William, you probably remember me telling you that I thought eBay was a fad.
I was wrong! People from all over America are quitting their jobs to sell toys and other collectibles on eBay.com.
"people are making 60,70 and 80k per year".
At least 10,000eBay sellers pull in $2k to $25kpm in monthly sales
>January 17, 2000
Those who sell on eBay.com and other auction sites offer these tips:
Start slowly.
Don't quit your job tomorrow thinking you can get rich on eBay. Try selling a few items already in your house to see whether you like it and can make money.
Don't invest in equipment immediately.
Use a computer at a library and get one of the free e-mail addresses available on Web sites such as Excite, Hotmail and Yahoo! If you want to stick with it, you can start buying equipment.
Sell what you know.
If you already collect dolls, don't try to sell baseball cards. Maybe you have duplicates in your collection you can try to sell. If not, at least you already know what's desirable when you shop garage sales or swap meets.
Watch other consumers for trends.
See what people are buying. If you have children, you already have instant access to pop-culture trends. If not, ask your friends or co-workers what they're buying.
Do your research.
Read collectors' magazines and books, as well as those that cover popular culture, such as People, In-style, Entertainment Weekly, Talk, Wired, Vanity Fair. Also check out those published internationally.
Keep records.
The Internal Revenue Service is starting to keep an eye on auction-site sales, so the days of shirking on this money might soon be over. You need to keep track of all your costs, including mileage, magazines you read and postage, so you can deduct these from income. |
