Over the last several years, numerous people have tried their hand at home based businesses as a means of generating income. Ebay is a big player in that field as the majority of online sales have taken place there. I must admit that I, too, am guilty of turning to Ebay to earn additional income.
Daniel Gross, a columnist at Slate.com, addresses this topic in a post titled “My Ebay Job“. Can Ebay really be used as a primary source of income? With my limited Ebay sales experience, I find that hard to believe. To earn your living there, you need to be a high volume seller to make a substantial profit.
According to the study, some 1.3 million people earn an income on Ebay. The question is whether these incomes are primary or secondary. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are plenty of people making a nice supplemental income on Ebay. Is it really possible that millions of people use Ebay as their only source of income?
Looking at some of Ebay’s sellers feedback numbers, I’d really love to know what that translates into profit. Some sellers have thousands of transactions a month but after product costs, packaging supplies and ebay’s fees; how much do they actually make?
I’m a little skeptical myself. Especially since nowadays EBAY prices are comparable to what you can get on the street. I think a lot of people made large amounts of money early but it’d be hard to believe that that many people make good money now.
Interesting job opportunity. The question is: How safe is to make a transaction on eBay?
It’s very safe as long as your smart about your transactions and use common sense. Never give a seller your credit card numbers directly to them, I always go thru Paypal. If a seller doesn’t take Paypal, I don’t buy from them. If you are a seller, same goes for you. Never take a personal check. Even money orders aren’t fool proof anymore. When I sell, I only accept Paypal payments.
I have bought and sold on ebay as well and have found it to be relatively secure, although you must use your common sense and take steps to make sure your transactions are secure. Paypal is my preferred method of making web transactions and I have been very pleased with their services. Using a service like Paypal (and using your head) can ensure that you have a successful eBay experience.
I was a power seller for a while and I found my niche to be quite profitable, but I really had to hussle like it was a full time job. Many of the items I sold came from yard sales, estate sales and the like - so I had very high profit margins.
I think that the online auctions will really take off when you could be 100% sure that you get paid if you are a seller and get the goods if you are a buyer. Spidexa has an interesting business idea on how to approve goods at delivery.
http://www.spidexa.com/?locale=en_GB
Full disclosure: Our company has been involved as test “checkpoint”.
I sell some things on ebay, but unless you are very aggressive, you can’t earn enough income to sustain yourself, at least that is what i found out.