Turn a Few Minutes’ Research
Into a Lifetime of Big Profit Sales on eBay
I do a lot of research, every day, and I
always find something to benefit my business, including some of these
things I learned just this morning:
Console game systems, including wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 are currently the
overall most popular searches on eBay worldwide. (Source: eBay Pulse.
http://pulse.ebay.co.uk &
http://pulse.ebay.com).
Notice the operative word ‘overall’ in the last sentence, which
identifies those console games as the currently most searched terms on
eBay. This does not mean you should focus product selection entirely on
those items, in line with countless other generally lazy eBay sellers.
Too much emphasis on overall top keywords leads to market saturation and
reduced profits for everyone and it doesn’t take long to happen. Far
better look for keyword searches a little further down the list and
focus on these products first, before they become top sellers and
competition grows top heavy.
Research tells me most top PowerSellers choose products people buy in
multiple quantities, regardless of individual product profit potential.
In the USA it transpires the top selling product this week is Baby Milk
Vouchers, which one PowerSeller boasts as having sold between 250 and
800 vouchers to each of six main customers.
The second biggest category for multiple buys is records and DVDs,
alongside collectable photos (spot my article on the subject elsewhere
in the newsletter), Japanese stamps, also shoes for men and women.
Just one or two multi-product buyers on your books can generate a full
time living from just a few different products. They should be items
that are quickly consumed and in need of constant replenishment, like
milk tokens, and other foods and household goods.
Research also tells me top PowerSellers are actually making money in
saturated markets, like DVDs and records, shoes and jewellery, but
they’re not selling one-off items with high unit profits. They’re
selling items many people buy in abundance, sometimes twenty at a time,
and generating high profits from very low individual product profit
margins.
The end result of effective market research can be higher profits;
improved product selection techniques; better communications between
product suppliers, customers and yourself; less time wasted doing tasks
that can easily be automated or delegated; lower product and operating
costs; better customer feedback; more successful listings; more bidders
and better finishing prices, and more money for you.
