How to Sell on EBay to Make a Grand Per Month

This post is from Derek at Life and My Finances.

Have you ever sold anything on eBay? While I’m confident that 99% of the population has heard of eBay, I’d say that less than 25% of them have ever bought anything off from the site, and only a fraction of those people have actually sold anything on eBay! It’s probably pretty safe to say that there aren’t too many people capitalizing on this massive market of buyers when it comes to selling their stuff.

Why Would You Want to Sell Things on eBay?

The obvious answer to this question is, “to make more money!” But, more specifically, there are products within your neighborhood that are being sold for incredibly inexpensive prices. They are purchased by a savvy buyer and then put up for sale on eBay where thousands of people are looking at it every day. The product is then sold for double or triple the amount that the original buyer paid for it (because with a larger market comes a larger demand). When this process is repeated, regular everyday people can find themselves making an extra $1,000 a month!

How to Get Started on eBay

If you’ve never signed up for an eBay account, it’s incredibly simple. All you have to do is remember your name and your birthday (and possibly your address) and you’re well on your way. Just head to the eBay website and click on, “Register”, and you’ll soon be ready to buy and sell online.

Once you create your account, the best way to get used to selling products is to filter through your own junk! I don’t care who you are, there’s at least one item in every house that never gets used and is worth something to another human being out there. Heck, I once heard of a guy that sold a half-used bottle of mustard on eBay! Believe me, your stuff has value. All you have to do is get that layer of dust off of it, list it on eBay (preferably with a picture), and then you let the bidding begin!

Where Do the Products Come From?

I understand that you can’t sell products out of your own home forever. If you did, you’ll soon be left with empty walls and no furniture except your 20 year old card table with folding chairs. Obviously, you’re going to have to find some items that you can sell for a profit. So, where in the world do you begin?

Garage Sales

Do you remember when people used to line the streets for a garage sale? It was a great way for the hosts to get rid of their junk, and it was a great market for those that needed some items at a fair price. Well, I’d say that garage sales have been less and less popular over the years because of the increasing resources online. After all, why in the world would someone sift through junk at 10 different garage sales when they can just type in the item they want on the web while staying in their pajamas? They might pay a little bit more for it, but it’s a huge time saver and it’s still cheaper than buying the product brand new.

It’s time for you to capitalize on those garage sales. Scour the ads online and in your local paper for your niche product (this could be furniture, sporting equipment, toys, clothes, etc.) and start buying an inventory. Since the products are coming from a garage sale, it’s pretty easy to use tactics such as bundling (buying many pieces at a severely discounted price), negotiating (simply start with a lower price than what’s on the sticker and haggling out a price), walking away (they typically come down to your price because they just want their junk out of the garage), and showing up at the end of the day for a purchase (they’ll almost give their stuff to you because they know that they’re not going to be able to sell otherwise). By using these purchasing strategies, you could get some great stuff for a small fraction of what it’s sold for in the store.

Once you make your purchases from the garage sale, you simply take the items home, clean them up, take a picture, and post them on eBay. After 7 days, you’ll most likely have a sale at a price that’s much higher than your initial purchase price.

Craigslist

Since it’s somewhat more locally driven than eBay (ie. there are fewer eyeballs on the screen), you can find some great deals on Craigslist as well. All you have to do is keep an eye on your desired category, make a phone call when you see a product that you’re interested it, drive to the site where it’s being sold, and then if you like it and you think that you can sell it for more on eBay, then make an offer and buy it!

Then, you obviously post it on eBay and hopefully make a sale that yields you a healthy profit.

Non-Computer-Savvy Individuals

Let’s face it, some people just aren’t computer savvy, and they don’t want to learn how to post their products on eBay. They’d much rather have someone else do it. Can you hear that? Sounds like a money-maker to me! You could offer your services, post their products online, and charge a small fee for your services (something like 20% of the sales). Once the product is sold and paid for, you give the original owner 80% of the cut, and you keep 20%. Everybody’s happy! You get your cut, the original owner got rid of their junk and has some cash, and the new buyer got the product that they’ve been wanting.

On Your Way to a Grand Per Month

By searching those garage sale ads, Craigslist posts, and helping out those people that don’t want to turn on a computer, you could easily earn an income of $1,000 per month! Go out there and make it happen, and be sure to tell us of your success!

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