One key for business success using eBay is sourcing products to

sell. The first questions eBay sellers should ask themselves

are: "What can I sell?" and "Where can I buy?"

There are two kinds of sellers on eBay, garage sellers and

business sellers. Garage sellers are people who sell products

they are not going to use any more and that are usually not

new. Garage sellers are not profit driven, their main objective

is usually to get rid of some stuff they don't need. They will

be happy to make some money by selling something that is no

longer useful to them. On the other hand, business sellers are

people who will buy and sell products for profit, they consider

eBay a business and need to earn profit on the products they

sell.

The first key to success for business sellers is an old

marketing rule, RESEARCH. The products you need to sell are

products that eBay buyers will want to buy. Apart from being a

massive market place, eBay offers you a cheap source of

research that you can conduct without moving from your

computer.

If you are a business seller, it is fundamental that you spend

some time researching before you decide which products you want

to sell. Follow these research guidelines:

1. Search for the categories that are most popular. The first

index is the number of listings that exist under each category.

In addition, you need to look at how many bids the products

have.

2. Look at the ratings of the sellers who are listing products

in each category and study their profiles. See how many

products they are selling and how many products they have sold

in the past.

3. Analyze prices. You need to become an expert in your

category and you need to know at which price a product is worth

buying as well as the expected final winning price of your

auction.

4. Select no more than one or two categories. "Specialization"

is another basic rule of marketing. It is better to become an

expert on something, as this will inspire confidence and trust

in your potential customers. Online marketing is all about

trust.

For conducting good research, you need time and organization.

There are different software programs in the market that can

help you save time as well as optimize your research.

Now that you are becoming an eBay expert and have conducted a

proper search, you are almost ready to start your business.

Before starting to sell, you need to buy! Here are some ideas

from where you can source products:

1. Write your own e-book and sell it. If you have any passion

or are an expert on a subject for which you can find a niche in

eBay, do not hesitate to spend some time on writing your own

book. The advantage of this is that after your initial time

investment, you can sell and sell copies of the book without

having any additional costs. Selling information products is

one of the most profitable businesses. Even if you are not an

expert writer, you can find other people who can write the book

for you.

2. Use drop-shipping. There are wholesalers that will sell you

products and send them to the address that you tell them. The

advantage of this source is that you do not need to carry

inventories, so your investments are minimized. After your

auction is finished, you send them your customers address and

they will do all the shipping. If you decide to use this kind

of source, you need to make sure that your auctions winning

price can be higher than the price you will pay for the

articles. At minimum you should expect to double your costs.

3. Buy from eBay. Many eBayers success comes from knowing how

to buy well on eBay and sell the same products at a higher

price. If you know your category very well, you can easily find

opportunities that will allow you to buy and resell making

profit. Again, solid research is fundamental.

4. Buy Asiatic products. If you are willing to carry some

inventories, you can invest on Asiatic products and buy them

for a very cheap price. You can easily start importing Asiatic

products from the Internet at www.alibaba.com.

5. Sell local products. If you live in an area that produces

local products which can be bought at a cheap price and shipped

to other areas where people would pay more, you should take

advantage of the situation.

Best wishes for your success