If you have something to sell, and you want to attract millions of potential customers from all over the world, one of the places you might want to market it is online, at Ebay. This massive online auction site is easy to use and extremely popular. The key to making money on Ebay is knowing which items are in demand and then using the proper marketing techniques to drive buyers to your auctions.

History

Ebay hit the internet back in 1995 under the name AuctionWeb. Shortly after writing the code for the site its creator, Pierre Omidyar, decided to test it by listing a broken laser pointer for sale. It sold. Fourteen dollars and eighty three cents later AuctionWeb, soon-to-become Ebay, was born.

The Facts

Ebay is an auction website and, as such, offers several types of auctions. The two most popular types are the regular auction-style listings which are open to bidding, and the fixed-price listing, or "buy it now," where there is no bidding. The auctions have minimum starting bids and some have what is known as a "reserve price." This price is actually the minimum the seller is willing to accept for the item.

Items to Sell

According to Ebay Pulse, the most commonly used search term on the site is "iPod." Furthermore, Ebay's research shows there is a huge market for small electronics (Ebay Pulse). Collectibles and antiques are popular as well. In fact, recently a vintage Iron Man comic book sold for almost 17 thousand dollars. A vintage poker chip sold for 14 thousand dollars. A typewriter from the 1880's sold for a little over 10 thousand dollars.

Where To Find Items To Sell

A lot of the most popular items on Ebay can be found around your home. Check your garage, attic, basement, storage unit, even Mom and Dad's house. Look for old sports memorabilia, coin collections, antique household items and musical instruments. Flea markets and garage sales are good places to find items to sell on Ebay, especially books, DVDs and audio CDs.

Pricing

Depending on what it is you are selling, it may be difficult to come up with a value. Antique and collectible items are especially challenging to price. One way to research values is to perform a search of auctions which have closed. The website makes it easy for you to do this. By putting the name of your item in the search box and specifying that you want only the results of completed listings, you will be able to see what other sellers received for the same item.

Marketing Your Items

The biggest mistake you can make when listing your item for sale on Ebay is to misspell critical words in the description. Buyers use key words to search for items. If your item's description is misspelled it won't show up in the buyer's search results. Also, take good photos of your item. Especially if there are a lot of other sellers listing an item similar to yours, your photos and your description need to be clear.

Learn more about this author, Victoria Hunter.
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