Two of the biggest considerations you have when starting an eBay business is what you should sell, and where you can find it.  The trouble is, it can be hard to find consistent sources of products on an ongoing basis.  Many eBay business owners spend hours and hours searching garage sales only to find three or four profitable items.  This article is going to reveal how you can find the entire product you need to run a successful and profitable business.

Before we go into the details of where to find products to sell on eBay, let’s define what qualities a good product would possess.  It needs to be reliably available at a realistic price, it should have enough people interested in it to make it viable, and it needs to go well with other products (for backend sales).

With that in mind, let’s look at some of the places you can find products.

Wholesalers-  By contacting various wholesalers you can easily negotiate very favorable pricing by buying in quantity.  You can get whole pallet loads of goods that can be resold for large profits.  This is a great way to go if you have a few thousand dollars to invest.  By buying hot items in bulk, you can quickly realize large profits.  This is a good way to go for those with a little know how and enough finance.

Trade shows-  Find a trade show related to the market you want to sell to.  Trade shows can be a fantastic place to find new and innovative products.  Many of the smaller companies at trade shows are looking for distributors.  They will be very open to negotiation when it comes to price per unit.

Importing-  This is the most challenging and the most profitable way to source eBay products.  By importing goods directly from other countries, you bypass all middlemen.  This means siginficantly increased profit margins for you.  While importing will be more work initially, it’s worth it for the payoffs that can be had.  Be sure to read up on the finer points of importing before trying this yourself.  Importing also requires the most capital because of the volume you must buy in.  If you are good in business and have a good sense of the market, you can make a lot of money by importing.

The product sourcing strategies outlined in this article all have the power to produce an ongoing supply of profitable products to sell on eBay.  More information is available in ebooks such as ‘Sourcing Secrets Revealed’.

If you build a large amount of positive customer feedback it will increase your stature in the marketplace ( I should know I have over 31,000 on my main account!).

Feedback shows buyers what others who have done business with you thought about you and your service.  If you get even a few negative feedback ratings it can be very bad for business.
This article is going to show you how to build up a large amount of great feedback in the shortest time.
I have tested the following method this recently with my own personal account.

1.    After you’ve registered an account with eBay and paypal your ready to start building feedback.  First off, you can purchase a few inexpensive items and get your first few feedbacks from sellers.  I looked for some cheap music CD’s and only paid a few dollars each. That got me about 10 feedbacks without selling anything.

2.    Next, find a very low-ticket priced item that’s small and light.  Cheap $1 jewelry, sunglasses, playing cards, etc.
You could re-sell some of the items you bought – if you buy carefully you can make a profit.

3.    Launch a lot of these as low-ticket auctions with no reserve.  You just want to sell as many items as you can in the shortest amount of time.  This is why I’ve selected a low price point item.  You can sell massive amounts of small items regardless of how much feedback you have.  Bigger, more expensive products usually require more feedback to gain an eBay buyer’s trust.

4.    When you ship out peoples’ goods, include a printed letter thanking them for their order and politely asking for feedback.  Tell them that you have already left them positive feedback on their eBay account, and if they were happy with your service, you would appreciate the same.  I find about 20% of customers never take the time to leave feedback, either negative or positive.  The quick personalized note will help.  If they are politely asked, most people are happy to leave beaming feedback for you.

5.    Repeat the above process until you have over 100 positive feedback ratings on your eBay account.  Be sure to provide fast shipping and courteous customer service to ensure only positive feedback.  After you’ve crossed 100 feedbacks, you can easily start to sell higher ticket items because the buyers will see your high feedback ratings and trust you more.
You will also nowe have gained experience of using eBay which will help you build your business.

You should take your feedback rating very seriously.  It will stay with your eBay business for all time and is the scorecard of what your customers think of you.  Feedback can either be a huge asset or a huge liability to your business.
Give the best customer service and fastest shipping you can.
Remember it’s just not worth risking getting even one terrible feedback review.  Each negative feedback tarnishes your eBay image and makes people think twice about buying from you.

Follow the steps of this post and you’ll have no problem building and maintaining a great feedback rating.

These tips are based on many years of importing goods, mainly from China.

6. Negotiate with Suppliers

I would recommend finding several potential suppliers and ask them for MOQ (Minimum order quantities) and prices on different volumes.
You should be able to negotiate both the price and MOQ down.  I have  included a sample order where I only had to buy 50 of some items.  The MOQ was originally a whole carton of each which was 300 to 500 depending on the product.

7. Use A complete Shipping Service

I use a shipping agent who handles everything – collects it from the factory, ships it, handles customs, and then delivers it to my door.  This makes life easy.
You must also check if insurance is included – you may have to arrange this separately.

8. Check Your Costing

Be carefully to include all costs when working out if it is worth importing a product.
Include cost of products (plus bank charges for transferring money abroad., shipping and any import duties and other taxes.

9. Take Pre-Orders

For some items you may be able to take pre-orders from friends and family so that you know you have sold a proportion of the order before it even arrives.  You may also be able to do this with retailers in your area.

10. Make Sure You Run This As A Business

Keep proper records of everything – check with a professional to make sure you are running you business correctly and complying with all relevant rules and regulations

Finally I would like to wish you good luck with your importing business, should you decide to go ahead, and keep checking my blog for useful hints and tips.

These tips are based on many years of importing goods, mainly from China.

1. Check The Legal Requirements

You must check all the rules and regulations applying to the items you wish to import and which taxes and duties will be payable.
I found my shipping company were able to help with this.
You can also contact Customs, or check the internet for relevant information.

2. Check Out Your Potential  Sources

This is not easy – you are dealing with someone you do not know who is a long way away.  You must be cautious about sending money abroad as the person may not have a real company at all.
I suggest asking them for the name of a shipping company they have used to ship goods and also for the names of some of their customers.  Check these contacts out.

3. Ask For Samples

It is always best to ask for samples before you order in bulk.  You do need to check the items are exactly what you are expecting and to check the quality.  You may have to pay the shipping for samples but it is worthwhile.  This also checks if the supplier is genuine to a certain extent.

4. Run Tests First Before Importing Anything

Before you import a lot of an item it is best to try selling the same   item first even if you don’t make much.  Buy from a wholesaler or another seller (negotiate a quantity price from them).

It is better to purchase one of an item and see if it sells, then buy 5 or 10 and make sure they sell too.  You can experiment with price and estimate the volume you can sell.  I normally import about 3 to 6 months stock.  Do not risk being left with 100s of imported ones.

5. Minimise All Your Risks

Place a small order first – my first one was about $1000, and don’t ever risk more than you can afford to lose.
If $1000 seems like too much to risk then go via a wholesaler or other supplier first until you have made enough profit to finance going into importing.

More tips are suplied with my eBook ‘Sourcing Secrets Revealed’

Keith Purkiss