Online Auctions

Is it still possible to make profits on eBay, or are the days of running a successful eBay business over?

Well, yes it is still possible to make money on eBay…but it sure is getting a whole lot harder…to the point where I believe there are some much better & far more profitable options you should seriously look at!

Why have things changed so much?

1. Competition – the eBay marketplace is sooo much more competitive now than it was a few years ago. This increase in competition from sellers has forced the prices on many popular items down to close on wholesale prices.
2. Increases in eBay Fees – The cost of listing items on eBay and the final listing fees have also increase substantially over recent years.

Once you’ve taken the eBay fees out (then possibly PayPal fees), you’ll be lucky to break even on many items.

So what’s the answer?

Start Your Own eCommerce Website

OR

Get Creative!

Those people who are still making money on eBay are mainly those sellers who’ve taken a creative approach to their product selection. They haven’t just gone down the same path & made the same mistake as many would be eBay Powersellers make trying to sell top 40 CDs/DVDs, licensed kids clothing etc. and expecting to make a profit

No, they’ve found themselves a unique, untapped niche then either sourced the product from wholesalers, imported it from overseas, bought it from clearance auctions, made it themselves or used other methods to supply the product…& no I’m not suggesting you got out and steal things .

For example, one particular British seller sources military & other related memorabilia in Serbia and sells it worldwide on eBay.

He does quite well because it’s a good niche market with either no competition or very little. Now it’s probably not going to practical for you to jump on a plane from Australia to Serbia every month or 2, but I think you get the idea!

If you can’t come up with a physical product to sell, there’s always the informational CD or DVD idea. Many people do quite well on eBay selling information on ‘how to do things’ on CD.

For example, here’s one seller providing a CD containing cat scene embroidery designs. And another one on the art of paintless dent removal.

Just do an search on eBay across all categories for training CD or training DVD and see what comes up. Make sure you select worldwide to get even more results.

There are plenty of untapped niche markets still available if you can just get a little creative!

Don’t think any of those ideas are for you?

Maybe your own ecommerce site would be the way to go. More than likely you’ll still be able to sell the products you wanted to sell on eBay, but with the big difference being that you’ll actually turn a decent profit!

Depending on what niche market you’re in, you may well be able to sell your product for up to twice what you’d get on eBay for it, simply because you don’t have the same direct competition from other sellers. That combined with no eBay fees – only credit card merchant fees & website hosting – & you’ll be running a profitable business in no time.

So go out there now and get started! Have a look on eBay and see what untapped niches you can find, or do a search on Google and check out some other ecommerce sites selling in the niche you want to get into.

Just Remember…Be Creative!