Friday 31 May 2013

Tips for Easy Online Market Research

  Market research is the best way to find new products and more importantly, determine whether they will sell.  When we perform market research, we are researching three things (1) the audience (2) the products and (3) the competition. Think about it this way: would you ever open a cafe in a street without knowing if there are other cafes nearby, or without researching how many people walk by each day? It's highly unlikely! Without performing adequate market research, online sellers can find themselves with a garage full of $5000 worth of stock and no interested buyers. To avoid getting yourself into that kind of dreaded situation, read on for my 5 step guide to easy online market research.
Step 1 Come up with a few product ideas. You may already have a few to get you started. Keep in mind the best items to sell are niche items which means they will appeal to only a small audience. This might seem strange, but new sellers become PowerSellers by appealing to a very small number of people then expanding their product range later. A few examples might be: plus size men's sleepwear, fishing rod holders, left handed can-openers or women's golf shoes.
Step 2 Next, research these products individually. You can do this by searching through eBay's completed listings. This will take couple of hours of your time but won't cost a thing. Start by going to eBay and clicking the "advanced search" icon right next to the search bar. Find the heading "search including" and check the box for "completed listings"
Step 3 Next enter a few keywords describing the item you are selling, select a category and hit the search button
Step 4 You'll now be presented with a list of search results. Scroll through the results and look at how many items sold (represented by their price being written in green) and how many did not sell (represented by their price being written in red). Count up the number of green listings in relation to the number of red. To find a profitable niche product, you need to find a product with at least 60% of its completed listings being green. Scroll through at least 5 pages to really make sure you are onto a good thing.
Step 5 If you're item meets the 60% threshold; it's time to find a supplier! If you're item doesn't hit the 60% mark, enter a new product idea into the search bar and start over!

Tuesday 21 May 2013

7 Reliably Profitable Ebay Markets

Do you want to find out about eBay's consistently popular categories? I have just compiled this hot list to show you what's profitable on eBay, season after season, year after year.

 Clothing, shoes and accessories Clothing is such an exciting category to get involved in as it encompasses so many niches such as plus size gym wear, novelty underwear, and comfort shoes. Clothing is also easy to sell and ship, and best of all, there will always be a demand for clothing (at least until global warming really kicks in). Selling tip: Always give buyers as much information as possible in your eBay listings, especially about the item's size. This helps buyers to assess whether it will fit them - one factor which can easily cause uncertainty in potential buyers.

  Collectibles eBay is without a doubt the world's most popular place to buy and sell collectible items. Collectibles can include antique items, baseball cards, posters, medals and war artifacts, comics and branded items like Coca Cola and much more. Sourcing Tip: Visit yard and estate sales for arbitrage items which you can buy very cheaply and sell on to make a pretty profit.

 Electronics Possibly the most competitive, yet potentially profitable markets on eBay - particularly when it comes to items such as iPods and mobile phones. The best way to approach this market is in a big way - to really make a profit, you will need to do a big bulk buy and sell in big volumes. Consider supplementing your product range with accessories such as iPod skins, spare cords, or hands free kits for mobile phones.

 CDs and DVDs Did you know that eBaysells over 1 million DVDs and CDs and each month? However, for every one million sold, there are around 2 million listed. Yip, you guessed it, this is another highly competitive market. The trick to making it in DVDs and CDs is to niche it up - go outside of mainstream movies and TV series', or music albums and find a new niche market like exercise DVD's, classic films or learning languages.

 Gaming Systems Many gaming enthusiasts use eBay to buy and sell their games and gaming systems. A typical gamer will buy the latest system, play it for 8 hours a day for four weeks then sell it on and find something new to entertain them, which means there is always an abundance of buyers on the hunt for a new system to entertain them.

 Healthy and Beauty There are so many items within the Health and Beauty market: weight loss supplements, anti-aging creams and vitamins, hair care, dental care, makeup (nail polish, lip gloss, lip stick, lip balm, concealer, powder, foundation, eyeliner, mascara, eyeshadow, illuminators, bronzers and blushers - phew!), perfume and cologne, moisturizer, eye cream, microdermabrasion kits, hair and makeup brushes and applicators, hair removal kits or razors and shaving creams, manicure kits, eyelash curlers, tweezers and much more! As with all categories, it really helps to sell something which you are really interested in or have experience with. For example, if you suffer from dandruff, selling dandruff treatments would be ideal as you can relate to your audience and give them a few tips along the way (would be great in your eBay About Me page). Hot Tip: While brand-name items are top sellers in health and beauty, be very weary of Chinese suppliers offering these items very cheaply - they are likely to be fake and eBay cracks down very hard on anyone selling these

 Baby Gear From toys to feeding equipment and strollers, baby gear is a highly profitable eBay market. Like clothing, there will always be a market for baby equipment and with the huge costs associated with bringing up a baby, it's no wonder parents turn to buying online to find bargains and save themselves some money. Hot Tip: Don't be afraid to source second-hand or sample grade baby clothing - babies are messy little things and parents need them to have an abundance of cheap clothing to change them into after they splash around in the puddles, play with mud or start a food fight with their sweater. Keep in mind these markets are reliably profitable only when they are well executed! The above categories are highly competitive so when selling them, you must work hard to stand out from your competitors with great key words and item descriptions, and flawless customer service! To learn more about this amazing opportunity Click Here!! All the Best :)