DON’T PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE….DO THESE THINGS WELL BEFORE YOU EVER THINK ABOUT QUITTING YOUR DAY JOB:

I just started looking at some of the message boards and have read the lamentations of folks who quit day jobs to make a living on eBay.  Seeing that most have few feedback, it is obvious they are just beginning to understand the eBay process and generally can have little idea what it takes to make a living on eBay (if they have any understanding at all about what they are getting into). 

There are many books and web sites that sell people the “American Dream,” simply motivated by a desire to sell the budding eBay merchant tons of great ideas and/or inventory, or a business as a drop shipper.  It pays to ALWAYS remember that if it sounds easy – it isn’t, and if it sounds to good to be true -- it is.

I don’t like to be a wet blanket BUT I cringe when I see email on the message boards from someone with less than a thousand feedback asking how to get more sales because they quit their job to sell on eBay and are going under fast.  I am sick of seeing people misled into mortgages they cannot afford and a business they cannot make money with.  The following points may not be pleasant, but they are absolute facts about building a business on eBay.

1.  DON’T just jump in and just feel your way through hoping you will make enough money to survive -- you won't.  Read the “How to Sell" on eBay Pages and practice by selling items you no longer want or need from your home.  If you are a collector or hobbiest, sell duplicates of items you are OK with passing on.  This gets you real world experience in how to list and in dealing with customers over a computer.  Trust me, you NEED that experience badly as you build a business that you can count on as a bill paying job in the future.  It takes time to build a business that is usually measured in years.

2.  Learn about common tricks that are used to scam sellers and learn them early.  If you don’t know about the scams that go on, the precious little you build can be gone in an instant because of a stupid but honest mistake in falling for a scam.  Learn about Fake or Spoof emails and the common trickery used to scam buyers and sellers.  If you don't want to read about it -- take a class on computer security.  The life of your business and your long term success is deeply dependent on your understanding of computer security.

3.  Find other very experienced and successful sellers who are selling what you are selling (or plan to sell) on eBay.  Scope out what their ads look like, what their policies are regarding their sales.  Learning from the masters is a sure way to get it right -- early.  If you find a seller whose style and philosophy is similar to your own, use their ads as models for your own ad templates.  Recognize that the more experienced a seller is (i.e. Power Sellers with high positive feedback ratings), the higher the price they may get for the same item -- but their start prices are often a good clue for what yours can be too.

4.  Feedback equals sales.  There is NO way around it – the more feedback you have that is positive (and the higher the rating) – the more you sell.  I have looked at this issue over several years of sales reports and it is what it is.  So, your number 1 job as a new merchant building a business will be to build a LOT of positive feedback.  Things start to move much better after 1500 feedback.  So, set that as your first goal.  To get to that 1500 positive feedback as soon as possible, buy what you need or want from eBay whenever possible.  Good bets for regular eBay purchases are CDs, DVDs and books.  They are usually less expensive on eBay anyway, so buying them on eBay and getting the needed feedback makes great fiscal and business sense.  When you do buy – be sure to leave feedback for the seller immediately after your item arrives.  If they have not reciprocated within a week, drop an email note and politely ask for feedback.  If you are a cook, you can buy e-cookbooks or recipes for a penny apiece.  100 recipes for a dollar means 100 feedback for you.  Don’t do too much of this, but a little will help you get to the first important seller plateau sooner. And finally -- there is MUCH to know about feedback.  I have written a guide specifically on that subject.  Take the time to understand Feedback FULLY because that knowledge is a key one for the success of your future eBay operations.

5.  Great Customer Service means returning customers and more sales (a business essential for long term success on eBay).  Inexperienced sellers love to dream up a bunch of policies that make prospective buyers nervous or angry.  Needless to say, customers can choose where to spend their money and they are NOT attracted to negatives.   Negative presentation in your ad content (i.e. “Payment MUST be within three days or you will be reported to eBay” or “DON'T BID IF YOU WON’T PAY”) is unprofessional and off putting – it doesn't really help and is a negative --so don’t do it.  Keep it light and positive ALWAYS.  The same is necessary in ALL communication too -- no matter what!  Yes, you will put up with short tempered people demanding things – as a business owner this is life – get used to it.  If you can’t deal with it or tend to take things personally -- an eBay business might not be the right choice for you.  Excellence in customer care is another one of the key elements of eBay success.  Ignore it at your peril.  In fact, quality Customer care is so important, I have written a guide entirely on that subject too!

6.  Another area I would consider very carefully is your return policy.  All sales final is a tough demand because opinions on condition or what the buyer thought they were receiving is VERY subjective.  Frankly, some people can be absolute asses about the smallest things and will leave a negative in a New York minute.  The fact of the matter is that if they complain to PayPal or their credit card, they will be getting their money back anyway because the respective payment services will deduct it from your account and give it to them.  So, you might as well understand that up front and steal the advantage by having a reasonable return policy.  It is scary to consider you will sometimes have to take an item back.  My experience is that it is relatively rare if you write complete and accrate listings.  Keep in mind, you can resell the item (often for more than the first purchaser paid any way).  You may also reclaim your final value fee on returns too.  So, you only list the initial listing fee which today is very small for Power Sellers.

7.  Provide customers plenty of information.  There are those who would tell you that you should keep ads short and that less information is a good thing.  I have a LOT of experience that is in total disagreement with that "keep it short and sweet" philosophy.  You SHOULD put your most important information up front in the ad.  Then, you can share other information that might be interesting to the purchaser further down in the ad.  You put it out there in order of importance and let your customers decide what or how much they need or want to know to feel secure in dealing with you.  I have written several guides on writing ad copy and other forms of information to support your eBay presence.

8.  Don't waste money -- check your ads before posting and make sure you put your items into the correct eBay categories.  If in doubt, a few minutes searching for like items on eBay to get a good category can make all the difference in making that sale. 

9.  Search engine optimization (the process by which your ads show up in any given item search) RELIES on the count of item names in the ad itself.  To get a sale, and a good price for your merchandise, you must have many potential customers.  To gather customers, you must be optimized for search engines.  Study SEO techniques and learn how to optimize your ads.  Ebay has great free information, but SEO is tough to understand.  If you need it, ask for help from experts.

10.  To truly build a business you must study the process constantly and become smart in the ways of computer based businesses.  There is NO way around educating yourself.  If you are short of cash, borrow books from the library and use the Guides posted on eBay.  I cannot begin to tell you the CRITICAL information you can get anytime you want absolutely FREE of charge from the eBay site itself, or the guides like this one published by eBay sellers and even Power Sellers like me.  I made it a hobby to read three or four guides on doing business on eBay a week starting out.  I learned a TON and course corrected as I learned and it helped.  As I learned and the system became more sophisticated, I tried to pay back those who helped me by sharing what I know – Today I have more than 70 guides and almost ALL are geared to selling on eBay as a hobby or a business.  Each tells you the truth as I know it and have experienced it.  I am not imparting the information to clean out your pocket book, I do it simply to help you --period.

11.  A major rule for success is that you MUST understand your costs and your profits and be all over that information, ALL the time.  It is easy to be sucked into bleeding money you desperately need otherwise.  It is also critical to keep the flow going!  Do NOT open an eBay store until such time as your income can support the additional monthly cost of $15.99 for the basic store.  Once you begin eBaying you should plan to be running at least a few auctions EVERY day.  Once you have a store, learn to move your unsold merchandise from the ended auctions into your store to keep them available to prospective customers.  If you have a night when you do not have auctions prepared, move some items from your store out to the auctions.  Be sure you have auctions closing every night.  The auctions are key -- they draw customers to the store.  Another way to get folks into the store is with  combined shipping offers and/or your sale merchandise. 

12.  If you are married, try to get your spouse to take a role in the business.  One man (or woman) businesses (when you still have your day job) are very hard and require a ton of dedication and energy.  It is (with additional family help) possible to build a business faster.  If your spouse is not computer savvy, he or she can help with pulling merchandise, packing, shipping, post office runs and other errands related to the business -- all helps make faster growth of your business possible and to the long term benefit of the entire family.

13.  Give it time.  You cannot just decide to become an eBay millionaire, quit your job and get to it and expect to remain financially solvent….anyone who wants to tell you otherwise is looking to empty your pockets and will NOT be there when you discover it was all a big lie.  If you are flush with cash (i.e. have a half a million to live on while you build your income on eBay), you might be able to quit your day job as you start on eBay but I would never recommend that.  If you have a unique product that has been market tested and is flying out the door so fast suppliers can't keep up with the demand -- you might be far ahead in that case also.  However, if you are like most of us, you have to take time to learn and grow.  My goal was to be able to make a living in 5 years.  The jury is still out on whether I will make it in that timeframe or not.  Part of the reason I might not is what I sell and the other part is that it still takes a tremendous amount of time to sell on eBay and higher volume is the best road to higher profits.  To know when you can quit your day job, add up all your monthly bills including money you spend on hobbies and entertainment (don't forget insurance).  Then add the cost of merchandise, the cost to sell per week (on average), the cost of your eBay store (if you have one).  These costs will be what you will have to support with your eBay income every month of ever year after quitting your day job.  So, some months, you will be sweating bullets to meet those costs with your income if you quit your day job.

14.  Finally, I do believe you will find this guide useful even if you are already out of a job through circumstances beyond your control.  It will be a monumental struggle to build from nothing.  BUT if you dedicate yourself to learning and building a little at a time (working full time 10 or more hours a day at it), you can succeed.  It will be very hard work for a very long time and a constant challenge to your ability to be efficient an innovative in solving problems.  In short, it will be very tough for a long while.  I do believe that you may have to augment your eBay work with a job until such time as the business has grown to the point where it can sustain yourself and your family as discussed above.  You will also need a reserve of cash to maintain your accounts in times when sales are few and income from eBay is non-existent.  Credit cards are NOT EVER the answer.  Always keep your mind and eyes open and Be realistic!

I hope you have found this information useful and will heed it carefully.  I feel so sad when I see blogs and emails talking about quitting a job to do eBay full time only to find it sounded a lot easier than it is.  I hate seeing folks so desperate for sales to avoid foreclosure or other catastrophies that put them and their families into unnecessary financial jeopardy.  If you have questions, I will be happy to try to answer them.

Kind Regards,
Pepper120851  (The Write Stuff)