Square Toe Cowboy Boots Everything that has to do with Cowboy Boots

What Should I Sell on eBay? Part 1

I probably receive more emails on this subject than any other. Buyers read our Basic Seller’s Manual; they want to start selling but just can’t figure out what to sell or how to get started. If you are a new seller, my first piece of advice is to clean out your garage or attic. You need to gain some experience selling before you go off and purchase a large lot of wholesale merchandise. Start by selling used goods, small appliances, wedding gifts you never use, old books (non-fiction one are best), used sporting goods, clothing items (that great leather jacket that doesn’t fit you any more or that pair of cowboy boots you bought on your business trip to Dallas, but never wear). The experience you gain will be invaluable, you will not risk any capital or make any investment beyond some small eBay fees. Virtually everything is for sale on eBay. One night while watching the sport of Curling during the Winter Olympics, I though a curling stone would make an attractive doorstop and conversation piece for my office. During the commercial I went on line to eBay and found dozens of curling stones for sale. One of them now holds the door open to our billiard room. Next turn to your hobbies and interests. Too many sellers think the only way to make a fortune is to buy hundreds of the latest hot selling items and put up dozens of auctions. The problem is that hundreds of other sellers are doing the same thing. (If you don’t believe me do a search for diet pills, or cell phone boosters) As you gain experience you can move into these markets, but this area is fraught with danger for the new seller. There are plenty of companies with enough money to import these items directly by the thousands and undersell anyone who buys through a distributor or wholesaler. Sell something you know something about. Almost everyone collects “something. ” If you are knowledgeable about a collectible or an art object, then you have the ability to do the research to find the products at prices you can resell. Once you gain experience try to focus on larger dollar items. If you only make $2. 00 profit per sale, you have to close (and ship) 1000 auctions per month to make $2,000. Another technique is to sell items in bulk. If you bought a large box of videotapes at a garage sale, separate them into categories and sell them as a lot. You will often make more money than selling them individually. This can also work for clothing. There are sellers that buy children’s clothing from garage sales, sort it by size and gender and sell it in lots. One of my neighbors does this. She will typically pay between $3 to $6 total for several pieces of clothing that she can get over $20 for on eBay. She does the same thing with closeout dealers. She will buy a pallet load of new children’s clothing, sort it by size and sell it in lots of 5 or 10 pieces. Although she might make slightly more selling the pieces individually, this way they sell quicker, the average sale is larger and she turns her inventory over many time more often than she could otherwise. On eBay seller I know purchases large lots of the hot selling items on eBay (cell phone boosters, pocket knives, etc. ) and turns around and sells them in lots of 10 or 25 to other eBayers who want to buy for resale. He recently imported 50,000 disposable cigarette lighters from Korea that he bought for about 11 cents each. He sold them on eBay in lots of 500 for 36 cents each. He made $125 on each lot less his eBay fees. I asked him who was buying the lighters and he said that most of his buyers were flea market, gas station and convenience store owners who sold the lighters over the counter for 99 cents each. Everyone wants to sell computers, software, movies, DVD’s, digital cameras and all sorts of consumer electronics. The sad fact is that SONY, Panasonic, Canon, and others don’t sell their latest hottest products to small dealers who work out of their home. (In fact they don’t sell anything except through their master distributors. ) Even the big stores have trouble getting a large allocation of really hot products. It is possible to get into this business if you have a lot of market and product knowledge (such as you work in a computer store) and you have the contacts to buy the merchandise. The problem is that you are competing with major retailers, some who sell under their own name and others who sell under blind usernames. One way you can succeed selling consumer electronics is with overstock and closeout merchandise. Millions of dollars worth of consumer electronics, computers and software are sold by closeout dealers every week. The trick is to really know what you are buying and to be able to work on small margins and turn your inventory over often. Unfortunately it takes quite a bit of capital investment to compete in this arena. There is also a huge market on eBay for “vintage” hi-fi equipment, cameras, old computers and computer hardware and so on. Last year I found an Akai Reel-to-reel tape deck at a garage sale for $25 and the seller threw in 10 reels of tape. I sold the deck on eBay for just under $200 and sold the 10 reels of tape separately in another auction for $30. I met one of eBay’s product managers last year at the first eBay Live event in Anaheim. She sells vintage Apple computers, parts and software. She buys almost all of it at garage sales, flea markets and thrift stores. Drop shipping is another strategy used by new sellers. I hesitate to recommend working with drop shippers because so many of them are not very reliable. The problem with drop shipping is that your feedback is on the line. If the drop shipper is temporarily out of stock or somehow screws up your order — it is your feedback that will suffer. When you are starting out just one or two negative feedback comments can set your back months. Also the merchandise available from most drop shippers is very common and being sold by hundreds of other sellers. If you are really strapped for cash, you can use a drop shipper temporarily. As soon as you can afford it however, I would start buying wholesale from direct wholesalers and/or distributors. You will make more money and have greater control over your business. When I am asked, “what should I sell,” I am usually also asked what are the best selling items on eBay. I. e. hot sellers. Here is a list of the currently hot selling items on eBay. This is not a recommendation of what to sell. Each of these product areas is fraught with its own perils.     * Diet Pills    * Nutritional Sex Enhancers    * Cell Phone Boosters    * Pheromone scents    * Glass chess sets    * Low cost jewelry    * Expensive watches and jewelry    * Heirloom jewelry    * Used toys in good condition    * New and used clothing for children and plus-sized clothing for women    * Western wear such as cowboy boots, belts, shirts, leather vests, etc.     * Software (including closed-out or last year’s software programs and games)    * Strobe pens    * Tools (power and hand tools)    * Perfume (including perfume samples and opened expensive perfumes that are at least over one-half full)    * Perfume bottles (some with or without perfume)    * Religious books and Bibles (Bibles are always a perennial seller)    * Non-fiction books on hobbies, sports, nautical subjects, history, military science, popular textbooks, and art & photography.    Also books containing maps and art prints that can be broken and sold individually.     * Maps and old prints of ships, flowers, animals (horses and dogs are tops)    * Used auto parts for specialty automobiles (Porsche, BMW, MG, etc. )    * Low mileage Japanese cars and pickups    * Automotive models and car collectibles    * Signed sports collectibles I could go on — but these are some of the best selling items on eBay today. (I am sure I missed a few) If you want to know what to sell on eBay, probably the single best piece of advice I can give new sellers is to be unique and to specialize. Find a niche market, learn everything about it and work it over and over.  

Youth Size 6 Black Shoes VINTAGE Leather Cowboy Boots Painted Cut Outs $12.99

Roy Rogers Vintage Western / Cowboy Boots $26.55

VINTAGE KID TODDLER COWBOY BOOTS MESQUITE 11 1/2 SILVER TIP TOE WESTERN DESIGN $4.24

AMAZING Vintage Childrens COWBOY Western Boots 13.5 AWESOME BLACK AND WHITE $25.00

Vintage Black White Leather 4 Boys Western Boots $24.00

Vintage Gray Blue Leather Short 6 D Boys Western Boots $32.00

Cowboy & Cowgirl Pair Buckaroo Kitchen Dish Towels $17.00 This cute pair of cowboy and cowgirl kitchen dish towels are a colorful and new way to have a little fun in the kitchen. They also have a built in strap on the back corner to allow for hanging on a hook. If you like the look of the 1940's and 1950's vintage kitchen, but are tired of dealing with wear and stains, consider these cute dish towels. 17" x 24" towel with clever screenprint image. The im...

Historic Rancher & Farmer Documentary: American Cowboy (1950) $8.99 American Cowboy is a story about not judging a book by its cover. When a journalist goes into the Wild West to do a story on cowboys, he expected something different. The cowboy who picks him up at the train station doesn't look at all like a cowboy but a businessman. He comes to realize that this cowboy town has been completely modernized. But there are still plenty of aspects that are the same-l...

Western Cowboy Boot Spurs Set of 2 Vintage Iron $24.99 Western Cowboy Boot Spurs Set of 2 Vintage Iron is a matching pair of vintage style cowboy boot spurs. The spurs were hand-made from wrought iron and are antique reproductions of very old Mexican-style spurs with the large 8-point 2.25 inch rowel, oversized strap buttons, and 4 inch heel band. This type of spur has a larger rowel than popular western-style spurs, but is smaller than the unbelievab...

Western Cowboy Hat & Boots Vintage Brass Color Belt Buckle $14.27 -This buckle features western vintage Brass color Cowboy hat and a pair of boots-Dimension (Length X Width): 3" X 2 1/4-Fits belt of Width: 1 1/2-Fits belt with Snap On feature....

Michael Landefeld - Rope Em Cowgirl Pin-up Girl - Sticker / Decal $0.99 Official licensed sticker designed by Michael Landefeld. Sticker Measures approximately 2.5" x 6.5"...

Horse sign sadle Equestrianism Cowboy racing pony rodeo ranch farm / retro wall decor $16.85 J E MATRIX SIGNS AND DESIGNS This is the perfect unique gift. Make a great impression with your friends or customers! This is an original design. Made of high quality tempered wood, very sturdy, with four holes, ready to pin anywhere Hurry and get a unique J E MATRIX style sign...... Low low price! Sweet gift for a loved one....

22 x 14 Wall Vinyl Sticker Cowboy Riding Bull With Lightning $26.97 Product Number: 030-564434590 Wall peels are printed on a reusable vinyl with a special adhesive that sticks to walls without harming them. No tape. No tacks. No marks. * Measures 22" x 14" * Won't hurt walls * Can be moved and reused...

38.5x24.5O Wall Vinyl Sticker Horseshoes Roses and Crosses $32.97 Product Number: 030-550147028 Wall peels are printed on a reusable vinyl with a special adhesive that sticks to walls without harming them. No tape. No tacks. No marks. * Measures 38.5" x 24.5" * Won't hurt walls * Can be moved and reused...

Justin Boots Men's Western-2704 Boot $210.00 Ride off into the sunset for a night on the town in classic cowboy style with the Western from Justin Boots. The handsome leather upper boasts excellent detailing while the smooth leather sole has a purely vintage feel. Built with the J-Flex Flexible Comfort System and a Justin Jel insert, this boot feels great on your foot as long as you can wear it....

Justin Boots Women's Bent Rail-Brl311 Boot $175.00 Go tough-girl cute in the Bent Rail from Justin Boots. The supple calf upper has a buttery feel and the colorful shaft features sweet western stitch detail and should be showed off with your favorite leggy look. A luxurious leather sole completes this fantastic find....