eBay Shopping Secrets

Anderson Josiah asked:


On every corner of the internet your read horror stories about people becoming victims to all types of Online Business Scams. I decided to stop looking on the internet and go straight to the horse’s mouth to get reliable information from people who are already making money online. I asked them “Can you recommend legitimate online programs, from the ones you used when you first started out to the ones you use today”.

The first online business I got into was an affiliate program and I advertised it like crazy, this affiliate program was Success University “I make allot of profit with this program”. An affiliate program for those who don’t know is simply selling big companies product or services for a commission. This is great for individuals now starting out online because what you do is simply sell, you’re not responsible for deliveries, collecting payments, stocking and all those business related duties. I then started selling website hosting for Host4Profit and continually make money every month. Then concentrated on list building. Now I have my own product and now get affiliates to sell for me.

I first started out designing websites. This provided me steady income but not enough to support my family on a full time basis, After that I got into auctioning on eBay but I still was not making enough. I combined these two strategies and then joined an affiliate program at Get Response; this company offers auto responder services that pays a monthly commission on every sale. I am now making a nice monthly residual income with these programs. Right now I am bringing in another affiliate called Empowerism.

Well, it took a little time for me to turnaround my first real profit, not to mention a good amount of work. I got into nearly everything that an Online Businessman can imagine…well nearly everything. The very first thing I did was to write an e-book. To this day I’m still a big fan of selling information products, I also promoted Action figures through ebay and said to myself: nice this is a great way to make lots of money, what next can I do? I then got into an affiliate marketing program called SFI Marketing which has paid great also.

It’s hard to recommend any one program because in my personal experience, I found that my success or failure have nothing to do with if the method really worked, but whether or not I belonged in what I was selling. Some people will never be good in certain areas so don’t feel afraid to move about and try different programs until you find something that works for you. Always remember to be a success at anything takes time, money and effort so work hard, be patient and you will see results. There are many scam artists around so be careful how you spend your money, the best thing I can recommend is to find Free Joint Partners to team up with.

These were some of the answers I recieved, hopes this information helps you make lots of money online, if you would like to know more on this topic check out the attached link.

BR SANKHLA asked:


If your eBay auction is for selling to businesses, then you need to figure out the business hours for all your targeted companies in your niche. A good reputation at eBay auction is value its weight in gold, whoever was given a powerfully positive consideration by their customers at previous auctions on average achieves noticeably higher returns. eBay auction is a worldwide trading platform where over 147 million 72 million US registered individuals, small businesses and enterprises, buy and sell millions of items, in thousands of categories, from collectibles like trading cards, antiques, dolls, and house wares to practical items like used car.

Serial Number Following the eBay auction is the serial number of the watch if applicable and or available. Make sure the amount you are asking for in your eBay auction is reasonable. Hot concerning thumbnails on a message board, personal webpage, or eBay auction is allowed, but direct linking large images is only allowed for paid premium members. The idea of an eBay auction is to allow the bidders to set the final price. Using a flat rate shipping charge for your eBay auction is a great idea. Purchasing property or a home through an eBay auction is a rasping idea to some.

After you eBay auction is successfully listed you are done at eBay. If the only image that you are using for your eBay auction is the one in the pattern then be sure and check mark. I favor Pay Pal because I can offer more payment options, on top of that, the entire payment process for your eBay auction is completely computerized if you use Pay Pal. High quality photos and a professional looking eBay auction is an important step for an eBay power seller.

When an eBay auction is completed, the goods shipped and payment made, you and your buyer can comment on each other in eBay feedback forum. Although the highest bid at any one time on an eBay auction is only one addition higher than the second highest bid, it is possible for the price to go up much faster than that if two people are prepared to pay enough. Shipping and handling fee provided by me at the eBay auction is only an Estimate of the Shipping cost for most of the time it will cover the US 48 stats. The greater part of the bidding on an eBay auction is in the last few minutes, seconds. How To Place a Bid Bidding on an eBay auction is very simple, provided you are logged into your eBay account.

eBay the World Online Marketplace is the place to go when you want to buy or sell anything on the Internet. eBay lets its members sell items on the Internet via Auctions, which include bidding, and through the Fixed Price plan, which means that there is a set price for items on sale. eBay Auction is the more popular selling method between the two. eBay Auction will automatically compare your bid with others and does not bid the highest amount you entered.

anonymous asked:


Benefits Of Starting Your Own eBay Internet Home Business

Today, many people are looking for opportunities to earn money online,

and selling merchandise on eBay is one of the popular ways of earning

money on the internet. Many people have built their entire business

around nothing more than eBay and have become very successful eBay

Power Sellers.

Regardless of the type of online business you are wanting to start,

there are many benefits that you can enjoy if you have your own

business online vs having that regular 9 -5 job. This article presents

some of the benefits that you can enjoy as an eBay seller making money

on the internet.

 * You can earn a living the

easy way selling products on eBay without the need for a website,

domain names, or hosting. Some people have very stressful jobs that

take up all their time, such that they have no time left for their

family and other interests. If you start your own eBay business, you

can possibly earn a living at home doing something that is fun, easy,

and enjoyable.

 * You become your own boss

and you can set the targets of what you want to earn from your business

and how many hours you want to put into that business. Many people put

up with hard-to-please bosses and annoying employees. If you start your

own eBay business, you get rid of your boss, and you do not have to

commute to work every day.

 * You can pursue your own

interests. One great way to make money online is by doing what you

enjoy most. Because you can sell almost anything on eBay, you can

create your own products based on your interests, and sell them on

eBay. Since you will be doing something that you enjoy, you can never

get bored or tired of building your eBay business.

 * If you start your own

eBay business, you can work from home and you can have a better

work-life balance. Since you are your own boss, you can adjust your

life to suit your business and set your own work hours.

 * Starting an eBay business

enables you to achieve financial freedom. If you take your eBay

business seriously and professionally, you can make a lot of money on

the internet selling merchandise or informational products. Very few

people can become rich from a job salary. By starting your own eBay

business, you can achieve financial freedom and make any amount of

money you want on the internet.

Essential Tips On How To Easily Find Products To Sell On eBay

 * Finding the right

products to sell on eBay is one of the most important factors that can

determine whether you will make money on eBay or not. Deciding on the

right products to sell is one of the main challenges which people

starting an eBay business face.

 * Products that you can

sell on eBay can be items that you own that you no longer need or want,

or you can buy products and sell them on eBay at higher prices to make

a profit. You can also create your own information product. Buying and

selling merchandise or information products for a profit on eBay is a

great way to make money online.

 * Before you decide on what

to sell on eBay, it?s important that you do some research on the

products that are popular and for which there is good demand. By

selling only high quality products, you make it easy to make sales and

earn profits with your eBay business.

 * You can look at eBay and

identify categories that have well-sought after products. You should

sell products for which you can get a high number of bids, which

indicate high demand. In order to succeed in selling products on eBay,

it is also a good idea that you select a handful of categories and that

you focus on selling products in those categories. While looking at the

popular categories, you must also assess the prices which the products

in these categories sell for. This will give you an idea on what you

should pay for the products you buy if you want to make some profits

when you sell these products on eBay.

 * You can increase the

number of products you sell on eBay by buying items at garage sales.

Many elderly people have valuable items that they no longer need and

that they offer for sale. Buy only high quality products that you can

buy at a cheap price and which you can sell for a higher price on eBay.

 * You can also create your

own information products and sell them on eBay. Depending on your

interests and skills, you can write e-books on a wide range of topics

and sell them on eBay. You can earn a lot of profits by creating your

own digital products because you do not have to pay anyone for these

products. eBay only requires that information products be sent out by

mail on a CD.

 * Using drop shipping can

also give you a wide range of products to sell.  There are

wholesalers that will sell you products and send them to the address

that you tell them. This means that you do not have to carry any

inventories. All you have to do when you complete an auction on eBay is

to direct your customers to the wholesaler?s website who will do all

the shipping.

 * Use these tips to

identify some products that you can sell on eBay. All you have to do is

to identify popular products, buy them at low prices so that you can

make a profit when you sell these products on eBay.

Robert asked:


Website On eBay - Without Getting SCAMMED First we would like to say thanks for viewing our article. We hope you find it helpful whether you purchase a turnkey website from eBay or another online auction. Good Luck!!! We wrote this article to give you enough information to make “somewhat” of an educated guess. We say “somewhat” because not every aspect of buying an eBay website can be covered in this article. It would take a full blown book! Why are we qualified to write this article? We are an actual Web Development Company who has been Hosting, Developing, and Optimizing Websites for over Nine years. We have developed everything from local based sites to complete eCommerce sites for global campaigns. We are based in Michigan (state with the most lost businesses). As with most small businesses in Michigan we have had to resort to more creative ways of creating market share. Here we are on eBay. Buying a “pre-established Turnkey Website on eBay can be a very quick and easy way to get you on the internet affordably. If you design, developed and optimize your own site it may take you weeks or even months to get up and running. This way you can just jump right on and start promoting and marketing your new site. . . . . . With all that said let’s get going! . . . . . . Its’ Really All In the Domain Name! A True Turnkey Website should include a domain name or give you the option to choose a domain name for the site. A proper domain name should be keyword rich! By keyword rich I mean it should have at least one site theme keyword in the name. For example: if your site is dog breeding then the domain name should have the word dog in it at the very least. MyDogDomain.com OR MyDogBreedingDomainName.com Having a keyword rich domain name will help with search engine placement as well. What About The Website Itself? The Turnkey Website should have these qualities: . . . . . A professional inviting designAll content relevant

Bill Henthorn asked:


eBay has become a great way to sell all kind of merchandise on the web. A person can start out by selling personal items they wish to get rid of and graduate to selling merchandise that they find or contract for. An eBay business can become a full time business and for some be a very profitable enterprise.



How to get started on eBay



eBay has a website that can be found on the Net that describes exactly what a potential seller on eBay needs to do. There are many other sites that offer to help and or teach you how to be successful on eBay. There is obviously no lack of information and websites that are willing to help you get started.

This information will help any new eBay seller get started and hopefully reduce the learning curve toward success. There are many missteps that can make getting started filled with potential errors. All new enterprises are learning situations and eBay is no exception.



What to sell



There is an alternative to selling your own merchandise on eBay. Drop off eBay stores have become a creative way to enter the eBay business. These stores advertise that they will help sell items for you on eBay. The reason this works is people do not know how to use eBay or they are too busy to try selling anything in this way. The customer with something to sell is willing to pay a fee for help in selling whatever the item is. This has big advantages to the storeowner. They have a constant flow of new items to sell and they do not have to spend any money buying the items they then sell. New inventory keeps buyers coming back to their listings on eBay.

If you do not want to sell other people’s items, you can buy items and sell them for yourself. College auctions of equipment, state and city auctions are excellent sources for merchandise that can be purchased for a song and sold for a decent amount. A fellow I knew bought a palette of Hulk Hogan VCR tapes and sold them all on eBay for $5 each. His cost per tape was about 5 cents each. How he knew he could make money on them is a mystery. It may have been that he could buy them so cheap he figured he could not lose. Stories like this are common for people who go to these auctions. When the equipment that is owned by the military comes up for auction there will be some real bargains. Items like this will be very profitably sold on eBay.



Specialization selling



The success stories on eBay seem to have one common factor for those that sell merchandise. They specialize in a very specific area of items they sell. It could be clothes, toys, diamonds, cutlery, art pieces or any thing you can think of selling. It is possible on eBay to build a reputation for selling things that are always in a similar category. If you want to branch out, there is no reason that you cannot start a new company and list the new products under that name.

If you enjoy a solid eBay reputation, your reputation will help get you business. The reputation is made up from timely service and fair treatment of the customer. The delivered merchandise is what it was claimed to be. All three of these elements are critical to a good eBay reputation.



Learn by reading



There are many books about selling on eBay in a successful way. Reading these books will speed up the learning curve and prevent common mistakes. Some very successful eBay business people have seminars that will enhance what you have read. Websites on the Net are also available for free and at modest prices to learn the ins and outs of eBay. Knowing what to do and how to do it is worth time and money. Emulating pros is not a bad way to learn what to do and how to do it. Ebay pros are willing to give solid advice in books, websites and seminars. There is no better group to learn from in the eBay business.



Finding things to sell



Finding things to sell other than through auctions takes some work. You can locate companies that offer items to sell and you can go to garage sales, pawnshops and thrift shops. You could specialize in estate sale items such as antiques. The smaller the niche is the better you might become at finding great buys that can then be sold on eBay at a better than average profit. When you are an expert in certain areas it is easy to recognize when you are offered a bargain priced item. These can then be turned around and sold on eBay.



Payment for eBay purchases



Many sellers on eBay take credit cards or PayPal for payment. Others will take money orders or bank drafts. Very few will take a personal check, or if they do, shipment is not made until the check clears the bank. PayPal and credit cards are the most popular forms of payment. The reasons are pretty clear. The payment is almost instantaneous and will be good funds. Once the payment is made, the seller has the obligation to deliver the purchased item.



Keeping your record clean and clear



It is difficult to sell anything and not at some time have a dispute with the customer. The secret is to settle the matter as quickly as possible and as fairly as possible. Keep your eBay record clean and the customers will rate you better.

A good eBay rating by customers will lead to more sales. Lack of problems is good; solving the few problems that happen is critical.



Conclusions



An eBay business is easy to start and does not take a lot of money to get up and running. A person could start by selling items they already own and slowly buy and sell other items. If the profits were put back into the business this would help grow the business. A growing eBay business can be sustained over time by having items to sell that people want. Finding these items is the area that will take work to find. Products that are wanted will sell, finding them is the job of the eBay business owner. Think outside of the box and find unique items that are not commonly seen. Find useful and helpful items. These will sell also and help the company turn a profit. The items need to be purchased right so they can be sold at an attractive price and still make a profit.

A person should study the successful eBay companies and what they do to remain successful. These business people have found ways to be successful and their techniques should be studied.

Read everything that eBay puts out for information. Sure some of it will be promotional, but some of it is very helpful. Read and decide for yourself what is true and important. The more you read and study, the better you will be prepared to make good decisions.

Angela Anthony asked:


Big Bucks on eBay Part 1

Author: Angela Anthony

EBay has become the world’s largest online retailer. Basically, an online flea market, eBay provides a safe online marketplace where anyone can trade products with confidence. Tens of millions of people, worldwide, buy and sell millions of new and used merchandise on eBay every day, and with a customer base that large, you have at your disposal, customers with a need for what you are offering.

There are many people who make a living trading on eBay or who have made a living trading on eBay. Many people start off with items they already have, listing such items as clothing, toys, antiques, jewelry, automobiles, electronics, etc. Any item that you feel that may be of some value to others might be worth looking into. You can always search eBay to see if an item you have is selling, and the price for which it is selling.

Many people choose to make a business out of their eBay sales. Knowing what to sell or what’s selling is not a difficult task.

EBay’s Advance Search is one strategy to use is to search for items that have sold. By clicking on the Advanced Search link located at the top of eBay pages, and entering your keyword, whatever it is that you’re searching for, and selecting the Completed listings only checkbox, you will find out if items have sold, and what they sold for.

EBay’s Seller Central’s “What’s Hot” section helps to keep you on top of the “hot” items selling on eBay. In this section of eBay, you will find the Hot Categories Report which is updated monthly. This report lists what’s Super Hot, Very Hot, and Hot in each of the selling categories.

There are also hundreds of eBay statistics tools available on the web, such as Vendio, one of eBay’s first developer partners. With Vendio’s Sales Analyzer, you can understand eBay sales and improve your profits by getting a clear snapshot of sales history and recommendations to help you better optimize your sales, for $5.95 a month.

You can also search the categories listings to see what is selling.

Once you have decided on what you’d like to sell, you will need sources in which to purchase your goods. The idea is to buy low and sell high. There are hundreds of thousands of wholesale sources on the web that offer just about anything you’re looking for. It is very important that you do your homework and research various wholesale sources before you make any decisions. There are many wholesale sources on the web that sale wholesaler lists that are nothing more than fronts for middlemen and not true wholesalers. Many more sell lists of wholesalers without checking to see if the companies still exist or checking to see if they deal with small businesses. Many people have wasted money trying to buy merchandise from wholesalers that either require thousands of dollars in initial orders or unreasonable account setup fees. Any distributor who wants you to pay a “membership” or “setup” fee is probably not a true Wholesale Supplier. If it sounds too good to be true, it’s too good to be true.

There are reputable sources out there, you just have to do your homework. Alibaba (alibaba.com) is one of the sources used my many. Alibaba has millions of selling leads from around the world, and specializes in business-to-business trades, especially for international buyers trying to get into contact with Chinese sellers. With their Gold Supplier and TrustPass programs, Alibaba endeavors to provide transparency on the identity and legitimacy of your trading partner. Some people only conduct business with members that are TrustPass members. Of course, you should always do your own research when dealing with anyone supplier.

Another good source (if you are able to travel), is New York’s Wholesale District, especially if you’re looking for jewelry, clothing, and accessories. Most of the stores in this district require that you have a tax id number. Good bargains at wholesale prices are also found on New York’s Canal Street.

There are eBayers that search sales advertisements or other discount sources and try to find merchandise that is heavily discounted enough to buy and resell on eBay and make a profit. Some people even clip coupons from the newspaper and mailers, and sell them on eBay. Check eBay for various store coupons and you’ll see how it is being done. The key here is volume.

Local Auctions are also a good resource for finding things to sell on eBay. Check your local paper for upcoming auctions in your area. Depending on type of auction, you may be able to view a list of items available for auction or even view the items beforehand. This would be helpful because you could search eBay to see if any of the items available for local auction, are selling on eBay, and for what price.

State Surplus Auctions auction surplus property generated by the state government. These are usually one day auctions. You can sign up for notifications of upcoming auctions through your official state website. You can usually find good bargains at these auctions, including properties and automobiles, and you can preview items beforehand.

There are also auction and surplus resources on the internet. GovSales.gov and GSA Auctions are products of the Federal Government which features government assets available for sale. GovSales.gov allows the public to search assets available for sale, and makes it much easier for the public to find and purchase real estate and personal property from the federal government.

Liquidation.com is a business surplus auction that sells a wide variety of products such as apparel, computers, electronics, housewares, industrial equipment, vehicles, and more. Products are auctioned in single to bulk lots that range from new in a box to customer returns and used. Registration is free and easy. GoWholesale, a division of Liquidation.com, is a source that helps wholesale buyers connect with wholesale suppliers. Many auction sellers use goWholesale to find the products, services, and information they need for their businesses. You can find just about anything through these surplus and wholesale sources.

Trade Shows are also great venues for buying items at wholesale or discounted costs. As a jewelry seller on eBay, I got my start by attending a jewelry trade show in my area. I picked up some unique pieces and my first thought was to sell them on eBay. Before leaving the show, I made sure I had the contact information of the seller because I thought that I might purchase more from the seller. I photographed my items, wrote my descriptions, and posted my auctions. The items sold like hot cakes. I immediately called the seller and ordered more. It wasn’t long before I became a Power Seller on eBay.

Ricky Lim asked:


A good ebay login password is essential since you are going to be using it often. Most people would breeze through the ebay registration process since ebay makes it so easy to register.

However, you may want to give some thought to your ebay username and password before clicking the sign up button.

Choosing a good ebay password

Let’s look at one of the two components of an ebay login process. An ebay password is utmost important as whoever has your password can take full control of your ebay account. They would be able to bid on any auctions, leave feedback and most dangerous of all, access your private data such as your credit card details, address, phone etc.

By observing a few common sense rules, you provide better protection for your ebay password.

· Do not use your particulars as your password such as such name, birthday etc. The basic idea is not to make your ebay password too easy to remember

· It’s a good idea to change your password every couple of months

· To not give your ebay password to anyone including your family members

· Try to use capital letters and numbers in your password. This makes it difficult for people to guess.

Your ebay User ID

Unfortunately, most of the common ebay usernames have already been taken. Most of the time, you will need to append numbers to your preferred user id. For example john79, charlie024 etc.

Instead of choosing user ID such as john79, you should choose an id that tells other ebayers about yourself, especially if you are selling. Say for example, you plan on selling watches on ebay, then it would be best if you can incorporate watch something in your user id.

I have seen some ebay usernames which are website url. For example **mywebsite.com**. I am not so sure if ebay allows that but it is definitely a good way to promote your own website

If you need to use two words or more in your username, you can use underscore or a hyphen to join them since ebay does not allow empty spaces in username.

You are allowed to change your ebay username once every thirty days so if you do not like your username, you can change it. However I do not advise against it especially for ebay sellers.

You can click the my ebay link. From the my ebay login page, go and click on the preferences tab and click on change my user id link.

The reason is quite simple. After you have been selling on ebay for a while, your customers would recognize you by your ebay id, if you change it, your customers may not trust you or may not know your ebay id has changed.

So you see, before clicking on the signup button, take a while to consider your ebay login password and ID.

Fidens Felix asked:


Once you start out as an eBay seller, the challenge is to have profitable products that are guaranteed to draw buyers on eBay. To achieve this, start considering the strategy of buy to sell on eBay.

Unless you just want to sell from time-to-time to earn extra bucks, you cannot forever come up with used items from your own attic, garage and closets. This strategy of risk-free and cost-free eBay selling is just your stepping stone to earn the needed funds and expand your online business. Buying products to sell on eBay is a good way to start getting more serious and responsible eBay seller.

If you choose to buy to sell on eBay, there is starting capital involved. Also, be aware that in doing buy to sell on eBay business, you accept that there are risks involved.

First of all, consider the cost of acquiring the products you will be putting up for sale. Regarding this, you need to know the best places where to merchandise is cheap enough to buy so that you would still get profit once you sell it on eBay.

Second, you have to prepare maintenance costs for transporting the products you bought, providing enough storage space for the items, and repairing damaged items.

Buy to sell on eBay have very tedious and time-consuming aspects. Here are a couple of important things to be considered as you venture in the buy to sell on eBay business: – Identify what products you should buy according to the type of costumer you wish to target. – Places where you can buy the products you want to sell on eBay and at the same time get good bargains for it.

Perhaps you might already aware of some places where you can start your buy to sell type of business.

Still I’d like to give you some pointers on the top places where you can find good sources of products to buy to sell on eBay.

Start your research here!

1. Garage sales and flea markets

Buying products to sell on eBay from these sources are perfect for those who are starting small in their venture. Most probably you will be able to buy cheaply, a wide range of used items you are targeting to sell. Still, before beginning your shopping, do some research first on the product categories you are interested in. Scour on several sales in order to get the best bargain.

2. eBay Guess what, eBay itself can be your source. Call it recycling, but eBay is a good source for products you can buy and then sell again on eBay. As long as you are careful in purchasing, buying wholesale items to sell on eBay through retail can be a very good bargain on your part.

3. Drop Shipper Directories These are wholesalers that ready to ship directly to your customers the items they bought from you. With this kind of set-up you no longer have to invest in doing inventory of your merchandise.

You also become free of the tedious responsibility to maintain a stockroom or warehouse for your products. Look up online for directories of drop shippers, which are for sale. You may run the risk of buying from a disreputable one, such that you need to confirm its record and reputation.

4. Local businesses There could be local businesses in your area that have the exact products you are targeting on for your buy to sell on eBay enterprise. Haggle for a low volume price for the products you wish to buy to sell on eBay for a considerable profit.

5. Crafters These are good sources of specialized products. Have an arrangement whether to buy a certain quantity or thru consignment. Just be sure to get a certain discount.

If you aspire for more types of product and better deals on products to buy to sell on eBay, try out these other sources: – Trade shows where there is a wide array of merchandise A perfect opportunity for those that buy to sell on eBay. – Permanent marts where you can meet up with product suppliers and get great bargains for retail or wholesale purchase. – Wholesaler directories online to point you to more places where you can buy to sell on eBay. – Importers/Exporters are the perfect sources if you want to buy to sell on eBay foreign and imported products, and; – Foreign trade offices in major US cities.

In order to become successful in buying to sell on eBay, be more resourceful, open to challenges and ready to take risks.

Bob B Hamilton asked:


There are many challenges associated with getting started down the path to dropshipping.  One of the biggest challenges is locating the reputable and reliable dropship companies to do business with.  The industry has many shady scam artists and here one day gone the next players.  The only goal for these dishonest folks is to do everything possible to benefit as much as possible from unwary people who are just trying to make money selling on eBay without being required to invest huge sums of money to get started.  If you are considering dropshipping be extremely cautious.  Investigate.  Be alert and suspicious.  Take your time before you decide on the dropship company to supply you products.

 

First the good news; there are some dropshippers that have already been ‘approved’ by eBay.  Now the bad news.  Virtually everything they have to offer is already being sold on eBay by many other sellers.  You’ll find the way to success is to do the legwork and investigation to locate your own dropship suppliers.  Your only other option is to plan on big-time competition and the smallest of profits – if there are profits at all.

 

If your plan is to use a dropship supplier for your business, you’ll soon discover there is a great deal of difference between dropship suppliers.  This will be true even when you are looking at exactly the same items.  Your job is to make no assumptions.  It is to thoroughly investigate every potential dropship supplier before making any decisions about working with one.

 

Once you’ve located a prospective dropship supplier to work with you, start asking questions.  How long has the company been in business?  How long has the company been doing dropshipping?  While you may be willing to deal with a company in a dropship relationship, it’s important to know if they have experience, or if working with you will be their first dropship experience.  If you are the first to work with a company there is the potential for you to make money selling on eBay.  However there are also some very real risks to be considered.  It is important to go into the relationship knowing those risks are there, and to monitor and stay in control of every transaction.

 

Complete your investigation with each prospective dropship supplier before making any decisions.  Be direct and to-the-point in your questioning.  Typically it is the company that provides quick, professional answers that will do the same should an issue arise in the dropship process.  Make sure you have an accurate understanding of exactly what products are available for dropshipping, the costs involved and the timeliness of shipment that can be expected.  Start carefully to double-check that performance is as expected.  Then build your relationship and business with the company as they demonstrate their good performance can be maintained.  That’s how you will make money selling on eBay using a dropship supplier.

 

To Your eBay Success!

Wendy Betterini asked:


Scammers are getting more creative every day, coming up with new schemes to get your money (or sensitive information). Knowledge is power! By educating yourself on the common scams and keeping aware about new ones, you can stop the scammers in their tracks. Remember, if no one fell for their tactics, they would be out of business! Here are some of the most common scams today:

Stuffing Envelopes - There are no legitimate envelope-stuffing jobs out there. Please don’t fool yourself into believing there are. Companies can very easily purchase a beautiful machine for a few thousand dollars that will not only stuff the envelopes, it will also fold, collate and apply postage to the envelopes. Why would a company pay you thousands of dollars a month to stuff their envelopes? They wouldn’t. If you send in your fee for this scam, you will receive a copy of the same ad you responded to, and you will now have to scam other people by placing the ad and having them send you their money. This is illegal.

Typing and Data Entry - Similar to the scheme above, if you sign up for this and pay your fee, you will receive a copy of the same ad, and have to place ads to get other people to send you their money. You earn $20 per “application processed” because you are charging people $20 to get the information. Again, illegal. There are some legitimate companies that will hire you to do typing and data entry (such as transcription or coding) — but they won’t charge you a fee to work for them. If a fee is being charged, it’s a scam.

Craft Assembly - Most of these opportunities are scams because they make their money by the start-up fees you pay. When you receive your kit, you will assemble dozens of earrings, potholders, magnets (or whatever), send them in for payment, and they will not pass inspection. You can try to fix them as many times as you like, they still won’t be accepted. The company doesn’t want the items you assembled, they want your money for the start-up kit. There are a few legitimate companies out there, however. Disciple’s Cross and New England Crafters are two we’ve found so far. We are researching others.

Medical Billing - There are companies that will train you to become a Medical Biller from home, as long as you purchase the Medical Billing software for your computer from them. (Usually costs a few hundred dollars at least) What they don’t tell you is that YOU will be responsible for finding your own clients (Doctors/Dentists). This can be incredibly difficult to do, since most medical professionals already use a billing service, or do their own billing in the office. With the new Privacy laws, medical professionals need to be extremely careful with patient records, and most will not want to trust someone with no billing experience to handle the office billing at home.

Payment Associate/Specialist - A company wants to hire you to place auctions on eBay and accept customer payments using your own accounts). You get to keep a portion of the money, and send the rest to the company. The company is supposed to ship the product to the customer, but they don’t. (or they ship stolen goods) You are now in big trouble with eBay and Paypal for fraud. Don’t do it! Don’t ever use your own accounts for anything other than your own business. Companies should be able to set up their own accounts just as easily as you did for yourself.

Pyramid Schemes - A pyramid scheme is when money changes hands but there is no product or service being sold. “Joe” charges you $200 to join the scheme, and then you in turn need to charge others $200 to join, and they charge others, etc. This is illegal. Remember, there must be a product or service being sold.

Gifting Programs - This is also an illegal pyramid scheme, but they call it a “gifting program” — in other words, you “gift” Joe $200, and then you need to find others who will “gift” you $200, and so on. Illegal.

Chain Letters - These have been around for years! They used to come by postal mail, but now they also arrive via email. There are usually 5 names on the list, you need to move each name up a spot, removing the top name, and place your name at the bottom, and then send $5 to each name on the list and send it out to everyone you know. Highly illegal. There is also a version for online payment services like Paypal, you send $2 or $5 (the amount varies) to the people on the list, and others are supposed to do the same for you. Don’t get caught up in something like this, it can ruin your life.

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