Last year I had a family member go to a second hand store and buy up all their golf clubs. He had decided that he would take up golf and wanted to be prepared, but did not have the big bucks to spend on new equipment. After many months of trying, he gave up, and moved to another hobby.

Well, for weeks those clubs sat in the corner of his living room until one day I told him "You know, I bet you could sell those for a pretty penny on Ebay." He said nooo, he only paid $75 for them at the second hand store, they can't be worth much.

Just to proove him wrong, I proceeded to list every one of the clubs on Ebay, some were old, some were new, and some were not even in that great of shape. In one week I sold 7 clubs for over $800. Talk about major profit! Now this same family member goes around to consignment stores and pawn shops and second hand stores, buying up all their golf related products, researching their worth, and has created quite a profitable side business for himself.

All it takes is a little bit of motivation and courage, and you too could make an extra income on Ebay. Really, its not that hard. Dont let it intimidate you. Here are a few things you will need to get started:

1. A good digital camera- this is a must if you really want to win your online buyers and sell your product. I have seen so many listings on here with really horrid pictures that would probably sell faster if they took the time to get the perfect picture, or just invested in a good cam. These days they are not too costy either.

2. A little extra time - set aside a few hours this week and just look around your house, you will be surprised at what you might have sitting there just collecting dust. I have sold used rollers on here and made a buck or two! In this market, anything sells! Make a list of these items, and how much you would like for them, and then take a few quality pictures of them. The best pics for me are in natural lighting outside. No flash, and you will have a lovely picture. Can't take them outside? Find the brightest part of your house and take the pics there.

3. When you first start on Ebay you will want to build good feewbadk right away. When I first started, I listed a few things that I really did not care for, nor did I care how much I got for them as long as I made my fees back, etc. The reason I did this was because I wanted my feedback to reach 20. After 20 feedback you can list items for Buy It Now, and you can also list more than one of the same item.

5. Find a way to accept payments - Sign up for a Paypal account or a reliable form of online payment. People feel very comfortable with Paypal and know it is a reliable service. You can also accept Money Orders, Cashier's checks, or any form of payment you are familiar with. Be cautious of buyers from Nigeria or the likes, who have no feedback and just joined yesterday who offer you outrageous offers for your items and want to pay with a Money Order or Credit card. Most likely the card is stolen and the money order is fake. I would play it safe and have all overseas buyers pay with Paypal and not take any international money orders. I learned this the hard way and wish someone had shared this with me when I first started.

4. Monitor your listings and answer questions efficiently and in a timely fashion. You are going to want to answer each question you get about your item as soon as you can, it shows great customer feedback and people love that.

5. Ship items in a timely fashion - No one wants to wait a month to receive their item. Shipping is so easy you will get the hang of it in no time. Its even easier now that Paypal has integrated their payments with UPS and USPS. I personally love USPS. You can go into Paypal, look up the buyer's name, and in there you will see a "ship" link. Actually, you will even see a SHIP button next to their name. In there you can effectively print a label, box up the item, and tape it right on the box. You can even call 1800 ASK USPS and schedule a pick up, and they will come and get the items at your home/office free of charge next business day. If you go to the usps website you can order boxes free of charge too.

Listing items to save you money - There are many shortcuts on Ebay that you can use to save yourself some money. You dont have to pay for extra pictures. You can sign up for a picture host and just upload your pics in your own account, then put them in Ebay free of charge. To save on listing fees, you can sign up for a basic store. A basic store runs you at $15.95 a month, and the first 30 days is free so you can test it out. I would only suggest having a store though if you are going to be selling more than 100 items a month. If not, then no need for a store. Having a store though will enable you to list items for a buy it now price for only $.02. List 1 or 1,000,000 in one listing, and its only $.02. Having a gallery picture is another penny, and a subtitle will be an additional $.02 but most of the time you really don't need these.

Ebay is the #1 place to be if you want to sell online. Some say that they would rather just have a website, but after months of running a website and Ebay, I found Ebay more profitable for me. Whatever route you take, I am sure you will succeed. If you find that you just dont have the time, there are trading assistants (I am one as well) who are more than happy to help you sell your item by listing it for you. Of course, if you are ever in a rut and need some advice, I am here to help, just shoot me an email through my Ebay store! Good luck selling online!