Skip McGrath - Three Weeks to eBay® Profits, Revised Edition: Go from Beginner to Successful Seller in Less than a Month

Three Weeks to
eBay
Profits

REVISED EDITION

Go from Beginner
to Successful Seller
in Less than a Month

Skip McGrath

STERLING and the distinctive Sterling logo are registered trademarks of
Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016

2009 by Skip McGrath

All rights reserved

Sterling ISBN 978-1-4027-7634-2

For information about custom editions, special sales, premium and corporate purchases, please contact Sterling Special Sales Department at 800-805-5489 or specialsales@sterlingpublishing.com.

THIS BOOK IS LOVINGLY DEDICATED to my mom, June Springer. Mom never failed to encourage me in my endeavors, she taught me the value of hard work, and, at eighty-six, she herself still works every day. From a very young age, I learned from my mom to reach for my dreamsno matter how impossible they seemedand that it was all right to be afraid of something as long as you didnt let your fear stop you from doing what you wanted to do or going where you wanted to go. She is gentle, sweet, and generous sometimes to a faultand none of my success in life would have been possible without her love and support. My gratitude to this extraordinary woman knows no bounds.

CONTENTS

WEEK
1

WEEK
2

WEEK
3

Chapter 28: Beyond eBay

Appendix D: Safety Tips for Buyers and Sellers

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

When you pick up a book, you see the title and the authors name. However, unlike with a movie, where the credits roll across the screen at the end, you never get to see the names of all the people working behind the scenes to help bring that book to fruition. An author spends countless hours writing a book, but a lot of work by other people actually figures in the final product.

My editor, Meredith Hale, got married in the middle of this project, and I had to get used to her new last name. Meredith was enthusiastic about the book from day one, and worked tirelessly with me from the initial outline right up to the final edits. She contributed solid ideas and pointed out flaws in my organization, always keeping you, the reader, in mind. Editorial assistant Lindsay Herman watched over both of us to make sure we didnt miss anything.

Copyeditor Diana Drew spent hours poring over every word of my prose shortening run-on sentences; correcting grammar, spelling, and agreement problems; and coming up with simple ways to express complicated ideas. If you find this book easy to read, thank Diana. Getting all the little details right is always important. For this I thank my daughter-in-law, Lissa McGrath, an author and eBay seller in her own right, for checking all the links, fees, and little details that I missed. Im also grateful for her help with updating images and references.

Before a book is printed, much thought goes into the layout and design. The cover of Three Weeks to eBay Profits was designed by Kevin Baier. The interior was designed by Christine Heun and by Oxygen Design. All details and issues, large and small, were overseen by Michael Fragnito.

Lastly, I would like to thank my agent, Marilyn Allen. Marilyn understands what publishers are looking for and helps me channel my ideas into successful proposals and projects.

WELCOME TO EBAY, the worlds greatest marketplaceelectronic or otherwise. More than 86 million people have bought or sold items on eBay during the last twelve months. Over 7 million items are listed for sale on eBay every day, and 1.2 million sellers make a full-or part-time income on eBay.

In 2008 more than $48 billion worth of merchandise changed hands on eBay. Yet eBay itself sells nothing but access to its platform. eBay does not sell one antique or collectible, one razor blade, even one digital cameraalthough tens of thousands of digital cameras are sold on eBay each month. It is you and I who do the selling. If every eBay seller were an employee of eBay, it would be the largest private employer in the worldlarger than Wal-Mart and Lowes combined.

When you launch an eBay business, you are opening a store in a city of 86 million people. Except you have no rent, no employees, no costly advertising, and very little overhead. What could be better?

But eBay is not a static marketplace. Over the years I have seen many changes, including several major changes since the first edition of this book was released in 2006. There have been changes in fees, selling practices, feedback, payment methods and systems, and how eBay buyers find your items. These changes have required sellers to change how they list their auctions, how they ship their items, and how they relate to and communicate with their customers. Learning these updated techniques is what will put profits in your pocket on the new and improved eBay.

I have been selling on eBay for over nine years, and writing books and newsletters about selling on eBay for the past eight. During that time, I have spoken to and answered e-mails from hundreds of readers seeking advice. Although the questions always differ in their specifics, a basic theme recurs: OK, Im registered on eBay. What do I do next? That question first prompted me to write this book.

At first glance, selling an item on eBay looks simple. But once people become immersed in the process, they are confronted with dozens of choices and decisions related to auction titles, item descriptions, payment, shipping, image placement, eBay promotional options, and more. As they start to list their first two or three items for auction, new sellers begin to wonder if they can really build an eBay businessor is this whole thing just too complicated?

It is somewhat complicatedbut not overly so. Almost anyone can master selling on eBay: You just need to take the time to understand the process and the unique nature of the eBay selling platform. Over 10 million people have sold items on eBay and over 1.2 million sell on a regular basis. With some guidance and perseverance, you, too, can join the ranks of those 1.2 million professional sellers.

What makes this book different from all the others that teach the ins and outs of selling on eBay? Most books on this subject tend to focus on mechanical aspects of the process, answering questions like the following: How do I upload photos? How do I get paid? How do I create a listing? Understanding how all these elements work is certainly important, and we do cover these points clearly. But rather than getting bogged down in details soon to become second nature, this book offers answers to one simple, yet all-encompassing, question: How do I make money on eBay?

Three Weeks to eBay Profits is designed to take you through the process, step by step, in a logical manner so you understand and master each step. Why three weeks? It wont take you three weeks to sell your first few itemsyou can do that within a few days of starting. But we are talking about reaching PowerSeller statusnot just making a few quick sales.

Setting up and organizing your business, researching and finding the right products, and putting in place the automated systems and services to save you time will take the average person about three weeks. If you are not currently working and are doing this full time, you may actually master all these steps even sooner. On the other hand, if you have a full-time job and can only devote a few hours to your eBay business every evening, it may take you four or five weeks before everything is humming along and you are making money consistently week after week.