The Truth About eBay Product Sourcing Lists

I get quite a few questions like this one:

So, last month Scott Prock of The Power Sellers Report and I talked for over an hour about researching whether items would sell on eBay, finding product sources and tracking down real wholesalers, and adding value to your auctions.

All of these things are crucial to your eBay success.

For example, you need to do research before you buy products because you have to be certain you can resell them at a profit. If you don't have a good idea what the items will sell for, you can't even start to make a judgment about what you can pay for them.

Scott and I also discussed two different ways to come up with ideas for products:

The first way is to look on eBay and see what others are selling, then look for wholesalers. This is what most people do. They search for the hot items, or even lukewarm items, and then jump right in.

This is usually a foolhardy pursuit, but Scott and I took it one step further and specifically talked about recognizing items where the existing eBay sellers were leaving money on the table. In other words, we looked for items to which we could add value.

I can't overemphasize the importance of adding value.

Note - you should already know how to add value to your auctions. It's covered in the chapter on writing auction descriptions in my Auction Revolution manual.

Before I go on, a quick aside:

One of the other questions people ask is where to find auction templates.

Adding value to your eBay auctions does not mean using a template. It means getting the potential buyer involved in the item you're selling. It means getting your prospect to feel a sense of desire -- a need to buy your item. When you do this correctly, a potential buyer will not even look to see if others are offering similar items. He'll just buy yours.

Now let's talk about barriers to entry.

Common barriers are minimum orders, tax licenses, applications, and other requirements you must meet before you can place an order or represent a manufacturer. Most of these simple hurdles are easily overcome with a bit of work.

This is vitally important: Most dropshipper and wholesale lists you'll find online have no barriers -- and that means anyone can buy the list.

Think about it. . .

The more hurdles you have to jump through to place an order, the fewer people you'll have to compete with. Lower competition means higher profits.

A second important point about using wholesale lists is that they don't help you build any new skills. Sure you might find something you can make money on, but it won't be long before others copy your auctions, pushing your profits down and forcing you to start looking for something new to sell.

If you learn how to dig out your own product sources, others will have a harder time following in your footsteps, and you'll be able to use your sourcing methods over and over again to build a profitable line of items.

I probably don't need to tell you this, but there are no shortcuts to lasting success.

Even so, you will rarely see anyone online mentioning the need for skills -- especially not people selling lists. There is a simple, easy-to-understand reason for this:

They know fewer people will respond to their offers if they talk about the work involved. They know the lazy, something-for-nothing crowd won't buy their lists if they're honest about the work involved.

Let's face it... some people think "work" is a four-letter word.

It isn't. Consistent effort is the only way to lasting success.

Now let's talk about you.

If you haven't started working on improving your eBay skills, you can use the four free eBay reports reports on IwantCollectibles.com to get started, or you can get the Auction Revolution and access all the skill-building information you'll need in one easy-to-use manual.

If you'd like to get a CD recording of Scott Prock and I talking about researching and finding new products and adding value to your auctions, it's the April 2006 eBay Mastermind issue. Note - I don't sell back issues of the mastermind interviews, but will be putting together a best of collection in the near future. Subscribe to my free emailed newsletter and I will let you know when the collection is ready.

The eBay Mastermind series puts new skills into your mailbox every month in an easy-to-listen to CD interview format. When you subscribe, you'll get a simple plastic box to hold the CDs in and an introductory CD interview designed to change the way you think about eBay.

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Terry Gibbs has taught over 7,000 people how to make a good living on eBay. Terry's most recent eBay instruction manual is The Auction Revolution . The Auction Revolution is your guide to eBay and beyond. Here on Iwantcollectibles.com, you will learn about buying and selling antiques and collectibles, and about eBay.

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