Used Items On Auction Marketplaces, New Items On Your Website
You might be wondering about the title of this article. It’s an interesting little experiment a friend of mine and I did about a year ago. The experiment proved; in most cases, used items sell better on an auction marketplace than brand new items sell. And brand new items sell better than used items on a website.
This little rule of thumb is the reason I visit flea markets and yard sales so often. There are always some really good deals on used items. You can actually buy something for a dollar or two and resell it for up to 50 times or more online somewhere. The secret is knowing where to sell new or used items online for most profit.
Think about it: You will be less likely get the money you want for a used item on a website. The used item is only worth what someone will pay for it. If you list a used item on an auction marketplace (where all the collector’s hang out), you will hit a huge audience of collectors for used items.
The collector’s don’t care if it’s used. As far as they are concerned, it adds one more notch to their collection. And believe me, there are collectors for everything, even underwear and old stinky shoes. There is a huge market for used items, especially if it is old. You might only get $5.00 for some used items, but if you paid 50 cents for it, you made money.
With used items you don’t have to worry about a lot of competition. Chances are the item is so old nobody will buy it new anymore. But it all depends on the item. There are many advantages to selling used or old items on auction marketplaces compared to a website. Unless, your website is well established in selling used items. But, you probably wouldn’t be here it you had a website like that already.
On the other hand if you are looking to sell new items, you may want to sell them on a website. Set up a website and get some traffic going there. This should take at least a few months but it will be well worth it. There are a lot of people out there who will not shop on an auction marketplace. They would rather do business on a website.
There is an overwhelming amount of people who sell on auction marketplaces. In the past 4 or 5 years auction marketplaces have become overpopulated with everyone looking to make a buck. So selling a new product on an auction marketplace really doesn’t make a lot of sense.
The competition is way too cut throat for your average person starting out on an auction marketplace. Unless you know the ropes and the way things work with that auction marketplace, you may find yourself in deep water quick. Most of the seller’s on ebay buy product by the truckload. They get product really cheap because they buy a lot of product at once.
That’s why it is not good for your average Joe to start selling new items on places like ebay. Sell new products on a website of your own. You will make all the profit. You won’t have any auction fees to pay. You will have the freedom to do what you want.
You won’t have to worry about that occasional: “oops, we didn’t mean to suspend you”. Then you lose money until they get it straightened out. The only down time you will have is if the server for your website goes down. If you get a good host that will never happen.
Selling new products on your own website will maximize your profits. But don’t forget to advertise your website! I can’t stress this point enough. Nobody will ever know your there without a constant marketing and advertising campaign. You won’t make sales without traffic.
That’s why ebay is so popular, you get tons of traffic without the work. But that is also why ebay can charge people top dollar. The average sellers or sellers just starting out on ebay barely make anything after paying auction costs. This is another reason selling new items on ebay doesn’t work as good anymore.
There are up and coming auction marketplaces all over though. Some of them get really great traffic and with little competition for some products. I find new niches all the time on other auction places like Amazon and Overstock.
You can make okay money with new products if you find a good niche. But it won’t compare to the money you will make from selling used items on an auction marketplace. The same would be if you tried to sell used items on a website. You wouldn’t make as much as if you were selling new items on your website.
I hope this helps some of you move into the right direction of your business. Don’t fall into that auction trap where your competition eats you alive.
Learn how to start your own home business by following this amazing step-by-step guide. Want to be an Ebay Powerseller? This guide will help you. Check out my Daily Blog.
Please Rate this Article
Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Entrepreneurs Articles Via RSS!
