Most people really have no idea how to make money on Ebay. Sure, many people have used Ebay to clear a few items out of the garage that have been taking up space and in the process have made some spare cash. Other people have used Ebay as a place to pick up a great deal on a second hand Moses basket or a used 4x4. But for most people that is all Ebay is. It’s certainly not a place where you can create a part time income, or even expand that into a full time income. Or is it? In fact there are over 1.4 million people around the world who are selling on Ebay as their main or secondary source of income. This article mainly focuses on why you would want to create an Ebay business and what business practices you need to apply for it to be successful.

Everyone has to have some reason for beginning a new venture and although making money is certainly a driving force for many, other factors often need to be taken into consideration to make the effort of building an Ebay business from scratch really worth it.
So here are the main advantages of learning how to make money on Ebay and setting up your own Ebay business:

• Possibly one of the biggest advantages is that you can work from home. This eliminates many of the irritating inconveniences that are part and parcel of working in a job. For instance, having to get up early, board a train or fight peak hour traffic to get to work and then repeat it all again to return home late. You no longer have a boss ordering you about and you don’t have to dress a certain way – you can wear pyjamas if you like. This is perfect for stay at home mums who don’t want to put their children in day care and yet need an income where they can sell on Ebay from home.
• It allows you to work flexible hours that suit you. If you are someone who rises early then you can begin work at 6am if you like. If you are a night owl, working through to 3am may be more your style. An Ebay business is perfect for mums or dads who have to drop the kids off at school at 9am, pick them up at 3pm and be there for them in the afternoon.
• It costs very little to set up the business. Because you are working from home there is no need to rent office space. The hardware can be rented or bought second hand and the skills of how to sell on Ebay can be learned on the job.
• You can begin part time and use it to add to your current income. Most businesses cannot be started part time because they require so much capital input either in buying the business or setting it up. Starting an Ebay store does away with that requirement allowing you to begin as a hobby and building it up as you go along. It therefore carries very little risk.
• Once you have gone beyond the hobby stage into a part time business you can use many of your business expenses as a tax deduction. For example, some or all of your computer, internet, telephone, stationary, car and office expenses can be written off as a tax deduction reducing the amount of tax you pay.

• Computer - you can usually pick one up second hand for $300.
• Broadband internet connection - this is probably your largest ongoing monthly expense at $20 - $60 per month.
• Digital camera – you can usually pick up a digital camera second hand for $100 to $200
• Card reader – this plugs into your computer and reads the memory card from your digital camera, downloading the photos onto your computer.
• Something to sell – you need to decide what to sell on Ebay and where you are going to source these products. For instance, if you are selling second hand goods, you can get deals from garage sales, Salvation Army stores, opportunity shops, factory seconds warehouses and factory end of line warehouses.
• Eye for a good deal - this can be acquired from experience but it often helps if you play to your strengths and pick products that you know something about, making it easier to determine their true value and whether you will make money on Ebay with them.

If you are serious about making money on Ebay then you cannot afford to miss this step. Research tells you what products are selling on the Ebay auctions and how much they are selling for. If you go to pulse.ebay.com you’ll find a site that shows the most popular searches (what people are looking for) and the most popular items on Ebay (what people are buying). Once you’ve chosen what you want to sell, you can follow listings of these items that other people are selling. To do this you simply search for that item and add it to your ‘my Ebay watching folder’. You can then watch these items as they go through the auction cycle.

Another way to check the selling price on items is to do a search on completed listings. Sold items are shown in green while unsold items show up in red. Finally, an excellent method of research is to simply examine other forms of media including television shows, magazines and newspapers that are relevant to the products you are selling.

It’s amazing how many time I’ve looked on Ebay to find that Ebay sellers have listed a product that either has no photo or the photo is atrocious with virtually no detail showing. The photo is the primary way that you sell the product and so it is vitally important to take the time to photograph your product well. If you need to include several photos from different angles to cover all aspects of the photo, then do so. Also try and cut out as much background as possible and make sure the photos are in focus. Also include a gallery photo that shows up on the main search page in Ebay. This will entice buyers to look closer at your product and result in more sales.

When describing your product, be honest and include all information that the customer might need e.g. if you are selling a piece of clothing you would include all of the measurements so the customer could be sure before buying that the piece will fit, the colour of the garment, any stains or holes (it’s much better for the customer to know up front than to go through the hassle of refunding money later and the bad reputation you may get when the customer leaves bad feedback).

When writing the listing title, use as few words as possible to describe the product as well as possible keeping in mind that you want to use keywords that the customer is likely to use when searching. Just remember that your aim is to give excellent customer service and so keep in mind what it is that will benefit the customer at each step in listing the product.

When listing the product, list it for seven to ten days to give the most number of people the opportunity to bid on the product. Timing is important so make sure you list the product with the finish date falling on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. People are out and about on the weekends and are less likely to be around for your auction end.

Be quick with all forms of customer service. Once a product has been bought, make sure you package and send it as soon as possibly along with the invoice. Assuming everything has gone well with the sale, leave feedback for the customer, regardless of whether they have left feedback for you. Remember, your success in this business depends heavily on your customer service. If you give a great level of customer service, you will receive positive feedback and a good reputation that will influence future buyers to deal with you.