Where to find hot items to sell on Ebay

68

By morbooze

Selling on Ebay

eBay 101: Selling on eBay For Part-time or Full-time Income
Amazon Price: $11.94
List Price: $18.95
Starting an eBay Business For Dummies
Amazon Price: $13.37
List Price: $24.99
eBay For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers))
Amazon Price: $13.55
List Price: $24.99
eBay PowerSeller Secrets: Insider Tips from eBay's Most Successful Sellers (2nd Edition) (v. 2)
Amazon Price: $12.49
List Price: $24.99

Selling on Ebay

Actually finding the right item to sell on Ebay is a matter of finding the right sources where those items are. People have different perceptions and interests. So labeling the item as "hot" is totally on the buyers perspective depending on his needs and use.

Here are some tips where to find great sources of items that could be potentially become hot items, I was able to gather these from friends and frequent Ebay sellers. Hope this helps, let me know.

I have also Included hot items currently on sale on Ebay, you might find some clues as to how these items became in demand. Check them out.

Garage sales: Garage sales are a great place to find items at a good price to resell. It is almost like a treasure hunt because you never know what you will find. The down side to garage sales is that you might have to do a lot of shopping around to come across what you are looking for, or the "mother load" Personally I can't resist to stop at a good looking garage sale.

Thrift stores: Thrift sources are similar to garage sales. You may find a lot of good deals, but you may have trouble finding a quantity of "gems" to sell. I suggest using garage sales and thrift stores in conjunction.

Estate sales: These are great. You can find a lot of quality items. The trick is, is to watch the newspapers close, and make sure you bring enough money for the high end items that you can sell for even more. If you live in a small community you may have to do some driving to take advantage of estate sales.

Small business: I would suggest that you approach small business owners and offer to sell their overstock on eBay for them. If you get several of these you could do very well. About 25% of the sales is close to the amount you should charge for your service. Make sure you right up an agreement, especially pertaining on the owner not selling anything that you are listing. It is better if you have the items in your possession. The drawbacks of this is that you have to keep your number of clients up, and risk your feedback if the owner sells the item you listed for him or changes his mind.

Drop shippers: The good thing about drop shipping is that you don't have to keep an inventory. When you make a sale you just contact you drop shipper, pay them their cost and they send the product to your customer. The bad thing about drop shipping is that you are depending on another to ship to your customers on time. You are also selling something that is not in your possession. This could be risky for your feedback if the item has to be back ordered, or suddenly becomes discontinued.

Bulk/lots: If you have enough money to by a lot, or large quantity of your product, you are on your way. With this you will have to make sure you have the room to store a large quantity of goods. You also have to have confidence they will continue to sell and not die out in the middle. There are online sources you can use to find bulk items. Use a search engine using the words; wholesale, surplus, bulk, lots, you get the idea. Say you are looking for a quantity of combs, type in the search box combs AND bulk, or another keyword to go with combs. Make sure the word "and" is in caps.

EBay: What? Yes, you can find things to sell on eBay on eBay. Look in the lot items and if you can find a good deal on good items, you can buy them and then sell them separate. You can also keep an eye on items you know about and possibly snatch something up for a low price and resell it. This technique takes patience and time. The "great" deal does not come everyday.

Family/Friends/Co-workers: This is where you sell items on eBay for people that you know, and they tell people that they know, and it goes on. Sometimes it can be tough selling for people you know. They might want to take advantage of you and try and get you to lower your cut of the sales.

The best source is the one you can feel good about, and is trustworthy. If a source makes you uncomfortable, try a different one. There is no reason you have to stick to one source. Branch out a little and see what you can find. You might be able to come across something that will make other sellers green with envy.

Comments

singingmommy profile image

singingmommy 4 years ago

That was wonderful! Thank you! I will give some of them a try.

Whitney05 profile image

Whitney05 Level 2 Commenter 4 years ago

Great list of places to find stuff for Ebay. You forgot one. ;-)

Flea markets are a great place to find stuff too. You can find all sorts of random items. You can barter with the sellers for better prices, then turn around and put the items on Ebay.

morbooze profile image

morbooze Hub Author 4 years ago

Thanks for the input, you're absolutely right, flea markets are also a great place to find items that could have potential to become hot items. And very cheap too.

auctionmem 3 years ago

You have some fantastic tips here. Thanks a lot!

Submit a Comment
Members and Guests

Sign in or sign up and post using a hubpages account.



    • No HTML is allowed in comments, but URLs will be hyperlinked
    • Comments are not for promoting your Hubs or other sites

    Please wait working