Jim Donovan, the Ageless Boomer

Everyone’s Favorite On-line Market Place

While we’re talking about making money on-line, let’s take a look at everyone’s favorite on-line market place.

Yes, I am referring to ebay.com. The biggest shopping mall to ever come along.

Like Google’s Adsense, anyone can play the ebay game. Here is it in a nutshell.

Find some stuff.
Sell it on ebay.

Seriously, that’s the basis of this online merchandizing phenomena.

On ebay.com auctions, you will find everything from someone selling Aunt Mabel’s old posters, to giant corporations discounting their slow moving merchandise, and everything in between. There is new merchandise, used merchandise, collectable merchandise, etc, etc.

There are so many different ways to make money on ebay and other similar sites like Yahoo and even Amazon Auctions, that entire books have been written about it and there are numerous programs to teach you the step-by-step how to do it.

What I want to accomplish here is to give you some basic ideas and explain a few successful selling models that are being used, in the hope that I motivate you to start brain-storming with your friends or family, and look for ways for you to add to your household income using ebay.

Look Around

The way most people get started selling on ebay is by looking through their own house, garage and basement for merchandise that they no longer want.

Warning! Don’t make the mistake of thinking that because you no longer want something, or that it’s kind of worn, that there is not a buyer for it. We actually sold empty boxes on an ebay auction. (more on that story later).

The next level of people go around to yard sales looking for items that they can resell online. They will buy entire boxes of items just to pick out a few key things for resale. The trick, if this appeals to you, is to get to the sales very early, usually before the published time. When we were moving and ran an ad for our yard sale from 8:00 AM, I had people in the garage at 6:30!

If you’re a craft person, artist or photographer, and your not selling on ebay, you’re losing out on sizable income. One artist I know had what I consider a brilliant marketing model for his work. He would sell 5 x 7 animal prints on ebay, framed and ready to hang, for about $25. I know this because one of them looked just like our Persian cat “Smokey” so Georgia bought it. When the print arrived the package included a sell sheet for his original artwork and larger prints, which sold for hundreds and thousands of dollars. He was essentially using ebay to build a mailing list of people who buy animal art while at the same time, selling smaller prints of his large pieces. He maintained his cash flow and built his database at the same time.

What About You?

If none of these examples appeal to you, fear not, you can still play on ebay. Like Google’s Adsense or anything else, find something you’re interested in. Something you know about.

A friend of Georgia’s is a lawyer who, after having a baby, wanted to stay home and raise her child. She started selling her good quality, but unwanted, clothes on ebay and, after her initial success, expanded it into a business.

She goes to women’s homes, picks through their closets and resells their designer clothing on ebay, sharing the revenue with the person.

This is basically an on-line version of the traditional consignment clothing shop.

Years ago, Georgia did sell some clothes on ebay and still uses it for goods she no longer wants. One woman who bought some of Georgia’s things, was married to a man who would buy top quality designer suits, like Armani, on ebay. He was an insurance salesman and wanted to project an affluent image without spending a fortune on clothing. He was able to buy a suit worth about $2,000 for $200, wear it a couple of times and then resell it for basically what he paid for it. His clients would see him in a different Armani suit every time they met. This was good for his business because people like to do business with successful people.

The Secret is in the Purchase Price

Another ebay option is to sell a product that you can obtain at a good price. This is all about being able to “source” the merchandise. There are people who, because they have low overhead, can sell expensive watches at a fraction of the retail price. Some people in our area go to antique dealers put a $10 deposit on an item, take a photo of it, and then go and offer it on ebay for more than they are paying for it. If the item doesn’t sell, they just give up the $10 deposit, but they aren’t stuck with a white elephant.

The Big One

Here is the big one! I really should be charging you for this:-)

Liquidations, outlet centers and close-outs. Again you must know what you are buying, but if you do, you can build a significant income from this. The key here is knowing enough about a product or item, to know what will and more importantly what won’t sell easily and for what price.

In my Wealth Creation Audio Program, I told the story about Georgia and her mink handbag.

My wife, Georgia, had gone to the Neiman Marcus outlet center in Franklin Mills, Pennsylvania and bought a bunch of stuff to resell on ebay.

Of course, she also bought some stuff to keep for herself:-)

One of the items was a mink handbag (a pocketbook for the men reading this). The original selling price was $5,000 (this is not a typo). I gasped, “how much?” I didn’t think there were such things as $5,000 pocketbooks. Of course I now know better. The French designer, Hermes, has a “handbag” that’s $25,000 and there is a waiting list.

What economic slow down?

Georgia informed me that she only paid $500 for the bag. The bag sold later that week on ebay for $1,250. Let’s examine that transaction.

- The buyer got a beautiful, brand new mink handbag worth $5,000 for 75% off the retail price.
- Georgia more than doubled her money.
- Neiman Marcus moved the merchandise that they wanted to move.

This was a win, win, win. Everyone was happy.

This is good business. Whatever you do, in any transaction, make sure it’s a win for everyone. If it’s not, then it’s not a win for anyone. There are no exceptions to this.

The secret to this and Georgia’s other dealings is that she has a sixth sense about what will be a hot item and if it’s a good deal. A few months ago, she showed me a leopard handbag, again in Neiman’s, and said, “This is going to be hot.” It’s on the cover of “Shop Magazine” this month.

You can use this basic model for any product, at any price point, at any time.

In merchandizing of any kind, profit is made on the buying side, whether its designer clothing and accessories, cars, or real estate, there is always a perceived value and price. If you can buy whatever it is, well below that – in Georgia’s case 90% off retail – you can make money on the resale.

Be Educated

If selling on ebay appeals to you as a way to add an additional source of income to your family, learn how to do it. Here’s one of the best resources I’ve found on how to make money selling on ebay