eBay - The Basics

I began selling on eBay in 1999 and have found it to be an enjoyable and profitable experience. I had owned a retail computer store for a few years and decided to close it. I still had a lot of computer inventory and soon discovered eBay was a good resource for selling the parts.

This turned into an ideal situation as selling this way became a home-based business and the overhead was very low. This was a plus to my income opportunity. A spare bedroom in the basement soon became my eBay selling room.

As time passed, more people began selling computer parts and the margins were getting thin. I needed to come up with a new idea that would keep my profit margins at an acceptable level. Instead of selling the computer parts, I would compile a list of my resources and then sell the list as a wholesale resource. The computer wholesale list became an overnight success on eBay. The list has cost me nothing except time, and I was able to sell the list several hundred times. I compiled the list in Excel and also in a text file. Another option was to have it burned to a CD and then mailed to the customer. I charged an extra fee for the CD, and sold quite a few that way too.

After selling the wholesale list for a few months, eBay changed the rules and would no longer allow cross-posting the same item, and also limited the number of times the same item could be listed at the same time. This change caused sales to drop, and I eventually stopped selling the list.

I still had the eBay bug, and was looking for other (http://www.auctionmanger.biz) eBay resources to sell. I started going to garage sales and looking for unique and inexpensive items. This was also another successful resource and lasted for about a year until more people started realizing this technique, and it was getting more difficult to find the bargains.

The next resource I started using was going to auctions and putting the items I purchased on eBay. So far, this has been another good resource and one that I still use. My best buys are when I can buy a quantity of an item for a very low price.

One example was several boxes of HO scale train cars, engines and accessories. There were over 300 items and I ended up paying $150. That came out to 50 cents for each item. There was a lot of work photographing and writing a description for each item. The worked paid off as each item sold anywhere from $3.00 to $12.00 each, making a very nice profit margin.

Selling on eBay is still a resource for additional income, and I am always on the lookout for the next big sale.

James Hendrix has been putting people in business on the Internet since 1996. He has experience with web hosting, development, marketing and search engine optimization.

Bloomberg

Vadim's Ferrari 250 GT Sells for $5. BusinessWeek Still, the Paris auctions saw few lots sell above valuations, suggesting that the market for more routine classics remains highly selective. Collectible cars often fetch higher prices through discreet transactions than at public auctions, dealers said. Vadim's Ferrari 250 GT Sells for $5.8 Million in Paris AuctionBloomberg all 4 news articles »

Treasury Yield Is 3 Basis Points From One-Week High Before Debt Auctions Bloomberg Treasury yields were three basis points from the most in a week on speculation investors will demand higher rates at $72 billion of note and bond sales that begin tomorrow, following a stronger-than-expected jobs report. The difference between rates on ... and more »

Treasury Auctions Set for This Week New York Times The Treasury's schedule of financing this week includes Monday's regular weekly auction of new three- and six-month bills and an auction of four-week bills on Tuesday. At the close of the New York cash market on Friday, the rate on the outstanding ...

Ivory Coast's Cocoa Auctions Put Futures Market on Edge Wall Street Journal Last week, Ivory Coast, the source of more than one-third of the world's supply, launched a series of auctions to sell a portion of its 2012-13 crop, part of the eight-month-old government's plan to overhaul the industry and ensure a floor price for ... and more »

Business Recorder

Scrutiny pays, but not always Hindustan Times Queues can be jumped, lotteries rigged and auction bids fixed. Without policing, none is inherently superior over the other two. To the extent that lotteries and early-bird schemes tend to create a black market, the original purpose of keeping prices ... Spectrum sale seen to swell coffersCalcutta Telegraph The court strikes backTimes of India Mobile spectrum auction: avoid the controversy, please!Business Recorder Business Standard -Hindu Business Line -Forbes India (blog) all 521 news articles »

The Daily Star

Tom Brady Game Jersey Sells for Thousands at Super Bowl Auction Patch.com The 2011 game jersey was purchased at The Super Bowl XLVI Live Auction in Indianapolis on Saturday, tripling the item's presale estimated value, Hunt Auctions reports. Brady wore the jersey during the Oct. 16 game against the Dallas Cowboys. Tom Brady Jersey Auctions For $46KWRTV Indianapolis Tom Brady Jersey Sells For $46K At Auction Before Super BowlHuffington Post Super Bowl 2012 Buzz:Indianapolis Star WLKY Louisville all 530 news articles »

CAPS auction brings record haul Salina.com By CHRIS HUNTER As the bids poured in from the crowd on a Bud Light speaker at the 23rd Annual Celebrity Benefit Auction for Child Advocacy & Parenting Services, Dr. Merle "Boo" Hodges was hoping to get a crack at the speaker if it stayed lower than ... and more »

Atlanta Shakespeare Company Auctions ROMEO & JULIET Table Broadway World ASC is holding an e-bay auction for a front-and-center table for two for their special Valentine's performance of Romeo and Juliet. The auction will be for the performance on Tuesday February 14, 2012. The winner of the auction will also receive two ... and more »

Hindustan Times

IPL auction: Jadeja takes the cake with a cherry on top Hindustan Times IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla (L) with owner of Mumbai Indians Nita Ambani and Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan at a press conference after auction of the players for IPL-5, in Bangalore. Like the past Indian Premier League auctions, ... 10 big facts about the IPL 5 auctionNDTV IPL 5 auction held; 800+ crore spent: Tournament from April 4isikkim Older players take a backseat at the 5th IPL auctionBusiness Today Times of India -TruthDive -Newstrack India all 382 news articles »

Stockholm home to oldest auction house Times of India Herodotus has mentioned auctions in Babylon. Several types of auctions - from slaves to seized goods in an armed invasion - are mentioned in Roman and Greek history. The modern world's oldest auction house is the Stockholm Auction house formed in 1674.