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In September 1995, Pierre Omidyar launched AuctionWeb, a site “dedicated to bringing together buyers and sellers in an honest and open marketplace.” Two years later, AuctionWeb was rebranded as eBay, and by the first quarter of 2021, the global online auction giant had grown to 187 million active buyers.
And although other online sites have cropped up to challenge eBay — think Facebook Marketplace — it remains the top dog in the genre. And if you’re not selling and making money on eBay, why not? You’re missing out on a piece of a very big pie. The gross value of goods sold on eBay in the United States in 2020 was $37.5 billion, up 22.1% from the year before, Digital Commerce 360 reported.
There’s an opportunity to make big money on eBay if you know what to sell and when to sell it. Here’s how to get started.
1. Take Inventory
Chances are that you have things in the back of your closet or in your garage that you haven’t pulled out for a year — or more — that people are looking to buy. On its website, eBay lists about three dozen categories of merchandise that are the most popular, and sellers are making money on eBay from them.
Did you buy golf clubs or a guitar, determined to learn to play, only to decide it wasn’t your thing? There’s a market for those. The old VHS tapes your kids watched over and over? Tapes are listed among the popular categories, as are DVDs and Blu-ray discs. Cameras, jewelry, video game consoles, auto parts, women’s clothing and men’s sneakers also make the list. Even nonworking items, such as electronics, have a market, with buyers seeking to repair them or use them for parts.
So as you clean out your closets or cupboards and find something you bought that you used sparingly and no longer want, don’t trash it. Try making money on eBay. The vast reach means someone might just be looking for something you have. And you’ll be diverting it from the landfill, too.
2. Sign Up and Buy
With that like-new guitar and those Air Jordans that your parents gave you but you never wore because they were a size too small, try your hand on eBay. Register for a free account to start the process.
The most successful eBay sellers are those with high feedback ratings. Every transaction you take part in can be rated. The seller may leave feedback about you as a buyer — how quickly you paid to complete a transaction, typically — and a buyer can rate a seller on how …….
Source: https://www.gobankingrates.com/money/business/how-to-make-money-on-ebay/
