You had a great idea when you decided to open a home-based Internet retail business. You became a “power seller,” as people in the online retail business world call you. Your goal is to move tons of merchandise through Web auction sites and classifieds services without ever leaving the comfort of your home office. Drop shipping gives you the opportunity to accomplish your dreams and more. The sky is the limit if you know how to get your business off the ground.

Drop shipping can launch your business into successful orbit, but it isn’t rocket science. With this unique way of doing business, you enlist the services of a wholesale merchandise company. The wholesale company takes care of the stockpiling and storing of your product. It even covers the shipping and handling charges when one of your customers orders an item.

This means you don’t have to rent thousands of square feet to warehouse your inventory, and you’re free from the liability that comes with direct delivery to your customers. Your only expenses are the membership fee of your particular wholesaler, along with the fees and percentages you lose to advertising and auctioning online. If you play your cards right with these fees, you can build yourself a very cost-effective—and most importantly, profitable—home-based business.

Experienced online retailers have learned the tricks of the trade to do just that. Here are the key secrets that they, your competitors, don’t want you to know. These three tips will stack the deck in your favor, helping you to grow your clientele while avoiding the pitfalls of doing ecommerce.

Get sold on your wholesaler. Nowadays, wholesalers are a dime a dozen, so don’t settle on the first one that comes your way. Let wholesalers compete for your business, instead of the other way around. Many companies may offer specials to new prospective retailers. They may waive the minimum order requirements, credit check, and prepayments if you sign up with them. Top-notch wholesalers could also offer international delivery or special net payment options. Avoid high expenses at the get-go by taking advantage of such specials, and turn a profit a lot quicker.

Sniff out whole-scammers. For every honest wholesaler looking to build a successful relationship with you, there’s a crook out there looking to do nothing but build his bank account at your expense. Avoid any wholesaler, for instance, who demands you pay an advance fee before you sign up with them. Be wary of wholesalers who claim to have thousands of items in their selection. These might not be wholesalers at all, but middlemen who are trying to bluff you. Instead of actually stocking these thousands of products, they actually buy them from a wholesaler, or another middleman, and resell them to you at a jacked up price, thereby cutting into your profits.

Get wired to the Web wisely. You now have a trusted Wholesaler and outstanding products to move, but so do thousands of other Internet retailers. How can you stand out to attract customers and save money doing so? One way to make a mark online is to design and write your own ads for your products. Many wholesalers provide complimentary stock product photos and descriptions that you can use in your online ads and classifieds. Then again, they provide the same thing to all their retailers. Most retailers use them. So you shouldn’t.

Another effective way to sell on the Web is to find new and innovative sites to sell on. The main auction sites are often crowded with retailers who are eager to undercut your prices. Plus, these auctioning sites tend to have high fees and shorter listing durations. Avoid competition and high prices by trying the next generation of premiere selling sites, such as free online classified sites.

Free online classifieds services work as powerful avenues to sell your goods. They offer attractive features your business needs to take off, such as:

• No sign-up, registration, or transaction fees.

• Free listing (text description and image upload).

• Up to 60-day ad listing. This listing duration is light years longer than most other sites and renewals are free as well.

• Distance calculator. This function comes in handy if you’re concerned with locality.

These free online classified sites can be the ace up your sleeve, whether you’re just launching your home-based Internet retail operation or trying to shoot for the stars with an established business. Strap yourself into your chair and count down to ignition.