Making money with ebay - or is it a waist of time...?

Your site needs to give them some added convenience or something extra that they won't get if they go directly to ebay. I think that's what the successful sites are doing.

I'm doing ok, making a few sales almost every day in a couple of niches. What I do to add value is play around with searches, tweaking keywords, number of bids, price, etc until I get refined search results that boil down to what people really seem to want to buy in my niche. Then I parse that search feed to display a short list of the good stuff on my site. If I have hit on the right combination then visitors find it useful because it saves them time. At least that's my reading on it.

 

very useful tips.

thank's

 

I'm not saying that DVD's in general are bad, just don't focus on the inexpensive items. Stay out of the "Less than $1" area, and things like that. Having a DVD site wouldn't be bad, if the people are spending $10+ for each item.

Also, my view isn't that I'm trying to get people to buy through my site instead of through ebay. If people are tech-savvy, then they'll just go to ebay in the first place. There are thousands, if not millions of people who don't naturally think to check at ebay, however. By having a site focused around their needs, they can find you from a search engine, or whatever places that you are advertising through, and see what they want at your site. They could always just say "Hey, that looks like an ebay auction" and just go to ebay to finish their purchasing. Most people, though, will see the items, click on the "Bid Now" or "More Information" links, which plants the cookie on their computer. Making it easy for somebody to find what they want, and easy to get to ebay to purchase it is what earns you the commission.

 

Thanks for the DVD clarification, I will reconsider my reconsideration...

I agree with you, a BANS store or other is not going to replace the direct access to eBay, but it does add value to your overall website(s), providing a condensed and specific list of eBay items that relates to your niche and presumably, your visitor's interests.

 

Do people have any success mixing ebay listings with affiliate links on the same site? Say, for example, I have a store selling baseball mitts where I display products from a sports gear merchant. Then I also have a "Check for It on eBay" section listing auctions for baseball mitts on ebay. Does putting those together on the same site help, or hurt?

I don't have enough stats of my own to be sure. It seems like the low bids on ebay will take visitors over there to do some price comparisons (and set the cookie on their computer ). But if they don't find what they want will they come back and purchase through your store?

 

I agree eBay is one of the safest bets for an affiliate program