Ebay - a nice little earner

 Let's talk about Ebay. By far the easiest way to start supplementing your income, but in my experience one of the harder money making schemes to keep running. So many different things are sold on Ebay, from drills through to collectables, it makes it a real challenge to decide what your niche market could be for making money through the Ebay machine.

However, let's be realistic. Ebay is drenched with companies trying to make money. Many are well established power sellers buying stock in bulk at good rates and able to completely out price new Ebay sellers such as ourselves in their market of operation. You will struggle to compete. So I am going to let you into a secret - go back to basics.

What was Ebay setup for originally? To sell your second hand goods. That pile of stuff in the corner of your living room you never managed to get rid of. The "one mans rubbish is another mans gold" stuff. This is where you need to begin. Rummage around your house and sell everything you don't need. Those old blue-rays you never watch, books you never read, even furniture (recommend you ask for buyer to collect to avoid hefty postage costs off putting off all but the most uninformed buyers). You are not trying to be a professional at this point, just get some stuff on and start selling. You will learn the process through experience. Just get your postage correct - tip number 1 :) you can actually lose money if you underestimate the postage! And remember, Ebay charge 10% of the sold price PLUS postage (so for a £10 sale with £5 postage you will lose £1.50 in Ebay costs not £1 - remember this). Advertise on Ebay using the auction option not 'buy it now'. Auctions attract more Ebayer attention, as the low starting price is at least initially attractive, and bidders get addicted to potential of 'winning' an auction. Selling your unused items at this stage is all about getting some money in the kitty to go and really start your Ebay adventure. You might make tens or even hundreds of pounds at this stage. Don't then go and spend it. Keep that money somewhere safe, as just like in the Richest Man in Babylon we will be turning this small sum of money into a larger sum by launching the next phase of Ebaying - buying stock to sell into a niche market well suited to the Ebay platform.

Ebay doesn't earn me a huge sum of money, but I do make regularly up to £50 a month selling unused items, which I think is pretty neat, and periodically throughout the year hit £100 a month. I will let you in on my niche Ebay market in my next blog post!