What to Sell on eBay and Where to Get It

What to Sell on eBay and Where to Get It

By Chris Malta and Lisa Suttora

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Part I: The Product Sourcing Mindset: Deciding What to Sell Online

Chapter 1 Fundamentals of Product Selection

Chapter 2: The Product Sourcing Mindset

p Find a knowledgeable salesperson and inquire about best-selling products. What styles are selling?

p Read the paper to spot trends and ideas.

p Listen to friends conversations

p Consumer, hobby magazine, newspaper catalog – scan for 15 minutes and write down what catches your eye. Would this product, trend, niche having selling potential?

p New trend is Americans want to work with their hands (gardening, quilting, hand-painting walls, knitting, sewing, scrapbooking, home decorating, gourmet cooking, home improvement), do it yourself.

p Mix up your routine.

p Inflight magazines, golf bag for travelers, organic pet food.

p 3 Detective Rules

Look for clues and evidence
Listen to your intuition
Know that you have a puzzle to solve

p How to look for distributors

o http://www.yellowpages.com

o smart pages

o business category = wholesale, distributor, manufacturer

o city=seattle

o pick one at random and find their website

p footwear, http://www.wsashow.com, http://wsaspring.expoplanner.com lists all suppliers and relevant info.

p Brainstorm – individual brainstorming can produce more highly creative results. The more ideas you consider, the more winners you’ll find. Also brainstorm ideas for selling & marketing strategies, future plans, new invigorating ideas.

o Brainstorm all day long

o Scan and collect ideas

o Don’t eliminate any idea

o Get stimuli from a variety of places

o Discard preconceived notions

o Don’t linger or analyze

p Scanning should be spontaneous and effortless.

p Document at least 1 idea per day, on average you’ll evaluate 30 products for every 1 you choose to sell.

p Common wisdom holds that your beliefs determine your reality (lack or abundance)

p Take a few minutes each day to celebrate your successes.

p Place yourself in a product rich environment.

p Read a variety of periodicals. Read things you normally wouldn’t read.

p Chapter 2 Action Plan:

o Read/scan everyday

o Brainstorm everyday

o Listen everyday

Chapter 3: The Product Sourcing Notebook

p Interesting website or manufacturer

p The pencil remembers, the head forgets.

p 5” x 6” notebook, PDA, carry everywhere

p Product Ideas - something pops into your head, you overhear something, window display, connecting the dots between articles your read, gather the key points so you can do research later

p Description - brief description of the item, so you can use search engines later

p Prices – understand pricing in all markets

p Model/Style Numbers

p Locations – “Now where did I see that?”, newspaper, catalog, consumer show, date

p Trends

p Niche Markets – The Organic Pet, search in Google, organic pet products.

p Profiles of Target Markets – high-end baby products market; niche, target market and products.

p Supplier Info

p Random Research Notes – idea in left field

p Followup notes - highlight those you want to move forward, gets transferred to spreadsheet. Up arrow or down arrow after research. Dash if it requires more research.

p Chapter 3 Action Plan:

o Get 5” x 6” notebook

o Start using

Chapter 4: Idea Hotspots

p Unending supply of product ideas, market trends, developing niches and product line education. Physical locations, publications and people. Books, magazines, radio interviews, TV shows, shopping malls, stores, coffee shop, consumer shows.

p Trends, hobbies, lifestyle changes, adaptations of classic activities, new products, emerging markets and technologies

p Post it tabs flag important pages.

p Devote bookcase to product sourcing publications

p Trade Magazines and Newsletters – Gifts and Decorative Accessories Magazine http://www.giftsanddec.com. http://www/diamondpublications.net. Children + “trade magazine”, “trade publication”, “industry publication”. Baby Shop Magazine.

p Consumer Magazines – if a publisher is going to invest money to create a monthly printed publication, it’s because there’s a niche, trend or lifestyle change fueling demand for the magazine. Even if it doesn’t peak your curiosity, write it down. Google and find online sites, they have some free content. There’s a What’s New section in a lot of magazines. What’s hot. While you might not be able to sell the same exact products mentioned in a review like the “O” list, you can use the information to forecast and spot trends.

p Newspapers – trends in society, what’s hot, what’s not, what people are thinking about, how they’re living their lives, new products, up and coming companies, manufacturer profiles, company contact info. Lifestyle & Business section. Market demographics, new product profiles, underlying trends and lifestyle changes. What’s in demand, what the future is for the market, who’s buying, how much they’re paying.

p Advertisements – file of product leads, advertising techniques. http://www.scrapbookexpo.com/, life caching, http://trendwatching.com/. Want to get a snapshot of what’s selling? Want a glimpse of what’s hot and “in”? What colors and styles are coming back? How to assemble a product line? Sunday circulars.

p Vendor Catalogs – get on the mailing list.

p Consumer Catalogs – http://catalogs.com, http://shopathome.com, http://www.catalogs.google.com/. Each catalog is a study in niche markets, emerging trends, and new products. Do market demand research.

p Trade Organizations – connecting with suppliers, learning about new products, first to forecast industry trends. http://sewingtrends.com/, http://www.housewares.org. Searching for trade organizations, sporting goods + “trade organization”, “trade association”. http://www.sgma.com/ , http://www.thesupershow.com.

p Consumer Organizations – web site, national convention, http://www.americanquilter.com/ What’s special about the place I live? What products are manufactured only in my area?

p Yahoo Groups – listen for particular industry-related pieces of information. What topics are hot, What problems do the members of the group have. What products and services are of interest. This is where trends start. eBay Community http://pages.ebay.com/community/boards/index.html.

p Trade Shows – best product sourcing venues available. http://housewares.org/ihshow/about.asp, http://nationalhardwareshow.com/ , http://californiagiftshow.com/, http://tradeshowwseek.com, http://whatdoisell.com/tradeshowtips. Search on Google, industry + “trade show”. Pick up catalogs at tradeshow, trade show website. Bring several copies of resale certificate.

p Consumer Shows – best and brightest of niche market, see a diverse product mix, gain product and brand awareness, perform research and product testing., talk with exhibitors one on one. Stock up on brochures. Google search year + industry show. http://publicshows.com/.

p Bookstores – create an instant list of topics or go to amazon.com. Check out sales rank of book, target hot market. Consumers buy books, you’ll know what they’ll be buying next.

p Current Events/Pop Culture – Super Bowl, World Series, war in Iraq.

p The Entertainment Industry – spun off more trends, fads, products, TV shows, dvds, cds, books, clothing, toys, furniture, dolls, games, food, cult shows., mainstream movies, characters, entertainment newspapers, magazines, shows. http://50.lycos.com/, http://movieweb.com/movies/releases/month.php

p Shopping Malls and Retail Stores – what’s being prominently displayed, what colors are new, what styles are hot, always check displays, end-caps, spend time in places you normally don’t spend time, try to go to at least one new retail store a week and make a list of ten potential product selling ideas.

p Trend Web Sites, Trend Spotters, and Trend Forecasters – pick a niche and find the mot popular related web sites, trends, changes and what’s hot. http://trendwatching.com, Google search industry + “trends”

p Search Term Suggestion Tools – http://inventory.overture.com/d./searchinventory/suggestion, http://adwords.google.com/select/keywordsandbox/ http://pulse.ebay.com/\

p eBay Seller Central – http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/, http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/sellbycategory.html, http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/whatshot.html, dig deeper in the hot list, combine hot list with search term suggestion tool.