eBay

I began selling on eBay in 1999 and have found it to be an enjoyable and profitable experience. I had owned a retail computer store for a few years and decided to close it. I still had a lot of computer inventory and soon discovered eBay was a good resource for selling the parts.

This turned into an ideal situation as selling this way became a home-based business and the overhead was very low. This was a plus to my income opportunity. A spare bedroom in the basement soon became my eBay selling room.

As time passed, more people began selling computer parts and the margins were getting thin. I needed to come up with a new idea that would keep my profit margins at an acceptable level. Instead of selling the computer parts, I would compile a list of my resources and then sell the list as a wholesale resource. The computer wholesale list became an overnight success on eBay. The list has cost me nothing except time, and I was able to sell the list several hundred times. I compiled the list in Excel and also in a text file. Another option was to have it burned to a CD and then mailed to the customer. I charged an extra fee for the CD, and sold quite a few that way too.

After selling the wholesale list for a few months, eBay changed the rules and would no longer allow cross-posting the same item, and also limited the number of times the same item could be listed at the same time. This change caused sales to drop, and I eventually stopped selling the list.

I still had the eBay bug, and was looking for other (http://www.auctionmanger.biz) eBay resources to sell. I started going to garage sales and looking for unique and inexpensive items. This was also another successful resource and lasted for about a year until more people started realizing this technique, and it was getting more difficult to find the bargains.

The next resource I started using was going to auctions and putting the items I purchased on eBay. So far, this has been another good resource and one that I still use. My best buys are when I can buy a quantity of an item for a very low price.

One example was several boxes of HO scale train cars, engines and accessories. There were over 300 items and I ended up paying $150. That came out to 50 cents for each item. There was a lot of work photographing and writing a description for each item. The worked paid off as each item sold anywhere from $3.00 to $12.00 each, making a very nice profit margin.

Selling on eBay is still a resource for additional income, and I am always on the lookout for the next big sale.

James Hendrix has been putting people in business on the Internet since 1996. He has experience with web hosting, development, marketing and search engine optimization.

Latest News


NBC13.com

Bush Takes Steps to Ease Holiday Air Travel Delays
New York Times, United States - 16 hours ago
The airlines would pick half of the slots to be auctioned and the government would choose the other half. Transportation officials said the auctions at the ...
Video: Bush Tries to Ease Air Travel Congestion AssociatedPress
Bush Unveils Operational Initiatives Aviation Week
Bush: Government should 'make airlines more accountable' ATWOnline
MarketWatch - Aero-News Network
all 800 news articles

Edmonton Journal

Is the sky falling on auto auctions?
Canada.com, Canada - 9 hours ago
A 1938 Bugatti Atalante was up for auction in London last month. Mind you, the cars that have been demanding and receiving huge money at auction have to be ...
Barrett-Jackson to auction off first Thunderbird Bizjournals.com
all 4 news articles

Austria Clearingbank in first interbank auction
Forbes, NY - 6 hours ago
In Wednesday's maiden auction, banks could say how much 2-month and 3-month money they were either offering to lend or requesting to borrow. ...

Bargains Galore During Extended Happy Hour Auctions At eBid.Net
PR Web (press release), WA - 6 hours ago
In the run up to the holidays, online auction site, eBid.net is giving bargain hunters the chance to snap up the best deals from the comfort of their own ...

Mass. regulator accuses Oppenheimer & Co. of fraud
The Associated Press - Nov 18, 2008
The complaint alleges Lowenthal sold nearly $1.8 million in such securities two weeks before auctions began to fail in February. The complaint also alleges ...
Oppenheimer Accused in Auction-Rate Complaint Wall Street Journal
Brokerage is charged with fraud Boston Globe (registration)
The Region in Brief Siglo21
Boston Globe (registration)
all 132 news articles

UK auctions 4 million EU CO2 permits
Reuters UK, UK - 8 hours ago
LONDON (Reuters) - The government said it auctioned 4 million European Union carbon emissions permits on Wednesday at 16.15 euros (13.5 pounds) a tonne. ...
Bloomberg to be the Auction Platform for UK Carbon Allowances in ... MarketWatch
UPDATE 1-EU carbon rises following UK permit auction Forbes
all 37 news articles

UPDATE 1-Bank of Canada to adjust purchases at auctions
Reuters - Nov 17, 2008
TORONTO, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada said on Monday it is adjusting its purchase of nominal bonds at auctions for balance sheet purposes, ...
Bank of Canada says no transactions for term PRA Reuters
Bank of Canada gives details on liquidity measures Reuters
all 16 news articles

ConocoPhillips auctions off plant
KFSM, AR - Nov 18, 2008
The company is hoping for a minimum bid of $1.25 million in its online auction. The buyer will need to move the plant out of Ponca City. ...

Study Suggests Buying Toxic Assets Could Work
NPR - 21 hours ago
Ausubel and Cramton had run these auctions before, and on a large scale. They began working on a plan with officials at the Treasury Department. ...
Gaming The Financial System Newsweek
all 2 news articles

Joey Kramer Auctions off the Ultimate Aerosmith Experience!
Aerosmith - 1 hour ago
Joey Kramer is going to attend the live auction on Thursday in NYC to hand off his drum set from his last tour to its NEW lucky owner! ...

Resources