Part I
Getting Serious about eBay
In this part . . .
When weâve been doing something for a while (such as selling on eBay), often we forget some of the basics. eBay continually makes improvements, and some of its features are like hidden gems in a diamond mine. In this first part, I delve into the finer points of eBay with you. Perhaps youâll discover a thing or two you didnât know or had forgotten.
Chapter 1
Launching Your Business on eBay
In This Chapter
Getting serious about your business Making decisions about what to sell Having what it takes to make a living online Running your business efficiently So youâve decided to step up to the plate and start that eBay business. You should first decide how much time you have to devote. I suggest that you donât quit your day job (yet). Instead, start expanding your sales in baby steps. You can sell part-time and still be a business â and have a nice chunk of extra income. A large portion of sellers, even eBay PowerSellers (those who gross more than $1,000 a month in sales), work on eBay only part-time.
eBay sellers come from all walks of life. A good number of stay-at-home moms are selling on eBay. And so many retirees find eBay a great place to supplement their income that I wouldnât be surprised if AARP creates a special eBay arm. If youâre pulled out of your normal work routine and faced with a new lifestyle, you can easily make the transition to selling on eBay.
In this chapter, I talk about planning just how much time youâll be able to devote to your eBay business â and how to budget that time. I also talk about figuring out what to sell. Your eBay business wonât grow overnight, but with dedication and persistence, you may just form your own online empire.
I recently received an e-mail from someone who read my book eBay For Dummies, and with a head full of enthusiasm, listed more than 100 items for sale. Unfortunately, she failed miserably â so much so that she immediately gave up on the idea of making money on eBay. I know you may get excited to start, but use baby steps. Even with all the advice in this book, you may make mistakes. Baby steps are the way to long-term success. Getting Down to Bidness (Er, Business)
Before launching any business, including an eBay business, you need to set your priorities. And to be successful at that business, you must apply some clear level of discipline.
I wonât bore you with the now-legendary story of how Pierre Omidyar started eBay to help fulfill his girlfriendâs Pez dispenser habit, blah, blah, blah. I will tell you that he started AuctionWeb.com (the original eBay Web site) with a laptop, a regular Internet service provider (ISP), and an old school desk. He and his buddy Jeff Skoll (a Stanford MBA) ran AuctionWeb 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all by themselves. When I began using the service, I had a lot of questions â and I always got prompt, friendly answers to my e-mails. When the site started attracting more traffic, Pierreâs ISP began to complain about all the traffic and raised his monthly fees. To cover the higher costs, Pierre and Jeff began charging 25 cents to list an auction. Pierre was so busy running the site that the envelopes full of checks began to pile up â he didnât even have time to open the mail.
When Pierre incorporated eBay AuctionWeb in 1997 with his partner Jeff, they were each drawing a salary of $25,000. Their first office consisted of one room, and they had one part-time employee to handle the payments. They started small and grew. Now eBay is a respected, worldwide corporation, employing thousands of people and trading on the NASDAQ Exchange.
Budgeting your time: eBay as a part-time moneymaker
A part-time eBay business can be very profitable. One thing I stress in this book, however, is that the more time and energy you spend on your eBay business, the more money you can make. That said, letâs examine the lowest possible level of time you should devote to your business.
Maybe you enjoy finding miscellaneous items to sell on eBay. You can find these items randomly in your day-to-day life. So letâs suppose that you could spend at least a few hours (maybe two to three) a day on eBay. Now you must include the time it takes to write up your auctions. If youâre selling only one type of item, allow about ten minutes to write your auction, photograph the item (or scan it), and upload it to eBay or a photo-hosting site.
The amount of time required to perform these tasks varies from person to person, and will improve according to your level of expertise. Regardless, every task in your eBay auction business takes time â and you must budget for that time. See the sidebar âSome handy eBay timesaving tipsâ for pointers.
