If you are interested in selling on eBay, you might wonder where
you can get items to sell. I'm talking about after you've
exhausted the logical first places, such as items in your garage
or loft or spare bedroom!
One of the drawbacks for anyone wishing to expand an interest in
auctions into a business - be it part or full time - is the need
to have stock to sell. Here are some of the issues you face:
Locating suppliers of stock at affordable prices Somewhere to
store your stock The means and space to wrap the items The time
to take them to a Post Office
One of the ways around all of these problems is to use
dropshipping. There are many people in the USA making extra
cash, and in some cases making a living, by selling items on
auctions on a dropship basis.
Dropshipping has arrived in the UK, and you may want to consider
it further. You might be asking, "What on earth is dropshipping?"
Dropshipping is a system of trading offered by certain
suppliers. These suppliers have stocks of goods, normally
products which will sell well on auctions, and which they are
willing to package and forward to your customers DIRECTLY.
This is how it works. Let's imagine you are a seller on eBay.
You join a dropship company. You then get access to the
company's online catalogue, which will usually have hundreds of
items at discounted prices. It will also explain to you how much
they charge you for P&P to your customer.
You select an item, create an auction listing and list it. The
auction finishes, and your winner pays you.
All you now do is send the winner's name and address, and the
payment, to the dropship company. The payment is the cost price,
plus the agreed shipping cost. The dropship company then package
and send out the goods to your winner. Your profit is the
difference between the discounted catalogue price you pay, and
the winning bid.
The system has some great plus points - you've made zero outlay
up-front for stock, and you are alleviated of all stock storage,
packaging and mailing problems. And you have a ready made supply
of new and different product lines.
On the flip side, you need to be careful you can make enough
margin - don't forget you pay any auction fees incurred. And if
you accept PayPal or any other online credit card payment
system, you will have to pay their percentage too.
With the right product, at the right price, dropshipping might
be a useful addition to any eBay seller's armoury.
About the author:
Brian McGregor is an eBay and internet entrepreneur. He recently
created the 'eBay Master Class' for eBay sellers. For your free
copy, please go to
http://www.work
winners.com/ebm-request.htm
