Ebay has become one of the best, if not the best, places online to start and grow an Internet Marketing business. And though Ebay has not been around for a long time, the impact that it has made on me has been enormous! I still remember my first Ebay sale on 2001. At that time I was a college sophomore in desperate need of some cash. While spending hours in the University computer lab, I ran across the Ebay site. It that time, the website was still in the beginning stages and had no become as popular as it is today. I had some old equipment from when I ran track stored in a closet so I decided to give Ebay a shot. Now, I must admit that my first few items did not sell for alot, but just the concept opened my mind. As the saying goes, "One man's trash, is another man's treasure", and I was a true believer at this time. It was just amazing that I could take old items that I did not use or care about anymore and sell them for a profit. So throughout college I continue to visit yard sales, estate auctions, etc until I graduated and move back home(but I sold all of my electronics on Ebay before I left to cut down on having to pack so many things:)!

Now at this time, I am a college graduate and just as it is now, it was impossible to find a good job. So I took numerous retail store jobs to make the ends meet. Before, as always my entrepreneurial spirit arose again and I started noticing how much department stores mark up there prices. I would go home after work and do price checks on Ebay. After researching, I could purchase clothes and shoes right off the shelf and sell them for a profit. This was amazing to me so I tried it. The first item I purchased were a pair of limited edition Nike Air Jordans. I walked right into the store, asked the sales rep for a size 11.5(my size just in case the shoes did not sell) and paid $69.99 plus tax. So I rushed home to list the shoes on Ebay hoping that with a 5 day auction that I could make a little profit. What happened next was unbelievable! After listing the auction, I received an email just 10 minutes later! The email stated that the auction was over and someone use the Buy It Now and purchased the shoes for $200.00. I had made $130 profit in minutes! From that point I was hooked and I still am to this day! I have been a PowerSeller now on Ebay for 8 years and have grossed over $500,000 in sales and it all started from a dorm room.

Success on Ebay is not easy because just like any business it has been through alot of changes, but is is one of the easiest ways to make some extra income if you just put forward some effort. So to get you started, here are some tips to becoming successful with Ebay auctions

1. Clean you house-If you have never tried Ebay, it is important to get familiar with the process. So, anything that you have in the house that is shippable please list it on Ebay.

2. Niche-After that start looking for a niche product. Research in specialty stores that may be in your area. Example; there may be an Polo(Ralph Laurel) outlet store by you or some other name brand designer.

3.-Service-After you began selling items, make sure you are very timely with communication as well as shipping. With shipping services like United Postal Service having 2 day priority mail, customers are looking for the items within days.

4- Brand- From the beginning, always continue to build your brand. People buy from people they like and are use to. Send your previous customers email when you have inventory in their sizes. It is more likely they will buy if you just let them know.

5-Expand-As time move forward, always be looking to build your own site. Ebay is great for traffic but eventually you will want to reduce the Ebay fees and keep some of the profit for yourself.

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions, please let me know