We have an Antique Mall and we decided during the slow periods to put some items on Ebay. We did and it worked out very good we sold about 75% of the items we listed, however, after considering the time we spent responding to questions, packing and shipping, we nearly broke even, so the question I’m left with, was it worth it? Or is there something else that we can do next time to insure that we make a profit?

If you want to get more traffic and make more money on eBay you need to have very compelling ad copy not just a "description" of your product. Don't include the picture of your item in the gallery graphic use a billboard style attention grabbing head line like, "Don't Miss This". Use a black background with bright text so people will click your item and take a look. Put the pictures in the ad and at the middle or bottom of the page. More people use dial-up than high speed Internet connections so the pictures take a while to load.

Use good keywords to get more eyes on your auction, specific and general. Make sure you charge for the packing and shipping. If it costs you $2.50 for packing add that to each sale under "handling" and use calculated shipping and make sure the calculators are correct. I had to add a pound to one of my items because the shipping was coming in too low. Don't rip people off with the shipping just make sure you're not shelling out extra cash because eBay is an expensive way to sell.

I hope this helps...you can make a lot of money on eBay I just don't like the shipping.

Thanks Heidi,

Sounds like you know ebay very well. We made some adjustments on the shipping and handling rates and started using the shipping calculator and you’re right, our problem was with our old shipping calculator, it was not correctly calculating the shipping cost, but now that’s resolved. We had to raise the shipping rate, but not by much. However, I’m so amazed by some of the shipping rates that people are charging on ebay. But I guess that’s what a free market is all about, so I just by-pass those outrages shipping rates for someone that’s offering a similar item but with a reasonable shipping rate. I better stop here, because that’s a hot button for me.

eBay doesn't like the jacked up shipping rates. Your customers will buy from you over someone else if you have the calculated rate. Even if you play around with it they "feel" like they are in control of those costs. I'm glad I could help.

Reaserch the items you are listing to make sure there is a need or want for them. I read through the list of items requested often too and see if I have anything people are requesting.

Well, personally I have some experience with eBay as my mother makes a living off of it and I got my uncle into it as well.

When you are using eBay to make money, just remember there are good and bad days like any internet job so don't expect to just rake in the cash.

Depending on what you are selling will depend on your profit. If you actually sell digital delivery stuff then you will likely not get much money but there is profit in...websites with hosting, and special domain names.

Really, in the end it just depends. I would personally have my own website and on the side sell some eBooks or something on eBay, which you will get about a dollar each so really sometimes it is not worth your time.

There is a lot to consider in the end if it is worth it, find out if your expenses override your revenue first, that is the biggest ordeal of it all.

Thanks for reading,
Jason

There is still money to be made on info products...you just need the right combination of keywords and ad copy.

That is true, because if you create your own ebook then you can make some good money as long as it is great quality and unique.

The thing that makes me not want to even read a auction is someone that lists the same item like 20 times with the same description because you know your not getting anything good.

Thanks,
Jason

I agree because it just seem so copy and paste and not even any effort in uniquely describing the items, but I must say that doing your research is the best way to be successful with ebay.

The samll town where I have my cafe in was recently part of a thing called The Nebraska Junk Jaunt. A 200 mile stretch of highway is included and all the towns along the way participate by having their own yard/garage sales. For me, a restaraunt owner...it's gold as I have my best weekend by far. We have our own sale, and I've discovered one thing. The buyers are about 90% ebayers looking for stuff to sell. That's great...but there's one problem. They want to buy dirt cheap. Nothing wrong with that, but I would probably figure that the sellers are the exact opposite...they want top dollar. This situation has gradually eroded the interest the past copule of years...at least for the people in my town it has. The buyer wants it cheap...the seller doesn't...luckily this predicament makes everybody hungry... .

This anology is a perfect example of what the problem with ebay is. It's basically a buyer's market. The opportunity to get a good deal is the norm there. A buyer has the opportunity to drop your auction for another with the click of a mouse...just because the other guy is a quarter cheaper. Cheaper is the battle cry at ebay...and always will be...most likely.

But there is some hope for the person that started this topic....and I never thought I would ever reccommend doing this. Start an ebay store. Pay the $15 a month fee and then list your antiques in your store. It's very cheap to list them in the store, and you can just camp them out there...with the price you want. The listings last all month and can be "buy it now" only. The trick is to make some strategic listings in the general ebay population for items that have a chance of getting some hits. When building your general listings...put as much..."check out the other stuff in my ebay store" hints throught the listing...but try not to make the listing be a "sign post" to your ebay store. Ebay calls this fee avoidance. If you do it right...you can avoid upsetting ebay. If your general listing is an auction...then either start at a price that you're willing to take, or set a reserve price. This will keep the cheapskates from winning your auction for a ridiculous price...which is their main goal. A winning strategy for ebay is to not be afraid to have nobody bid...the idea is to get your price...not provide a steal for someone. Sooner or later you will get someone who wants the item and is willing to pay for it...which I assume is the philosophy of the antique business...the real antique business...not the ebay antique business...