Before you can become a PowerSeller you must get started. As obvious as that may be, many people prefer to put off actually getting started. You must make a penny before you can make a million, and before you can make a penny you must get off your butt and get to work.

The first step to being a successful eBay PowerSeller is being interested, the second is doing something about it, and the third is getting an eBay account. So if you haven't already registered to use eBay please do so right now. REGISTER FOR FREE RIGHT NOW BY GOING TO:

I t's extremely important that you start as soon as possible. Like I said before, this book has all the info you need to become a successful eBay PowerSeller, so don't go buying more eBay how-to products...GET STARTED! The best way to start is right away.

Starting at once is essential to your success, by starting now you will create momentum that will help push you forward. You have to get the ball rolling! Think of it as getting into a cold swimming pool...some people get into the pool very slowly, taking a very long time thus making the unpleasant experience last longer, the longer they take the harder it is.

Others simply dive right in. Although they feel uncomfortable for a few seconds as their body gets used to the water, the uncomfortable feeling passes very fast and they are free to enjoy the pool and have fun, while the person taking their time is still suffering. Getting started is very important and EASY! What I mean by getting started is: ? First get an eBay account and browse around the member's area to get comfortable with your surroundings.

  • The second thing you must do is get off your computer and go looking for things to sell in your own home. I am sure you can find all kinds of things to sell that you don't need.
  • Read the rest of this book
  • Take pictures of all the stuff you found and list it up for auction! This is not going to make you lots of money (unless you have a Picasso). This is for experience, it is to get rid of any doubts you still have about eBay. I can not teach you “peace-of-mind”, you must get it by experiencing your first sale! Your first sale: your first sale is one of the most important experiences you will need to go through on the road to eBay success.

Your first sale will build confidence and erase doubts you may still have. You will experience first hand more than half of what's involved in being an eBay seller...listing, watching bids go up (exciting!), answering questions, accepting payments, communicating with the buyer, paying eBay fees, packing and shipping your item, leaving feedback, receiving feedback and you will get a feeling of certainty, you will know first hand how most of the stuff works.

But before you rush out, and give it a shot. Here are a few things you should avoid doing: Reserve auctions: there are times to use reserve auctions but when you are just starting out and you want to experience what it feels like to sell something and get some confidence its better to start your items at a low price with no reserve. Most buyers hate reserve auctions!

You will get a lot less interest from potential buyers if you have a reserve. Buyers don't want to spend 7 days bidding on something and have it not sell. Besides no-reserve auctions usually get more bids and a higher closing price. More on reserve auctions later. Buying too much of one product: when you are first starting out you usually want everything to happen as fast as it possibly can.

A lot of people make the mistake of buying the first lot of products they see from the first supplier they go to. Many PowerSeller will tell you just like they told me, the worst thing that can happen to you is buying a ton of products only to find out the products don't sell well and are twice as cheap from a different supplier.

Basing your plans on guesswork: if you are like most people, your plans are probably based on guesswork. You have probably heard the saying "what you don't know can't hurt you." Well in business planning what you don't know WILL hurt you. I have heard many people say things like "I can get a great deal on these designer sunglasses, they will sell so good!"

What these people often find out is that the sunglasses sell on eBay for less than what they got them for or they’re not authentic (they’re fakes). So please don't simply assume that the product will sell for an X amount of dollars or that you are getting a good deal. It is very important that you base everything on actual facts and research and not simply what you think.

Not treating your business seriously: Most PowerSellers I talked to are fulltime eBay sellers, working anywhere from 1-14 hours a day. What? You don't want to work 14 hours a day!? Don't worry this book teaches you how to save a ton of time. The PowerSellers that work over 8 hours a day are usually the ones that aren't treating their business like a business, you will learn all about this later.

The important is that you start treating your business like a business right from the start, even when you are putting your first item up for auction. Getting discouraged when your first auction doesn't get any bids: this is a big one, because this is when most people quit. Until you experience a sale you will have doubts in your mind about your ability to make money on eBay.

When the first item you put up for auction doesn't sell, the doubts in your mind can get stronger and you can get discouraged. If your first auction doesn't get any bids on it remember it's not the end of the world. What you should know before listing an item up for sale, is it isn't guaranteed to sell. Not everything on eBay gets bided on, the truth is if you can get 25-50% of your auctions to sell, that's great!!

Selling fake or counterfeit products: if you are thinking about selling designer clothing, shoes or accessories this is something you should NEVER do unless you want to be banned from eBay. eBay is littered with fake designer clothing, the people that sell this crap usually have a very short eBay career. Because eBay has a program called VeRO (Verified Rights Owner).

This program is basically representatives of the brand name companies (Nike, polo, Swiss army etc.) searching through eBay and reporting anything that looks even remotely suspicious. So do NOT list fake products on eBay! It will be the end of eBay for you.

Estimating how much shipping will cost: when you list your first items up for auction don't just put up a shipping price that you think will cover the shipping cost of your item. If your shipping price is too high no one will be interested in your auctions. If your shipping price turns out to be less than what the post office charges you will have to pay the balance. There are many ways to lose money on eBay, shipping is a big one.

Talking instead of doing: instead of telling everyone how much money you are going to make, why don't you show them by making it. I know it is very tempting to tell everyone about the exciting new way of making money you have discovered. But doing this is very counter productive and is just an excuse to put off actually getting to work for another day.

Remember, do first talk last. Those are the main things you should avoid when starting out on eBay, you should obviously avoid posting naked pictures of yourself when listing auctions....that is common sense ;-) Now that you know what not to do keep reading and I will tell you all the things you should do…

I f you want to make a living selling on eBay you must treat it like a real business. There are a ton of PowerSellers out there who treat selling on eBay like a job, not a business (more on that later), these are usually the same people that work 14 hour days.

Before you really start buying and selling stuff on a large scale you should do the following:

Get a separate bank and Paypal account for eBay: This is very important, you should get a separate bank account and use it only for business purposes. A separate bank account will make a world of difference. It will make it easier to track your finances, simplify things and make your business look and feel like a real business.

Your business account does not have to be an actual business account, a simple bank account in your name will do...as long as it is used for business purposes only. A Paypal account is something you absolutely NEED in order to sell things on eBay. Almost everything sold on eBay is paid for through Paypal.

With Paypal you will be able to receive payments through the internet and also accept credit cards. Paypal is owned by eBay, so there are many advantages to using Paypal to accept payments. Buyers will be able to send you money from their credit card or bank account through Paypal. Your bank account will be linked to your Paypal account so you can transfer money from one to another.

Get (or borrow) a digital camera: a good digital camera is something you simply can't do without on eBay. Good, clear photos are extremely important to your success. The buyer has no chance to see the actual item in person so the more of the item you can show him/her in your listing the better.

Get a separate email address: I suggest that you open at least 2 new email accounts, this is important because once you start selling you will be getting a lot of questions from people who are interested with the stuff you are selling.

You should have an email account just for questions and one for everything else (Paypal, suppliers, memberships...). If you really want to look professional, you need to get your own domain name. For example if your business is called Super Laundry Baskets, you could get a domain and make your email address mary@superlaundrybaskets.com

If you want to set up your own website on your domain, that’s also a great way to show buyers that you take your business seriously. You don’t want to go use any old host, because if your website goes down that will make you look bad.

Set up a home office: The more organized and tidy you are the more efficient you will be able to run your eBay business. The more efficient your business is the less you have to work! This all goes back to treating your business like a business. You should also have a business telephone number so people can call you.

You may need to make some room in your home for all the merchandise you are going to sell. As for the stuff you need in your office all I can say is OFFICE STUFF! You know: pens, binders, paper, a calculator, monkeys (joking). Just don’t go overboard in your preparations! It is human nature to procrastinate by over-organizing.

You don’t have to have all your ducks in a row. Just get reasonably organized and then start! If you are working at a full time job you probably have very little spare time to do all of these things and remember, we are still just getting started.

The good thing about eBay is it can be done alone, you don't need workers or assistants because eBay takes care of a large part of the most important part of your business for you...the selling. But even though you can become an eBay PowerSeller by yourself something you should take into consideration regardless of whether you have a job or are unemployed is partnerships…

Partnerships: It is a well known fact that businesses that are run by more than one person succeed at a much higher rate than those business that are run by a single person. That is why it is easier to get a grant or a bank loan when you show up with a partner, another reason is because the bank has someone else to go after if you can't repay the loan.

But that's a whole other story. Before I tell you all the benefits of partnerships, let me just make a couple disclaimers. First, partnerships are not without risks and potential downfalls. You need to be extremely CAREFUL about who you partner with.

Second, the SIMPLEST type of business to run is a sole proprietorship, which means you run it yourself without worrying about anyone else. That said, let me tell you a few of the benefits of entering into a partnership as a business venture…

It can be a scary world out there when you are trying to make something work by yourself. It can be hard to even get started because you may not be selfmotivated and it can be nearly impossible to make everything work by yourself. Getting a partner can solve most of your problems, why not give it a shot? Getting a partner can be one of the best things you can do for your business!

Without anyone helping you, you must do everything yourself. Listing, answering questions, buying, packing, tracking, research, shipping, refunds and a whole lot of other stuff that needs to get done. Now don't get me wrong; an eBay business is something that can be run profitably by just one person and this book teaches you just that. But while we are on the subject of partnerships lets get into it a little more.

Why should you share your money with someone? Because if you have a partner you can have 10 times more money to share! How can that be? Let me explain. If you have a partner, you will be able to divide your business in half, meaning: you take care of half and your partner takes care of the other half.

What happens when you share the workload like that is it gives you time to concentrate on one part of the business and your partner can take care of the other part. Now everything you do gets twice the attention it used to get, thus making every part of your business at least twice more efficient and profitable.

No part of your business has to suffer any longer just because you don't have time to pay attention to it. When you can concentrate on a few parts of your business, and that is when you can begin to shine and really start to get things done! I t can be very hard to be good at many things all at the same time, a partner can master half of your business and you can master the other half.

That way the auctions listings, customer service, tracking, financing, packing, shipping and everything else can all be the best they can, that can make your business into a money making beast! GRRRR!! You will also be able to raise more money and raise it much faster.

Problems will be easier to solve because instead of one person trying to solve a problem there will be two. Your partner will be able to help you out in all sorts of different ways and you can feed of each others energy, encourage each other and push one another to get things done.

One of the best things you can do when you are stuck is talk to someone who understands. So when you have eBay problems, you're not alone! You will also be able to start much faster and you will have someone to be there with you when you are doing something for the first time.

Like getting a bank loan or trying to get a deal from a supplier. For some people the biggest problem while trying to start up a business is their work ethic or lack of it. If you have a partner you may feel obligated to do your work because he/she is doing his/hers part so you must do yours! So let's look at the main benefits of going into business with a partner:

  • You only have to do half of the work
  • Business becomes more efficient and profitable
  • Easier to raise money
  • More free time
  • Someone to talk to who truly understands
  • Greater chance of success

Now that you know why it might be a good Idea to get a partner I must tell you again: you don't need a partner to be a successful eBay seller, but it can definitely help. Now go and get started! You already know more than enough to get started, so go and open an eBay account, it's very easy and it's free!