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.