For whatever reason, you have decided you are interested in selling items online. This is a great full- or part-time business opportunity for anyone. You might have an existing retail business, be it a thrift store, consignment shop, or whatever and this will allow you to market to a global marketplace during slow periods during store hours. Having had a store that sold primarily used goods like music, video games, toys, and comics, I found this was a productive use of time while you are in your store anyhow.
Rather than waiting for something to happen, you were making it happen. It is best if you have a computer (laptop preferably for portability) and a digital camera. Depending on what you sell, a digital camera may not be necessary. Owning your own computer may not be necessary either as long as you are well-prepared and have access to the internet at the local library. Believe me, if there is a way around anything and to save money, I will find it! First, where to sell online? There are many options depending on what you wish to sell and constant searching for new and better options online is prudent. There are several auction sites but obviously the best known and one with the most traffic is ebay.
Unfortunately it is also the one with the most fees, I have learned through much trial and error, that if you sell on ebay it’s best to sell items that are highly likely to sell and bring you a decent return. As to what’s a decent return that will be up to you and what your time is worth. Generally with listing fees, final value price, and Paypal fees, you will have 10-15% in fees. You will charge shipping but recent changes won’t allow much padding here. If customers are "gouged" for shipping, that could result in poor feedback. Too much bad feedback could cost you your account and at the least business. Paypal is a separate site, which ebay now owns, which allows users to pay you through their checking account or credit card. Those funds minus fees you can use for online purchases or deposit into your bank account. Most items you list on ebay will need you to take a picture. If you are selling a new item, a picture might be available from ebay’s stock photo listings.
The actual registration is join ebay is free and quite simple. Another option is Half.com which is owned by ebay or Amazon.com. For certain items, like video games and cds, these sites are generally better because you have no cost unless you sell the item, no pictures to post so listing is quicker and easier, you don’t have to invoice the customer like on ebay, and since you set the price, you know you’ll get what you think is fair. On ebay, you can set a price for a fee as a buy it now listing or pay extra to have a reserve price on the auction listing or start the bid at the amount you can live with. The only problem with any of thos is it may not sell and you still owe ebay money which they seem more than happy to take. You can try other sites but most I can’t say I’m impressed with. I’ve had more problems with scammers as a buyer off other sites and because of my experience with these sites, I feel many others have had the same experience and aren’t as likely to try them either. As to what to sell, whatever you wish to market, look at similar items selling now and look at completed listings of that item to gauge potential revenue.
Sometimes price will vary widely due to the condition of the items and extras included. The original box and instructions always help any used item achieve a higher price. There are yard sales, auction houses, thrift stores, craigslist, classifieds, vendor malls, etc. for you to shop at and find bargains to resell. You can sell new and/or used items. I sold what I liked and happened to be knowledgeable in. Whatever you like, there is a lot of help online or in bookstores to bring you up to expert status quickly. I think it’s good to focus on a niche or two and maybe picking up an item or two outside your niche if the price is right. You can certainly sell big-ticket items like real estate or cars or Miley Cyrus tickets but I prefer smaller items that were easier to ship and had no deadline attached like concert tickets. Be cautious of scammers and if selling electronics, record the serial number in case someone tries to say your unit was broken and sends back a different model that they had just trying to get a freebie. You can buy music cds at yard sales for under $1.00 usually and some cds on Amazon will bring $7-20, maybe more if a box set, so 1 cd will pay for several.
The good thing about music cds, if in good condition, there are many music stores as well as other sites online that will buy them directly for $1 and up so it’s hard to lose money on music cds. I would probably focus mostly on pop, rock, rap, country, punk and the like. Christian, classical, broadway, etc. has a much smaller demand and you may not fare well there. Music will surprise you though. Any item, be it comics, movies, etc. that is mass produced and was very popular usually won’t sell well after it has been on the market for a few months because there is just too much of it available too cheaply to fool with. In any category, the older, more rare and unique items do best. Now there are some things that are rare but nobody still wants them so that is where research and knowledge pays off. If you can find a record player for a car(they made these in the 60s) you will usually get about $300 or more for one in good condition. These would mount under the dash and play 45s while parked(probably while driving too but not too successfully). Most people don’t know about these so if you find one, you can probably get it cheaply. If you know someone with lots of old junked cars, you could get lucky.
Anyhow, I found one still in the shipping box from the manufacturer and got $500 for it. I haven’t found one since though and have given up looking which is why I am sharing my secret! Perhaps you can benefit from that tip. There are so many items to sell I can’t discuss them all but I do recommend if you sell on ebay to end the auctions at 9 pm or later so the east coast bidders will have a chance to be home. Most auctions don’t get much bidding until the last few hours. If it’s a somewhat common item, like a Nintendo system, I haven’t seen much benefit keeping the auction open for too long. Three to five days is plenty. If it is a very rare or expensive item, then a longer auction is best.
Always have a tracking number no matter how you ship. If you have a local store that does packing and shipping and they are reasonable on their prices, I think it’s worth the time and effort saved to have them pack and ship. If not, then parcel post or media mail through the local post office are often the best routes to go to keep shipping costs down. On some heavy items where the distance isn’t far, FedEx or UPS might be cheaper. You’ll have to compare a few times to get the feel of your market.
If you have huge items, like furniture it may require crating which is quite expensive. Unless it’s a unique situation shipping may not be practical and you might have to sell as pick-up only which limits your base of customers drastically. Always respond quickly to any customer questions, ship quickly, and resolve problems as reasonably as possible to maintain your reputation and business online.
