I
received an email from Josh
Walker asking how to get
started from scratch on eBay.Now... there is no... ‘One fits all strate-
gy’ for building eBay businesses. As the
founder and host of the four largest eBay
and Amazon groups in Australia, I meet
thousands of different people and you
don’t need to be a brain surgeon to notice
which strategies are working the best.
Everybody is different and it is impor-
tant if you are building an eBay business
that you choose a methodology which is
enjoyable for you and... also works within
your means... I’ll explain more shortly.
Now you don’t need bucket loads of
cash to build a full-time eBay business but
it is important that you choose a strategy
which fits within your lifestyle and your
means.
Firstly, you need to ask yourself a few
questions and this will determine the best
direction for you to take.
Second, what is your goal with eBay
for the next say three months, six months,
one year and five years?
Are you looking at building an eBay
business as a hobby or are you looking at
replacing your full-time income?
I’ll assume you’re looking at building
an eBay business to replace your full-time
income.
The difference by the way, that the
government differentiates between a
hobby, and a business... is that a business
makes more than the award wage.
The next question is are you looking at
selling used items or selling new items?
Today over 90% of items sold on eBay
are brand-new items.
Personally I prefer new items as I find
it is much easier to automate the business
so it runs by itself... but that’s just my pref-
erence. I know plenty of people who sell
used items and they make good money and
that’s fine.
I just find it much easier to automate
businesses which sell new items. With new
items, you can list one item and continu-
ously sell it over and over and over again
sometimes for years. Whereas with used
items, normally you need to source the
item, photograph it, list it
and then it only sells once.
The great thing with
eBay is there are many dif-
ferent methodologies
which suit all different
personalities.
If you do want to sell
new items, do you want to
import or purchase local-
ly?
Do you want to drop-
ship? Drop shipping for those that don’t
know is when you sell an item on eBay
and get paid first, before you purchase the
item.
The big advantage of drop shipping is
you are always cash flow positive as you
sell the item and get paid first, before you
have to purchase stock.
It is also a great way of racking upFrequent Flyer points.
My preference these days is to sell new
imported and drop shipped items.
Cash flow is another question you have
to ask yourself.
If you want to import, you require
cash, whereas with drop shipping, you get
paid first and therefore do not require cash.
And here is a great tip. You can start
with drop shipping and
when you’re ready, you can
start importing your top-
selling dropship items.
More and more people
and companies are now
turning to the dropship
model these days as it
doesn’t require the capital
outlay which you need for
importing. There is no need
for a warehouse, and you
don’t need to hire any local
staff. Many of the larger online companies
like ‘The Iconic’ are also turning to the
dropship model.
One of the reasons drop shipping is
getting more popular is today there is soft-
ware available that can continually auto-
matically check to ensure your suppliers
always have inventory.
If one of your suppliers runs out ofHow to Start from
Scratch on eBay.
by Neil Waterhouse14 • Australian Opportunities Magazine • M/J/J 2017 • http://www.workfromhomemagazine.com.au
Make Money With Your Very
Own Successful
Dog Grooming
Business
If you love dogs and are at all bored with
your current job or looking for a way to
increase your household income, then this
business could be what you’re looking for