If you're like me, you weren't raised in an environment where you were exposed to antiques and reselling growing up. I never really saw value in anything unless it was something I needed. So how did I manage to get where I am reselling on ebay? how do I figure out what sells or doesn't sell without having that type of background? Hopefully this post will give you a guide to grow and expand your knowledge.
The old saying that knowledge is power is never more true that when you are a reseller. Knowing the value in something used or old can allow you to make some serious cash. But what if you have no clue what items to buy? What if you simply don't know where to start? Does scouring yard sales and thrift stores leave you overwhelmed? Don't feel alone in this. many of us successful sellers started out just like you. But over time, we gained knowledge by doing our homework.
One of the reasons I tell new sellers to sell things from their homes first, is it gives them exposure to several different categories. The best thing to do is to gather together items you would normally put into your own yard sale, and start researching how much it would sell for on ebay. As crazy as it may seem, some of the oddest items sell really well. A lot of people really do not know what they have. You may find you have an item you know a lot about and it actually resells for a decent margin. Don't pass an item up simply because you don't think it is worth anything. As the old saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure.
So once you have depleted the items in your home and you are ready to venture into reselling, where do you start? By now you should have at least a few items that you now know sell well. These will be the items you will naturally seek out. But don't stop with just those items. Use your time wisely and start researching what has sold on ebay. One way of doing that is to simply browse the sold listings. If you see something that peaks your interest, then start narrowing the sold items down and see how well it actually sells. Seeing an item selling for $100 is way different than seeing 100 of them sell for $100. There are times that the right item showed up at the right time for the right buyer and the item sold for good money. It may never sell at that price again. You have to make sure there is a track record of consistent sales before taking off and investing in the item.
Even after selling for over 12 years, I still find items I didn't realize sold for good money. There is so much out there to pick from that it would be impossible to know every single item that sells well. I constantly research other sellers as well. I will seek out sellers who are doing better than I am with sales and see what they are selling. I also look at their listings to see how they list. What kind of photos are they taking? What kind of descriptions do they write? These all help me decide not only what to sell, but how to sell it. I am constantly revising my listings and shooting to get everything to peak performance.
Don't find a few things and think that you are set for selling. Ebay trends have wild swings. You will go from making $500 in one day to selling nothing the next. One month you will be on top of the world, and the next you will be trying to figure out who turned off your store. It's just ebay and has always been like that. If you can diversify then you run a greater chance of not having as great an impact on those swings as a niche seller might. now that's not to say that all niche sellers go through this as some do not. It just depends on a lot of factors as to whether you will be a part of that group or not.
The bottom line is never get comfortable selling the same things. Sooner or later you will have that sharp decline and that is when most people panic and start trying things like having sales, dropping prices, etc. If you diversify you stand a better chance of not having to go through that.
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