I’ll explain how you do it. You take on the role of an intermediary. You identify items that are available to buy on the internet at a discount, and you list them on eBay as if you are the seller, yourself. Not to worry. There’s nothing immoral about this. In fact, it’s becoming very common these days. You should think of it like this. You’re offering a needed service to folks who are not very good with internet research. You’re finding products that they couldn’t find, themselves. Now, there’s a little risk involved with this technique, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
There are many places on the internet where you can find great deals on any number of items. Some common places to look are the Amazon.com marketplace, alternate auction sites (besides eBay), online wholesalers, and dropshippers. Once you find a cheap deal, you need to do a little research to find out what the value is on eBay. You can do a quick search of closed listings to see how much people are paying for the particular item you’ve found. Once you’ve confirmed that there’s a good market for the item you’ve found, you list the item on eBay. You can use a stock photo of the item for your listing.
When the item sells on eBay, you’ll get an email notification. Next, place an order for the actual item from your source. In some cases, depending on the source, you can have the merchandise packed by your source so that it appears to have come directly from you. This is often true in the case of dropshippers. Otherwise, you’ll need to have the item shipped directly to you; then you can send the item to your buyer. This incurs additional shipping costs, and it takes longer for your buyer to get the item.
In my introduction, I said there may be a little risk involved. The risk is to your eBay feedback score, which is essentially your reputation. You incur this risk by promising someone else’s merchandise, and you’ll suffer if the merchandise is unavailable when it comes time to deliver to your customer. So, to protect yourself, you should only list products that are in good supply. Do not ever list an item from a source that only has a small quantity in stock. When a customer places an order with you, and you find that the merchandise is out of stock with your supplier, you’ll have to find an alternate source fast.
Probably, the best way to avoid this risk altogether is to use a dropshipper and to actually buy some products from the dropshipper, who then sets the products aside for you. When the merchandise sells, the dropshipper packages the item and ships it for you. This almost guarantees that you’ll never receive an order only to find that your supplier is out of stock. Though, there’s a little risk with this method as well. Once you buy the merchandise, you own it, even though it’s sitting in the dropshipper’s warehouse, and if the market price drops for that merchandise, you’re out of luck. You may have to sell the product at a loss.
So, both methods come with their respective risks. You’ll have to choose which one you’re most comfortable with. As long as you’re deliberate, you’ll do well. And you’ll stand a good chance of making some great money on eBay, while never stocking any products.
