Are you considering eBay as a home business opportunity? If you are your probably not alone and before you do decide to become a seller on eBay just consider the following statistics: eBay has a global presence in 37 markets, eBay has 233 million registered users worldwide. Internet Retailer.com calculates that web sales across the board added up to $178.18 billion in 2008, up $7.7 billion, or 4.6%, from $170.41 billion in 2007. Sales across all general merchandise, excluding restaurants, gasoline stations and fuel sales, as measured by the U.S. Department of Commerce, equaled $2.744 trillion, up $39 billion, or 1.4%, from $2.705 trillion a year earlier.
The lure of eBay to many seems to be the ease with which you can begin selling and making money from home. It seems more people are joining the ranks of home business owners via eBay every day and some are doing very well with it. But before taking the next step and joining the millions who are selling their wares on eBay first take a look at some of the reasons why you should and why you should not take the plunge.
As I mentioned above, one of the major advantages of setting up an eBay account is the ease with which you can do so. The online selling machine has everything laid out for you with a step by step guide on how to list your items, how to upload your pictures and how to complete sales. It’s so easy to begin that virtually anyone can become a member and that’s one of the reasons why it’s so popular as a home business opportunity.
Another plus is the global market that’s available for you to sell your goods to online. With other more traditional online or offline businesses you have to attract customers to your store or website but with eBay people come looking for you which helps reduce any marketing efforts on your behalf. Also eBay’s reputation as a world leader in Internet retailing helps eliminate any risk or fear that this may be a fly by night company trying to take advantage of it’s members.
As a new Internet retailer it’s relatively easy to find products to list on your website for sale. First of all take inventory around your own home. Start in the attic, work your way out to the garage and then down to the basement, all the while listing items you no longer want or need which you can add to your home business web page. You can also try looking for bargains at flea markets, garden and garage sales, second hand stores and Goodwill shops. There should be no reason why you run out of inventory for your retail business.
While there are many benefits to owning an eBay home business there is also a downside. First of all even though it’s relatively inexpensive to start and operate your enterprise there is a fee charge by eBay for each sale you make. There is also a listing fee, final value fee and additional fees to enhance your listing’s visibility such as additional pictures, subtitle fees and borders. This is a negative especially when it starts to cut into your profits. Also your buyers are limited to one method of payment when making a purchase which is Paypal. Paypal is owned by eBay and they don’t accept any other method of payment.
Another drawback is the amount of competition on the website which often leaves the market for certain items saturated which results in having to lower your prices to make a sale. Also because of the size and popularity of eBay the opportunity is always there for scammers.
Sometimes you encounter less than scrupulous buyers who are looking for any and every advantage when it comes to looking for a refund after taking delivery of your product. Because of eBay’s strict keyword policy when advertising your goods on their website you should have a good working knowledge of keyword research in order to avoid being ranked where no one is going to find you on the website.
When making your final decision as to whether or not to open your eBay retail page please take all of these factors into account. In the final analysis, as with starting any type of business online or offline, there is always a certain amount of risk involved and usually the most successful business people online today were not afraid to take a risk.