This guide is about the secrets learned over time that truly helped us become successful on ebay. Learn from other's mistakes without making them yourself....

This part one includes:

  An introduction to us and our success,  what success means for you, how we got started, and the hard questions everyone needs to ask themselves to be on the right ebay track.

Hi folks:)

First; let me tell you a little about us. My better half and I are 8+ year full time sellers. We have been Silver Level Powersellers for a few years now. We started on ebay as buyers and sellers before we even knew each other, so our experience goes way back. This is my personal buying ID. We have a different ID for selling. Why am I not using our seller ID for this review? Well, we love ebay, but ebay has its kooks.

Now, unfortunately I can't answer all questions or provide a full on fool proof tutorial for everyone. I can't tell you what to sell or where to buy it. Different people have different things available to them, etc. But I can pass along some very important tidbits that are 100% vital to being all you can be on ebay.

If you are already well versed or practicing the below tips, wonderful, you are definitely on the right track! If by chance you are not doing what is mentioned below, please, definitely take the advice to heart. They are key actions that helped make us as successful as we are. We could not have gotten this far without these actions.

YOU GET TO DECIDE ON WHAT SUCCESS MEANS...

Success mean different things to different people. For us; we have basically acquired what we hoped we would get out of ebay when we started years ago. However; we always try to improve, expand our knowledge and other selling venues as well. But we are at a level we are happy about and gives us a large amount of freedom. I know many of you would like this too, and this is why I am going to share secrets that many people simply do not know or practice but could change the ebay experience forever.

I know it isn't hard to hear tales of how people can make lots of money fast and easy on ebay.  There are tons of guides, books, etc that tell you that if you just pick an item you love to sell, pick a wholeseller, you are on your way to quiting your day job being rich! That is a lie. I don't want to burst any body's bubble, but I hate seeing people start up cute IDs and list the same stuff that ebay is already saturated with and end up losing on inventory and ebay fees. Just because you work hard, just because you ship the same day, just because you have cute bumble bees on your auction, just because you sit at the computer 24-7 to email every customer right back, just because you wrap everything in lilac scented tissue paper, gift card and bow, DOES NOT MEAN YOU WILL PROFIT FROM EBAY. All the good intentions in the world will NOT make you money. It comes down to what you list, what you paid for it and what the ebay buyer / seller ratio can handle. PERIOD......

So.... Let's be honest for a few minutes, ........................................ebay = work + knowledge.

How did I start, where do you start?

I personally started selling things from my house, things from the Dollar Store, 99¢ Store, TJMax, thrift stores, you name it. I started at a time I could truly put up anything and make some money at it. I have always been a savvy shopper. I knew good brands, etc. I could buy 10 things at a dollar store and make $60 off of it...not bad for a part time hobby.

Within a couple of years; that market become over saturated with sellers due to new stores opening up all over the country, wholesalers popping up and more stay at home parents, etc. listing the same things I was listing. I rarely list items I buy at a store now and I am constantly amazed at the amount of sellers who keep trying the old business model but are clearly working for ebay, paypal and shipping companies and not for themselves. Bottom line; any wholesale items being offered on ebay are always in danger of running their course, already being offered by 30 different sellers or they simply will not have enough of a buying market on ebay for a long term hall. It is not as easy as picking a wholeseller of something you like and selling it. Ebay means research.

After this shift in the ebay market;  I had to ask myself........................What did I want out of ebay?

I wanted to be able to sell things that would make me a good profit. I wanted to be able to list at my convenience and stay at home so I could care for my 4 kids, 3 on the Autism spectrum. I wanted the freedom to be open for doctors apt, school events, or a nap.  I wanted to shop and make money at it. I wanted to pretty much do as I wanted with most of my time and have the money rolling in while giving people things they have a hard time finding or at a price they are thrilled to get the item at....and I wanted to ENJOY what I did.

The hard questions I asked myself were;

What is my time worth? What kind of profit was I looking for my time? How much would I have to make to cover my bills and some wants? How much would I have to make in profit to truly rely on this one source of income for the future? Am I sure I want to put all my eggs in one basket? What were all my costs involved in hunting down, picking up, safely storing, having a good camera for pics, taking the pictures, uploading editing pictures, picture storage, having a good and easy listing program I could count on, creating a listing, doing research on the ebay market on what the item would go for, handling emails, accepting payment, supplies to pack, labor and time involved with packaging the item and then shipping the item. ....TIME IS MONEY.

Do I have access to one thing that I can sell for a long period at a high profit margin that I can easily ship or do I have to diversify? Where can I go to hunt down things to sell? How will I know what will sell and won't? What about selling items that don't fit in flat rate free boxes? Where am I going to get packaging supplies at a low cost so my shipping stays low? When will I go and hunt down these things? Do I want to be one of those low Buy It Now people and charge more for shipping to save on fees or not? Do I know how to properly pack something I am not used to packing? Will I have to buy in bulk and store it, but not too much in bulk because I want to make sure the buying market doesn't dry up or have it take over my house? Am I going to have to borrow money for start up to get things at a lower cost to even make a profit? What do I have knowledge about? ......................................................................What is my competition on ebay?

I quickly realized there was a lot more to ebay than people said!  I also realized I would have to change my business model in order for ebay to give me what I wanted out of it. I was not looking to spend hours and earn $5.00 per hour. I was not looking to list 20 items and have 5 sell under the price I paid by following ebay's recommendation of starting everything at 99% and letting it ride ...to encourage bidders of course.....Are you?

Has anyone taken the time to punch in a key word of a normal wholesale item like Gameboy and seen how many things don't sell or sell at 99¢?? And guess what? We have changed parts of our business model many times through the years to consistently stay successful on ebay.

And that is what you will have to do for you. Every set of answers will be different for every person. That is the beauty of ebay....you do have the power of deciding what you want out of it. So ask yourself these questions and then go from there. You might find ebay is not right for you or you might find you have been sitting on a goldmine and never even realized it. But with good advice, and facing the hard facts; you can find out if ebay is right or wrong for you without losing tons of money in the process.