If you peruse the business and industrial section on Ebay, you will no doubt see a bunch of home based businesses for sale by all kinds of different sellers. Most look pretty good on the outside, however on the inside they are as bitter as a bride left at the altar. Here are ten things to be on the lookout for. These are sure fire clues that you might be going down the wrong road on your first venture online. A few of the items are what I call ‘trigger words” These are phrases or words that are commonly used to appeal to your emotional response.

Generally on Ebay you have two types of sellers, those that are legitimate business owners and those that are building stores from templates and spitting them out on a regular basis. The only real business they are in is making these templates and selling them to people who have not done their homework.

Some sellers think the best way for you to come and preview what they have for sale is to put an unrelated picture for the feature photo. Usually it’s some photo shop babe with suggestive assets. This clue is pretty obvious; however people still fall for it. The only time this would be appropriate is if the business was an adult business. If the site is selling golf clubs and there is a babe on the cover, chances are the rest of the ten items discussed in this article are present also.

Next you will find a long introduction that is totally unrelated to the specifications of the business for sale. It begins to tell you how great it is to be in business and how you are so entitled to the good life. Just imagine how great life would be if you were the owner of this business. All your problems in the world will be solved by giving them your money, amazing. If they told you the truth that you would be working like a maniac then maybe you would not buy. Unfortunately, that is the truth, its hard work when you’re the owner.

For some reason the human race is prewired to the word easy or free. We do not want to work hard and we love stuff for free. So in order to appeal to our wants and desires, this explanation includes that this business must be easy. The funny thing is, nothing worthwhile is easy. I try to teach my young children that very thing. If it were easy, then everyone would do it and everyone would be successful living the good life that they deserve. If you see easy in any of the description, go somewhere else.

I have never seen a business run on autopilot, and I have never seen one that automatically pays me an income. Sure they are systems that you can set up to save you time and money, but nothing really is automatic. A true business must be cared for and tweaked on a regular basis. There is nothing automatic about it. Imagine walking into a bank and presenting your business plan for a loan to run or purchase a business. If you indicated to them that the business ran automatically, they would run you out of town.

This is very similar to automatic, but they are trying to justify the fact that you can’t get something for nothing. So now you only have to make small efforts to make big piles of cash. Again if it required a little effort, then everyone would do it. Even the simplest blog or article site takes constant promotion.

If you pull up the seller’s feedback you can find all sorts of interesting facts. You can see what other types of businesses he or she is selling as well. Then you go to the completed auctions tab on Ebay and type in that type of business and see what comes up. Now look for that sellers name to see if he or she simply changed the colors of the site and changed the name of the business to spin off something different but really the same. They say they will not build another site similar or the same, but they count on the fact that most people will not check because they are too busy playing with their new toy.

 This technique involves asking a question, so you have to wait for a response before you get a good answer about the seller.  There are many questions you can ask them, good ones include these.  Why are you selling?  How long has the business been online?  What kind of margin are you typically getting on your best selling product? (my favorite)  The responses usually tell you the answer fairly quickly.  They usually say they are too busy to operate it or its been online for a while and is established. (this is very elusive)  My favorite question of margin usually goes unanswered since most do not understand what margin really is.  Another good one to ask would be, “have you identified a product that can serve as your loss leader?”  I love hearing those answers.

This business has tons of potential to make you tons of money. Potential does not replace real facts and figures. The word potential is used when there is no good numbers to get you excited enough to buy what they are selling. (by the way, we are all loaded with potential)

Niche sites are what really do well on the internet today. They do well in brick and mortar type stores too. A niche is a site that sells a “specific something” It would not be golf clubs but rather a specific brand like Ping. Even better would be Ping clubs for woman. That is really niche. Sites that sell everything golf cannot compete with a site like Wal-Mart, or Sports Authority. They simply will give the best prices available and you will not be able to get your product as cheaply as they do. Most sites on Ebay that sell product actually go on step on the worse side. They make sites that sell products from mixed categories that are not related (theme wise) For example they would sell leather jackets and hand tools on the same site. This is someone who takes products from a wholesaler site (that is not really a wholesaler, but that is a different article) and fills it full so it looks like you sell a lot of really cool stuff. You will spend lots of money trying to make money with a loser site like this.

 If you are saying to yourself, “wow I can buy this established business that is already making money for like $100 bucks” you’re in the danger zone.  All the stars are not aligned and smiling down on you.  If it’s too good to be true, you are going to be disappointed.  The old venue of you get what you pay for is true.  Online businesses are valued differently then regular businesses.  But they do sell for a factor time’s revenue.  Every price is based on total sales for the year and total margin for the year.  If you can buy a site for 100 bucks it really means it made about 100 bucks for the entire year and probably has a negative margin.  That means it does not make a dime.  Generally when you buy a business you go and find lots of people that are smarter than yourself, such as lawyers and accountants and you have them evaluate the business.  If you cannot keep a straight face when presenting this great opportunity you found, then chances are you have not found a good business.  Sales copy is designed to make anything look good.  The whole idea is to sell you on a concept, not give you all the facts.  Legitimate businesses give facts and figures.