eBay Business Plan - Want to Make Real eBay Cash? Then Plan Or Die

eBay Business Plan - Want to Make Real eBay Cash? Then Plan Or Die
By Fabian Tan

Often when starting an online business, it is easy to overlook the planning part and just dive straight in. After all, most of the 'gurus' just to tell you to take action without thinking. Jump into the pond without looking. Well, there are some things you should act on right away, and others require a little bit more deliberation and thought. Like starting a real eBay business rather than a fly-by-night operation. That's why you need an eBay business plan.

Here are 6 simple steps you can incorporate into your plan if you are thinking of starting an eBay business:

Step 1 - Determine Your Niche Market

The first step is to decide on your niche market. You need to know whom it is you are selling to. Is it senior citizens or young working adults? Do they have a large disposable income? What kind of products do you want to sell? Is there a market for the products? Take your time in choosing a niche as you will be spending a lot of time on your business. Take a look at what is selling well online at eBay and Amazon. Try not to go for fads that will die out after a while. Go for products that have a long life span in the market place.

Step 2 - Source Your Products

Once you have decided what products you want to sell, you need to source them. You can get them direct from manufacturers, buy them from wholesalers or use drop shipping companies that will ship products to your customers on your behalf (without you having to deliver or handle the goods). Worldwide Brands is one directory where you can find companies that will provide you with products to sell. Offline liquidation sales are also alternative options.

Step 3 - Study Your Competitors

Study your competition on eBay. Some will already be doing very well. Observe how they structure their eBay store and how they design their auctions. What is their pricing like? You can even buy a product from them to see what their marketing funnel is like. Remember, eBay is a price sensitive place. Your goal is to offer products at a similar or lower price while delivering more value.

Step 4 - Set Up An eBay Store

An eBay store will give you a lot of the advantages on the auction site. First off, it is cheaper and easier to list a lot of items for sale. It also gives your business a more professional appearance, as it will portray to potential customers that your business is serious and you are in it for the long haul. Set up a professional About Me page and hire a graphics designer to design a professional banner for your store.

Step 5 - Promote Your eBay Business

Yes, even though eBay is filled with buyers, you still need to promote your store! You can purchase additional promotional options when you list your auctions or you can drive traffic to your eBay store on your own through online traffic generation methods. Making sure your auction titles and descriptions are keyword-rich is also a good strategy; search engines can pick up your auctions when searchers type in keywords for searches.

Step 6 - Follow Up With Customers

When your customers buy your products, follow up with them! Ask them to sign up for your mailing list after the purchase is completed. This way, you can check with them on their order. You don't have to do this manually; your email autoresponder can do this for you automatically. You can also send special deals and promotions to your current customers. The general marketing rule is that it 5 times more to acquire a new customer than it is to sell to a current customer!

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