Six Ways PowerSellers Optimize eBay Auction Titles and Get More Bids
One of the most important things you can do to increase your sales on eBay is to optimize your eBay auction title. Have you every wondered why one seller on eBay will get 3 to 5 times more for the same item. Although there is other factors that can effect the final price the number one factor is the auction title. An effective auction title will increase the number of potential customers clicking into and seeing your auction. The more people who see your auction the more likely it will sell and the higher the final bid price will be. The trick is to optimize you title for the eBay search engine. Why do you want to optimize it for the eBay search engine? Because most people who shop on eBay do not browse they search using the little search box at the top of the eBay home page. The more likely your item will come up in this search the more likely it will sell and get bid up.
1. Use Words People Will Search For on eBay
Think about what words other will use when looking for your item on eBay. You may even want to ask a friend what words they would use to find your item on eBay.
2. Use All 55 Characters
eBay gives you 55 characters including spaces for your title. Make sure you use them all. The one thing that really bothers me is when one of my students list an item on eBay and only uses one or two words in the title. Talk about a wast of money and time.
3. Don’t Get Too Excited
Don’t use expressive language just use searchable keywords. How many times have you gotten up on Saturday morning and searched for L@@K, WOW or WHOOPY on eBay. If you wouldn’t search for the word no one else would either.
4. Check Your Spelling
Make sure you double check your spelling in your title. Not only does bad spelling make you look unprofessional but it also reduces the number of people who will find your eBay auction and the amount you will make. If you think it never happens look up “shrit” or “neckless” on eBay. At the time of this writing there are 72 shrits and 157 necklesses. Guess what, they have very few bids. If you need a good shrit or neckless now is the time to buy!
5. Don’t Mislead
Yes it is true you want keywords in the title but use keywords that are related to the items you have up for auction. If you are selling a Dockers shirt do not put Tommy Hilfiger in the title. Do you really think that someone who is looking for a Tommy Hilfiger shirt would by a Dockers shirt? You may get more views but you will not get more sales or higher bids. The only thing you will do is make bidders upset. The second reason you do not want to do this is because if reported eBay may remove your auction for keyword spamming . If they pull your auction all you have done is lost money through listing fees and lost time.
6. Use eBay Tools to Perfect Your Title
Once you have written down what you think would make a good title double check it with eBay’s new BayEstimator tool. This tool will tell you the exact words people search for when searching for your item on eBay. This tool will allow you to tweak and optimize your title to eBay search perfection. It is easier to show you how this works rather than tell you so I have made a short video to show you exactly how it works.
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6 Proven Steps to Get Wholesalers to Want to do Business with an eBay Seller - Wholesale Part 5
If you sell on eBay you not only face the challenge of finding wholesale sources but also the challenge of getting them to want do business with an eBay seller. Before I talk to you about how and where to find wholesale sources lets discuss how to get them to want to business with you . Here are some Powerseller tips and tricks that will do just that..
1. Get Legal
True wholesalers want to do business with true retailers. If you haven’t done this yet get going. You will need a sales tax number and or a business license. This is usually very inexpensive and in some cases free depending on the state you live in. It’s not that hard and will open up a whole new door for you on eBay. You will also want to decide whether you are going to be a corporation, sole proprietorship etc. I would suggest getting in touch with your states Small Business Development Center or SBDC. Many of their services are free and they will be able to help you get you business going in the right direction legally. http://www.sba.gov/localresources/index.html
2. Get a Special Business Name
If you don’t have a business name you will need one to contact wholesalers. Be careful when picking a business name because you do not want one that is too specific. If you were starting a brick and mortar store I would tell you just the opposite because you would want the name to say something about what you sold. With an eBay business you don’t want the name to say something about what you sell and the reason is simple. When selling on eBay you want to be able to sell what sells and sometimes what sells is not going to be within you particular niche. Here is an example: Let say your business name is “Pet Toys” and you find out that designer sunglasses are selling like hot cakes on eBay and you want to get into that market. You contact a wholesaler of designer sunglasses and want to start an account with them. Once they find out that your business name is “Pet Toys” what are the chances that they will take you seriously? Lets put it this way. It might be hard for “Pet Toys” to get an account with a wholesaler of designer sunglasses. Now lets say your company name is “XYZ Company” and you contact them. The sales rep for the wholesale company isn’t going to make any presumptions about your business because for all they know “XYZ Company” could be a large retailer and you are more likely to get an account with that wholesaler. (Tip: Do not use your own name as your business name.) Remember you can do business under as many names as you want. So in this example you would have your main business name be “XYZ Company” and could still be Doing Business As (DBA) “Pet Toys” but for contacting wholesalers you want your main business name to be generic. Having a generic business name will not only increase your chances of getting wholesale accounts but will also allow your business to be more flexible and flexibility on eBay is good.
3. Get a New Business Card
Even if you already have a business card it may be a good idea to get a different one. You may be just starting your company or you may have had an eBay business for some time either way there is a good chance your the only employee in your company. If this is the case you wear many hats. You are the owner, manager, sales department, purchasing, marketing, accounting and anything else you can think of. You can have a business card for any or all of these but for contacting wholesalers you want to put on you purchasing hat. You want a business card that says you are a “purchasing agent” for your company. A purchasing agent buys the goods the company needs to resell to customers. Having a purchasing agent helps to make your company look professional and established to a wholesale representative and they will be more likely to want to do business with you. Your business card doesn’t have to be anything fancy. I would suggest taking a look at VistaPrint for free to low cost business cards.
I’ve arrange a deal with VistaPrint to get readers of this blog 80% off premium business cards and free return labels or 250 free basic business cards and free return labels - “Your Choice”. Limited time but you must click on the link provided above to get the deal.
4. Letterhead Stationary
This is a must when looking for a wholesaler. Many of them will ask you to fax them a copy of your business license or tax id and some will want it on your business stationary. If you have a picture or sketch of your company’s building put it on your stationary as well. Some wholesalers want a picture of your building or store so if it is already on the stationary it will save you some time. If you decide to get your business card through VistaPrint.com you can get matching stationary through them as well and I believe you can download a picture of your building to put on it.
5. Get a Company Website
When picking out your generic business name make sure the domain name for that name is available. You don’t want to get stuck with a business name and no website to go along with it. Having a website is very beneficial because it will make you look much more professional. Not only will the website make you look professional the email address that goes along with it will make you look professional as well. Who would you take more seriously a company that has an email address like this xyzcompany@hotmail.com or a company that has an email address like JoeSmalts@xyzcompany.com.
Your company website only needs to have a real basic statement of who your company is, which doesn’t really tell them anything except that you purchase items for resale, and a couple of pages such as a career page and a contact page. On the careers page you can post positions you are hiring for once you get to that point and on the contact page you can place links to email the different departments including the Purchasing Department. Most website hosts give you lots of email addresses so you can have a different email address for each department. I would recommend DotEasy.com because you can get a basic site for FREE without any banners which comes with a website building tool so you don’t have to know any html and up to ten free email addresses. You will have to pay for your domain name but that is it. I have use them for years for this purpose and I am very happy with them.
6. Telephone Answering Service and Fax:
A telephone answering service will round everything out. If your doing business from home this is especially important. Now that you have a professional company image the last thing you want to do is blow it with a phone call. Imagine a wholesale representative calling and your son or daughter answers the phone and yells: “Mom / Dad some guy is on the phone for you!” and then sets the phone down so the representative can listen to the TV going in the back ground. All the work you have done to establish a professional company image has just gone up in smoke. This could have all been avoided if you had a good answering service. The best is a 1-800 answering service that maintains a professional image, gives you the option to answer the phone, for when everything is quiet, as well as the ability to send the calls to your voice mail. I have tried out some very inexpensive and free options but would not recommend them. Many of the free services announce that they are free when someone calls or gives the caller a short commercial before they send them to your voice mail. The really inexpensive ones sound like an answering machine which doesn’t give the professional image you want either. The best one I have found is GotVMail. GotVMail isn’t the least expensive but isn’t the most expensive either. I would suggest starting out with their basic plan and then working up if you need to. All their plans also come with a virtual fax which allows you to send and receive faxes. Their may be other services but this is the best one for the price that I have found.
Presenting your best image when contacting wholesalers is very important. The more professional and established your company looks the more the wholesalers are going to want to do business with your eBay business. If you follow the steps I have outlined above your will no longer have to beg a wholesaler to give you an account. The wholesalers will “want” to give you an account and many times will be stumbling over their feet to give you an account.
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Proven Steps to Get Wholesalers to Want to do Business with an eBay Seller [20:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (292)Related Posts
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How to Easily Find an eBay Sellers Negative Feedback
Have you ever wondered how to easily see a sellers Negative and Neutral comments on eBay without having to wade through all those positive ones? eBay is and has made this very easy to do. You can check out how it works by going to the www.ebay.co.uk site. Just do an advance search to find any seller U.S. or U.K. and check out their feedback (or your own). You will see that the numbers are clickable. You can click on the neutral or negative numbers in their feedback profile to look at those comments. This should make things easier for all buyers. No longer will they need to look at all those positive from satisfied customers to find a sellers Negative and Neutral Comments.
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Ebay Guide - How to Save Money on Packing and Shipping Supplies
One way to help reduce expenses as an eBay seller is to spend less on packing and shipping supplies. As an eBay seller your profits will be made on the pennies and not the dollars. Every penny you can save on shipping supplies, without sacrificing quality, is money in your pocket. Here are my top ways to save money on packing and where to get them.
- Free boxes from USPS: Yes you heard me correctly. You can get free boxes to ship your eBay items through the USPS. Delivered to your door at no charge. This is one of the best ways to save money on your eBay shipping supplies and the only catch is: “You must ship USPS Priority Mail”. This means your customers will get their items faster and you will save money. A win, win situation.
- Reused Packaging: Any time you get a box in the mail, or with a gift, keep it and the packaging material that is included. You can reuse both and the cost is zero. You can even reuse the wrapping paper.
- Newspapers: You can reuse old newspapers for packing. Just crumble them up for padding. I’ve even had requests from eBay buyers to use a local paper for packing. They enjoy reading what is going on in other areas of the U.S. and around the world.
- Junk Mail: That is right, junk mail does have a purpose. Don’t through that stuff away. Shred it or crumble it up and use it as packing material.
- Local retail shops: Get in good with your local retail shops. Be friendly and let them know what type of boxes and packing you are looking for. Most will happily tell you when their shipment comes in so you can take the packing material off their hands. Just don’t get picky and don’t complain if they leave you boxes that you don’t really need. Take them anyways, thank them nicely, and throw what you don’t want. Tip: Furniture stores can be great for bubble wrap etc.
- eBay: Sometimes you can’t find everything you need or enough of it. If this is the case you can turn to eBay to find shipping supplies in small quantities. If you only need small supplies this is the usually the best way to go. If you are needing larger supplies I would go with a shipping supply company.
- Shipping supply company: If your eBay business has grown to the point where you can no longer find enough of the type of the supplies you need or your driving around half the day to find them it may actually be cheaper to buy your supplies from a shipping supply company such as Uline. Although there are many shipping supply companies I’ve found Uline’s prices to be one of the least expensive.
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Protecting Your eBay Business From the Wholesale Scam - Wholesale Part 4
Although there are many good wholesalers you must be aware of the wholesale scam that is just out to take your eBay business’s hard earned money. Although I don’t agree with or recommend selling fake goods there are some legitimate wholesalers from China that sell fake products. As long as you know what you are getting that is not a problem. Also, although this may raise a red flag, just because a wholesaler doesn’t take credit cards doesn’t necessarily make them a wholesale scam. In fact in many third world countries it is very hard to process credit cards so the only payment methods they can take is wire transfers or similar. When order from a company that only takes wire transfers always start out slow so you can test the company and the quality of their products. The wholesale scam that I am talking about are the so called companies that present themselves as wholesalers but provide no products at all. Many of these scammers have websites that make them look like a true company but that is just a front. There is really no company behind the site and no products.
Signs of a True Wholesaler
Here are some ways to make sure you are dealing with a true wholesaler and not a wholesale scam:
- Provide contact information - A real wholesaler will list their contact information on their website. Name, address, telephone, fax and email address.
- Answer phone professionally - They answer the phone like a business and don’t just say hello, howdy etc.. If they are a real business they will answer the phone by stating their full name and ask how they can help you.
- Want your business or resale license - True wholesalers only want to do business with true retailers. If when taking your order they don’t ask for your resale license, tax id number or business license you may be dealing with a wholesale scam.
- Are willing to give you samples - Once they have confirmed you are a true business most will be willing to send you product samples. If they hesitate or get shifty when you ask for samples this may raise a red flag.
- Answer their email - True wholesalers will normally always answer their emails. If they don’t answer their emails or all of a sudden stop answering their emails this may be a sign of a scam.
- Have products in stock - Although occasionally a product may be on back order the majority of the time they will have the products in stock. If the company you are dealing with says the items are on back order and you will not get them for x number of days/weeks but still wants you to pay. Think twice.
- Take credit cards - Although it is true that some wholesalers from third world countries cannot take credit cards most wholesalers within the USA will take them. Especially be wary of the switch. This is when a company tells you that they take credit cards but then when you go to order something is wrong with the machine or they cannot process your card and ask you to wire the money to them. This is a tactic that is often used in the wholesale scam.
- Website has original content - A real wholesalers website will have original pictures and text. If you find that they are using the same warehouse pictures and text as other websites on the web you may be dealing with a scammer.
The above should be used as a general guideline. If a company fails to meet one or more of the above criterial it doesn’t necessarily mean they are a wholesale scam but just that you should use precaution.
Steps you can take to protect your eBay business from the wholesale scam
- Fly before you buy: Take a trip to look at the the wholesalers offices, warehouses etc. True wholesalers are usually happy to have you come tour their operation. If you are planning on making a big order it is worth the ticket.
- Use Google earth to check address: Check the address of their business on Google maps or Google earth to make sure the address of the wholesaler is located in a business district and not a residential area.
- Ask for references: They may or may not provide you with references but it doesn’t hurt to ask.
- Order with a credit card: Use a secure method of payment. This way if there are any problems the credit card company may be able to get your money back.
- Copy website text into Google: Copy some the the text on their website into Yahoo or Google to see if it is just a copy website or an original.
- Call them: You should always call them before doing business. Never just order over the web.
- Check out the website on whoIs: Use the whoIs service to find out who owns the website and how long they have had the website. The website should be registered under the company name not an individual and will normally not be a brand new site.
- Get your wholesalers from a legitimate wholesale directory: Go through a legitimate wholesale directory like WorldWide Brands or Salehoo which double check the legitimacy of the wholesalers before listing them in their directory.
This is part 4 of a series of articles dealing with eBay wholesale. In Part 5 I will tell you how to get wholesale companies to want to do business with eBay sellers.
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- 6 Proven Steps to Get Wholesalers to Want to do Business with an eBay Seller - Wholesale Part 5
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How To Get Stuff For Free on eBay and Make Money at the Same Time
Yes you can get stuff for free on eBay and make money at the same time and its not that hard. In fact it is very easy to do. A couple of years ago we were looking to buy a Fisher Price dollhouse for our daughter on eBay. Now this was around Christmas time and the dollhouse by itself was selling for around $30. Our daughter had most of the figures, furniture and accessories so all we really needed was the dollhouse. Some sellers were selling the dollhouse with tons of extra figures and accessories and they were selling for around $50. After doing some research we went ahead and bought the doll house with all of the extra dolls, figures and accessories. We kept the like new doll house to give to our daughter and some of the other stuff that she didn’t have yet and sold the rest on eBay by the piece. Not only did we end up getting the dollhouse for free but we actually made money on the deal. When all was said and done we made just under $19 above and beyond what we had paid for the dollhouse with all the extra stuff. Another time I purchased a lot of three programs on eBay. I only wanted one of them. I resold the other two and again got the program I wanted for free and made a couple of dollars in the process.
How to get stuff for free and make money on eBay step by step:
- Look for the product you want in an eBay auction that is being sold with multiples of the same item or with other items.
- Do research on eBay to see what bid price the other items would bring if put up for auction individually.
- Use this information to determine if and how much your are willing to bid for the eBay auction lot.
- Once you have won the auction keep the item you wanted and resell the other items individually on eBay for a profit.
- Enjoy your free eBay stuff and the money you made.
Now you have a proven way to make money and get stuff for free.
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What Is An RSS Feed and how do you use it?
This article is for those who don’t know what an RSS feed is or how to use it. I know I didn’t always understand what it was or how to use it.
The Basics on RSS
RSS means “Really Simple Syndication” and relates to an Internet format where blogs and other websites can instantly notify you when the websites content has been updated or new content has been added to the site. This content is called the sites RSS feed.
These feeds can easily be read with the help of an RSS Reader. Most RSS readers are free. The one I use is Google Reader and they have a good tutorial that explains how it works. Some others are RSSOwl, which sits directly on your desktop, My Yahoo, and Bloglines and yes these are free too. You can find many others by just doing an internet search. Your Internet browsers may already have an RSS reader so you may not have to find one at all.
RSS is a terrific tool that automatically keeps you up-to-date with your favorite websites and blogs. It doesn’t matter if they update daily, monthly or yearly you will be sure not to miss it. No more checking their website or blog to see if there is any new information because the information will come to you as soon as it is appears. You can use RSS for viewing news, information, comics and movies - basically anything. I’m sure you can see where having the information come to you can save you tons of surfing time.
Benefits of RSS
Imagine, subscribing to an RSS news feed could basically deliver a personal newspaper with made to order information directly to your desktop every day and it allows you to remove information you don’t want to read. By keeping you up to date about airfares, car rentals, and other online sales it can also be used to save you money. If you have an eBay business you can use it to notify you when you have a bid on one of your auctions. If you buy on eBay you can use it to keep track of your favorite eBay sellers and even have it notify you when a new item you are interested in becomes available on eBay. In other words, it allows you to keep up to date and read content you are interested in when and however you want.
How do I subscribe to your RSS feed?
If you want to know when this blog updates or a new article appears all you have to do to subscribe is click on that orange square located in the upper right hand corner of the blog. When you click on the orange square it will take you to a page asking you to confirm the subscription and which rss reader you will be using. Thats it! Now whenever I publish new articles, videos or audio, you will be notified. This way you don’t need to check my blog every day however if you would like to you certainly may.
Do you want to see what it looks like first? The RSS feed link for this site looks like this - http://feeds.feedburner.com/auctionbizradio . If you click it you will see the output of auctionbizradio. That is the stuff I’ve been talking about. You don’t necessarily have to know how it works just know that it is a great tool.
Here is a YouTub video for you that explains RSS very well. Worth a watch.
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Ebay Wholesale Part 3: Top 9 ½ Product Sources for eBay Sellers
In Part 2 we talked about where you could find wholesale products for free to sell on eBay. A great way to get started and to make a living on eBay but it is a good idea to find multiple sources of wholesale products. If you are able to find multiple sources of wholesale products and the sales of one wholesale product line or a wholesale source dries up you have others to fall back on. Diversification, just like when dealing in the stock market, can save your little behind and help to keep your income stable and secure when selling on eBay.
Here are my 9 ½ top places to source products to sell on eBay:
1. Rummage Sales
They are called Rummage Sales, Garage Sales, Moving Sales and Junk Sales but the one thing they have in common is great deals. Anytime you can find great deals you have a wonderful source of wholesale products for eBay. When people sell items that they just want to get rid of they normally sell them cheap. You can buy products at Rummage Sales for pennies on the dollar. You can many time purchase items for under $5 and sometimes for under $1 and resell them on eBay for 100 to 1000% profit margin. However, on the down side, Rummage Sales can be very time consuming. You can sometimes spend the entire day going from sale to sale finding only a few items to sell on eBay. Make sure you are not too picky in other words don’t concentrate your efforts on just one type of product. Knowing a good deal and being willing to purchase anything that will make money on eBay will make sourcing wholesale products from rummage sales much more profitable. So start early, know your route, have lots of cash and have fun.
Tip: Put an ad in the paper under the rummage sales section and make up a business card to hand out that lets people holding rummage sales know that you are willing to haul anything that doesn’t sell away for free. Many people dread having to put the items that didn’t sell back into their homes or even the idea of having to pack them up again. They will be willing to let you come and take the items that didn’t sell off their hands for nothing. Keep what you want, to sell on eBay, and haul the other stuff to a local charity store.
Success stories of People Selling Rummage Sale Finds on eBay: An article from the Pittsburgh Tribune interviewing people who have made good money on eBay sourcing wholesale products from rummage sales.
Tips to Help You Find Great Deals at Garage Sales: Tips for making garage saling fun and worthwhile.
Yard Sale Shopping Tips: These tips will help you become a better yard sale shopper and to help avoid making bad purchases.
Garage Sale Strategies for eBay Success: The eBay Seller’s Guide to finding profitable hidden bargains at garage sales.
2. Store Clearance Sales
Many large department stores have seasonal clearance sales every year and this is a wonderful place to source wholesale products for eBay. In fact many times the stores have the items priced below wholesale for fast sales. This is one of the methods I have used in the past to source wholesale items for eBay. I have seen brand new shirts and pants that retail for $15 to $45 dollars go for as little as $1.50 on a clearance rack. I either sell them quickly on eBay or hold them over until the following year and sell them at the beginning of the correct season. One time I purchased an entire rack of winter maternity clothing at JC Penny for about $3.00 a piece. I held them until the next year and sold them off on eBay for $15 to $25 a piece. 500% - 800% profit margin is not bad business.
3. Surplus and Salvage Dealers
Another popular place to source wholesale products for eBay is from dealers and brokers who wholesale surplus, closeout, overstock and liquidation products. Surplus businesses purchase large truckloads of salvage merchandise from manufactures, retail stores and reclamation centers. Normally they break them into smaller lots and resell them to anybody who wants them. This can include slow moving items, store returns and damaged products. I have made tons of money buying and selling surplus merchandise on eBay but I have also gotten piles of junk occasionally. You must remember when purchasing wholesale products through a surplus and salvage dealer that it is buyer beware. It is a very good idea to fly before you buy. Meaning before you purchase a pallet or truckload of wholesale surplus merchandise fly and check out the company and the merchandise before you buy. You want to make sure that the merchandise is good and that the company is legitimate.
Some internet sources for surplus items are: www.closeoutoutcentral.com , www.liquidation.com, www.cwsmarketing.com, www.petsupplycloseouts.com . One of the top directories for surplus and closeout products on the internet is www.surplus.net .
Need to know more?
There is a great guide written by Chad Maslak called: The Ultimate Insiders Surplus, Liquidation and Wholesale Buying To Resell for Mega Profits Guide. This guide really goes into detail and tells you everything you need to know about buying and profiting from surplus and overstock merchandise.
4. Estate Sales
Estate sales are much like a rummage sale or a garage sale except they are normally selling the property of an individual who has passed away. Estate sales are many times conducted by a professional for a percentage so the prices are usually higher than what can be found at a rummage or garage sale. This being said it can be a goldmine for jewelry, old books, vintage clothing and antique furniture which can be terrific wholesale products for eBay. Don’t get caught up in the excitement. You need to know your market before going to an estate sale. Have an idea of what prices the products are bringing on eBay before purchasing or have somebody sitting by the computer at home so that you can call them to do some quick eBay research for you. Normally estate sales run for multiple days and during the last day prices are usually reduced.
If you need help finding estate sales in your area there is a website called EstateSales.net that may be able to help.
5. General Wholesalers
A General Wholesaler is the link between a manufacturer and you the retailer. A true wholesaler will only sell to a true business. Before contacting them make sure you have a business license and or a resale tax permit. Most wholesalers do not advertise but when you do find one they are usually the most consistent and reliable sources of products for eBay. No more spending countless hours looking for wholesale products to sell on eBay. With a General Wholesaler you just order and the product arrives at your door. When looking for a General Wholesalers beware of the middle men. These are the ones shouting for your business. Middle men usually do not carry any inventory they just mark the price up and have the true wholesalers ship directly to you pocketing the difference. One of the best way to find real wholesalers is to contact the manufacturers directly and ask for a list of their wholesalers. Another way is to find a reliable directory to connect you to real wholesalers. One of the best directories on the web is World Wide Brands. I would highly recommend them if you decide to go with a directory to find your wholesalers. They are the only ones recommended by eBay.
6. Used Clothing Wholesalers
One of the most overlooked and profitable sources of wholesale products for eBay is bulk used clothing, shoes and toys. Imagine being able to buy shirts for as low as 12 cents a piece, pants for 30 cents and shoes for as low as 98 cents and reselling them on eBay for as high as $25 a piece and sometimes even higher. Yes I know this is possible because I have done it! Have you ever given your used clothing to a charity because it was worn out, it didn’t fit or maybe because you just didn’t like the style that much. Many times the charity will resell this clothing to wholesale used clothing dealers by the pound. These dealers then sort and grade the clothing by condition, season etc. and sell it to vendors and retail stores in third world countries. This does not mean they won’t sell to an eBay business. In fact most will happily sell to you.
When you buy make sure you let them know what season of clothing you want and in what grade. If you don’t specify the season and grade you might end up getting a great deal on a load of winter clothes, in the summer, with lots of holes and stains. Most wholesale used clothing dealers divide their clothing up into three grades; Grade A – good quality, minimal wear, free of stains and holes, Grade B – ok quality, some wear, possibly tiny holes and minor stains, Grade C – nominal quality, holes, stains and wear. This is the most common grading system but some companies have their own grading system such as AAA, AA, and A so make sure you ask. For products to sell on eBay you would want to order the top grade although some companies will sell you unsorted and ungraded clothing for much less. If you are patient and willing to work hard you can sometimes make more money on eBay with ungraded bales but for me I always get the top grade.
Wholesale used clothing dealers normally price the product by the pound and then sell them in bales of 100 to 1000 pounds. Price per pound depends on grade, type and season and can vary greatly from one wholesale used clothing dealer to another. It is a good idea to shop around but when you find one that consistently supplies you with the quality of product you are looking for, to sell on eBay, stick with them. In this industry there are both good and bad middle men. The good middle men mark the price up but provide you with additional services. One such good middle man is www.usedapparel.com who not only sells the clothing in smaller lots