In 2006, a study was conducted by ACNielsen on behalf of eBay. The company surveyed eBay sellers around the globe, including 2,000 in the United States. And it concluded that “approximately 1.3 million sellers around the world use eBay as their primary or secondary source of income,” with an estimated 630,239 in the United States.

Many internet users (including me) have realized that eBay is a proven method to make money.  It is not a get rich overnight excursion! However, with passion, some homework (research), proper planning and a little effort, then it is not impossible that we will eventually be making a lot of money online with eBay.

[Tips: Starting an eBay business is easy. However, to make the most out of it, a crucial success factor is to find a niche that few people are competing in, if we can do this then this is probably the best way to start an eBay business and kiss goodbye to the boring day-job.]

eBay provides a rare opportunity for entrepreneurs.  Unlike a bricks-and-mortar shop which works best in strategic location as to be able to attract passing-by customers and  extensive marketing, eBay provide all of this on a global basis without the overheads.  eBay has allowed millions of people to go into business who previously wouldn’t have considered it, while growing numbers are making healthy second incomes by buying items and selling them online for profit.

Most ebayers may have been making money by SELLING on eBay.  A common way is by selling local products. The way to do this is to source or buy products which you can buy at a cheap price in your local area and then promote the product to other places or countries where people would be willing to pay more.   Another profitable method is to firstly buy from eBay at a minimal cost and then re-sell the same product at a higher price.

My SECRET in making extra money online with eBay is this:   I researched for various types of products on eBay, looking for items like branded clothes, cosmetics, sport shoes and electronic gadgets.  I will then try to win the auction or buy the item at prices (including shipping cost if any) which is at least 30% less than the market price for similar items in my homeland.  I buy those items on eBay and later SELL THE ITEM OFFLINE to my friends and interested buyers living in my hometown.

I leave you for now with this 2 promoted slogans of eBay. “What ever it is, you can get it on eBay”  and “Buy it, sell it, love it”.