ebay, online auctions, and internet commerce: an introduction

               

                The vast majority of questions I receive are concerning the viability of internet sales and commerce, specifically online auctions.  People want to know if they can make a serious amount of money within these venues, and more specifically, what exactly they have to do in order to get the kind of money I make.  I have been engage in internet commerce, or eCommerce, for about five years now, and I have made thousands of dollars just selling items whenever I have spare time. 

 

 

                One needs to remember the huge audience that well-established ecommerce sites generally entertain.  eBay alone has approximately 212 million users across the globe and millions of visitors per day.  Amazon.com has about 62 million unique visitors per month.  Despite whether you have had any luck selling a particular item in your local newspaper or through conventional means, this will be a much different experience for you. 

What should I sell?  Anything.  As a general rule, you can sell absolutely anything through eBay, Amazon.com Maketplace, and other venues.  There really isn’t much that won’t sell at all.  You can sell airplanes, cars, jewelry, collectibles, food stuffs, coupons, household items, furniture, electronics, and much more. 

A damaged Blackberry Bold cell phone sells for $202.50.

 

                There are several categories of venues where items might be listed: online auctions, fixed-price listings, and local / internet classifieds.  When you decide to list an item for sale, you must make the decision as to where to list it, for how much, and what type of expense and pricing models you will use.  In a general sense, most items should be listed in online auctions.  This especially includes smaller items and expensive items that will get a lot of bids.  Bigger items, such as large TV’s or furniture, can either be sold in auctions, but generally they should be listed in classified-type listings.  Fixed-price listings are good for specific types of items, such as books and possibly media items, and should generally be listed there for maximum profits.  These concepts will be discussed more later. 

 

 

 

 

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