So I’m about to let you in on some ebay secrets for the holidays. But first let me address those of you who are going to think I’m a scrooge for using the term “cashing in on Christmas”, yes the holidays (Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah) are meant to celebrate life, love & God’s gifts, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it a little merrier yourself. There is nothing wrong with cashing in on people’s holiday spending, unless you want to protest the Macy’s parade I suggest you get used to the idea that people prosper on holiday mirth.

Now why don’t you get some of that action yourself in your eBay store or auctions? So here are some tips on holiday selling & how to wipe the floor with your competition in good cheer.

• Offer gift wrapping! Get your kids to do it or just take the 5 minutes to do it yourself, gift wrapping is a big plus when people are searching for a special product. You can even mark up your original price if you offer gift wrap a reasonable amount. This is one of many things that makes your auctions shine compared to others.
• One way to make money on eBay without having to kill yourself scouring for deals is to deal directly with a wholesaler. If you have any sense of what will sell well this holiday season, which you can figure out in an hour of research online, try out a deep discounter online who you can order from in bulk & then break up, re-package and re-sell. A great source for refurbished electronics & games I found is called UncleVicDeals.com ‘wrapped’ properly these items could be resold at a profit to late shoppers.
• Offer super fast shipping. Around the holidays ditch snail mail, that doesn’t mean don’t use the postal service at all but instead advertise priority shipping for all your auctions. If your selling something small mark it up accordingly but if it is a more expensive item (like a camera or lap top) offer the fast priority shipping for free. This has been proven to drive up your auction end prices & make customers much happier then when they have to shell out the five bucks themselves. Think about it, if you sell something for $100 vs. $80 if you offered it with no priority, even if you have to pay $10 to ship it fast you are still making more money in the end.

how to make money on eBay: do something special for your buyers

• Another great ebay seller tip is to make sure the buyer will come back to you time & again. If you do something special for them on the holidays, even if you don’t make a lot off of it, you’ll secure their loyalty to you as a seller. A friend baked cookies & sent a few to each buyer with their purchase. People loved it & she knew that next year she’d be their #1 choice for their online holiday needs.
• Cash in on the slackers. Offer a wide array of items about a week before Christmas with buy it now prices or very short (say 3 day) auction times. Then offer priority and express shipping to boot. You can mark up the prices a little and even the shipping because the holidays creates these ‘desperate buyers’ who are really willing to spend anything to secure their presents before the holidays hit.

Hope these ebay secrets to holiday selling helped. Writing this post reminded me I need to hop to it & start my Christmas shopping before I become one of the desperate buyers I talked about! If I dont I’ll probably end of buying from one of you sellers last minute, which will line your pockets but send me to the poor house!

For more ebay secrets and information on how to make money on eBay for those of you who are just starting out check out my post on 7 simple steps to getting started selling on eBay.

Tags: ebay secrets, ebay seller tips, holiday selling ebay, how to make money on ebay, make money on ebay, making money at home

If you really want to start making money on eBay fast & without  a huge headache you need to read this post. I am outlining eBay Selling Tips in plain English and they’ll help you learn exactly what sells on ebay and how you can start to make money fast by implementing these tips.

ebay selling tips | Go from zero to $$ fast

1. Market Research: Eeew… this word sends shivers down my back, probably yours too, but market research is not only a necessary evil it can be fun. How you may ask? Market research can be as easy as calling 5 of your friends and asking what they want for Christmas or going to the mall and seeing what’s a hot selling item or browsing the internet to see what is being talked about. Once you decide on a category of items that obviously are selling you can move to step 2. So 1 is just write down your market research results.
2. Now we must find a way to sell item A (that you found out sells well) for more than we buy it for. Easy concept no? Here are some great sites that you can find killer deals on that once marked up and sold on eBay could result in some major ROI. Dealnews.com, Zeelver.com & UncleVic.com are all great sites to find amazing deals that you could potentially resell to holiday shoppers for big bucks.
3. Here is an eBay secret: People like good feedback & nice looking listings. We are a visual generation & if you have a boring, bland ad then forget it. Try to spice things up a little… really go above & beyond and you’ll have your competition begging for mercy. If you want exact methods of how to do this & how i did this for years check out my killer eBook on making real money on eBay & the exact how to methods. Whether you add extra photos in a slideshow via the free application on Photobucket or Flickr, or just add some details about an item i.e. cell phone your selling “sounds like the person is standing next to you” the little things really add up in the end. When I decide what to buy on eBay, as with most of the world, I focus on the quality of the picture (and how many there are) as well as the description & seller’s reputation. Most sellers, even power sellers, forget AT LEAST one of these keys. If you don’t you clean up nicely for the holidays.

Another thing I’ve been telling my consulting clients is to get your business viral, eBay businesses are some of the easiest kinds of brands to get connected online too. So sign up for Facebook (make a fanpage for your eBay store) and Twitter and update your fans and followers on the great deals you are offering. Remember, the more eyes the better. Also for those of you who are looking for ways to make extra money I stumbled upon a great home business opportunity that seems to yet another way to garnish extra income from home, there are so many if you look & really have the passion to work for yourself.

Hope these eBay selling tips helped, if you have more eBay secrets to share please do so in the comment box below!

Tags: ebay secrets, ebay seller tips, eBay Selling Tips, make money on ebay, ways to make extra money

Often people try to pitch get rich quick schemes on eBay. These are rarely ever legitimate. There are several ways to make money on eBay, but unfortunately all of them take at least a bit of time. This isn’t to discourage you from starting a business selling on eBay. I just want to explain the process in 7 basic steps that if followed will have you selling on eBay in no time.

1. Get an account. Seems straightforward but it is the first step to making a living selling on ebay. Go to eBay and start the process, it will take only 5 minutes and you’ll thank yourself later.

2. Sign up with PayPal. Another simple thing that will create a solid basis for making money on eBay and taking payments via a secure & safe middleman.

3. Build up a little star power. When your account is new the best thing you can do for it is to buy some stuff. Yep, I said buy some stuff. This is for two reasons. Firstly buying stuff will give you the experience of how other sellers do business. You can learn from their mistakes & what they excel at. Secondly, if you pay quickly you’ll get sellers eager to leave you good feedback, this positive star power will help you look more reliable to buyers when they start to buy from you.

4. Know your market. Take some time to think about exactly what it is you want to sell on eBay & why. You need to know your market & do some preliminary research into what they want and why they want it. This will pay off as the market your in changes & you stay ahead of the curve because you’ve always had your finger on the buying market’s pulse. It also helps knowing how much items will go for in auction so when you buy the items to resell you don’t pay too much & cut out all your profit margin.

5. Get a system down. Use Auctiva or another selling platform that allows you to create formats and use them over and over. This will help if you sell more than one of the same item over a period of time. The only time you won’t need a system is if each and every item you sell is completely unique. But that rarely happens, so if you have 50 widgets create a form for the first one & then the other 49 will be easy to get up and sold.

6. Be a photographer. Don’t just take random pictures of your items & put them up, one of the biggest factors in the price an item sells for on eBay is the picture. Items with more & better quality pictures always go for more.

7. Title right, check for misspells & pack it right, pack it tight. Make sure your auction looks good before posting it to eBay, no misspells or horrible grammar etc. Then when it does sell be sure to be timely about getting it out the door and to your customer. My motto is when it comes to packing items you sell is pack  it right & pack it tight. Use lots of bubble wrap, or whatever you need to ensure the packages safe journey to its new owner.

If you have more power seller tips that I left out having to do with selling on eBay please leave them in a comment! Happy selling!

Tags: ebay selling, eBay Selling Tips, how to sell on ebay successfully, how to start selling on ebay, make a living on ebay, power seller

Social media is here to stay folks! First it was Myspace, or maybe it was actually Friendster. Then it was Facebook. Now there is Twitter, FourSquare and all forms of social media sites with people flocking to them. So where does this leave us, the eBay Powersellers? Should we join social media and start promoting our auctions through various new media venues, or should we spit in Change’s face and just stick to promoting within eBay and maybe on a blog?

Well.. Hopefully you know the answer before I say it… It’s time to make the leap. I’ve blogged about eBay and Twitter before. And the times, they are a-changing; those who don’t convert will be more and more left behind in business. This includes online businesses, eBay businesses and brick and mortar businesses. How should you start? I’ll tell ya… 3 Easy steps and you’ll be on your way to social media success and increased eBay powerseller success as well!

1. Get on Facebook. there is a great video by Pat Flynn of SmartPassiveIncome.com that explains exactly how to create a Facebook fan page. This is a great way to tell all your Facebook friends about your eBay business and have them spread the word as well.

2. Become a Twit. Yes, I said it, I am giving you license to become a brat!

No, just joking, sillies. I mean get on Twitter, learn to tweet, start Twittering, whatever you want to call it, Just Do It! It is as easy as logging on to Twitter and linking your name and your email address. I suggest you use your real name or at the very least your eBay business name, because if people search for you on Google, you’d want to direct them to a place where they will link back to your website or eBay store. Also on Twitter you can set your preferences so you could link your website to your Bio… Guess what website that should be? Your eBay store, of course! Drives traffic, finds new customers, and is an amazing way to meet people and network online. If you want to get a professional head start on Twitter branding, you can sign up for a Twitter marketing membership here.

3. Get a blog. you can host your own on wordpress, a very easy system to customize; or you can even make a blog in no time whatsoever for free on Blogspot.com. Just start chatting about the things you like and incidentally what you sell on eBay!

Here are some more tips for how to get your blog noticed as well.

Doing even just one of these things will put you far ahead of your eBay competition, and doing all three together will explode your business in a few short months, in ways you never realized were possible with silly, self-promoting social media. It’s not just for the kiddies anymore, folks. For some examples you can check out my Twitter account or take a look at my Facebook fan page (become a fan!); but don’t laugh because I’m still new at the fb thing!

**If you get anything at all out of these blogs, please leave me a comment; it gets very lonely here in the blogosphere and I love getting comments or messages from readers! Makes my day, seriously; I get all giddy.

Tags: ebay blog, ebay facebook, ebay seller tips, ebay social media, ebay twitter, how to sell on ebay, power seller tips, selling on ebay

So this is a roundup of 2009’s TOP articles on Powerseller Princess on how to sell on eBay and how to sell on eBay successfully, darn it! If you are new to my blog on power selling on eBay or just want to get a jumpstart on your power selling career, read this summary of the best of best, and start making money on eBay now!

One of my first posts was on Amazing Wholesale Resources For eBay Sellers. Each wholesaler I listed is awesome; but to add to the list, I’m adding a few new ones I’ve found:

Amazing Deals in Jewelry:

• Aypearl.com, based in China
• Zeelver based in Thailand

Wholesale Great Deals:

• BJ’s wholesale club: they’re offering a 60 day risk free trial right now, so go for it!

Another great post was a list of the Hot Selling Items On eBay for 2009! It lists a bunch of things that you can profit from selling and it gives you a good idea where the eBay marketplace will be heading in 2010. Gotta keep current with the trends, people! If you didn’t know it yet, this article also lets you know that sometimes, using tracking software is worth its weight in gold.

As for a few of my personal favorites, one of these is on whether or not you can really Make A Living On eBay: something most people consider a pipe dream. In truth, Making A Living On eBay as I’ve proven through my own life, is a REAL possibility. Especially if you know how to optimize your selling on eBay and how to beat the competition.

People are always making claims to riches through Selling Ebooks On eBay. Unfortunately though, this is not usually the case. Ebooks were big business years ago and were selling like hotcakes on eBay; until The Man cracked down on all the fraud that was running rampant. Unfortunately, The Man also cracked down on the legit ebook sellers on eBay. In my post, I explained the best ways to sell ebooks if you must, and gave some cautionary tales as well.

Lastly, it’s all about niche business, even on eBay. Making money on eBay is not a walk in the park, but if you choose a niche, it gets far easier… You can corner your market faster and see a larger profit margin by selling unusual, unique or just plain strange things on eBay. In my post about niching down I explain how to build a Business On Ebay out of even the smaller niche markets.

So that is the roundup of my top favorites for 2009. I love to hear feedback, comments and critiques from you readers out there. Especially if you are into power selling on eBay like me! Let me know your thoughts, your successes and your eBay stories.

One more favorite for the road: if you’re new to eBay power selling and you want to help automate the process check out 5 Killer Auction Tools And Software For eBay. You can run these on a PC and if you’re an Apple person we have a post for 5 more Auction Tools For Macs just for you!

Tags: ebay seller tips, hot selling items on ebay, how to sell on ebay, make a living on ebay, power seller tips, profit on ebay, selling ebooks on ebay, wholesale resources for ebay

It seems like it is tough times to sell on ebay, the economy all over the world is rocky, eBay competition has skyrocketed… but fortunately for you so has eBay users. Selling on eBay is not just about quantity or getting there first, but its about really using your head and acting like your at a giant garage sale. But online, of course. In an earlier post I talked about money making eBay tips that sellers try to keep secret… one of them was to use currency rates in your favor, that means = buying the items you sell outside of the country your in. Preferably in a country where your dollars, euros, pesos go farther then they do at good ole home…

So firstly, find a niche. This can be customized bicycle handles, shiny keychains with fluffy bunny feets on the end (poor bunnies!) or custom made silver jewelry. Lets go with customized jewelry for now. Here is a real life example (from me) of how I make money on eBay every time by using my own eBay selling tips to my advantage.

• Go to Zeelver.com and look around… it is amazing, I get lost in all the intricate, beautiful silver jewelry. Its like being at a gypsy flea market online and the prices are unbelievably low! You have to make a minimum order of $100 or $200 USD but that is nothing in comparison to most jewelry wholesalers.
• Chose wisely, double check some of the things you want to sell before you put them in your cart with what is already on eBay if you want to buy heavy inlaid silver necklaces make sure there is a niche for them on eBay already.
• Make your choices and buy. This site like other reputable wholesalers based around the artisan niche ships out your items in a timely fashion & when you get the box at home you will be blown away by the quality of this stuff!
• Retake the best pictures you can of each piece of jewelry (if you were smart you bought between 10-20 of each so you have to only do the work of describing it/photographing it once and then profit 10x) and build a description.
• Check similar items and decide if you either want to be the highest priced option (premium) or the lowest priced (auction style) listing – I talk about this in length on 7 money making tips for eBay and why its good to never be stuck in the middle price wise.

Ta-da!! That is one way I buy items for around $5 each and resell them for between 3 up to 5x more on a regular basis. See i told you it was easy! Want a more in depth look at my methods and madness behind eBay powerselling? Check out my eBook just chock full of good stuff on eBay powerselling.

Tags: ebay how to, eBay Selling Tips, how to sell on ebay, make a living on ebay, make money on ebay, sell on ebay, selling on ebay

A lot of people think it seems like a stretch to believe you could actually make a living on eBay. But it’s no joke, I’m living proof. I haven’t had a “real” job for ages and my eBay income has allowed me to pursue other online passions like Tweeterpreneur and Escaping the 9 to 5 (my pet online projects; check them out!). So how does an average person who has a family (or at least goldfish) to feed, make a living on eBay? It’s easier than you think, if you just break down the numbers.

First, sketch out your expenses, like rent, car payment, insurance, monthly food budget, extras and maybe a gym membership. Whether you have 5 or 50 expenses per month, write them down and attach their monetary value next to it. Alright, now how much do you absolutely have to have to cover those expenses every month? $2000, $3000, $5000? It’s all up to you.

Alright. Now for the fun part: what would you like to have as spending/saving/investing or vacation money every month? An extra grand or two? Whatever that number may be, whether only a hundred bucks or three thousand, write it down. Now calculate your total.

Let’s say it’s $3000 a month to pay all your bills and leave you with extra spending money. Break that down over 30 days and you have to earn, in profit, $100 bucks a day. Now, from a work perspective that seems tough. If you are working for someone else making $10 an hour before tax, you’d have to work 10 hours a day EVERY day of the month to make your goal! Now that isn’t living. But from an online income model perspective, that ain’t hard. If you sell a product like Jewelry (I sell jewelry!) and you buy it in bulk from wherever (I’ll TELL you where I get some of mine from, if you sign up for the newsletter) and it’s $10 a piece of jewelry, and you sell it for $15, then you just made 5 bucks in profit. Not enough to buy a latte, huh? But wait: what if you sold 20 in a day?

Aha! All of a sudden, you just made your $100 dollar a day mark! And trust me, it’s not hard to push through 20 units of a product daily, especially if it’s something in demand, like jewelry.

This is honestly how I got started. I was at a cafe one day sketching out how much in profit I would need every day in a month to have enough to live on and some extra. Even a huge number seems doable when you break it down. And when I wrote out what I needed, it became much easier to accomplish. Take note, I too started with $100 dollars a day in profits, but soon outgrew that!

So go grab a pen and paper and write out your expenses, plus a little extra, and then find your daily number. Now minus the stress and headache of working for someone else, and add the amazing freedom of working from home. Tell me that isn’t at least worth trying to make a living on eBay. And if you need a more step by step guide explaining exactly how I did it, check out my eBook & get access to the amazing Rolodex full of priceless eBay selling resources.

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As eBay evolves, so do the reasons people sell on the massive online marketplace. Some do so purely for profit, others to rid themselves of excess junk. Yet others (a growing number actually) are doing so for charitable reasons. You can either donate part of your auction’s profits to a charity via eBay’s Giving Works program or if you are a nonprofit, you can auction items for your charity. Why is this a great way to go versus the traditional fund raising dinners and silent auctions in expensive hotel ballrooms? Because in this economic climate, people may not be willing to shell out 2K a seat for a charity dinner; but offer them a signed LV bag and the knowledge that it’s for charity, and they’ll bite, and bite big.

Here are 5 reasons why you should sell on eBay if you’re doing so for charity:

1. You can reach a much larger audience than even the biggest private fund raising dinner or live auction.

2. You can cut out the costs for champagne, food or whatever incentives you use to get people to such an event.

3. You can reach multi millions online versus 500 at best in the largest ballroom or auction house.

4. Your volunteers will thank you for the chance to work in their PJ’s for a few minutes instead of spending hours in uncomfortable formal wear at some swanky event.

5. You can raise awareness about your cause/charity through the multitude of eyes who will get to participate in your auction, when they normally wouldn’t go to a fundraiser.

What can you sell, you may be asking? Anything you’d auction at a fundraiser or normally offer as a bonus to garnish donations. From jeweled frog brooches to a pair of tickets to a Broadway show. It all goes on eBay… That is, except food, alcohol, or cigars (so sad).

It is also worth noting that in studies, it’s been shown that the average eBay buyer feels more comfortable bidding on an item designated to go to charity (or part of the profits go to charity). And because of that, the eBay buyer will most likely bid higher. So at times, the painting you were going to offer at silent auction will go for much more if put on eBay and promoted through simple word of mouth.

If you have a charity website, this is a great place to put links to your eBay auctions; eBay makes it very simple for those with personal sites to connect to online auctions through a few clicks of buttons. You can learn more about that here.

Nothing is more noble than charity and nothing is more fun than selling for charity on eBay!

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