Expert: Marvinator - 9/30/2007

Question
Hello, I want to start a business of buying shoes from cheaper source and selling them on ebay, and due to my very busy schedule (Im a student) I feel this will give me time to manage the selling and concentrate in my studies.

My question is, do you think Ebay can provide that or I will need to monitor everytime and also is it at straight forward the selling and money transfers (I want credit card payments) as I think or its more involving??

Regards  

Answer
Ebay does not provide you with anything other than a venue for selling your stuff.  Whether you sell shoes or automobiles, all eBay provides is the place to sell. How well you work the business of selling and how well you work within the eBay system will tell whether or not you can make any money.  

An Ebay business is ONLY as good as the seller.  I cannot tell you how many times I've seen new sellers who are busy with a business that makes no money.  What they do to NOT make sales are as obvious as those things which will make money.  

- They sell garbage and price it high.
- They sell a good product and price it high.
- They do not include pictures.
- They describe an item in a sentence or two, or even worse, the description is the same as the auction title!
- They try to pass off any problems in the product to the manufacturer.
- They are impolite to buyers
- they package horribly, allowing breakage and damage.
I could go on and on.  

Do yourself a favor.  Don't just open a business and expect it to make money.  LEARN how to make your business work on ebay a step at a time.  Never assume.  

Lastly, Credit card payments are nice, but you will make more money by accepting Paypal payments as a general rule.  Paypal payments cover credit card payments AND Paypal account balance payments but Credit CArd payments through Paypal actually cost you more as a seller.  

I hope this helps and feel free to come back and ask more questions as your business gets going!  
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