Diary of an eBay Store, Part 1

I'm the type of person that has to do things RIGHT. And I don't just mean, "okay, it's good now" type of RIGHT, I mean, nitpicking analistic (is that even a word?) nearly obsessive perfectionist type of RIGHT. As a result, it takes me long to do things than it should - but when I do it, it's RIGHT. You can imagine that that has its advantages and disadvantages.

This eBay store challenge has turned into one of those RIGHT things. I've done so much research into this that I think I've earned a degree. Matter of fact, there does exist eBay University, for whatever its worth.

I wanted, first of all, to read about what real eBay store owners were thinking, doing, complaining about, so I could bring those experiences into my own process. That's important, you don't go into anything with just your own dreams and visions - you need to tap into the pulse of the current consumers and the people behind the wheel. I hung out in the eBay forums, where you can find Discussion boards on every topic from Buyer/Seller complaints to Technical issues to locating collectibles worldwide. I'd venture to say that pretty much ANY question you might have about eBay is answered in these forums, and if you don't find an answer - ask the question and you're guaranteed to get a response within minutes. In addition to the discussion boards, there's now eBay blogs, which operate somewhat similar to other blogs except you can direct link them to your auctions. So in effect, you can blog about your store and your auctions, drop articles and reviews on your own inventory, and then send them quickly to your store to make the purchase. Love. It. Very nice upgrade.

Having already been an eBay member for some seven years now, I'd used the boards in the past, but there's always something new to learn there, especially if you're running active auctions because you can be alerted about potential scammers or buyers to watch out for. It's also good to read about the most common complaints regarding eBay services such as the eBay stores, and see what the other store owners are experiencing. I noticed that people often close their stores and reopen them at later dates - and this is important, because you don't want to feel that you've gotten into something that you can't get out of. Which, if you sign up with some other ecommerce solutions, you're signing up and paying for a year in advance and you may have to haggle over refunds or discontinuing billing. The eBay store is a monthly fee, and as long as you cancel before your new billing cycle, there seems to be very few issues with closing the account. If you decide to reopen later, just return to the link, reactivate, and reopen as usual. Sellers seem to do this if sales are low and they don't want to pay the associated fees if there's no revenue, makes perfect sense, and its great that you can easily back in and out of this without feeling like you bought a car.

What I really should have done, ideally, was spend 3-6 months collecting the Hot items files and analyzing them for obvious trends, so I would really be able to target my best potential for sales. You can't come to any conclusions off of one report, or two, and three will only get you close to the truth. Just because something is selling big in July, doesn't mean it will still be hot in August. And if you look at the reports during the Christmas season, you will see totally different products at the top of the list, as well as if you look during the summer months as opposed to the winter. So if you want to do this RIGHT, I suggest you take your time, pull the Hot Items reports for at least 2-3 months and take a look at how the top sellers fluctuate. You will notice some things may always be in the Hot list, such as children's clothing, designer clothing in particular, and certain electronics will always be steady sellers, such as computer peripherals and portable audio players. Collectibles climb higher on the list as you near the holiday season, as well as jewelry, and arts and craft supplies. This is only what I've discerned from past experience, the discussions in the forum, and old reports. My idea of, 'let's just open an eBay store' would have been fine if all you wanted was an eBay store, but if you want an eBay store that actually makes a profit, then you'll want to do the research first.

I see so many stores selling the SAME products, at nearly the SAME prices, and some of the items they have for sale, you have to wonder - what gave them the idea that this would sell? Of course, there's always a buyer for something that most other people wouldn't look twice at, but when you're putting your time and energy into a storefront, you want to turn a regular profit, not just move one or two items a month. If you spend some time looking at what other sellers are having success with, and what they're losing money and time on, you can avoid those problems with your own store.

I should note that there are a few requirements that you need to meet in order to qualify for an eBay store, but they are rather simple. You need to be an eBay Seller, with a feedback score of at least 20. This requires that you verify your identity by providing your home address and phone number, as well as credit card and banking information. This goes a long way to protect your buyers and help establish your credibility as a seller, but, as you know, on the internet, there's always people who find a way around the system. You also need to open a Paypal account, if you haven't already, and that account must be verified and in good standing, meaning, Paypal has ran the necessary checks to ensure your account is legitimate and you are qualified to accept payments.

In Part 2, I will wrap up the process of opening the store, but also cover inventory, deciding whether to dropship or resale wholesale products, and how to determine true wholesale suppliers.

Coming up, I have a personal profile of a real live Broke Entrepreneur! This is my first of several profiles of people who successfully built their businesses using their own resources and funding, while living paycheck to paycheck! First up is a woman who turned her passion for unique handbags into a small creative business of handmade fashionable bags and accessories, and sells them both through her website and other offline methods.

Coming Soon: The Diary of an eBay Store

Just a quick update - I'm almost ready to start putting up the posts on my experience with opening and building an eBay store. I had planned to put up the first one today, but I haven't edited it yet and I need to make sure it's correct before I publish it. Then a colleague of mine passed me a tip on yet another online store possibility, so now I have to review that one and include it in the series. I had no idea that so many of these opportunities existed!

In the meantime, you can now sign up to get updates delivered to your email! Use the Subscribe Now button on the lower right, its quick and easy, and no spam, just feeds directly from Really, Really, Broke Entrepreneurs.

And thanks to everyone for the terrific feedback and suggestions for how I can improve the site. I read everything, positive or negative, and I appreciate your interest in taking the time to contact me. It helps me develop topics for future entries, so keep it coming! To reach me, use denise@brokeentrepreneurs.com, or simply leave a comment.

Diary of an eBay store

As a fellow broke entrepreneur, when I write entries for this blog, I’m also researching the information for myself as well as trying to help others. I wouldn’t suggest anything for another person to do, if I wouldn’t do it myself, however, I might offer resources that are valuable to someone else, but they may be out my own price range. As long as they fall within what I consider affordable for those in my target audience, then I’ll write about it.

Thus, my previous entry about the eBay stores really stayed on my mind long after I posted it. As I said, I have bought and sold on eBay since around 2000, but I never opened an actual store, and during my research to bring the information here, I started considering if it was something I could actually do. I also wondered if there were other means of getting products for the store besides the one or two I’d mentioned? In the process of delving deeper into it for a follow up entry, I found an array of options for opening online stores for little or no cost, including stores complete with drop shipping and click and drag interfaces, and other wholesale resources with which you can stock your eBay store at prices low enough to still provide you with a wide profit margin. I picked up quite an education on the whole niche industry, from how to spot a middle man who is draining your profits, to questions you should ask to ensure that you are dealing with a legitimate supplier source.

So in addition to everything else I’ve got going on, I’m so intrigued by the whole eBay shop thing that I’m going to open one. I’ll document all of my steps so if you’re hesitant at all about jumping in, you can follow along and see how it goes for me. I’m putting together a series of entries that will show you all of the alternatives for getting started with an ecommerce store for very little money or even free. I’ll also show you various options for both purchasing wholesale products and dropshipping, as well as the pros and cons of each method.

I’m really excited about doing this and I hope we all learn from it – if anyone wants to take the journey with me and open their stores at the same time, I invite you to discuss it here and we’ll compare notes and help each other along the way.

I’m still compiling the notes for the introduction of the series, and then I plan to get started with the shop within the next week or so. Stay tuned!

Does anyone NOT know about eBay?

As far back as I can remember, my big sister had closets and closets full of designer clothes. When she was a teenager, the local malls weren't good enough for her - she had to finagle ways for her and her friends to travel to other cities to shop the malls with the fancier stores, and bring back things that others in her school had only seen in magazines. Today, although she's a more settled and practical wife and mother, she still has several closets full of clothing that are either unique, vintage or cutting edge fashion. She can still sniff out a designer deal from miles away, but somehow she's managed to hold on to at least a closet's worth of items from as far back as twenty years ago. It's always fun to visit and go through her things and laugh at how some of them are back in style and selling for hundreds of dollars today.


So naturally, everytime she comes to me and asks how she can make some extra money, my fingers start itching to set her up an eBay store. She would be the perfect candidate, she has tons of inventory that she is looking to sell, she wants a part time income that she can operate from home, and she has expert knowledge on her product. At around $17 per month, she could easily clear out her closets over time and make a nice nest egg in the process, as well as build up a steady clientele for the next phase of her store - wholesaling designer clothing and accessories. I've been off and running with her plans for years now, but I can't get her to cosign. She's not comfortable enough to go online and set it up herself, and we live hundreds of miles apart so its rather difficult for me to supervise the complete setup and operation of the store for her. The plan at this point calls for me to vacation there and spend the time taking photos of her items, setting up her store, and training her on the complete process of taking orders and shipping. So my dream for her is on hold right now.

But over the years, I have convinced at least twenty people to become eBay sellers. It's so easy and almost guaranteed to bring you some amount of success, that it should be a high school elective. It speaks to the most basic consumer principle - selling and buying. Even my 8 year old has been an eBay seller (through me) since he was around 4, when he discovered he could sell his unwanted toys and Yu Gi Oh cards there and make a little money, he's been hooked ever since. Although the problem with his sales is that he would conveniently ignore the part about eBay fees coming out of his profit, so I always ended up losing in those deals! Now that he's older, whenever he wants to sell something, I make sure to explain the small print so that he understands and not think there is no price to pay for every dollar earned.

There are two distinct types of sellers on eBay, those that just like to sell casually, maybe things around the house or things they've found at yard sales; and those that have turned it into a business and are Powersellers or operate eBay stores. I love that there are opportunities for everyone to make it whatever they choose. You can start small and grow, you can focus on a niche market or become a virtual flea market of your own, you totally control your business and target.

It's such a simple process although it can be intimidating if you're not a regular user of the site. If you're interested in giving it a try, I would suggest you just spend some time hanging out there searching for things, reading feedback ratings, learning to identify the difference between the good sellers and the ones you want to avoid. Equally important, learn to identify the reliable buyers and the ones who just might leave you holding the bag. Browse the eBay forums and read some of the questions and answers there from both beginners and experienced users.

Then, if you like what you see, set up an account and make your first bid/purchase. It's been years since I opened my account but its still absolutely free to register and bid on items. Get familiar with the way it all works, go through a few small auctions and see how easy and addictive it can be. I often find myself searching on eBay for things I know I can get in the stores but I get a certain thrill out of bidding and winning it online.

In case you just want to establish a consistent side income by selling, your regular eBay account will work fine, you don't need to set up anything differently. When you want to buy, you buy, and when you want to sell, you just sell, there's no special configurations or upgrades you need to make. Lots of people do very well just shopping deep discount stores, warehouses or even garage and estate sales, and then offer the items on eBay for a nice profit. Remember, an item widely available
in your area may be a rare find in another state or even overseas, so don't assume that it would be worthless - the entire world is eBaying at this point so it opens up a wealth of otherwise unreachable consumers. Another relative of mine goes to thrift stores and buys clothing and purses, then resells them on eBay for sometimes double what she paid - if you shop at the right times (delivery days), and in the right areas (look for thrift stores located near more affluent communities) you can get incredible bargains.

As I said earlier, the eBay stores are a very reasonable monthly fee of around $15. Having a store, as opposed to just selling from your account, allows you to manage your business, well, like a business. It has all sorts of inventory, accounting and management tools that help you with invoicing and shipping, as well as marketing. The eBay store identity also gives you a little more validity as a seller, and it allows you to build and design your presence into something that entices the buyer and turns them into a repeat customer. Not only that, you can purchase a domain name and direct it to your eBay store, then submit to the search engines so you can boost your rankings and ensure maximum exposure for your auctions.

I think when you approach eBay like a true business and not just as a way to clear out your attic, you really have the potential to turn it into a serious stream of income. People are leaving their full time jobs and concentrating solely on their eBay stores, and as with anything else, when you have the ability to devote yourself fully, the growth is unlimited. Those stories about people making well over six figures yearly are real and the income is attainable - if you choose your products carefully and market them the same way you would market any other enterprise. Powersellers don't just list their items, go to sleep and wake up to thousands of dollars in their Paypal accounts. They use various promotion and advertising methods to market their stores, as well as search engine optimization techniques to ensure that they appear in your searches just like any other website. With millions of sellers on eBay, you need to stand out in the crowd, or else your Widget store is just another store selling widgets. Derek Gehl, the internet marketing guru, has a comprehensive cd course that examines the insider secrets to making huge profits on eBay. Now, generally, I take these types of announcements with a grain of salt, but his course is highly recommended by Roger Zimmerman of Pickaguru.com, and he's not an affiliate of any kind so he has a completely unbiased opinion. Derek is well respected as being an expert and for developing quality products and not just junk that you can find elsewhere on the internet, so if you're interested in looking at this further, I would suggest reviewing his product to help you get started.

What a lot of people don't know is that eBay maintains a guide to the most popular searches on the site, and its absolutely free and available here. Download that and browse to get an idea of what people are looking for - that should help you hone in on what YOU should be selling. It's updated monthly, so be sure to check for a new one each month to see how the trends may have changed.

If the whole shop/resale tactic isn't for you, you might want to explore product sourcing and/or drop shipping. Product sourcing is a way of purchasing bulk inventory of the products and then reselling them. But the trick to this is to get an account with the manufacturing source - and they're not just opening their doors to everybody, or else everybody would be doing it! There are a lot of places online that claim to be direct sources for inventory, but if you investigate further, you'll find that these are still middle men who are making money off of selling the product to you, so you are still paying more than you need to. What you need is a direct link to the company that makes the product so its from their assembly lines to YOU, and there are only a few legitimate methods to obtaining such an account. Those methods are explained in the free eBook download here.

The book also discusses drop shipping, which is totally wonderful because you don't have to carry or stock any product! When you run an auction for an item that will be drop shipped, you have to be able to rely on the drop shipper to pick up the ball and complete the order in a timely fashion, and hopefully seamlessly so the customer doesn't even know that it has come from a different source. Again, the key is finding a reliable company that will work with you and maintain the quality of customer service that you need to provide. Drop shipping is one of the best ways to get started with your eBay business because it requires no upfront money to purchase inventory, all you need are your sources and your eBay account. Expect to pay a small but reasonable amount for access to your source catalog - but its well worth it when you are getting unlimited, authentic drop shipping accounts and not just some email leads that go nowhere.

For more information, please check out the sources above and see if eBay could be a low cost solution for you to get started!