Easy Ways to Double Your eBay Profits in 2017 and Beyond

Most of us accept that just a tiny change to how we run our eBay ventures can have a staggering effect on our profits ….. and always on an upward trend.  The more important little changes you make, the more changes you test for profitability before making them a permanent feature of your business, the more money you’re likely to bank.

That is the power of numbers!

Before the ideas begin flowing let me reveal just two ways I personally use the numbers game to always, get that ‘always’, increase my profits by several hundred pounds every month, and sometimes a good deal more.

#1 - The first half hour of each working day is always spent uploading one or several bundled items that will almost certainly make me £30 easy profit, and sometimes more, such as a bundle of postcards that failed to sell individually but are worth much more than £30 in bulk.  Or I might bundle previously unsold lots of sheet music or paperweights, bus tickets or virtually any other kind of small collectible. 

Readers not quite so passionate about collectibles as I am might combine two or three fairly common or mass produced items, such as several CDs, two or three bars of soap in an attractive basket, ten bottles of nail varnish bought in a massive job lot at a bankruptcy sale.   If each makes ten pounds and you list and sell three such bundles each day, that’s £30 pure profit you should make daily.

You get the picture, I hope. 

#2 - There’s a specific antiquarian book I buy which is packed with engravings of small towns and villages in the late 1800s.  I could buy this book every day at less than a tenner a time and make at least one thousand pounds pure profit per copy.    

How?

Well this particular book, and thousands like it, is perfect for removing illustrations which are subsequently hand coloured and mounted and will sell all day long at £14.99 a throw.  Actually some fetch more, especially at auction where two or more people are keen to become the new owner. 

Incredibly, I can colour and mount ten illustrations in less than three hours and sell at least eight from a seven day auction.  Eight sales at almost £15 a time is £120, leaving about £100 pure profit after overheads.  Just two or three of those prints fetching £100 or more, yes it happens, and I’m guaranteed to make more money in a couple of hours than most people make all day.

With more time on my hands or someone available to help me locate, colour and mount prints from just one title, I’d easily make hundreds or even thousands of pounds weekly on eBay.  That’s the numbers game at play once again.

If you’re unsure about colouring vintage illustrations or you think it’s a job best left to experts, think again, because I learned all I know about colouring prints, which isn’t a great deal, from studying hand coloured prints from 17^th and 18^th century publications. 

You don’t have to buy those books to see how little paint and even less artistic ability went into producing some of those hand coloured prints hundreds of years ago and which frequently fetch fifty or sixty pounds each on eBay today.  Find out for yourself by visiting google.com, then click on ‘Images’ top of the screen, then on the following page key something like this into the search box:

‘hand coloured print 1800s’

‘h/c print’ where ‘h/c’ stand for ‘hand coloured’

There will be thousands of images to choose from and all you have to do is pick one resembling your own print, such as depicting lots of trees or a beach scene, mountains, people, park or playing field, and so on.   Click on the image to increase its size and save it to desktop.  Then use the image as inspiration for colouring your own print.

Footnote: Before someone asks, I am sorry I can’t tell you which books contain my most profitable prints.  That’s because right now I seem to be the sole buyer of these books on eBay, also in local auction salerooms and I don’t want to encourage competition.  But the truth is there are thousands of very early books containing valuable prints just crying out to be removed and sold ‘as is’ or with a few spots of colour added to increase their appearance and prices.

Do I have other ideas for exploding my profits by introducing quick and easy changes to my business?  You bet I do and I will be uploading them to this blog so please call back to read them soon.

Be An Antiques and Collectibles Picker and Sell Direct to the Trade

‘Picker’ is a mainly American term describing people who travel extensively to locate and ‘pick’ antiques and collectibles and other very high value items priced below market value by inexperienced dealers and collectors.  

The majority of pickers resell goods to private buyers, on eBay or other antiques or collectibles portals, often straight from their own shops on or off the Internet. 

So, for example, Picker A might purchase a massive stamp collection and pay £20,000 for items he’d expect to bank more than £40,000 from private buyers through several hundred eBay fixed price or auction listings.  That’s £20,000 gross profit - which might take months or years to collect. 

Such long delays between buying and reselling stock explains why some pickers sell direct to the trade, at lower prices than asked from private buyers, and in effect sharing their potential profits with resellers.  So unlike Picker A, Picker B might sell his £20,000 purchase intact to a specialist stamp dealer for £30,000, making £10,000 profit for Picker B and leaving £10,000 profit on the table for the stamp dealer.

Picker B might make less profit per pick that Picker A, but Picker B will work shorter hours and manage fewer sales transactions, as well as recouping his investment and reinvesting his profits much faster than Picker A.

Important

Haggling is common between trade sellers and that sometimes finds pickers earning lower profits than they might otherwise earn through careful negotiations. 

This is how to get the best deal:    

#1 - You Open Negotiations

i)  Decide how much you would charge a private buyer and reduce that item by ten per cent to a trade buyer.  This ten per cent represents the profit your trade buyer might expect to make later. 

But ten per cent is way too low for many trade buyers, especially those with high overheads, and that’s why you will find some trade contacts requiring discounts of twenty per cent or even more off market value.   Where you suspect ten per cent isn’t going to work, try the following method instead.

ii)  Determine the price below which you will not sell your item to a trade buyer.  When you meet, offer your prospective buyer a ten per cent discount on your retail prices and sometimes your contact will accept.  Otherwise, let the haggling begin and expect sometimes to bank more than your rock bottom best price.  Whatever happens, you should not negotiate below your previously determined minimum asking price.

#2 -Your Potential Buyer Opens Negotiations

Decide how much you’d like to make on your item and contact several trade buyers to determine where your best offer lies.  This is a convenient way to offload goods at antiques fairs and in antiques shopping malls where sometimes one hundred or more dealers are trading in close proximity.  

Move between traders, offering your goods and inviting an offer.  Make a mental or pencilled note of offers and either sell to the first person matching your required price or allow all to offer before selecting a winner.

Finding and Approaching Trade Buyers

Now all you need to know is how and where to find your trade buyers. 

You do it like this:

#1 - Build and Work Your Contacts List

Start today building a contacts list of potential trade buyers for your acquisitions.  When you study top antiques and collectibles dealers on British and American television, you’ll see most consulting their contacts books and telephoning or driving to visit people they feel certain will buy their goods.  Do the same by recording names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses for your potential trade buyers.

Locate those people from antiques dealers listed in telephone directories or advertising in newspapers and antiques magazines. Pick up business cards from stallholders at flea markets and antiques fairs, study specialists selling products similar to your own on eBay.  Wherever you see someone selling antiques and collectibles and you think that person might require the kinds of goods you specialise in you should add that person to your contacts list.

#2 - Sell Through Specialist Auction Salerooms

The idea involves buying quality goods below market value through salerooms located well away from major towns and cities, including some lacking their own websites, and others selling mainly low value goods with the odd really valuable item sometimes getting through the net. 

Then you resell those low price and potentially very high value items through specialist auction companies whose staff do recognise the value of our items as well as having rich clients interested in buying them.  This works like a dream, as you already know if you’ve ever watched television programmes like Flog It!  

To explain, when an item fails to sell in whatever small, out-of-the-way auction saleroom the Flog it! team visit for their programme, you’ll frequently hear presenters saying something like ‘Oh what a pity.  It looks like the right people weren’t here to buy on the day’, sometimes adding: ‘Take it to a specialist auction company and it will fly off the shelves.’  Which leaves me wondering why they didn’t take the item to a specialist saleroom in the first place! 

Cases in point:  Six signed photographs I bought for £40 in an auction in County Durham sold for more than £600 through specialist autograph auction company International Autograph Auctions (IAA Ltd.), trading from:

Foxhall Business Centre

Foxhall Road

Nottingham

NG7 6lH

Website: www.autographauctions.co.uk

Moral: When you have something special, like my photographs signed by King Edward VIII when he was still Prince of Wales, either auction them on eBay or go to google.com and key something like this into the search box:

‘art auction’

‘bronze statue signed auction’

‘auction company sports shirts’

‘auction classic cars’

That sort of thing!

Your search should bring a range of websites to help identify your item and auction companies willing to sell it.  But if all else fails, you can have your item valued by experts at:

Value My Stuff

www.valuemystuff.com

Antique Vault

www.antiquevault.co.uk

….. or send images to the appropriate specialist department of major auction companies like:

Christie’s

www.christies.com

Sotheby’s

www.sothebys.com

Bonhams

www.bonhams.com

Phillips

www.phillips.com

And that is it, just a handful of ways to make a huge profit, fast, on valuable items lurking as low value goods in small salerooms, or flea markets, or collectors’ fairs … not forgetting jumble sales, charity shops ….. and so on. 

How to Sell Your eBay Goods Way Above What Any Sane Person is Willing to Pay

I’m going to tell you now about people who will pay way over the odds for something you are selling, just to make sure they get their hands on that item and stop someone else buying it instead

As an eBay seller that sort of thing happens to me every day, and once you’ve finished reading this article, you’ll be no stranger to receiving top whack prices for items you purchase for pennies or low pounds at boot sales and flea markets.

Before I reveal how to make this idea work for you, let me tell you about something that happened to me more than forty years ago and which I have regretted every day since.

It happened at the Ramside Hall Hotel in Durham City, at a flea market where a dealer had a massive selection of vintage topographical postcards from my own collecting area, namely towns and villages close to Peterlee where I lived at the time.

I had twenty or thirty pounds in my purse, enough then to buy a fistful of average price postcards.  I bought what I wanted and was about to leave for home with enough money left to pay the rent for the week ahead.

And that is when I spotted two identical real photographic postcards depicting the interior of a long gone railway station in a nearby village.  I had been looking for this view for years!

I had enough money to buy one of the cards, but if I bought the card I would not be able to pay the rent.  What should I do?

Well, I’m not one for avoiding my debts, and there was a second card available, so I asked the stallholder where he would be the following week.  Then I set off for home, confidently expecting to see at least one of the cards at next week’s flea market.

But, I never saw those cards again, not at the following week’s flea market, not on eBay, not anywhere else!

And that is why, faced with potentially losing an item I really want to own, I will jump at the chance to buy it in future.  And I will hand over my money right away.  On eBay, that means hitting the ‘Buy It Now’ button faster than you can say “Give the rent a miss this week!”

And my experience is mirrored by other collectors desperate to own a particular item and willing to pay ten or more times what the item is really worth. 

For obvious reasons, this idea works with unusual or unique items, like antiques, art and collectibles, but not for mass market products available aplenty on eBay.

You can locate suitable high profit items by researching eBay daily to find recently completed auction listings for art, antiques and collectibles.  Auctions represent the very highest finishing prices and sometimes dozens of bidders. 

All you have to do is jot down the highest prices paid for items with the highest bidder numbers.  Then you go looking for similar items at boot sales and flea markets and priced less than half the amount paid for those items recently on eBay. 

You get the item home, recheck its potential on eBay, then list it in your eBay shop with a price at least twenty-five per cent higher than the recent highest finishing price for a similar item on eBay.  Use a fixed price listing and add ‘Buy It Now’ and ‘Best Offer’ to the mix, then wait.

Within days you’ll begin receiving ‘Best Offers’, some derisory, some pretty close to what you will eventually get.  Be courageous and refuse all early offers less than ten per cent below your own fixed price.  Do so for two or three weeks because there’s always someone willing to pay a silly price for something they can’t live without.  If your item remains unsold after three weeks, accept the first offer exceeding the highest recent finishing price for a similar item.

Time to Plan Your New Year Resolutions

New Year resolutions more or less describe things you plan to do for the first time in the early New Year or which you have already done in the past and want to do better in future.  Such as losing weight, for example, or being a better parent, starting your own business, beginning a correspondence course, and so on.

In business, resolutions might focus on developing new products and introducing innovative selling campaigns, along with performing other tasks you may have thought about in the past and didn’t develop to their maximum potential or they were dropped at the planning stage.   

So you may have enjoyed a great Christmas selling period in 2014 from products you dropped from inventory in January, 2015, and failed to restock for Christmas this year. 

Maybe you found a product other people were selling aplenty on eBay and you had an idea for making your version very different and potentially sell more units than other people are selling.  Then another product idea came along, followed by another, and another, and they all got lost in the muddle. 

Now let me suggest ways to prevent similar problems by revealing the thinking behind my own New Year resolutions and recommend ways for you to create your own plans for bigger profits and reduced workload and stress in 2016.

Here we go:

*  I’ll start by telling you about my close friend who sells on Amazon, using FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon), a process whereby he lists his products on Amazon’s site and sends goods to Amazon to take payment and fulfil orders direct to buyers. 

Having once sold exclusively on eBay, and doing very well, he decided to expand his products to Amazon where, after just a few months he says Amazon sales beat eBay by about seven sales to one every day.  More than this, using FBA he doesn’t have to pack products and submit them for delivery and he doesn’t have to deal with delivery problems or bounced payments.  Amazon does all of that for him, at a cost, but one my friend says is negligible compared to available profits. 

So my resolution is to expand my selling beyond eBay, including on Amazon and Etsy.  I’ve chosen Etsy because listings are easier and take less time to create than on eBay and feedback isn’t quite so in-your-face and damaging to a seller’s reputation than on eBay.  So I can spend less time listing similar products on Etsy than on eBay and less time worrying about negative feedback blighting my business reputation.

They’re just two of many viable and reliable selling platforms and you may find other platforms more suitable to your own requirements.  

One thing I don’t want you to do is stop selling on eBay which remains one of the most heavily visited sites of all and generates a good income for millions of sellers.  Not forgetting that eBay is the world’s biggest auction website where finishing prices can sometimes exceed all reasonable expectations.

* The 20:80 Rule, sometimes called ‘Pareto’s Theory’, suggests that, among other things, close to twenty per cent of an entrepreneur’s time is spent performing tasks that will make eighty per cent of his income and, conversely, eighty per cent of working time typically accounts for twenty per cent of income.  That suggests you could work just one-fifth (20%) of your current working week and still take home four-fifths of your current profits.  So if you normally work forty hours a week and make, say, one thousand pounds profit each week, Pareto’s Theory suggests you could make eight hundred pounds every week working just eight hours.  Or thereabouts! 

So my resolution is to determine my most profitable working hours and where I am achieving limited profits from four-fifths of my working day.  Then I’ll expand my twenty per cent of profitable tasks and reduce or eliminate proportionately lower profit tasks.

Personally, I find that vintage postcards I have cherry picked at flea markets and antiques fairs amount for the majority of my profits on eBay, while items bought at auction typically yield lower profits and demand longer hours spent listing them on eBay and fulfilling orders.  So my resolution is to spend more time and money at flea markets and antiques fairs buying vintage postcards representing subjects currently fetching the highest prices on eBay and cutting back on buying auction lots containing mainly low and medium price items.

*  A report I’ve neglected since finding it online six months or so back reveals numerous reliable statistics telling why some auctions end with higher finishing prices than others, including that bidders tend to trust PowerSellers more than ordinary sellers and that auction finishing prices tend to grow in line with a seller’s positive feedback rating.  So the more positive feedback ratings you have, the more your auctions are likely to make.

So my resolution is to grow my positive feedback rating and work very hard to avoid neutral and negative feedback and having poor feedback revised to good.

This report is an eye-opener covering more than just auction listings and the reason I haven’t read more than a snippet or two is because it’s written in statistical jargon with lots of charts requiring more than a cursory glance.  So I haven’t had time, or rather I haven’t made time to read a report I honestly believe will have a very positive effect on my eBay profits.  That is something I will correct when things slow down for me on eBay between Christmas and the middle of January.   The report is called ‘Online Auctions Efficiency: A Survey of eBay Auctions’ and you can download it at:

http://wwwconference.org/www2008/papers/pdf/p925-huA.pdf

Don’t let the early date on that report deter you because many of the findings remain just as valid today.

*  Lack of focus is the main reason people fail on eBay and other marketplaces and it’s a problem anyone can solve with a diary and pen.  You do it like this:

-  When you find products fetching high prices and regular sales for other people, you make a note of the product in your diary, along with ideas for making the product more profitable for you than for other sellers.  Spend at least half an hour developing the product by jotting down profitable ideas from other people’s listings, comparing other people’s prices to sales ratios, and so on.  Now move forward five to ten days in your diary and place a big red asterisk top of the date allocation along with the product name and the date you researched it.  This allows several days for the product idea to ferment in your mind and present itself as a workable or not so workable idea.  If the idea still sounds good, you make the second date in your diary the day you turn your product idea into reality.

Sell Cameras on eBay

‘Camera', in collecting terms, covers everything from early box cameras with bellows and photographic plates, to more recent 'still photograph' cameras, on to cine and video equipment, even modern mobile phones with photographic capabilities.  They can be large or small, quite modern or antique, some don't even look like cameras. 

But be careful: Unlike most collectibles where older usually means more expensive, the same does not always apply to cameras.

Ironically, our throwaway society creates a situation where specific makes and model of modern camera are in limited supply and fetch higher prices than cameras from the 1940s and 1950s, even earlier. 

To illustrate, a 15-year old Hasselblad camera in working condition recently made £700 on ebay.co.uk, while a Mahogony and Brass Plate Camera from around 1900 fetched just £113. 

Let's look at some of the most popular cameras on eBay and determine exactly what you should be looking for.

Recent eBay Realisations

*  A World War II Konishiroku Tokj Aerial Camera fetch $380.99, about £219

*  A Girl Scout 1927 Official Kodak Camera In Leather Case Went for $270.50, about  £155

*  A 1939 New York World's Fair Brownie Kodak Camera fetch $202.50, about £116

*  A 1900 7.5" x 9" Mahogony and Brass Plate Camera fetched £113.00

Those are not rare cameras. They are no more valuable or uncommon than many items you'll find selling at auctions and boot sales where they rarely fetch more than a few pounds each.  This is especially so at poorly advertised events, like the majority of collectors' fairs and some high street auction rooms, so make a particular point of phoning events organisers every week for details of whatever cameras might be available.  Keep contact details of regular sellers at flea markets and boot sales, phone them regularly about new stock.  Give these people your contact details, too, so they can contact you for fast sales, often of multiple items.

Factors Affecting Value

Most pricing is 'approximate', especially on eBay where bidding wars are common.  Even the experts are surprised sometimes at prices achieved for relatively common cameras, so says the editor of the most authoritative work on camera values, James McKeown (Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras): "The price of an antique camera is entirely dependent on the moods of buyer and seller at the time of the transaction."

Makers

Even with a limited study of classic cameras one quickly finds THE names to watch out for among camera makers are Ernst Leitz (maker of Leica models) and Zeiss.  Almost without exception even damaged and worn specimens from these makers are still saleable, even without worthwhile restoration.

Age

According to my favourite camera collectors' site, age is largely irrelevant to resale value (www.marriottworld.com/value.htm).  Reference the Kodak 2C Brownie, produced between 1917 and 1934, which the webmasters say is worth just a few pounds, primarily because many thousands were made over an extensive period. 

Curiosity and Novelty Value

Novelty and curiosity cameras were popular from the late 1900s, looking every bit like James Bond creations and often resembling books, pocket watches, packets of cigarettes, and more.  Referred to, unsurprisingly, as 'spy' or 'detective' cameras, they are often incredibly small, but immensely popular, and can fetch very high prices.  Minolta were prolific makers of tiny spy cameras frequently masquerading as pens and cigarette lighters and worth about £40 to £100, more for advertising specialities or with unusual pedigree.

Production Quantities

Cameras of short term production, (even of inferior quality), can be worth far more than their quality mass produced counterparts.  A good example is high quality, rare and limited edition models made just after the war by such as Nikon and Canon which fetch very high prices today.

Condition

With few exceptions condition is vitally important to a camera's value.  Cameras with their original parts in working order, without rust or signs of ageing, fetch a premium.  Original carry cases and product packaging with operating instructions and receipt of purchase have an upward effect on prices. 

Common cameras in shabby, non working condition are almost worthless, unlike rarer specimens which may still find eager buyers.  Rare cameras, in good working and cosmetic condition attract the highest profits. 

It's worth noting that some collectors avoid cameras in non-working or damaged condition, and there's still a good market for low value, poor appearance but fully-functioning cameras, for whatever reason called 'beaters', which you really can pick up for pennies, tidy up a bit, and sell for decent profits.

Collecting Interest

Collecting themes help determine values for most collectibles; for cameras collectability usually depends on the maker (especially Leitz); type of camera (wet plate, dry plate, motorised movement, etc.); materials used (Bakelite is immensely popular); age (sometimes, especially for low production items); past famous owners, model and mechanism.  Enter two or more bidders of widely different collecting themes and amazing profits are possible.

Area of Production

As for many collectibles you'll find people collecting cameras made in specific geographical locations or at particular times.  For example, Japanese cameras, mass produced at the end of World War II, introduced a new high in reliability. This has made them among today's most collectible cameras usually bought to be used and not just for decoration or collecting value. 

Buying and Selling Tips

*  So quickly has the camera collecting interest grown that today even cameras made as recently as ten years ago are fetching high prices on eBay.  This is one product for which  bidding wars will emerge and high prices result for items that are cheap and relatively plentiful in their country of origin and non-existent elsewhere. 

*  Keep whatever throwaway cameras come your way; they could increase in value even in the short term, especially if they're unused, unopened and in original box, with till receipt, operating instructions, advertising materials.

*  Study cameras carefully before buying.  Only the rarest of items will sell in damaged or dirty condition, although much can be done to clean or refurbish quality pieces.   Looks for dents and cracks in the bodywork that might mean the camera has been dropped and could be damaged and potentially unworkable.  At boot sales and flea markets you may have to take pot luck on cheaper acquisitions.  But at auction and for higher priced items ask for time to test the camera before having to pay.  Many auction companies have staff their test cameras before selling and sometimes to provide sample photographs and warranties.

*  As a seller, bear in mind that some collectors favour working only cameras.  It's wise to take some pictures using the camera and add the photographs to your listing.  Otherwise sell  'as is' or admit you have no idea whether your camera is working or not.  It will reduce bids but will save hassle and claims for refund later.  Alternatively, offer a specific period for buyers to test the camera before having to pay.

*  Take close up pictures of camera and accessories from all angles; point out damage in photographs and description.  

*  Learn from the experts, especially those selling cameras on eBay.  I found a great guide on eBay showing what to look for when buying a classic camera, which by implication is important for sellers, too.  Called 'Buying a Classic Camera - What You Should Know' the guide is available from 9248terry (go to advanced search top right of eBay screen, click through, tick 'Items by Seller' at left.  Once accessed, click on 'View My Reviews and Guides'.

*  It's very easy to buy dirty cameras, clean them up, and find a precious gem lying beneath.

Some Easy Cleaning Tips

*  Be careful and always use gentle, sweeping movements, one way only, to removed surface dust.  Too many backward and forward movements, even with delicate cleaning materials, can cause scratching or lead to an uneven over-shiny patina.  A camel brush is best.

*  Never rub directly onto the lens or other glass areas.  Instead blow dust away either manually or with canned air.  Remove really heavy dirt with lens cleaning fluid from specialist photographic suppliers.  Find them listed in Yellow Pages under 'Photographic Suppliers' or 'Camera Shops'.  Drip the fluid onto a smooth fluff-free cloth and use a gentle circular movement over the lens.  Do not drop the liquid onto the lens and then apply the cloth or you risk surplus liquid seeping behind the lens and damaging the inside of the camera.

*  Don't ever clean the inside of what might be a valuable camera.  The workings are extremely delicate, easy to damage and costly to repair.  Avoid buying cameras that are really dirty inside, they've probably been poorly handled by past owners and could be broken beyond repair.

*  Dirt on the casing can be removed with a soft dry cloth or with a little plain water added to remove encrusted dirt and grime.

Recommended Reading

McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, published by Centennial Photo Service, ISBN: 0931838134

Five Ways to Grow Your eBay Profits in 2016

2015 is coming to an end and it’s time to make plans for increasing your profits on eBay.  There are hundreds of different ways to do this, by seeking ways to reduce your eBay selling fees, for example, or cutting your product acquisition costs, choosing and testing a lower cost delivery company, creating more responsive eBay listing titles and descriptions, and more besides.

My own most successful New Year resolutions are based on locating products likely to attract higher profits or more regular sales than products I’m currently selling on eBay.

Here are five ways to copy my objective:

* Sell goods people want to receive the following day and don't wish to spend time on comparison shopping. But lots of eBay sellers target this type of buyer, so you must get potential buyers to favour your listings. This can be done by giving bonuses and offering better service and faster delivery than others are offering.  Virtually any product fits the bill here.

* Spot a need and fill it, especially one not already being met on eBay. The stronger the need, the more likely people will pay for a solution.  Examples are numerous health & beauty products, such as pimple removing creams and acne treatments, unusual and one-of-a-kind gifts and novelty items, fad and gimmicky items, flood defences like sandbags, dog coats when winter weather arrives without warning, and so on.

* Provide luxury goods at low prices.  When people are made redundant or can’t find jobs, it’s luxury goods they will cut out first, such as brand new current season designer clothing and accessories.  But people who balk at secondhand or last season designer labels during good times might be less finicky about buying secondhand when money is in short supply.   

That’s when you might consider selling last year’s designer clothing and accessories, alongside secondhand car parts, moneymaking books and courses, used toys and baby hardware (prams, cots, garden swings, etc.), refurbished household goods and ornaments.

* Stock goods other people don't like selling or are too embarrassed to sell. I'm thinking here of things like hair nose clippers, shoe stuffers to make you look taller, adult sex toys, marital aids, and so on.  You may not enjoy the selling but you will like the profits.

* Choose repeat sale items over one time sales, especially items needing constant replenishment. The hardest work for any seller, the biggest expense and the highest risk goes to obtaining first time buyers. That's why it makes no sense at all to constantly seek new buyers when so many products have inherent repeat sale and replenishment value.

Suitable product include: soap, make up, children's clothing, packaging, annual price guides for antiques and collectibles and numerous other goods and services, craftwork materials, collectibles issued in sets, and so on.

How to Avoid Lost and Stolen Packages Slashing Your eBay Profits

Every year end a massive number of regular customers on eBay choose to buy on the high street instead, usually because they fear their orders may be lost or stolen in transit or they’ll arrive too late for giving as gifts or to use in the Christmas festivities.

Misplaced orders, goods lost or stolen in transit - I’ve had them all over the years, not just as a seller but as a buyer too.  And, personally, I would never consider buying time-sensitive products online. 

I’ll explain why with an entirely personal tale that’s shared by many other buyers and sellers.  A computer I bought from Amazon a few weeks ago has not turned up, but the firm delivering the computer says it has.  At their site the transporting company says a delivery was attempted at 9.15am Saturday just gone, at the same time I was sitting in the front room, close to the front door, running my eBay business.  Hand on heart: no delivery was attempted. 

So I contacted the delivery firm via their web chat link and that’s where things took on a whole new perspective when, during about fifteen minutes of scribbled messages passing to and fro, the representative continued repeating the same message in various different formats, something to the effect that queries about goods in transit have nothing to do with the delivery company and all questions must be made to the retailer.  During that short conversation the representative even told me the package had been delivered within the last few minutes - another big lie.

In short, the package never arrived and when I phoned Amazon they sent a replacement computer without asking me questions or researching the matter themselves.  That’s either because Amazon is a caring company with a great reputation for customer service - which is true - or maybe it’s because the delivery company concerned has a massive spate of nasty reviews from customers relating the exact same misery I have just endured.  Those reviews are at TrustPilot.com. 

I won’t give the name of the delivery company other than to say it isn’t Royal Mail or Parcelforce, but I would ask you to check whatever delivery company you are using to process your eBay orders. 

Go to TrustPilot.com and key your delivery company’s name into the search box and you will find some really professional delivery companies and one very big name firm with a horrendous history of lost items and incorrect and downright untrue messages given to clients - buyers and sellers alike! 

If that company is delivering your orders I recommend you stop using them right away.  I also advise you to constantly check any other delivery company’s reputation to locate problems that could be forcing you to refund buyers whose goods don’t arrive and which lead to you receiving negative feedback and low detailed seller ratings.

Why You Should Never Give Your eBay ID to a Competitor

There's a lot of talk in online forums right now, between eBay PowerSellers, primarily those selling books and courses telling how to make money on eBay.

A string of comments I spotted today originated from one PowerSeller stating he had been asked for his eBay ID, so a person, purporting to be a potential book buyer could check the book seller's actual success against profits he claimed to be making on eBay.   Within days a whole string of negative feedback points arrived for the PowerSeller, all from different eBay buyers.

After days of gruelling investigation, it transpired the individual seeking this person's ID was also an eBay PowerSeller, although he had not left feedback from his own account for fear of being exposed and reported to eBay.  Instead he had enlisted 'friends' to open accounts, buy from our victim and then leave negative feedback.   

Several major PowerSellers reported similar problems, all having given their eBay IDs to untraceable individuals who subsequently recruited others to leave negative feedback for the victim in order to make their own accounts look good by comparison.

So it's a hot argument: do you or don't you give out your eBay ID?  I always did and I know other PowerSellers who still do and haven't encountered problems, yet!  

And before I move on, yes I have fallen victim to this awful practice, in one case receiving four negatives within days of someone asking for my ID which I gave. This one, not so cute or clever as today's operators, left negative feedback from his own eBay account before he had even been invoiced or paid for the products.  eBay removed the feedback points and expelled the offender the very same day.

It really is up to you what you do about revealing your ID, but I suggest you confirm the email address of the person making the request.  You could also ask for the other person’s eBay ID so you can communicate directly at the site in which case both parties’ messages will be recorded and allow eBay to investigate your concerns.

Don't Sell on eBay Until You Do This

Far too many people rush to open an eBay account, fall over themselves to make their first sale, and in all the panic and confusion they suddenly realise they're losing money fast!  So they give up selling on eBay and return to working for someone else!

Very sad, especially when just a few simple steps are all that stand between failing on eBay and growing an income limited only by time and effort put into the business.

So why fail, why not succeed beyond your wildest dreams, why not follow a few simple steps to guarantee your success on eBay?

* Decide What to Sell

You must have some definite product or service in mind, or you'll be running round in circles, forever chasing new ideas and getting nowhere fast.

Counter this common problem as soon as you sign up at eBay by spending at least two or three days looking at what other people are selling, especially sellers with hundreds of monthly feedback points and high profit margins.

* Grow a Tough Second Skin

It's sad to say the customer is not always right on eBay and although most customers are very genuine, there's a tiny minority who exist purely to upset other people.  These people leave negative feedback for any reason or no reason at all, and they can be extremely hurtful to first time entrepreneurs.

Like many people, I think eBay's one-sided feedback system is seriously flawed and I can't quite work out why sellers can only leave positive feedback or no feedback at all for buyers, including those who insist they haven't received your product even though you have their signature on the delivery form.

This sort of thing happens because the Internet is largely anonymous and people who'd never create a scene in a high street shop can be extremely obnoxious in eBay messages and feedback comments.

So you must learn to accept this unfair situation and report every unpleasant experience to eBay.

* Be Upfront and Professional Right From Day One

The most successful sellers are those who take their responsibilities very seriously, towards other sellers, towards customers, and especially towards government authorities.

In particular, way too many people take chances when it comes to handling matters like income tax and trading standards, these being the two most likely areas to land you in a whole heap of trouble and send your eBay business plummeting.

In short, you MUST determine your legal and financial obligations as soon as you begin selling on eBay, and you must take steps to ensure you never fall foul of local, national and international trading rules and regulations.

That does not mean you need an accountant right from day one but you do have to tell the income tax authorities you are running a business and provide specific information for each trading year.  Read all about it at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk

You should also study eBay's help pages to determine eBay's own seller rules as well as local, national and international rules and regulations concerning sales made on eBay.

Last, but not least, contact your local town hall for advice about local and non-local trading laws.

Sell Vintage Collectable Dog Collars on eBay

Dog has long been man's best friend and many popular collectibles have developed from their relationship. One of the most highly priced and highly prized on eBay is dog collars.

The rarest and most expensive British collars date from the 15th to 18th centuries and were usually made from iron with spikes to protect working and hunting dogs from being savaged by wolves and boars.  Most such collars were highly unattractive, more functional than decorative, but can be worth up to £2000 each. Compare this to collars made in Austria and Germany which were ornately carved from precious metals and packed with rare jewels, serving mainly as status symbols and also worth high prices today.

Like almost every old and modern canine collectible you'll rarely find dog collars going unsold on eBay, even at grossly inflated prices, making this a great product to target individually or as part of an overall doggy-related venture selling vintage canine memorabilia alongside modern items like dog beds, kennels and recent manufacture dog collars for practical or decorative purposes.

Despite the fact some early specimens are valued in hundreds or thousands of pounds, they can sometimes be found at offline auctions, especially country sales and auctions disposing of farming and family estates extending back over several generations.

For example, a dog collar I saw recently at a country house sale in Darlington went for £50 against a possible value of several hundred pounds for similar items spotted in ‘Miller's Collectables Price Guide’.

Sadly I knew nothing of the potential of that collar which went to a dog loving individual, not a dealer, and doubtless a far higher price could be achieved by targeting a world packed with dog lovers, on eBay, where recently:

- An antique English dog collar from Cromer Hall in Norfolk went for £77.55. The seller added a neat touch that must surely have increased value and interest in the collar by mentioning Cromer Hall as the place Sir Arthur Conan Doyle visited while researching ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ and apparently he also used Cromer Hall as the backdrop for the book. Consequently the collar appealed not only to dog lovers but also to Conan Doyle devotees and topographically to Cromer Hall and Norfolk enthusiasts.

- A sterling silver dog collar engraved ‘1938’ and apparently used for Greyhounds fetched $356.99.

- A leather dog collar with pouch for messages carried by dogs on active service during World War II fetched $246.50.

- Even books about collectable dog collars fetch staggering prices on eBay in the UK, notably 'Four Centuries of Dog Collars at Leeds Castle', published in 1979, which recently fetched £123, £100, and several lower but nonetheless very attractive prices. If you can afford it the book is well worth buying for a wealth of fabulous pictures and articles to help you describe and value dog collars on eBay. In itself the book can only grow in value should you decide to sell it later, making it a very good alternative investment.

Tips

* Premium prices are fetched for collars with names and other engravings especially for well-known owners and rare accomplishments, as well as of local topographical interest. Collars engraved with place names and well known owners fetch the highest prices at auctions close to their area of origin. So a collar engraved, for example, 'Towser, William Jones, Gateshead' bought in London might be expected to fetch more when re-auctioned in Tyneside (yes, you should consider selling at local auction as well as online), but it should fetch even higher profits on eBay.

* Many early collars are decorated with motifs and symbols pertaining to a specific era which greatly benefits the dating process.

* Dog collars are often wrongly identified as collars worn by prisoners or slaves which are actually much rarer and more valuable than collars worn by dogs. But there's good news for anyone able to identify the more uncommon slave and prisoner collars from items selling mistakenly and undervalued as dog collars and then selling those items with more accurate descriptions on eBay.