Why Most eBay Sellers Fail.

There is a basic pattern most eBay sellers go through. New sellers usually start by selling unwanted items from around their homes. This is a great way to convert unwanted items into cash while learning some eBay skills.

By the time the house is cleaned out, the new seller has some basic eBay skills, and knows eBay is an easy fun way to run a profitable home based business.

The next step is products. Specifically finding items to resell at a profit. A common question is What Are The Most Profitable Items To Sell On eBay? This is the wrong question.

At this point there are two ways to go. Find new items through a drop shipping service or liquidation center, or focus on used items.

Sadly, the majority of people who choose either path soon fail.

The drop shippers tend to fail because they focus on hypercompetitive hot items and get washed away by the competition. Another reason many new eBay sellers fail to successfully run sales for new items is a lack of passion.

Lack of passion is also a factor with people who sell used items - antiques, collectibles and even used but newer things like my sister's used children's clothing sales, but the big reason for failure is insufficient supply.

Passion is the reason why collectors tend to do better on eBay. I love having the trains around me. I am like a toy train missionary teaching others how much fun toy trains can be and helping them find enjoyment.

I just said one of the main reasons people fail to successfully navigate the transition from selling unwanted items to building a successful eBay business is lack of products. I am going to focus on used stuff here because that is my specialty and probably why you are reading this anyway. If you're not interested in selling used items, here's an article on finding new products for eBay.

After selling all the unwanted household items, the next step is garage sales and thrift stores. Some people who live in really good garage sale areas never get past this step.

They are happy with the catch-as-catch-can nature of their businesses and really enjoy the randomness of the hunt. The good finds keep them hunting during the dry spells. Shutting down for a few months during the poor weather is a break taken in stride.

Others are quickly disillusioned by the garage sale circuit. Maybe they are late sleepers and miss the profitable deals? Maybe they live in a poor area for yard sales? Maybe they never found the truly fantastic deal of their dreams and grew tired of the hunt?

For whatever reason this group of disappointed want-to-be-free eBay sellers soon joins the list of "I tried it and it didn't work."

Unfortunately both of these groups miss out on the true freedom a home based eBay business provides.

Think about the people who make it through the garage sale circuit.

Consider me. I started going to garage sales in the 1970s looking for trains and toys for my collection. I was too young to drive so I had to rely on my dad, and he had other priorities.

Even worse, neither of us are morning people. My frustrations with constantly hearing "We sold the train a few hours ago," caused me to look for other ways to find toy trains.

At twelve years old, I made the step others usually fail to make, and I started learning how to make people offer me their trains.

This is the step everyone who wants to be a really successful seller of used items must make. I am not saying you need to stop going to garage sales, but you need to learn additional ways to find items.

You need to move past luck and chance. You need to take control.

Here's how you do it. . .

1. Keep going to garage sales. They are fun, and great place to practice your negotiating skills. Plus you never know what you'll find.
2. Start specializing if you aren't already. I don't mean you should walk past a gold bar with a five dollar tag on it, but rather concentrate on a specific type of item. It can be an antique or collectible or something newer. One of my students buys and sells used car stereos. My sister sells kid's clothes. The item doesn't matter. It's the specialized knowledge that gives you the edge.
   Specializing also opens doors for you. When I go to a yard sale I always ask for trains and toys. Lots of people who never thought to put out these items will sell them if asked. Think about it. Asking, "What do you have I can sell on eBay and make a quick hundred on?" isn't going to work.
3. Get some books on salesmanship, or my report on Negotiating When Buying Antiques and Collectibles, and hone your negotiating skills.
4. Start broadening your methods of finding items to sell. You don't want to start out by buying a full page ad in the newspaper, but there are hundreds of other inexpensive ways to find items for resale.
5. Learn how to network. This is all about relationships. Get to know the owners of the local pawn shops, thrift stores, antiques stores or whatever is relevant to your specialty.

Get Started Now

And it will cost you less than a tank of gas.

I've been teaching people a systematic approach to finding antiques and collectibles for years.

In order to help you move past garage sales, I have compiled twelve of the most powerful yet cheap to implement collectible buying strategies from my larger more comprehensive package onto a special report just for you.

Thanks for your time,

Many of the articles and free reports here on IWantCollectibles were originally sent to readers of my Antiques and eBay Newsletter. Not all articles make it onto the website, and readers also get notices of free reports and special offers.

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