eBay has become so big now, making a fortune on there has now become extremely difficult and those people that made a lot in niche areas previously are not starting to struggle as more and more people compete for the same business.
Businesses have cottoned on to the fact that eBay has it’s own search facility and what’s more, people using this search are not just searching for info, like they do on Google – they are more than likely looking to buy.So how do you compete with the big boys – the easy answer is simple….you don’t!
Make Money with a Digital Camera...
Thank is a very simple concept, but is quite effective!
The Background
Whether you’re young or old, you will be fully aware that newspapers, local and national, allow people to advertise things to sell - there are also a number of Free Ad papers designed specifically for people to buy and sell things!
At the time of producing this ebook, 10 million UK people had eBay accounts which is a massive amount, but there are 60 million people in the UK, so that leaves 50 million people who don’t have an eBay account!
This is where you can take advantage of this situation. Many people are not keen on selling things online and will probably be happy for you to deal with selling their items for them.
So how do you make money?
You will offer to sell peoples goods for them. There will be thousands of people that try and sell things privately through a variety of methods. Your aim will be to target these people and offer to sell there items for them.
Your first step will be to market your services:
You can do this using a few different options which are available to you:
• Place an add in your local papers offering your services, perhaps something like this:
Do you need something selling, but hate eBay?
Do you want to sell something, but don't want the hassle of actually selling it or just not trust online sites like eBay. Let us sell it for you! Anything considered! Contact: Bob at 01234 567890 or email: bob@yahoo.co.uk
• Place an add in your local shopping precinct / supermarket. They often have cards that you can fill in and you can probably use a similar add as the one above.
• Get your local rag and have a look at the items for sale. Wait for the paper to go out of date and then contact them to see if their item has been sold, and if not, if they would like you to sell it for them.
You can use any or all of these methods and you are likely to get a pretty good response! Remember, make a good job of their sales and it is likely they will come back to you again. Before you know it, you will have a portfolio of clients!
When someone does contact you through your ads, or you contact them, you need to gauge how much their item is likely to sell for. Have a look on eBay and see if there are any similar items so it will give you an idea of price.
Whatever you do, do not buy the item off them, you are selling it for them, not buying it from them - unless of course, you decide to keep it for yourself!Follow these steps:
• Establish what the item is avoid collect only items!
• Explain to the seller what the process is, do not mention eBay! You simply need to tell them that the process of finding a buyer normally takes 7-10 days, and in order to sell their item you simply need a photo of their item and get a brief description of it - it is more than likely that you will have to visit them (with your digital camera) to take a photo of the item.
• Be upfront with your fees - they will appreciate it! Inform them that your fees are 10% of the agreed sale value.• Establish what they are willing to sell it for.
• Explain to them what happens if the item does not achieve the minimum sale value or does not sell. We suggest that you tell them no fees will be charged to them if the item is not sold. This will help build your reputation. (imagine if you were charged for service that failed to deliver - you'd be quite p*ssed off
• If the item does sell, inform the seller of the sale amount and arrange to pay the seller for the item. We suggest that you take the item off the seller and post it yourself. This will ensure that you have control over the posting of it, because as far as the buyer is concerned - you are the seller!
• If the item sells for more than the minimum amount, we suggest that you take 50% of this and pass 50% to the owner of the item. So both you and the seller will be very happy! Keep track of all your items and make use of an eBay calculator. When listing items, you need to ensure that you have taken into consideration all eBay fees and Paypal fees where applicable.
And it's as simple as that
Got a camera? Then get going?