I am pretty lazy, yet I have somehow managed to do a pretty steady <a href=http://myworld.ebay.com/deltaburkefan/>ebay business</a>. A couple of people have asked me how I actually manage sell my wares and make a sizeable chunk of change. In fact, I just wired a tuition downpayment today, which I obtained entirely from my ebay profits.

Step One: Take stock of your stockpile.

I don’t know about you, but before the economy got bad, I bought a lot of useless junk. And my style has changed a lot recently, but I always took pretty good care of my stuff. Take a look at what you have. Here’s what sells well:

-designer handbags and shoes. Look around on ebay before you sell and see how certain brands do. Designer clothes also sell well, but I find that accessories get a better return. If you have the original shoebox or dustbag, even better.

-anything really cute or unique.

-practical things. Work wear.

-electronics, especially ipods.

Really, just put anything up there that you’re willing to part with. It’s not making you any money sitting in your closet or whatever. Another salient point: don’t expect to make a profit from what you originally paid. Unless it’s a really coveted item, like a piece from a sold out-in-five-minutes-designer-for-h&m-collection, you probably won’t. I’d say that most of the time, I sell something for about a quarter to a third of the price I paid. Sometimes less. The only time when I’ve made a genuine profit, I think, is when I’ve sold something that was a gift and I paid zero. To keep things in perspective, even if you sell something for a lot less than you paid, you’re still making some money. It’s doing more for you economically than if it was just in your house, sitting unused. The key to making a lot on ebay, besides those magical items that sell for 350$ on buy it now (I had one and it was a total euphoric high), is volume. Sell as much as possible and the little amounts will add up.

Step Two: Make it look pretty.

First, think about location. A plain background looks best. For clothes, I hang them up on a hook on a white door in my bathroom. For objects, I generally photograph them on the white table in my room. Make sure your surface is clean, because otherwise it will look like your object is from a dirty house and no one will want to buy it.

Ebay buyers want to see the thing from all angles, so take lots of pictures. For clothes, front and back will be enough. For other things, use your judgement. The nicer the picture, the better your item will do. My stuff started doing a lot better once I started using a tripod.

That’s all for today. More later.