Selling a Little of This and a Little of That on eBay

October 30, 2007

Selling on eBay is much different than selling in a bricks and mortar store. eBay allows you the ability to experiment with what you sell. If you are selling green widgets and are having no luck, you can fairly easily, and quickly, change to selling purple thingamajigs. Doing this with a bricks and mortar store really isn’t practical as people expect you to be selling one type of item, or one specific product niche.

It is entirely feasible you will end up doing a mixture of everything on eBay, which is one of the great strengths of this incredible marketplace. Unlike a “normal” retail business where you expect to find only certain kinds of products, eBay allows you to sell a wide variety of products that are not necessarily complementary to each other. As a matter of fact, one of our best selling products had absolutely nothing to do with the main kinds of products we were selling at the same time.

The name of the eBay game is to sell product, usually in high volume, as this is generally the only way you will make any money. You will be hard-pressed to get retail for your products as everyone wants a deal on eBay, therefore the necessity to sell lots and lots of product.

There will be products you will come across while product sourcing, and researching, that you may find too good to pass up. Even if the products have nothing to do with your core items, do not feel like you should pass up a golden opportunity just because a product is totally unrelated to your other products.

While it certainly makes sense to sell products that are complementary to each other to try and increase the possibility a buyer will purchase multiple items from you at one time, you should not limit yourself to just this one concept.

We suggest you not go on a product buying spree just because you think you have come across a really good deal on a bunch of green widgets for $0.25 each. Make sure you have researched your potential product BEFORE making that purchase. You don’t want to waste your hard earned money on a product that won’t make you a profit.

eBay has been called the World’s Garage Sale. People come to eBay to find a deal and they often come looking for one certain type of item. If your listing appears in the search results of a prospective buyer, it really does not matter that your main line of product is green widgets and they are searching for purple thingamajigs. As long as you and your listing come across as professional and you have what someone is looking for at a reasonable price, then you most likely will have made a sale. Remember the garage sale mentality – if you have what someone is looking for at a price they just can’t pass up, then you have a deal.

Experiment with your product selection. See if you can sell different types of items at the same time. You will be surprised how successful you can be selling items that are not necessarily related. Have fun with it and don’t be afraid to sell a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

TIP: While it may seem easier to sell something you are passionate about, or is a hobby of yours, this cannot always be the case. We have found that if you can make money selling something, it doesn’t necessarily matter what you sell as long as it is profitable. If a certain product does not interest you, don’t let that be a reason for not selling it. You might be pleasantly surprised at what sells regardless of your interest (or lack thereof) in that product!