My Internet Business Review: Where To Sell On The Internet
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Before you launch your own webpage, there are a few options that you could try first. These options will give you a better feel for the internet in regards to buying and selling. These are a few of the website options and assistance with how to decide what to sell such as eBay and Etsy.
My internet business recommends that you start out small. There are three major venues for selling things on the internet before you take the plunge on your own web shop: eBay, Amazon Shops and Caf Press. We’re going to explore all three to give you a baseline for comparison.
The easiest one to get into, assuming you have a means of generating graphics, is Caf Press. You upload your artwork, set up the shop, and select what products it’ll be on, ranging from tee shirts, to coffee mugs, to calendars - even intimate apparel. (Yes, we have seen “Just Do IT?” thongs) The flip side is that Caf Press charges a pretty premium; they handle all the manufacturing for you, so you don’t have to cover inventory. So you’re not making much per sale unless you can command a premium. Still, if you’re an artist and lazy, they’re a good way to make some money off of your artwork.
The next step up from Caf Press is Amazon Shops. Amazon Shops lets you print books on their Booksurge service, or just sell used books online. My internet business is not limited solely to books - we’ve sold tee shirts, cookwear and electronics on ours. Amazon Shops charges $40 per month as a listing fee and takes anywhere from 10% to 25% of the sale price of the item. The advantage is that it’s a natural destination for selling things online. Millions of customers go to Amazon every day. The setup is more involved than Caf Press is, but the reduced fees probably make it worthwhile once your business grows.
My internet business reviews Etsy as a similar site to eBay, but it focuses on handmade things. Etsy charges smaller listing fees than eBay does, but has a smaller clientele. That said, Etsy’s clientele is looking for handmade things, and it has a comparable set of options for setting your own custom web shop. Etsy has a few more search options than eBay does, like a color search wheel, even a geolocator. The aim for Etsy is to be the online equivalent of a crafts fair.
The second option is to buy things locally and resell them at a higher price. Something that might be widely available in your area might be very hard to find other places. Some ideas for this are to collect used items to sell. It is good to find a particular product and make it your trade. One man that lives in my city makes a good living doing this kind of selling. He travels around town finding unique ties. He goes to garage sales and thrift stores. These are the two best places to find a large array of unique items to sell. He also finds out when local churches are having clothing drives so he can pick up some ties. Buying used items is a fun way to sell.
Checking out the sales niche means checking out the competition. Unless it’s a really popular item (like, say, an iPhone), you’re going to want to narrowcast your sales items. Always search for the item you intend to sell and look for other people selling the same thing or similar items. Watch how their auctions and sales options run.
A variation on buy wholesale and sell direct is to find something that’s locally available and sell it for more money on eBay nationwide. This is a surprisingly effective avenue for all kinds of things, from rubber floor mats for automobiles to satellite dishes. Look for something that’s being liquidated locally and work from there.
May 16th, 2008 - Posted in Online Marketing | |
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on July 1st, 2008 at 4:14 pm
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