Some helpful trading advice

fudjj wrote:I think that's very sound advice from Gordon, welcome to both of you to the forum btw

Research is king in this business.

You have to bare in mind that just because a product might sell well world wide, the question needs to be can you compete with the sellers?

Remember, eBay isn't an even playing field. You have big time sellers buying in massive volume and selling at a reduced margins to get sales and dominate the market on hot selling items. So knowing that the product they are selling might be a hot seller worldwide is of little use to you if you can't compete on the same scale that they are.

Found this cool marketing blog by Seth Godin as I was struggling to find something to sell cheap on Ebay:

There’s always a spot for the best in the market.

Not the most expensive, but the one that most ideally suits the needs of those that care.

It's easy to get lost in the chaos of mediocre, of discount, of close and cheap. But if you're the best, among the people who care to find and talk about the best, no market is too crowded.

The hard part is figuring out what 'best' means.

After ruminating on this, I changed tack. I have a few discount products to sell, but the rest are better quality and sourced directly from the manufacturer or company who owns the brand.

These are less well known brand names items i.e. not Apple, Samsung etc. However they meet the needs of a particular group where I live.

Think of something that you have difficulty finding for yourself. Try not to just look at just the big brand names, as they only sell to authorised resellers that have met stringent criteria or big department stores.

I only sell discount items on Ebay and these rest from a website.

Are you making the most of your eBay customers?

Getting their email, getting them signed up to a newsletter and making special offers to them through your site?

Good idea!

Thanks Kim, I have the occasional one every now and then lol