How I make money on the Internet – Part 1: eBay
Ever wanted to make a little extra cash online, or wanted to turn your internet career into something big? Then this is the two part article for you, focusing on the main aspects of making money on the internet, and how you can generate a good revenue solely from advertising and auctioning.
In this first part I will look at eBay, and how you and others can easily make good money, just from selling online.
I started off selling various items on eBay that I no longer needed around the house, things from young children’s books, to unused computer keyboards. At first, the results can be a little disappointing, especially when you are new to the auctioning system, and when you have no feedback to rely on.
After a while however, as my item description began to get more professional in appearance, I realised that people were starting to actually bid on my items, things I thought never would have
sold!
Although I generated a small amount of profit from each item I sold, there were also fees which I
had to pay for, Paypal fees, Listing Fees, Final Value Fee, Postage….it all adds up!
When you are selling an item, you have to plan how much the item will cost you in all of these fields, if you are going to make a loss, there is simply no point in auctioning your item (unless you are willing to sacrifice a few quid for some good feedback).
My first selling venture on eBay, was through the selling of the Nike Anti – Racism Bands, where I made an amazing £6-8 profit on each band!! It was this that really got me hooked on the power of eBay, and the easyness of making money.
I would recommend though that if you are thinking of starting of making a full – time business out of eBay, you consider your market.
Firstly, which audience are you aiming at? If you are thinking of becoming a full time football boots auctioneer, you need to make your descriptions appealing to teens, and young adults.
Secondly, what is the competition like in your field or niche? If there are already hundreds of people selling football boots at competitive prices, you will have to decide if your products will stand out from the crowd in terms of quality or price.
These are my points that will help all of your listings be successful and will attract potential bidders:
1)The Item title must be appealing, stuff like “ATI Radeon Card X450603924 Dell” is not going to really catch the eye, unless there is someone who actually wants exactly that. Try to spruce up the title a bit by adding exclamation marks “BRAND NEW ATI Radeon Card!!!Lowest price ever“. Captions like this will be sure to pull visitors to your item.
2)Once you have lured a visitor to your item description, make sure that its not just a load of gibberish, speak in the customers language. Colour helps!
3)A lot of people simply hike up the postage to cover for all of their fees and loads of profit on top, but I think that this definitely puts people off bidding. If you put a modest postage price, people are more likely to think you are being kinder to them by offering a lower postage amount.
4)Offering a Buy-It-Now price as well as normal bidding can help raise the price of your item, as people can see what you are expecting to get for that item, and so think that the item is more valuable.
I could go on forever with ways to increase hits on your auction listing, but a simple bit of advice, imagine yourself in the customer’s shoes and think whether you’d place a bid if you saw your item description. If not, find out ways to improve your listing.
Please read my next in the series, Part 2: Google Adsense, or Part 3: Affiliates
