Selling on Ebay can be a great home business in itself.  There 
is a lot that has to go into making a business out of Ebay. 
Research is extremely important here:

1. Research your product on Ebay before you look anywhere else. 
If you are purchasing an item for a certain amount, you must make 
sure that you are not paying more than it will be able to sell 
for on Ebay.  You must be able to be competitively priced to get 
sales.

2. Research your product on Google and other search engines. 
Find out what the most prominent sellers are charging for your 
product.  Pay special attention to the details used in the 
listing of items you will be carrying.  Most of these companies 
have been in business and have already tried and failed with 
different sales pages.  You can give similar information in your 
listings and not have to worry about trial and error.

3. Contact the manufacturer.  The manufacturer may be willing to 
work with you or steer you to a company that will.  Most 
manufacturers want you to buy in quantity, but if you are unable 
to do so they can steer you toward reputable companies that would 
work with smaller amounts.  NEVER spend money on wholesale lists.

4. Search for your product name and the words "drop shipper" on 
search engines.  Check the prices they offer for your product 
line.  They will normally be in the same price range that the 
product is selling for on Ebay.  Most try to charge a monthly fee 
for selling their products.  These are not true wholesalers or 
drop shippers.  You will be paying their "middle-man" fee to be 
able to work with them.  It would be easier to buy in small 
quantities and handle shipping of the items yourself.

5. Make sure you research shipping prices carefully.  The postal 
service has a calculator and offers free shipping supplies on 
their website, UPS is great as well.  If you can afford to do so, 
make your shipping cost lower than all of your competitors. 
Customers don't want to pay you profit on the shipping of their 
product and will not buy from you if they think you are robbing 
them on shipping cost.  Make sure you ship as often as possible. 
The Postal Service will pick up from your home or office for no 
charge.  If you have heavier items, UPS charges a small fee to 
pick up from your business or home.  The fee to ship larger items 
through UPS is much smaller than the post office.


The most important part of listing on Ebay is the actual listing 
itself.  Your sales presentation must go a step further than your 
competition.  Ebay is extremely competitive and you must be ready 
to fight for your share of the marketplace.

1. The single largest help we have had with our auctions has been 
with a company named Auctiva.  Their service does not cost you a 
cent and you can actually make some money off of them.  They save 
you money by adding your images to the inside of the auction 
itself.  You don't have to pay Ebay extra for more pictures. 
They have beautiful templates you can use to make your auctions 
stand out from you competition.  You can schedule your listings 
for a specific time for free.   They can do this by offering 
shipping insurance to your customers.  You even get paid a 
portion of what your customer pays!

2. Be sure to add every important detail to your listing. 
Remember that customers on Ebay cannot hold the product in their 
hands.  You need to provide every imaginable detail in your 
listing to avoid forcing customers to ask you questions that most 
people would want to ask.  Check your competition and make sure 
you add every imaginable detail before you list your items.

3. Pictures are extremely important.  Take the best pictures you 
can.  Most digital cameras are very inexpensive (especially if 
you buy them on Ebay!).  Try to use at least a 3.1 MP digital 
camera and you will get clearer pictures.  A white backdrop will 
make your pictures look professional.  Use a cardboard box as a 
backdrop with a white sheet over it to use any light to your 
advantage and create the best pictures possible.  The more high 
quality pictures you add to your listings, the more sales you 
will get.


How to Buy on Ebay

We have made some great decisions and purchases on Ebay.  We have 
also made mistakes and bad decisions on Ebay.  Most importantly 
we have learned from the mistakes we have made and would like to 
pass on some advice to you.  There are some simple rules to 
follow when making purchases on Ebay that will save you money.

Buying on Ebay has become so popular because you can find almost 
anything you want in its auctions.  Here are the most important 
things to do when looking for an item on Ebay:

1. Rare items are normally easy to find, but using the right 
keywords will help you find the best deal.  Don't think like a 
buyer, use keywords that you would use if you were selling the 
item you are looking for.  Be as vague as possible with those 
words and you will find some very interesting items.  You can 
always narrow down your search if the words you use don't find 
the right item.

2. Try looking in the category that you think the item would be 
listed in.  By checking the category, you will find misspelled 
titles and other items that you may not have found otherwise. 
Other sellers put their items into a category that is too vague, 
so make sure you check every possible category that the item you 
want may be listed in.  Many people do not research items 
properly before purchasing on Ebay.  Take advantage of this and 
make sure you leave no stone unturned in your search for the best 
deal.

3. Check out all of the small print!  Sellers used to apply huge 
shipping costs to items and hope that buyers would not notice 
until after they agreed to purchase the item.  This is not done 
as much today, but should you pay shipping for something that is 
delivered through Email?  Make sure you read the fine print. 
Larger sellers have typos in their listings and you would be best 
off to check with them before agreeing to buy from them.  It is 
easier to get a question answered than it is to back out of an 
agreement to purchase.

4. Use the Watch function while doing your research.  This will 
leave items that you are interested in buying in an easily 
accessible area where you can find them when you are ready to 
purchase.  It will also leave you time to research and think 
about your purchase.  Impulse buying on Ebay can cost you a lot 
of money if you aren't careful.

5. It is extremely important to look elsewhere online!  Google 
Base or Froogle, as well as other price comparison sites, are a 
great place to check whether the deal you found is as good as you 
think it is.  Normally you can find the best deal right on Ebay, 
but it is always best to look around before you buy.

6. Ebay's feedback system is extremely important.  If a seller is 
by far the cheapest seller for the item you are looking for and 
has a -1 feedback score, odds are that they will take your money 
and run.  The system is in place to make you feel more secure 
about buying from a person on Ebay.  Keep in mind that even the 
best sellers get a negative feedback here and there.  If they 
have a score of 10000 and they have 2 or 3 negatives, they will 
be a safe purchase for you.  We have personally been robbed on 
Ebay and never saw our money or the product.  Ebay does the best 
they can to protect all of its customers, but there are too many 
scammers out there for Ebay to save us all.
 

Ross Goldberg is a disabled veteran of the Desert Storm Era. 
After being diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, Arthritis, and Permanent
Nerve Damage, he purchased an expensive memory foam mattress for 
himself. Upon using it he became obsessed with understanding why 
it cost so much. What you are reading is the result of years of 
research and comes from a true expert in the bedding industry.
http://www.memoryfoamfurniture.com
http://www.memoryfoamuniversity.org