Setting up an ebay business is a fantastic way to make money. Not only do you avoid pricey lease fees that you would encounter when setting up shop in a typical high street store but you can also work from the comfort of your own home.
However, to someone who has never been a serious ebay user before this may seem like a daunting task.
In order to ease your worries here are some simple tips for you to consider when starting up your ebay business:
- Think Seriously Before You Commit
What do you want to sell and what do you have the room to capacitate within your home, a separate outbuilding or warehouse. Setting up a business in which you buy and sell vintage furniture to make a large profit is all well and good providing you have the space to store the furniture.Otherwise a developing a vast stock of CD’s, DVD’s and other entertainment may be a little better suited to the space you have to work with as this requires no more than a spare room or garage.
- Open Up A Separate Bank Account
Ensure that you keep your business finances entirely separate from your private bank account.
Not only are you likely to get better deals from the banks if you start up a separate business account (for example, reduced charges and better interest rates) but you also prevent your business outgoings from tampering with your own personal savings.
- Create a Good user ID
Don’t go for something bland, boring and generic. Spice things up with a catchy username that is likely to gain attention from the audience that you are trying to target.For example, ‘VintageFurnishings4u’ is likely to gain more attention from a web user looking for vintage furniture than the username ‘User12345’.
- Managing Your Stock
If you intend to start selling large volumes of products straight away rather than building your business slowly then you will need to start buying in bulk. Not only will this be cheaper and allow you to make more money on each item when you sell it individually but it will better prepare you for customer demand.For example, if you wish to start up a business selling entertainment products such as CD’s and DVD’s then it may be a good idea to build your stock before your business goes live. When dealing with a large variety of stock it is a good idea to devise a method of keeping track of exactly what you have purchased and sold on.
- Taking Out A Business Loan
Depending on just how large you wish to make your business or just how massively you wish to build your stock it may be a good idea to take out a small business loan.You can do this using a great website such as Merchant Money who provide great value, flexible lending solutions for almost all small to medium sized business.
- Keeping Records
This leads me onto my next point. It is a sensible idea to keep a record of anything you buy and sell.This way it is easier to monitor whether you are making satisfactory profits on the items you sell and problems will be easier to resolve should you have any issues in the process of any of your eBay transactions.
You can store your records anywhere you like, some will choose to keep their papers in shoeboxes whilst others will store them professionally in filing cabinets. As long as you can easily locate your files for future reference then it doesn’t really matter too much.