Hi Shane,
Why not try selling a few things that you find around your home, especially those that you've been hiding in your closet (since who knows when) or things that you no longer use. These things may seem useless to you but you never know how valuable these could be to others. This way you don't have to spend money buying products yet you make money. FYI: there is a growing market for vintage things...so you may want to give this a try.
With regards to eBay, yes, their fees among other things are a bit outrageous. If you feel that you're barely making profit there try selling on other sites, like Bonanzle, eCrater, eBid to mention a few.
Here are a few blog articles that may help:
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I guess for starters $500 is a decent sum, it may not be as big as you expected, but then again $500 is $500. Don't you think?!
Don't give up...Just keep on selling... =D
All the best!