E-Commerce and eBay - A Good Way To Do Business?

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Introduction

Hi, Everyone...

I get many questions from people here and external to Wealthy Affiliate on e-commerce. Many ask what is a good way to start if you have never done anything in this market segment to now...

There are so many ways to get started...

Selling your own products, drop shipping, selling eBooks, or even offering training courses are forms of e-commerce...They are all different from affiliate marketing, and require a set of steps that somewhat overlap the ones needed for successful affiliate marketing...

Why Should You Consider e-Commerce?

Over the long haul, a good living can be realized using only affiliate marketing as is the focus of this platform. You can scale up your business as is taught here and create a comfortable lifestyle...

However, virtually every person I have talked to in the Internet Marketing field tells me that to really excel you need to be selling your own product. This is kind of self-serving in that of course they will want you to buy what they are selling that will help you create and sell a product!

I do agree with them on one thing: You need to look at all options and decide the general direction and specific steps you will take to get to the goals you set. I do not necessarily need what they are selling to do this...

The problems arise when you start thinking about all the ways to make money online, it can become overwhelming and you end up studying lots of things and get nothing done...

I do believe that you do need to create multiple streams of income as a part of your long-term financial plan, it just makes sense in case one stream or another falls off the radar for one reason or another.

This has been my experience. I have had a business go under for reasons beyond my control, but had others in place and making money so the impact was not devastating to the overall goal and plan...

In that light, either one or more opportunities such as e-commerce, affiliate marketing, drop-shipping, etc. may fit into your own overall financial plan to accomplish the overall goal of creating multiple streams of income...

E-commerce is one option that is as easy as affiliate marketing with the many ways to go, and one that can augment your effort with affiliate marketing to provide another stream of income...

What Can You Sell On eBay?

Pretty much anything. I would start by getting rid of stuff you no longer use around the house. This means you do not have to buy anything to sell, and you can get the experience of signing up, adding that item to the platform, selling it (hopefully) and receiving the money in your account

How Much Money Will It Cost To Sell On eBay?

With eBay, not much. Depending on what you are selling and what kind of services you want to add that they offer, your end cost for using their platform to sell products will vary..

In my and my partner's experience, we have averaged between 18 - 20% cost per item....That is more than what you will see as an average in the examples they show you in their FAQ section...

The key is to factor the overheads in when you price your product that you want to sell...Make sure that all expenses are added, add in whatever profit you want or think you can get, and give it a try!

Is eBay A Long Term Solution for e-Commerce?

Maybe...

There are people that make a full-time income from selling products using this platform. My preference is to use my own platform because the costs are lower and I control more of the entire process.

Other platforms out there like Amazon, Shopify, Magenta etc, all offer various features and benefits. What runs through them all is they take some of the headache of setting up away, they offer a system, and it is easy to get started...

As your business grows, you will find that the costs to use the platforms will increase. If you use a WordPress theme and a plugin such as WooCommerce, your costs will increase, but not as much...

So What Should You Do Now?

This is entirely up to you, but I recommend looking at your overall goals and develop a strategy and specific means of creating the multiple streams of income I mention. If e-commerce is one method you think might work, have a look at what it entails...

Take a little time and study eBay, Amazon, and other platforms where you can sell your product, compare what they offer to the costs, and give one or the other a try. Most important: Take action!

My partner and my experiences:

We have expanded from eBay that we started with to other platforms that include Amazon, drop shipping. woo-Commerce based stores, and even Facebook stores that connect to our website stores...

But we are still also selling on eBay! It provides some income and everything is in place and working, although we find it cumbersome compared to other systems out there...It goes back to the multiple streams of income model...

Conclusion

You have pretty much everything you need to get a good start with affiliate marketing right here at the Wealthy Affiliate site...Much of what you learn can be applied to other market segments available online...

Long-term, planning for multiple streams of income beats focusing just on one. As you become adept at affiliate marketing, you will see that other opportunities are out there. E-commerce and eBay are certainly ways to consider building an additional income stream.

The eBay platform is not as big as Amazon, they have their own peculiar set of rules you have to live with, but certainly from my experience it is a good way to get started with little risk and lots of upside potential, if nothing more than to learn from to scale up to other platforms...

Cheers!

Dave : )


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Recent Comments

29

Really useful info Dave, many thanks :)

You are very welcome! : )

Thanks for the information Dave. I have been thinking of trying Ebay.

Thanks and have a look at that program and some others out there if interested, it could be something that would work....Cheers! Dave : )

Sorry...it's April Fool's Day and I just don't know who or what to trust...

No need for sorry...Need for doing your own research hehe...Cheers! Dave : )

Over the past year, I've sold over 20 formal/casual watches on ebay. To me it's been worth the time and effort.

Yes, I agree and that is why we are still doing sales there...My 'druthers are to build sales in my own store, but it still is an income, that when added to the total, adds to the bottom line...Congrats on those sales! : )

Hi Dave. Your own product or products? I just received some item to review, and realize that they have a site for it. Just one simple item, and they sell it also on Amazon. Perhaps they will have more in future but one item cannot become a full-scale business, unless this is something really special. This seems to be all about big numbers in every sense, many items, many posts, many visitors.

Hello, Jovo and Happy April Fools Day!

Yes, we manufacture the products in Thailand and offer them on Amazon and eBay...They are also shipped from our warehouse near Bangkok and we use standard mail unless the client wants to have fast delivery...

The items are good sellers in a niche that does have competition, but our stuff is holding its own....We find that it is very labor intensive taking care of the clients, and also the charges for listing are by region...

Totals of product we have listed now (if you include sizes) number in the low to mid-thirties usually...It goes up and down...

More products could be added, but the cost versus profit means we need to be pretty sure any additions will sell...It is a pain to get everything set up too (in my mind)...

Where we choose to list the products are regions where we know that they will do fairly well (based on sales/competition), but we are missing lots of sales because we do not want to pay the fees for more regions...

In short, some of the glitches we see from using eBay (and Amazon for that matter) we have tried to fix using WooCommerce and our own stores...It is a lot easier so far but still is not a cake walk by any means...

Cheers!
Dave : )

Thanks a lot .. when we can see your video training for E-Commerce :)

Hmmm...That is an idea...I do have some material and courses on this, basic to advanced...More coming! Thanks for the feedback and suggestions, I do hope it can give you some new ideas on how to grow your business! Cheers! Dave : )

U are always give new ideas ..Thanks a lot for your efforts.

God Bless U :)

Thanks much Mishil, and God Bless You too M8! Dave : )

Thank you for sharing, good information.

Thanks much Thomas, anything to help...Cheers! Dave : )

Thanks Dave fantastic advice :)

Not a problem, I do hope it can help in some small way....Cheers! Dave : )

Your posts are really helpful thanks

Why thank you so much...I tend to roam a bit hehe...Glad you can get through them! Cheers and have a great day! Dave : )

Have a great day too

Thanks M8! : )

thank you Dave ..am thinking to start with eBay you right many folks here work with them selling there stuff and earn some money .

Yes, it is a good way to get your feet wet with e-commerce and also make a little side cash...The real extra extra bonus is that you can get rid of junk around the house hehe! Cheers! Dave : )

As usual Dave, you have shared your valuable information on internet marketing and I thank you:-)

Thanks, M8! Today I was hit with like 4 questions on e-commerce so thought it might be a useful post for members...if nothing else it may promote some thinking outside the box? Cheers! Dave : )

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