Method #1: Dropshipping



First thing everybody wants to do is dropship. For those who don't know what dropshipping is, it's a form of selling where you make money on eBay without actually touching the product. You have a supplier who warehouses and ships product directly to your customer. Dropshipping is the utopia of making money on eBay, because it requires no investment in inventory, no warehouse space and almost no labor.

Method #2: Wholesale

The number two popular method of getting eBay profits is wholesale suppliers. Much of the same rules for dropshippers also go for wholesalers. You don't want to sell what everyone else is selling. You also want to make sure your supplier is not also directly selling to eBay buyers. If you're competing with your supplier, you're cooked. Hang it up.

Method #3: Importing

One of the best options of making money on eBay is importing. The pros of importing is having unlimited things you can bring in. You can find a lot of unique products so you can kill the whole competition thing. The negative thing is that it's expensive. To bring in products from China, just to ship a 40-foot container is between $4,000 and $5,000. And you have to fill the container with something that you're bringing in - products. It can be pretty hefty to do that. There are organizations that will help reduce the shipping, but it can be difficult to make considerable money on eBay with the high shipping costs. It can also take weeks for stuff to arrive. There's a language barrier. Sometimes your money is tied up for a while. Importing is not for the faint-hearted, but can be lucrative using the right products.

Method #4: Refurbished Goods

Method number four is refurbished goods. I love refurbished goods. I've had most of eBay profits coming from selling refurbished goods. Why? Low competition and limited availability. Here's the trick: if you want to find a refurbished good, go to a manufacturer's Web site; type in "refurbished" in it. Quite often, you can find calculators or laptops or other items that are refurbished at fantastic deals. That's one way of finding it, or you can use Google to find them, too.

Method #5: Liquidations & Closeout Goods

Refurbished goods are not near as good as liquidated goods when it comes to making money on eBay. This is by far, by far, by far the best way. I've made so much money off liquidated goods. One company that I've had great success with is Liquidations.com. Liquidated goods are either surplus or leftovers, items that normally are auctioned off.

Method #6: Local Area Auctions

Method number six is local auctions. In my area, in our Sunday paper, we have lists of local auctions in the area where you can go to. A company's going out of business. You can quite often find a good deal. There are pros and cons about it. If you like doing that kind of thing, that's wonderful. The thing is you never know. You can make big money on eBay or come away with nothing.

Method #7: Selling Knowledge Products

Method number seven is making money on eBay through knowledge products. Of all the products, this is even better than liquidated goods. This is the ultimate product to sell. A knowledge product can be an e-book; it can be an audio file; it can be a video file; it could even be a CD or a DVD, even a list of links for a Web site. If you develop the product yourself, the cool thing is you limit the amount of competition you'll have on eBay, and thus increase your profits.

Method #8: Consignment Selling

Another way of making money on eBay is consignment selling. That's when you sell other people's products. If you go this route, focus on higher-priced items. Make sure it's worth your while. If you go to AuctionBytes.com - which is a great Web site for eBay information - on the left hand side there's a link for consignment sellers. You can look and see how much money they charge for selling other people's items. You can also take a look at their contracts and see what kind of paper work you'll need to get started.

Any of these methods will allow you to make money on eBay. The next step is to pick one or several of them and get started!