4 steps to discover what is selling on eBay
You’ve pondered the idea of starting an online business, perhaps on eBay, but aren’t sure what to sell. How do you know what products people will buy?
The quickest way to lose money on eBay (or anywhere else) and get discouraged is to hold auctions without first researching whether items like yours are selling. You can imagine that everyone has to want your products. But the truth is, your pieces are probably competing against hundreds and thousands of other listings.
This article outlines the steps you can take to minimize your risk before holding your first auction. Here are things you will learn:
• what is sold on eBay in any genre – is there a demand?
• how many people are willing to pay for these items
The eBay marketplace comprises a dynamic and fluid stream of millions of users who create the marketplace. Items moving through the eBay system change daily, so it’s vital that you understand these changes and how to take advantage of them. The solution to navigating and profiting from the flow of the eBay marketplace is to research…research…research!
You can only sell items if there is a demand for those items. If no one wants what you’re selling on eBay, you won’t make any sales there. You will only get as much money for your items as people are willing to pay for them.
Research Step 1
Go to pulse.eBay.com. Popular searches show you the most searched for items. You can also enter different categories and learn what is popular by genre, such as jewelry, art, or motors (cars).
After choosing an item you want to sell, go to the eBay home page and enter a word or phrase that describes your item in the search box. For example, I typed in “handmade jewelry” and over 150 live auctions were displayed.
Research Step 2
You are then on the results page for “Handmade Jewelry” auctions. Scroll down the links on the left side of the page and click on the “Completed Items” link. eBay shows me a snapshot of handmade jewelry listings that ended in a recent period.
Research Step 3
We need to know how many people are willing to pay for “handmade jewelry” to know if it’s profitable to even consider listing these pieces on eBay.
eBay allows you to sort completed auction listings by price. Just click on the link that says “higher price”. Now your list of completed auctions will be sorted by highest priced items first, descending to lowest prices. If the list shows the lowest prices first, simply click “highest price” again and the sort order will be reversed.
You will notice that not all completed auctions received bids. For the purposes of our research, we are only interested in the prices of completed auctions, especially the highest priced listings. You want to know what people are willing to pay for items like the ones you want to sell.
Research Step 4
Based on the average prices your research reveals, decide if you can profitably make (or buy) and sell handmade jewelry on eBay. Do not try to fool yourself with illusions. Do the math and determine exactly how much time/labor and material cost goes into your item. If it takes you 8 hours to make a piece of jewelry and the highest selling price on eBay for similar items is only $26, you won’t make a profit.
That’s all it takes to give you up-to-date market research for selling items on eBay. If you decide to go ahead with an eBay business, you’ll also want to examine listings that have been successfully completed to learn how to improve your listings.