HTML Codes, Auction Templates, eBook Tutorials, & Blog Tips Cool HTML Codes, Auction templates, eBay Tips, Ebooks, & Tutorials

Chapter 1: How to Make Money Online Reselling or Retailing Wholesale Products:

“Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.” -Henry Ford

A great way to make money online is to buy products at low or “wholesale” prices, and then simply resell them for a profit. To do this, of course, you have to know 2 things: Where to buy items at low prices & what items will likely sell and produce a reasonable profit. So let’s start with the first part of that: Where to buy items for resale:

Where to Find Wholesale Products, and Low-Priced/Closeout Deals for Resale:

Finding Inventory at Yard/Garage Sales:

Believe it or not, some people make a full time income simply by finding deals at garage sales and then reselling the items online. Why? Because people at garage sales usually do not know that they could be getting way more for their items if they were selling them online. This method can be a lot of fun and sometimes you can find terrific bargains (after all one person’s trash is another person’s treasure)!

For instance, at one garage sale alone, I was able to make nearly $1000 in profits from items such as a Like
New Fred Perry® Jacket (bought for $5-resold for $79.99), barely used Skecher® boots (bought for $2-resold for $19.99), a video game system, a used cell phone, a used laptop computer & other items. It only took about 8 hours work total to buy the items, make the listings, & ship the items once I sold them.

To find local garage sales, browse your local newspaper for advertisements in the “garage sale” section of the classifieds, or simply drive around looking for signs. Most garage sales take place on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Also, be sure to watch out for “neighborhood” garage sales or church yard sales. These are great because you browse a full neighborhood’s items within a short period of time.

When shopping a garage sale, keep an eye out for low priced name brand products & popular items (I will discuss later in more detail about how to find items that will make money). For instance, you can almost always find name brand clothing for 50 cents or $1 that can easily be resold online for $15-$50. Exercise equipment, consumer electronics (such as computers, DVD players, video game systems, etc.), sports equipment, and antiques make great items for resale. Also, the best part about a garage sale is that prices are almost always negotiable. Don’t be afraid to ask “Can you take any less for this” or “What is the least you will take for this item.” You could get a great deal & it may surprise you that many times people will even let you have it for free or a rock bottom price- just so they can “get rid” of it. Also, if you see a large selection of items, try offering a lump sum to buy it all (but make sure to negotiate a good price of course).

Finding Inventory for Resale in Classified Ads:

Checking local classified ads is another great resource for finding products for resale. There are usually several sources of local classifieds that you can check, and almost every country or location will have a classified section. For instance, you can check the local newspaper classifieds, American Classifieds, Online Newspapers, etc. These sources are usually absolutely free. You can go to the Public Library to browse old & current copies of these classifieds, or browse them online. If you are unsure of your local newspaper & classifieds’ website, you can visit http://www.newspaperlinks.com or simply use a search engine to find it.

Places like grocery stores will sometimes carry stacks of various classified & trade papers. Once you have the classifieds, search the categories containing products that you are interested in selling. Again, people often list items such as computers, mp3’s, electronics, video games, cars- you name it! There are always great deals to be found, and again, many of the prices that are listed are negotiable. Once you find some items that may be profitable, you can do your research to see whether or not you should buy it for resale. Below is a typical newspaper classified ad.

Finding Inventory and Products for Resale in Craigslist.org:

Craigslist.org is a huge online classifieds directory that allows users to buy & sell items, list real estate ads, post job openings, list personal ads, and more. It does not cost any money to buy or sell on this site. Also, aside from using craigslist.org to buy products, you may even want to consider selling some items that aren’t practical to sell on other sites.

To use craigslist.org, simply go to the website. On the home page, you will be able to select a country, state & city close to your location. Once you select the proper location, you will then be able to take advantage of the huge selection of items listed (that you will be reselling for a profit). To start browsing, click on the “for sale” section. Here, you will be able to see the different categories to choose from. Then, select a category you are interested in, and browse items listed for sale. When you find a product that has good estimated profitability, you can then contact the seller through either email or phone (the seller should have this posted in the listing). Again, there can be some incredible deals on craigslist.org and I would highly recommend that check this site to find products to resell for profit.

Buying Items for Resale for Profit at Local Auctions:

Imagine buying a $60,000 house for $10,000, a $5,000 car for $1,000, or a $700 computer for $50 and then reselling the items for a profit. Every year, millions of items like those are sold through public auctions. These auctions can range from police seized auctions, estate auctions, foreclosure sales, storage unit auctions, business liquidation auctions, and much more. The purpose of these auctions is to sell large amounts of items as quickly as possible. Because the items are usually sold at liquidated prices, this can
mean big profits for the crafty entrepreneur!

Finding your local auctions is simple. Most auction companies will advertise in local newspapers. Just check the hard copy or the online version & look under “Legal Announcements” or “Public Auctions” (or a similar title). Most estate auctions,foreclosures, business auctions, and auctions for abandoned or unpaid storage units will be found here. Also, you can look in your local phone book or telephone directory and find auction companies. You can then contact them directly to find out about upcoming auctions. Government auctions will also be listed in local classifieds, however, some locations will post these auctions on the local government’s website or again, you can contact your local courthouse or police station to inquire about upcoming auctions.

Whenever an auction is posted, try to find as much information as you can about the items that will be offered. You can then use this information to your advantage so you can research the items beforehand to find out what is profitable. If you have never been to an auction, you may want to go to a few as an observer first. Again, some items are priced ridiculously low at auctions, or they will get no bids, and you can swipe them up & resell them!

Finding Wholesale and Low Priced Merchandise on eBay:

Another great source for finding products for resale is www.eBay.com®. eBay® is a great place to not only sell items, but also to buy them! Many companies will turn to eBay® to sell liquidated items, overstocks, clearance items, and manufacturing over-runs, etc. To search eBay’s® large selection of wholesale lots, simply go to http://www.ebay.com/ and on the home page click on the “Wholesale” link. This will take you to a page where you can browse different categories of wholesale items. This can be a great source of resale products and I consistently check eBay® for popular items.

Another wacky and not-so-obvious way of finding products on eBay® is by typing misspelled werds (I mean…words) into the search engine. Most people are surprised to find that a large number of listings have completely misspelled words. For example, Nintendo is easily misspelled as Nintindo or Nentendo. Nike is sometimes misspelled as Nikey, and so forth. The point is that there is a huge number of brand name or hot product listings with misspelled words. You can usually buy these items for a great price, simply because if they are spelled incorrectly, no one else will find the listing.

The easiest way to do this is to pick out a few items that you know are selling well. Then misspell the word in a way that it could commonly be misspelled. To save time, you could use software to generate a list of common misspellings. There are even some resources online that can allow you to search for misspelled keywords. I will usually spend a few minutes every day searching the most popular items that I know have been selling well. Sometimes you can get rock bottom prices. In fact, many people claim to make a very comfortable full time living, simply by doing this one method alone! Go ahead & give it a try!

Other Wholesale Resources Where You Can Buy Inventory:

There are plenty of other websites online that offer low & wholesale prices. Below is a list of some popular sites. Some of these sites sell products directly, and some allow individual users & companies to list items. Just browse each one & familiarize yourself with it. Also, when buying items online you must always beware of fraud. On wholesale websites that sell to you directly, then you won’t have to be so concerned. But for sites (like eBay® for instance) that allow other users to sell products, you should always take the necessary precautions to protect yourself against fraud. For instance, never give out personal information. Always consider using a credit card for purchases (many credit card companies will protect you from fraud). Also, if you are ever dealing with a very large dollar amount purchase, it is a good idea to check to make sure it is a legitimate company & transaction. For a more detailed list of common scams and for tips to protect yourself from fraud, check out our website for more great free tips.

Common Online Wholesale/Low Price Sources:

• http://www.slickdeals.net
• http://www.worldwidebrands.com
• http://www.wholesale411.com
• http://www.nawca.org
• http://www.liquidation.com
• http://www.Salehoo.com
• http://www.overstock.com
• http://www.surplus.net
• http://www.ebay.com
• http://www.buylink.com
• http://www.dollardays.com
• http://www.wholesalecentral.com
• http://www.alibaba.com
• http://www.wholesalehub.com

Finding Legitimate Wholesale Companies for Inventory Resale:

Aside from the internet, there are plenty of other ways to find legitimate wholesale companies. You can browse local telephone business directories for wholesale companies, visit local retail tradeshows, or contact manufacturers directly to find a list of wholesalers. In fact, many wholesale companies will print contact information such as an address, website or telephone number on the package of the particular item you are interested in selling. Simply pick up the phone & call a company and ask for a catalog of
wholesale merchandise. Some manufacturers will deal with you directly and some will refer you to the wholesale companies they use.

If you decide to deal with wholesale companies directly, however, many will require that you provide a “business resale number.” This is simply a number that you will be given if you start a “resale or retail” type of business. This lets other companies know that you are running a legitimate company yourself. Of course, if you do not have your own business, you can still buy from most online sources and use all of the other techniques of making money described in this e-Book. However, you may want to soon consider starting a business (and you may even be required to get a business license in most locations) once you start making money consistently. Though it may seem complex, starting a business is actually not as hard as most people seem to think, and it can actually benefit you by giving you access to even more suppliers and opportunities.

I really enjoy reselling products online. Also, it gets easier if you buy in bulk because you can create one auction listing or web page & then re-use that same listing over and over again. So basically, you can buy a bulk of products, create one listing, and simply ship the items when you make a sale.

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Starting a Seller’s Account

Not only is eBay® a great place to shop for deals & save money, but it is also a great place to sell your items! Whether you sell your own personal items or upgrade to a business, eBay® is a great place to make extra money. So how can you start selling on eBay®?

To start selling on eBay® you will need to upgrade your buyer’s account to a seller’s account. To do this, all you need to do is put a valid credit card on file with eBay®. You may also need to provide a checking account number as well for verification purposes. Once you have done this simple step, you are able to start selling goods online.

After you have upgraded to a seller’s account, you will need to think about what kind of payment methods you will accept, what items you are going to sell, how you will ship items, etc.

You can accept various payment methods online. You can accept Paypal®, money orders, wire transfers, cash (if picked up locally), personal check, or cashier’s check. To avoid fraud & speed up payments, I would recommend you use Paypal®. Paypal® is free to sign up for, and only charges you a fee when you accept a payment (usually only 2.9% of the transaction + $0.30). Paypal® will allow you to receive payments immediately so you can ship the items out. Also, you can transfer the funds from your Paypal® account to your checking account free. For more information or to set up your free Paypal® account, go to Paypal.com.

 

 

Selling Your First Item

Once you have upgraded your account and decided on how you will accept payments, you are ready to sell your first item. Before selling, however, you should browse eBay’s® selling policies to make sure that the item you are selling is allowed, and also review the selling fees you will incur once you list your item.

When you have familiarized yourself with eBay’s® fees & policies, you can list your item. This is a simple process & eBay® will allow you to choose your selling format (auction, fixed price, etc.), select a category, choose your price, insert pictures, describe your item, enter shipping information, & enter payment information.

You can choose to have either a fixed price auction format (buy it now), or you can start the item at a low price & allow bids. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages. For instance, with fixed price, you can sell items quicker & accept payment immediately.

The downside of fixed price listings is that you might have made more money if the bidding had gone higher than your fixed price. With bidding you could get more money than you expected with your item. However, you will have to wait until the auction ends to receive payment, and there is always a chance that the buyer will not pay or the bids may not get as high as you would like.

Both methods are great, and it really depends on the type of item you are selling. For instance, for a normal item, I would sell at a fixed price. For a rare or antique item, an auction may be the best.

After selecting your auction format, you are ready to choose your category. Some categories are obvious, and some may be difficult to decide on. If you are ever unsure on which category to choose, use eBay’s® category selector. Just enter the keywords & it will show you the categories that similar items are listed under.

Now you are ready to make your title & describe your item. Choose words in your title that are relevant to your listing. Also, always try to fill the entire title section with good keywords.

When describing your item, always clearly state exactly what it is you are selling, the condition of the item (new, used, etc.) the color, shape, size, brand, and anything else that is relevant. Be sure to include things like when payment needs to be received & how, shipping terms, if you accept returns or not, etc. Take the time to think about all of these factors & put it in your listing.

After you enter the item’s description & title, you are ready to enter price details & add pictures. Think carefully about your price. For an idea of how similar items have been selling, you can check completed listings. Also, in this section you will be able to insert a picture. If you are planning on selling items frequently, you will want to invest in a digital camera if you do not already have one. You can usually buy an inexpensive one that will do the job for around $30.00.

Take a great picture in a well-lit room. Be sure to show the item from any necessary angles. Then simply upload the image from your digital camera to your computer.

To add the picture, just click on the picture button and it will bring up the photos stored on your computer. Then select the correct image & it will add it to your listing. You can also add additional pictures to your auction. You can either pay $0.15 per picture for eBay® to host it, or you can host it yourself for free. For information on how to do this, check out our HTML Codes section.

After this, you can add any features you want (bold, highlight, etc,), select your shipping rates, enter payment information, and submit your listing. This part is very easy & eBay® walks you through the steps. You just have to fill out the necessary information. For information on how to estimate shipping, check out our shipping articles.

After you have submitted your listing, you can monitor your item in your “My eBay®” section. Simply log in & you can see the current price, how much time it has left, etc. At this point, it is just a matter of waiting until someone buys or bids on the item.
 

 

Completing the Sale

After someone buys your item you are ready to accept payment, make a package, & ship it out. If you had a “buy it now” auction, then the buyer will pay immediately. If it was a bidding auction, you will have to send the buyer an invoice at the close of the auction. To do this, log into you eBay® account & click on the “send invoice” link beside item under the sold section.
 

Once payment has been safely received, you can package the item & ship it. For detailed information on shipping items & printing labels, check out our shipping articles.
 

After the buyer received the goods, he or she should leave you a feedback first. This is not required, however, and up to 60% of buyers may never leave a feedback comment. However, if a buyer does leave a feedback you should always leave a comment back. You should never leave a feedback first as a seller. It is the buyer’s responsibility to leave feedback first to indicate receipt of the goods.
 

Now that you know the basics of how to sell on eBay, you can learn some great tips on making better auction listings. To find out click below.

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