard sale, that you already do your research. There is no point to go and view all the products without knowing what you are looking for.

Depends on your niche, but as a rule of thumb look for branded items. Brand items are fairly easy to sell, people love to buy brand products (such as Nike shoes, D&G glasses etc.)

When going to garage/yard sale make sure that you’ve done your due diligence of how much those products are selling for on eBay.

The trick of earning money online, especially as an ecommerce shop is to buy well and buy cheap.

So even if you know the products you’re looking for, you need to know how much they’re selling for and what will be the lowest price you can get them.

Tip: To avoid mistakes, I’ve attached a resource page at the end of the eBook to help you understand all your eBay and PayPal fees so that you could include them in your research for the right price.

Before you post anything on eBay, especially if you bought it at a garage/yard sale, make sure that you clean it properly. If it’s electronic devices or accessories, make sure that the product is functioning and working according to manufacture instructions.

If you can buy an item that is still with its original package that’s even better. You can get a bit more money for it on eBay as buyers usually prefer to know that the item is new or as new, and has never been used.


Sourcing products from closing down business/liquidation companies around you

If you have already started to sell on eBay and you’ve got pretty good feedback scores, you can approach businesses around you that are closing down, and offer to sell their product for them on eBay for a commission.

This is a great way to expand your eBay product list, and earn extra cash without investing your own money into it. Plus you don’t need to worry about storing the products.

The best way to approach the storeowner is to show him that you have knowledge of the niche he’s in. Show confidence, make an appointment with the manager and see how you can you work together. The worst thing that can happen is for him to say no, and at least you know you gave it your best.

It is always good to leave your contact details with him in case he changes his mind.

Another way to approach a closing down business, is to offer to buy bulk from them. Even though they are not wholesalers, you might find that they are willing to lower the price if you buy in bulk.

Again you would need to know how much you could sell it for before you even start talking with the store owners.

Tip: if you both agree on working together, make sure you write down all the details, including how much commission you’d get. Google ‘agreement forms’ and you’ll find quite a few samples; Change it as you wish so it will suit both sides. If you’re not sure you can consult a lawyer to draft you an agreement.

Another great source are liquidation companies. You can find really good bargains of overstocks and seasonal items that have been returned by department stores.


Sourcing products from other sellers that advertise the products with spelling mistakes

Sometimes sellers don’t pay attention or don’t review their listing’s title before publishing it. For example, two sellers are selling an iPhone.

One seller wrote the word ‘iPhone’ on the title and gets x amount of views and will probably sell the product fast.

Second seller has written down the word iPhone - but with spelling mistakes such as ifone, or iPhon.

The second seller will not get the same amount of traffic as the first one. Therefore, it will be harder for him to sell, and he will end up with no bids.

You can find those sellers and offer them a lower price for their products. Or if it’s an Auction, start your bid very low.

So how do you find listings with spelling mistakes?

Below you’ll find FREE resources

• http://www.fatfingers.co.uk • http://www.typohound.com • http://www.missing-auctions.com • http://www.auctionmisspellings.co.uk • http://www.typobay.com • http://www.typozay.co.uk • http://www.typodeals.net • http://www.fatfingers.com

Sourcing product from Big Chain Retail stores (Retail Arbitrage)

I often find in my local Target, K-Mart even the post office, really cheap items, which I know (from my research) will sell at a much higher price on eBay.


I’ll give you an example; My local post office shop was selling DVD’s for only $3! Now, I remember when I was speaking with DVD’s wholesalers their lowest prices was around the $6.

So I bought quite a few DVD’s (from the post office) and sold them for around $12 a piece. You see, sometimes the major retails can get it so cheaply that you don’t have to look far to get great low cost products.

Tip: It is very tempting to buy everything and hope it will sell, so before you go hunting for your products, make sure you’ve done your due diligence.

Buying from major retailers can save you the hassle of buying from wholesaler that you don’t know or can’t trust online.

When you buy from the major retailers, you pay for it, you get your product and you post it on the same day. No wasting time or energy waiting for your product to arrive.

Tip: Another advantage of this method is that the major retailers usually keep a lot of stock, and if you see that they are no longer selling it, you can enquire and/or ask them to order it for you.

I’ve attached a list of Wholesalers resources at the end of the book. Sign to one or all of them (it is usually free) and start sourcing your products.

Sourcing from Wholesalers

This method requires more research; not only for the products you are looking for, but to know which wholesalers are out there, who you can relay on and purchase products from.

Wholesalers sometime will force you to buy in bulk, if you feel you don’t know the market yet or if you don’t have the funds, walk away and find another wholesaler.

I’m located in Australia, so my wholesalers are usually from China, India, Japan etc.


If you are from the US or the UK, you would be able to find wholesalers in your own country.

I’ve created a list of wholesalers from the US & UK at the end of the eBook.

My 3 online wholesalers are:

www.alibaba.com

www.aliexpress.com

www.dhgate.com.

Alibaba is an online wholesaler website for high quantities. Most of the manufacturers & wholesalers will require you a (MOQ) minimum of quantity, 50 pieces and up.

Aliexpress is a branch under Alibaba’s umbrella but you will find that you can buy individual products or small quantities of the product.

Dhgate is very similar to Aliexpress, where you can purchase items in low quantities and the more you buy the less you pay per item.

Registration for any of these sites is free of charge. You do not pay anything until you press ‘ buy now’ in your cart.

If you are always on the road, it will be easier to download their app for easy access.

Tip: Please note the currency in those websites is US dollars. Even if located in Australia, it will still show the US amount and in small fonts the conversion to AUD.

Please be mindful of the exchange rate.


When I first started I went through Aliexpress, because I wanted to start small so I bought 10 pieces of each product. I was able to check the market, the quality of the products and be familiar with the process.

Also, buying a few pieces of each product minimises the risk of over spending or a huge inventory in your house.

Tip: Unless the seller indicates the quantity that is available from his inventory, I’d suggest shooting him a quick email and asking if the product that you’re interested in is in stock. Usually they do, but if they don’t it will save you the disappointment and refund request later.

In the picture below you can clearly see that the item is available from 350 lots.

I’ve found a few times that although the product has come up on the listing (and the system allows you to order it) it is actually not in stock anymore.

This is a very frustrating feeling. Imagine you’re doing all the research, you know which product to buy, and then you finally made the payment only to find out it is out of stock.

In case of a problem or dispute, Alibaba’s (or Aliexpress) system is trying to protect you and resolve the problem.

You can ask the seller for a refund or if he’s willing to make/redo the product especially for you. In a case of a dispute I know Alibaba has a process you need to follow. Usually they will ask you to firstly try and resolve it directly with the seller and if you are unsuccessful then they will help you.


I’ve had both instances in the past, and I managed to resolve it. One seller refunded my money. The other was willing to redo the product especially for me, but it had taken him so long, it was around 2 months later till I received the product.

Tip: If the seller is willing to make the product from scratch, always ask for the time frame. You don’t want to assume it will take him 3 days where it actually takes 14 days. Make sure you’re asking all the questions before you commit to the deal.

Shipping is another issue to watch out for when you’re buying a few items at once.

You’ll see often that the seller will advertise that the shipping is free, but after you add quantity of 7, 8, 10 pieces into you cart, the shipping price has gone up.

Tip: To avoid extra shipping fees, change the quantity (refresh the page each time) until you get the free shipping option again.

The shipping costs can vary between each country so be mindful of how much it will cost you. Sometimes it will be worthwhile to pay extra for shipping, if you require it ASAP or it doesn’t affect your margins so much. Remember do your due diligence before ordering.

I had a case where I wanted to order 10x horse racing necklaces. The listing showed a ‘free shipping’ method, BUT when I added 10 necklaces to the cart the shipping method changed, and it wasn’t free any more.

I had to change the quantity to 5 (refresh the page) and see if the shipping fees had changed. When it had changed to free shipping method again, I ordered it, then went back to the sale page and ordered 5 more necklaces as a separate order.

If you find that you order the same product from the same supplier over and over again, contact them to see what deal they can give you.

I found that my scarves supplier was able to send my products via EMS (within 7 days) for free because I’d ordered enough to cover the costs.


When looking online, whether it is on eBay, Amazon, Alibaba etc. it is always a good idea to buy from a seller that has some feedback (close to 100% as possible) than no feedback at all.

I also read the feedback comments to see what other customers have said about the product.

You want to be sure you are buying from a reliable source, someone that will communicate with you and help you if there is a problem.

Tip: After payment, it takes about 2-4 weeks for the products to arrive (depending on your location), so if you see that a popular product is low in stock, you need to think ahead and order it before it finishes. This way you don’t waste time waiting for the product and potentially losing money.

Tip: I like to re-order my products from a supplier I’ve already dealt with. The problem is that the same product might not be available anymore from this seller or any seller for that matter (ever).

The situation above has happened to me more than once. I get a product I like (and the customers seem to like) then when I want to re-order it, I find out the seller is not making it anymore and neither is anyone else.

Often it is also difficult to find another seller that will make this product.

This is very frustrating as you’ve put all your effort into finding a product but you can’t get it anymore. A few times I’ve found another seller that sells the same product, but you need to see that it is the same quality as the previous product.

There were a few times that I found the same necklace pendant but with another necklace. So I bought the necklace from one seller and the pendant from a second seller. But because the chain was completely different from the original product I’d already posted, I had to redo the images and correct my eBay listings.

Tip: If you find a product that has a variety of options such as colours, the photos on the sales page are very small; make sure you pick the right colour. See picture below, the icons are very small, so you need to be very careful when choosing the colour.


Also, if you need to send a message/notification to the seller -

After you press ‘commit to buy from this seller’ you’ll find a message box where you can specify what design/colour you want.

Even though the listing gave you the option to choose, I always like to write to them again and request the design/colour I want. You don’t want to leave anything to luck.

Overseas wholesalers are usually very polite, and will normally reply to your messages in a timely manner. Their English is not very good sometimes, so you will need to make sure you get an answer for your questions and you understand it. If you don’t understand ask it again and again until you do.

Sourcing products using drop shipping method or from other sellers on eBay

Drop shipping is a more advanced method where you advertise your item for sale, and when the order come through you send an email to your supplier/wholesaler with the order details.

They will send the product on your behalf with your return address, so the customer will never know it has been shipped from the wholesaler.

This method can be tricky as you would need to trust the wholesaler to do the job fast, correctly, and communicate with you so that you won’t advertise items that are not in stock anymore. Good drop shipping companies will have a system in place where you can login and see live which products are in stock.


In the bonuses section, you will find great information about drop shipping from the marketing expert Alex Jeffreys.

I personally have never tried drop shipping as it more difficult to find wholesalers that are willing to work on a drop shipping method in my niche. But what I did do is I approached few of my competitors in my niche and advised them to work with me as a drop shipper.

This means although they are not wholesalers, they can give me a discount each time I have an order from their stock.

For example: I found a lady that is selling instructional equestrian DVDs. She advised me that from each DVD that I sell I get a 50% off the marked price including postage fees from her side.

So if she sells a DVD for $40 and the posting fee is $2.00,

I can advertise the same DVD for how much I’d like, lets say I advertise it for $60.

Each time I’ve got an order of that DVD, I pay her $20 (50% of $40) + $2 (postage fees), and I keep the profit for myself. She sends out the product to the client on my behalf with my return address.

This is a win win situation. The reason I’m happy to work with that lady is because I can see that her feedback on eBay is 100% and she had lots of sales, she communicated with me over the phone/email/text so I was willing to work with her and trust that she’ll do her part of the deal.

If you choose to work with drop shippers and you find them a bit dodgy, try to find another supplier. You don’t want to be accounted for their mistakes and get negative feedback and complains from customers.

Remember clients will trust you and will buy more from you as you get more and more feedback. You want to keep your customers happy at all times. 100% feedback will get you the customers it is up to you to do the rest.


Un announced Method: Earn money from eBay as a Trading Assistant

After you’ve gained experience with selling stuff on eBay, gained knowledge in a niche, have high feedback scores, and are happy to assist others selling their product, you can then create your profile as a Trading Assistant.

The way it works is that you create a profile page, where you can specify your expertise, skills, knowledge, your commission requirements, your fees, your feedback score etc.

People will be able to ‘interview’ you and decide if you’re the right person to help them advertise their products.

You can learn more and start at Trading Assistant Directory


Module 4 – Keeping Your Focus

When you start sourcing products that you are going to sell I would recommend to document it in an Excel spread sheet.

The following should be in your document:

• The source (a link to the product’s page) • The webpage of the product • The price you paid for it (total price, for example $50 for the

necklaces) • Shipping fees (free or paid) • Price for individual product (50/10=$5, for each necklace) • Order number • Has the item been sent to you & date • Date receiving the item (this will help you to determine how far

ahead you’d need to re-order the product) • Selling price on eBay • eBay fees • PayPal fees • Postage fees (including envelopes, or boxes) • Your margins (= eBay price-eBay fees-PayPal fees-postage fees)

Tip: Keep the spread sheet updated. You will find that the fees will change slightly as eBay/PayPal and the post office are changing their prices at least once a year.

I’ve attached a resource at the end of the eBook to a calculator for eBay and PayPal fees to help you.

Tip: Keep all of your receipts for the end of the year tax. Check with your accountant what you can claim for tax purposes and keep each financial year receipts separate.

If you decide after a while that you earn enough to cover the costs for a store, I’d suggest to start with a basic shop (at the moment is $20 a month).


Advantages of an eBay Shop:

• You can list and sort your items by categories • You can add your logo • Cut your listing fees – you can list up to 2500 listing for free

(saves you $0.50 per listing) • Fees are generally lower than the standard account • List items either on Auction option or Buy It Now (BIN) option • Will let you list items with the Good till Cancelled option. Which

means your product doesn’t have an expiry date, only if you decide to cancel the item then it will be ended or if you ran out inventory, it will be cancelled automatically.

• As a shop owner you can list up to 750 products or up to $22,500 worth of products.

• As a shop owner people can join your mailing list, and follow your shop

• You have the tools to mark down the products and to offer sales on specific product or category.

• You can view and study your traffic and sales reports to maximise your listings

• You can automate communication with buyers, such as feedback reply to your customers. This will save you heaps of time.

• One of the major advantages is that when you sell more, your feedback score is rising, eBay will promote your products more, which means more sales, which means more money in your pocket!

• eBay likes to keep promoting a great seller, so if you keep your feedback score at 100% eBay will prompt you to become a Power Seller, which means your listings will be seen more by buyers.

• eBay will send you promotions that you can offer your customers to attract them to your listings.

If at any point you feel that the shop is not for you, you can always cancel and go back to the normal/standard account.


Module 5: Maximizing your listing

I like to have a template so all my listing will look the same. It’s a simple one to follow and you don’t need any software. You can save a blank template on your computer, then copy it to a new listing to make sure all of the colours and fonts are the same.

My template structure:

• Description • Instruction/How to apply (if it is applies to the product) • Payment • Shipping • About us • Please visit our store…

In the description, you want to say as much as you can about the product. Don’t hide information, be honest about the product.

You can write the description in bullet points or as a paragraph.

Make sure there are spaces between the paragraphs; every 2-3 sentences hit the enter button.

Make it easy to read and follow.

Remember to use big enough fonts (12 or 14) and always write in Black. I’ve seen a lot of different listings where every paragraph or every second sentence is in different colour. This doesn’t mean anything to the buyer.

The buyer cares about the correct information, picture and price.

The different colours are just confusing and distracting the buyer from the actual product.

No need to use bold or Italic. Bold can be used in the headings or to emphasise a point.

Read back and review your listing before submitting and make sure it makes sense.


Check your spelling. As I mentioned before spelling mistakes can cost you.

Make sure your title is credible, accuracy is the key.

eBay allows you to use 80 characters (including spaces) in the product title. It is advisable to use all 80 characters with related words.

For example: if you sell a scarf for women – you can mention the words ‘shawl’, ‘soft scarf’, the material of the scarf, long or short scarf etc.

You also can include (if relevant) the words rare, unique, new, stunning, first class, collectors editions etc. Don’t over do it and definitely don’t claim that something is rare if its not.

You can add at the end of the product description a Q&A section, to avoid answering common questions.

When you write your description, write it in a second person and use enthusiastic words.

As you write the description, you want to come across as a reliable, trustworthy, expert seller.

You want the buyers to feel comfortable buying from you, and to trust you that you will deliver the promises that you’ve mentioned in the listing.

You can build your credibility through your feedback scores, tell them about yourself or what you’re about, and add a picture of yourself to humanize the experience (if you wish).

Add an ‘About me’ (or us) page or paragraph so the customers will relate to you and to your products.

Money back guarantee is a great way to reassure your customers it is risk free buy, and specify the return and postage policies.

Insert hyperlink to your description - when I sell a DVD for example, I like to add a link to the trailer from YouTube.

This is more techy stuff, but basically you want to change the listing details to ‘html’ (see picture below) and insert a hyperlink. Then finalise all the rest of the details and submit it. Test the link to make sure it’s working.


Categories: When you list a new item, eBay suggests categories for you. If you’re not sure which one to choose, look at what others sellers have listed it in.

If you find an exact item that is already listed for sale, click the ‘sell it yourself’ on the left side of the screen.

This is a nice little trick to speed up the process of listing your item. It will automatically give you the correct category as well as the listing’s title; all you will need to do is to add your pictures, description and price.

As I mentioned before, choosing the right category is very important as eBay can cancel your listing if it’s not in the right one.

When you list a product with multiple variations such as colours, sizes etc, it is best to list it in under ‘Multiple Variations’ option.

Multiple Variations option is available under Sell – Advanced tool (on the right top corner of the screen). Or if you are a store owner it will come up as one of the fields you can choose to fill in.

You can always add more colours, sizes etc. to the current list, and you can change the price individually. Also if the colour/size is out of stock, the system won’t let the buyer order that specific colour.


The buyer will be able to see the pictures but in the drop down menu it will be shown as ‘out of stock’.

Photos: I’ve covered that topic before, in Module 3, but here’s a reminder.

Good photos will sell your item quicker than poor photos.

Upload quality photos. eBay allows you to upload up to 12 photos for free, if you’d like more than 12 you’ll pay extra fees.

I try to always to upload as many photos as I can. If you think you don’t have enough, aim to do 5 photos at least for each listing.

Try to get photos of the product with white a background. Or if the product’s colour is light then maybe use a black background.

eBay has a minimum of 500 pixels per photo.

The reason behind it is that better photos sell your product faster. If your photos are not as per the minimum standard, eBay will prompt you to change them, and won’t allow you to list the product.

Keep the photos clean, sharp and as professional as possible.

I recommend using Photoshop if you have it and know how to use it. But if you don’t have access to Photoshop there is a website: PicMonkey - where you can edit your photos for free. It is much easier tool to work with and more user friendly then Photoshop.

Another great way to maximize your sales is to enable International shipping.

Shipping internationally will give you the edge you need to beat your competitors as not a lot of them are willing to take the extra step and to ship products internationally.

International shipping works great with small, lightweight products. The difference of shipping could be as small as $1 between local and international shipping, but the exposure to more customers will give you the advantage on your competitors and will increase your income.

Offer Free Shipping!

This is a definitely the best way to attract customers to your listing and/or to your shop.

The key here is to include all fees (eBay, PayPal, Postage) before hand, and include it in the final price so you won’t lose after the purchase.


(See the Excel spread sheet & calculator at the end of the eBook).

The fees total cost can really add up, and increase the price of your product substantially. If you feel the price is too high due to the fees, you can leave the postage fee out and add it as an extra.

It won’t be a listing with free shipping any more, but the price will be more reasonable for buyers.

You can test your market and see if you get more customers to the same product if you offer free shipping, or if you charge extra for the shipping.

I’ve mentioned it before; I recommend using PayPal as the preferred payment method. it the quick and most reliable way to transfer funds online.

Remember to package your item professionally; don’t over stuff the envelope to save on the postage fees as it might tear the envelope/box.

Communicate with your customers, notify them when the product has been shipped to them, and add a tracking number if available.


Module 6: Mistakes to avoid

How to avoid mistakes that most people make when publishing a product:

1. Multiple Variations

I once made a mistake where I listed a necklace that has different colour options without the Variations tool.

I mentioned at the listing that the customer should notify me during check out or send me an email with his/her preferred colour.

What actually happened was, the customer bought a necklace, and didn’t let me know which colour she wanted. eBay showed me on the ‘sold item’ notification only the default colour.

I’ve realised my mistake and tried to contact the buyer, but she didn’t respond and so, I posted to her the default colour. Obviously, it wasn’t the colour she wanted and she requested a refund.

I could have easily avoided the situation by listing my colours under the Multiple Variations of your item.

2. Calculate your shipping/postage fees correctly

When I get new products, I check with the customer rep at the post office for the right postage.


It has happened to me quite a few times (and it is very common mistake) that I’ve charged the wrong postage, posted it to the buyer, then received a letter from the post office saying I underpaid the postage and I need to pay again plus administration fees for their trouble.

The postage fees are common mistakes and you will probably make one as well. It is all part of the learning curve.

If you sold an item and then realised that you’ve under quoted or miscalculated the postage fee, don’t mentioned it to the buyer, as it will seem to be unprofessional. Take it into account next time you are advertising the same product for sale.

3. Avoid spelling mistakes, and review your listing before submitting it.

4. Make sure the photos are correct for that listing. The best picture should be the first one on the left (while editing your listing, you can shift picture with the little arrows so the best one should be placed first on the left)

5. You want to make sure that the first photos will represent your product in a reliable attractive way. This is the photo that will entice the customer to open and read your listing, so you want to make it a good one.

6. Relist and item – If your Auction ended with no bids, ask yourself is it because of the photos, the description, maybe the price was too high. If you’ve got views (hits) but no bids, you can assume that there is a demand for your item but maybe something was wrong with the above.

But if there weren’t any views (hits) on your item at all, it means that there is no market or demand for this item and it won’t be worthwhile to relist it. No hits can also mean that your listing title is not good, or you might have listed it in the wrong category.

After you’ve decided what the problem was, you can relist your item. eBay will automatically relist your item for free (up to 3 times).

If you SOLD a product, but the buyer failed to make payment, eBay offers a feature called ‘Second Chance Offer’ where you can contact the second highest bidder and offer them to buy the product.

With this feature you can send a quick email to the new buyer asking them if they are still interested to buy the product. They can agree or disagree to buy your item. They have no obligation to buy the product from you anymore.


Module 7: Double Up Your Dollar

I would like to share with you my ideas of how you can attract more customers to your shop and how to increase your sales and your feedback scores.

eBay offers you some basic marketing tools – only available for eBay shops.

My favourite one is the Markdown Manager (under Account tab), where you can schedule a sale on your item, or a whole category.

This tool allows you to pick the dates you want your sale to start from and finish, from what time, and if you wish to exclude any of the products from the category. You can also determine a percentage or dollar sale amount. You are free to edit it at anytime.

The exposure that your product will have also depends on your feedback scores. The higher the feedback the more exposure your items will get, and they will be placed on the first page/pages of eBay.

Your aim is to keep getting positive feedback from clients by offering them great service, communication, fast shipping and a fair price.

eBay will prompt the buyer to give feedback to the seller, but unfortunately people tend to ignore the emails, tend to forget, or (for whatever reason) they don’t choose to post a feedback.

To try and encourage my client to give me good feedback I like to send my customers a little note, I’ve had prepared and attach it to the product.

Basically the note says: ‘Thank you for your purchase, if you are happy with the product I’d appreciate your positive feedback’. Sometime I even enclose a little lolly or a candy.

At Christmas I had little Christmas card where I wrote (with a pen) Merry Xmas to the clients. The clients really appreciate these little gestures, especially when they don’t know you.

I think this is a good way for the customer to remember you (as a seller), and when eBay sends them a reminder to review you, they will be more likely to do it.


If you own a website where you sell the same products as your eBay store, send a buyer a discount coupon, and a flyer and direct them to your website, to save on eBay fees.

Use social media such as Facebook/Twitter etc. as your advertising tool. There are a lot of different Facebook apps that integrate beautifully with the page. A popular one is Ecwid where you can set up a store, upload your products and off you go.

If you choose to have a shop – you’re in charge of your store’s name and logo.

Have a hyperlink to your eBay shop/website at the signature section at the end of your email where you can encourage your readers to link on your shop link.

Expand your knowledge:

If you’re looking for a way to expand your knowledge here are some great resources:

A great site you can use as a reference and as part of your research and education is http://www.EcommerceBytes.com.

The website has great free tools and tutorials to keep you up to date with the latest news on eBay. You can learn about Auction times, photos tips etc.

Attend eBay workshops – online or in person.

Read books about it (like you’re doing now☺)

Follow power sellers on eBay. Register to their newsletter to learn what products they’ve got for sale and how they sell it.

Use eBay resources:

Announcement Page

Discussion Boards

Feedback Forum

Rules and policies

eBay Community Forum


Forums and chat rooms are a great way to find support and communicate with other sellers. Here are the links:

eBay community

The Answer Center


Conclusion

eBay market is always changing. New buyers come in all the time, there are enough products and categories to choose from.

Learning on how to earn money with eBay can take time to master, but it is your choice where you want to take it. Some buyers are using eBay as a side gig, other as a part time or full time income stream.

Don’t underestimate your research; invest more time on researching before spending your funds on new products.

Keep getting 100% from buyers and you’ll hit success sooner rather than later.

Have fun in the process; remember if you don’t enjoy the process it is not worth doing.

There are different ways to make money online and I’ve shown you only one way here. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it and sharing my ideas with you.

Thank you so much! I hope that you’ve enjoyed this eBook, as much I’ve loved writing it for you. I would love to hear what you think about it.

I would love to hear your thoughts about the book, feel free to shoot me an email to [email protected]. I read every single email.

Lastly, I would ask you to respect me and not to share or distribute this eBook to anyone else without my permission.

If you feel that a family member or friend would benefit from the information provided in this eBook, you can send them this link:

www.homeincomegenerator.com

Thanks again, and I wish you nothing less than success.

Congratulations! If you’ve made it this far, you’re ready to start your eBay journey and begin selling your products to the world!


Copyright: No part of this eBook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author.

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