nd a product to sell to that market. This where your skill and judgement must come into play. You must research, research and do more research. The most profitable products tend to service a niche. I have found quite a few. Niches are filled with 'targeted buyers' and if you ignore these buyers you may make some money but you will not be able to make a business out of buying and selling on eBay – that is a plain fact.

It's also a fact that many 'savvy' individuals now make a good living on eBay and doing it 'quietly' – they don't want to publicise their niches because if they did then it would no longer be profitable for them

This article covers some ideas on efficiently (commercially) finding things to sell on ebay. One of the most difficult tasks facing any budding entrepreneur is what to sell and what profit can be made for selling that product(s). It sounds easy but it isn't because if it was then it would just be a case of selling anything and a profit would be made and everyone would be doing it.

I think it would be fair to say that many eBay entrepreneurs start with 'big ideas' about how much they are going to sell and how soon they will be able to quit their day job. Some do, but the vast majority can't. It's not because the people that can't are less intelligent or less able to do business – it's just that they often don't know 'which' products to sell on eBay and how to market them properly.

You have now heard me talk about two things, 'which products' and 'marketing'. The crucial point to consider here is that you must always consider 'Markets' first. The big mistake most people make both online and offline is that they look at, or have a product that they have fallen in love with but nobody wants. How often have you heard the saying that 'success has many fathers but failure is an orphan' well this translates in commercial terms as 'sales success = money to spend and sales failure = broke'. No one likes to fail but if you don't do the proper home work you will fail 'Every time' – it's that simple!

Looking at the 'Market' first. One of the most important tasks is to look at the Hot items report that eBay produces for the past month. If you haven't heard of this then head off to pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/hotitems.pdf. This report will give you the best selling categories and in some cases the best selling items on eBay in the last month(s). If you haven't heard of this then go there after you read this article and download it. Best of all it's 'free'.

OK so you know about the report or you will be downloading it – how can I use it? Well let me suggest one way. Look at reviewing and collecting several reports, especially in areas that you may be interested in. Look for two 'Massively' important things 'Trend consistency' within that item i.e. is that category or item consistently selling and secondly Niches within that category for item(s) which may be exploitable.

If you have done this then you will have proven that there is a market before you even attempt to find a product for that market. The odds are now more stacked in your favour than they were before!

The next step is to then find a product to sell to that market. This where your skill and judgement must come into play. You must research, research and do more research. The most profitable products tend to service a niche. I have found quite a few. Niches are filled with 'targeted buyers' and if you ignore these buyers you may make some money but you will not be able to make a business out of buying and selling on eBay – that is a plain fact.

It's also a fact that many 'savvy' individuals now make a good living on eBay and doing it 'quietly' – they don't want to publicise their niches because if they did then it would no longer be profitable for them.

n't are less intelligent or less able to do business – it's just that they often don't know 'which' products to sell on eBay and how to market them properly.

You have now heard me talk about two things, 'which products' and 'marketing'. The crucial point to consider here is that you must always consider 'Markets' first. The big mistake most people make both online and offline is that they look at, or have a product that they have fallen in love with but nobody wants. How often have you heard the saying that 'success has many fathers but failure is an orphan' well this translates in commercial terms as 'sales success = money to spend and sales failure = broke'. No one likes to fail but if you don't do the proper home work you will fail 'Every time' – it's that simple!

Looking at the 'Market' first. One of the most important tasks is to look at the Hot items report that eBay produces for the past month. If you haven't heard of this then head off to pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/hotitems.pdf. This report will give you the best selling categories and in some cases the best selling items on eBay in the last month(s). If you haven't heard of this then go there after you read this article and download it. Best of all it's 'free'.

OK so you know about the report or you will be downloading it – how can I use it? Well let me suggest one way. Look at reviewing and collecting several reports, especially in areas that you may be interested in. Look for two 'Massively' important things 'Trend consistency' within that item i.e. is that category or item consistently selling and secondly Niches within that category for item(s) which may be exploitable.

If you have done this then you will have proven that there is a market before you even attempt to find a product for that market. The odds are now more stacked in your favour than they were before!

The next step is to then find a product to sell to that market. This where your skill and judgement must come into play. You must research, research and do more research. The most profitable products tend to service a niche. I have found quite a few. Niches are filled with 'targeted buyers' and if you ignore these buyers you may make some money but you will not be able to make a business out of buying and selling on eBay – that is a plain fact.

It's also a fact that many 'savvy' individuals now make a good living on eBay and doing it 'quietly' – they don't want to publicise their niches because if they did then it would no longer be profitable for them

spend and sales failure = broke'. No one likes to fail but if you don't do the proper home work you will fail 'Every time' – it's that simple!

Looking at the 'Market' first. One of the most important tasks is to look at the Hot items report that eBay produces for the past month. If you haven't heard of this then head off to pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/hotitems.pdf. This report will give you the best selling categories and in some cases the best selling items on eBay in the last month(s). If you haven't heard of this then go there after you read this article and download it. Best of all it's 'free'.

OK so you know about the report or you will be downloading it – how can I use it? Well let me suggest one way. Look at reviewing and collecting several reports, especially in areas that you may be interested in. Look for two 'Massively' important things 'Trend consistency' within that item i.e. is that category or item consistently selling and secondly Niches within that category for item(s) which may be exploitable.

If you have done this then you will have proven that there is a market before you even attempt to find a product for that market. The odds are now more stacked in your favour than they were before!

The next step is to then find a product to sell to that market. This where your skill and judgement must come into play. You must research, research and do more research. The most profitable products tend to service a niche. I have found quite a few. Niches are filled with 'targeted buyers' and if you ignore these buyers you may make some money but you will not be able to make a business out of buying and selling on eBay – that is a plain fact.

It's also a fact that many 'savvy' individuals now make a good living on eBay and doing it 'quietly' – they don't want to publicise their niches because if they did then it would no longer be profitable for them

ut the report or you will be downloading it – how can I use it? Well let me suggest one way. Look at reviewing and collecting several reports, especially in areas that you may be interested in. Look for two 'Massively' important things 'Trend consistency' within that item i.e. is that category or item consistently selling and secondly Niches within that category for item(s) which may be exploitable.

If you have done this then you will have proven that there is a market before you even attempt to find a product for that market. The odds are now more stacked in your favour than they were before!

The next step is to then find a product to sell to that market. This where your skill and judgement must come into play. You must research, research and do more research. The most profitable products tend to service a niche. I have found quite a few. Niches are filled with 'targeted buyers' and if you ignore these buyers you may make some money but you will not be able to make a business out of buying and selling on eBay – that is a plain fact.

It's also a fact that many 'savvy' individuals now make a good living on eBay and doing it 'quietly' – they don't want to publicise their niches because if they did then it would no longer be profitable for them

nd a product to sell to that market. This where your skill and judgement must come into play. You must research, research and do more research. The most profitable products tend to service a niche. I have found quite a few. Niches are filled with 'targeted buyers' and if you ignore these buyers you may make some money but you will not be able to make a business out of buying and selling on eBay – that is a plain fact.

It's also a fact that many 'savvy' individuals now make a good living on eBay and doing it 'quietly' – they don't want to publicise their niches because if they did then it would no longer be profitable for them. I'm sure you see the logic in this.

The last point in this article is to highlight the incredible importance of 'Traffic'. You may have the best shop on eBay but no buyers. If you have things to sell on ebay and you have done market research and have a good niche but no sales then you need to look at traffic first!