eBay 101

[Guest Mike]

ADMINS: Sorry if this is inappropriate to post but I've had some inquiries. Rather than clog the server with PM's I thought I'd just post this here.

 

EBAY 101:

 

EGG #1: Life has a way of throwing us curve balls when we least expect it. Sometimes it's best to pinch hit. Other times it's better to hope for a ball. Still other times... and this is the fun way... you should just whack the hell of that damn ball:flamedevi

 

Before I get too deep into this, let me just tell you about the Wolves and Buzzards. They're everywhere... buying/selling on eBay. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to play both sides of the court. You must be on both the Wolf and the Buzzard teams and you must make people love you for it. Sound like fun? Okay... let's get started!!

 

Ebay isn't the typical business game as I'm sure you're all well aware. In a way it's like a combination of gambling, specialized knowledge, quick thinking, customer service (AKA dealing w/ a-holes:mrgreen:), etc., etc. You must be multi-talented, cool-headed and quick and accurate on the draw. Otherwise you'll shoot your own a$$

 

My experience comes from buying and selling used items in a niche market. Finding the right type of market is truly key. You want to be dealing with a mature, sober-minded clientele with money to spend. In other words, stay away from items of interest to immature teenagers like car audio or... God forbid... hybrid Z-cars:twisted: Although there are many responsible folks with money who like car audio... there are just too many immature teenagers who will mess with your auctions willy-nilly:willy_nil

 

My niche happened to be used large format cameras... both modern and antique. The folks into this type of thing are usually the older, more responsible type with... guess what? Yup you guessed it.... money. They have money and they know how to spend it:2thumbs:

 

There are three ways to make money buying/selling, AKA horse-trading. These are (1) high volume/low per item profit, (2) Low volume/high per item profit, and (3) High volume/high per item profit. Ebay is the ultimate "business equalizer" so the latter of the three is essentially impossible on eBay. As appealing as it looks... just forget it. If you think about it, this makes sense because everyone is going to gravitate toward high volume/high profit items, right? What happens when one lucky person finds this golden egg during his little Easter hunt? Everyone else jumps into that playing strategy and that trading model falls flat in an instant... scrambled eggs everywhere. Then what... find another golden egg? That's very unlikely and is therefore a waste of time.

 

EGG #2: Speaking of TIME... this is one of the most important things to remember... TIME is essential for making money. The more time you spend, the more money you make. Big surprise, eh. Sorry if I just burst you bubble, err... cracked your shell, Humpty.

 

You must be diligent, knowledgeable, and persistent. Be diligent and have a good work ethic (it's that damn time thing again). Be knowledgeable regarding what has value vs what does not. Be persistent at finding those deals... running your business... taking excellent care of your customers... covering your a$$.

 

It's a real balancing act because the eBay market is so volatile. Many factors affect eBay's volatility... ups/downs in the economy, school in or out of session, seasonal items, others selling similar items, a seller foolishly flooding the market with 100 identical auctions... the list is infinite. It's important to understand the volatility of the market for the items your selling and take advantage it.

 

EGG #3: Knowledge is great. Knowledge is good. Let us thank him for our food:hail:[:rolleyes:knowledge]

 

For now I'll speak only of the low volume/high per item profit deals because that's what I know. Okay... so how do we find those deals? It takes T-I-M-E, P-E-R-S-I-S-T-E-N-C-E, D-I-L-I-G-E-N-C-E, and K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E... umm... did I already mention these? And you must be quick!! Every other bozo in your little niche market it trying to outrun you. Face it... this is a frickin' race... (or a cluster-f of horrny little rabbits)... and you, my friend, had better haul azz if you want to win:burnout: Be on the look-out. Have multiple search pages open and systematically refresh each page over and over and over again looking for poorly advertised, or improperly placed, or grossly underpriced items, or even seller mistrakes. When you find a "Buy It Now" item that's grossly underpriced, "quickly" check seller feedback, evaluate, you must make lightning fast decisions and have the ballz to click... but don't mess up or you'll pay the price... you'll lose money... you could lose everything... oh no!!! Hey... is your adrenaline flowing yet?! What can I say? Risk is part of the game. Remember... I said it's sort of a gamble. BTW, "lurking" on eBay is for wussies:twisted:

 

EGG #4: Only gamble what you can afford to lose.

 

SPARE EGG: Always have a backup... someone who can follow through with your deals should you get hurt or become ill.

 

 

More... to follow... out of breath... now...