Actually, while most people do want to accomplish the first thing, most people are, in actuality, only pursuing the second. Therefore I spend most of my time focusing on how to sell stuff online to make a good income that will make a difference in your life but may not make you the next Bill Gates.

So, how can you sell stuff online? Well, in actuality there isn’t that much too it. I know this seems hard to believe. And, it’s true, it can seem like a lot if you are just starting to think about selling online or getting in the e-commerce game, however once you get started you will find that it is quite easy to do. The first thing I think I would decide is where do you want to sell your stuff. I always recommend ebay because it is the largest auction site in the world. The thing about ebay is that they have changed their bylaws recently so that getting started with ebay isn’t as easy as it used to be in the past. For this reason many people have abandoned their ideas of starting an ebay business and have simply thrown up their hands in despair. I believe this is simply a mistake and you need to re-examine your motives for starting an ebay business in the first place. Ask yourself, am I starting an ebay business just to sell stuff online that I don’t need anymore or am I truly trying to start a legitimate business. If you only wanted to sell stuff online to clean out your closet, then you are right, ebay is not the right place for you. Because of ebay’s new rules, the auction giant no longer is the best place to do business if you are looking to deal in small steps. If you just want to do one auction a month then maybe the doubters are correct, ebay is not for you. However, if you want to sell stuff online to add regular income to your bottom line then I think that an ebay business is absolutely the right path for you.

To earn a substantial amount of money by selling stuff online you really need to become an ebay power seller. Simply selling one or two items a month is not going to really add to your bottom line financially. And remember, on Things to Sell on Ebay, we write for people who are looking to significantly improve their finances. So therefore, let’s assume that the reason you want to sell stuff online is to make money, not to simply reduce clutter or clean out your closet. So, then as I have told you, ebay will definitely be for you because ebay is where the traffic is. Each month eBay does billions of dollars worth of transactions and receives billions of page views. You simply can not afford to miss it. Sure, there are other sites where you can list an item, but the real dollars are still made on ebay. Selling stuff on ebay is quite simply the most simple way to make extra money online. Remember though that you are going to need to become a power seller in order to really make your ebay business pay off. So, the question then becomes what are the best things to sell on ebay? And thus you have really gotten to the crux of the matter and the reason that I started this website to begin with. I believe that there is no good reason why you can not sell anything on ebay. Oh sure, there are some things, like cocaine, that you can simply not sell legally on ebay and that is fine. We will take advantage of the literally millions, no make that billions of things to sell on ebay legally. So, where do you find these products? Good question. I believe that there are any number of places to find things to sell on ebay however in order to make serious money and really sell stuff online you need to have sources that are regular and dependable. What I mean by this is that if you find that you have can make $10 by selling something online, say a disposable camera, then the question naturally becomes where do you get more of them at the prices that allow you to make money on ebay?

The answer becomes simple. Find a source where you can buy products at prices less than you will be able to sell them for. I believe that the best way to find these products is by belonging to a wholesale sourcing websites. I have recommended SaleHoo (which I reviewed in another post, click here to read my endorsement of SaleHoo) as the best way to sell stuff online for a proft. Quite simply with SaleHoo you will be able to gain consistent access to the top of the line products at prices that will allow you to resell these products for huge profits. Now a membership to an exclusive club like SaleHoo is not cheap, but it is an outstanding value because of what you get. There are many benefits and features of the membership, but the main thing is that you are able to purchase prices direct from wholesalers who sell at deep discounts. Because of this once you are able to find a transaction that is profitable for you there is no reason that you can not repeat the transaction 10, 20 or even 100 times making a substantial profit each time.

I’m sure you can see the value in that!

As a result of technology, many avenues are available for business-minded individuals to make money online. One of these time tested methods is selling products on EBay. For over a decade people have been profiting handily on Ebay. The only rule to success being to sell items for more than you paid for them. With this in mind, it naturally follows that those who have access to the best products at the cheapest prices can make the most money through Ebay. So the question becomes where can I find the best products to sell through Ebay?

There are several possibilities here. There is not one best way to source your products. If you wanted to start at the top, you could google “wholesale” and begin negotiating with any of the wholesaling operations that you find at the top of the listings. Unfortunately, this is not the most effective way to find reputable, and reputable is the key word, sources for wholesale products.

The key is to find a directory or list of approved and certified wholesalers offering a wide array of products at the best prices rather than simply trying random wholesalers. Notice that I said “approved and certified.” You want to find companies who are used to dealing with people who resell their merchandise online, specifically through Ebay.

What type of companies am I talking about? These companies fall into four general categories. There are liquidators, light wholesalers, bulk wholesalers, and importers. Each uses a distinct business model, though in reality they all do about the same thing. What they do is allow you to buy merchandise at a wholesale price (read well below retail) allowing you to turn around and sell the same product for a much higher price on Ebay. While this may sound like a hard-to-find arrangement, the fact is that these wholesalers have, for years, been doing just this sort of thing of millions of Ebay powersellers. And, some of these top power sellers have turned this type of business relationship into a net worth of millions of dollars.

So, again we return to our primary question: How do you find reputable wholesalers to enter into business with? There are several websites which sell lists of wholesalers that you can buy from anywhere between $50 and $1000. Sadly, most of these websites operate scam operations. The lists that they sell have not been approved and certified and many are in fact fly by night operations. ). So be careful. In this industry, more than just about any other, you get what you pay for. Expect to shell out at least one hundred dollars for a decent wholesale directory and be prepared to spend a few hundred to get lifetime access to one of the premier wholesaler sites — usually their is a membership fee of about $75/year to belong to a clearing house. So, if you get into the business of making money selling items on Ebay and do so for ten years, your out of pocket will be $750 for the decade. Obviously, since you can easily make that in a jiffy, it is a small cost of doing business that is entirely reasonable for most sellers.

Often when people decide to start selling on ebay they follow the all-too-familiar path. First, once they have decided they’d like a little extra income, they start auctions selling some of the excess items that they already own. They clean out their garages and attics and make a few bucks in the process. At this point, having tasted a little of the Ebay income, they realize that if they only had access to more stuff, more items to sell on ebay, they could make more money. Actually, they realize that they could make a lot more money!

Typically, these folks go on to google something like “wholesaler for ebay” and end up going in on a $1000 order of spanish-language DVD’s or knock-off digital cameras. When their merchandise shows up late and  in poor condition (or never shows up at all) they realize that this Ebay business might be a little trickier than they first imagined.

So they take the next step, they try to find a reputable wholesale source that can deliver top-notch products at can’t-beat-em prices. Again, there are a number of competitors. The prices range from a onetime fee of over four figures to a regular membership cost that you must pay every month, year, etc. I’ve toyed with nearly all of these “reputable” wholesale sources and found that there are really only two that have made me money. In fact, the two companies, SaleHoo and Worldwide Brands, pretty much now offer comprehensive services that teach people how to make money on Ebay or any site that sells that stuff. They are huge sites, chock full of information, help, forums with thousands and thousands of users, and professional support staffs that can answer your questions.

Just as a side note: I use and recommend SaleHoo without hesitation. I think, for the money, they are the best value as well as the best product.

If you are just starting to think about making money selling things online, then this can be a lot to take in. That’s because it is! If you are going to have a successful Ebay business, you are going to have to treat it like a business. That means there is going to be a lot of hours of learning and actual work involved!

Most people want instant riches without work. Even me. But if you’re a grown up, you understand that reality doesn’t work that way. The more you put into a project the more that you can get out of it. And the facts are plain: There are people making 8 figures a year selling products online. That didn’t just happen miraculously or by luck. It took a ton of work and determination. But everyone starts at the same point, and that is uncertainty and ignorance. They don’t know what will work, they don’t know what they are capable of, and they don’t want to be scammed.

I try to help people by explaining the process, but the fact is pretty simple. Some people are not cut out to work selling things on ebay. This is because there is risk involved. They have to spend money to get started and things may not turn out the way that they hoped. For people like this, I just advise them to find a steady career in government, say as a teacher, and enjoy their life. There is nothing wrong with making an average salary, and it is critical that a person do something that fits their personality.

For instance, SaleHoo, makes thousands of people thousands of dollars a year. The service costs $67/year with a full money back guarantee and the ability to quit at any time. But that amount of money, $67 a year, represents a huge psychological risk for many people. They are afraid they will ‘lose’ that money. I work online selling products and I don’t have this attitude. I understand that my business has expenses. This just makes sense to me. I spend hundreds of dollars a month on various tools and services. And I don’t think twice about this because it helps me make so much more.

But some people don’t experience risk this way. They want to achieve the same result and incur zero expenses. I am going to have to be the voice of reality here and tell you the truth: It takes money to make money. All businesses have expenses. All of them. The goal is to make a profit, which means that at the end of each month your revenue exceeds your expenses. And there are probably millions of people who run profitable internet businesses. And every single one of these people understand how business works.

But there are billions of people on the planet and most of them do not run their own business. And that’s okay. We need employees! But you need to be honest with yourself and decide which type of person you are. Are you someone who is willing to spend a quarter to make a dollar or are you the type of person who hesitates to risk their quarter, that they might lose money.

Because, honestly, making money selling items on Ebay isn’t rocket science. But if you don’t have the right personality, you’re not going to be successful. That’s okay. But it’s something that you need to become okay with.

So, now that I got that out of my system, let’s carry on with what this site is about: locating what to sell on ebay to make a profit.

To read my review of SaleHoo, click here.