Sell What You Know

Posted on December 6, 2005

MSNBC.com has an article about selling products on eBay written by Marsha Collier. Collier is Entrepreneur.com's eBay columnist and the author of eBay for Dummies, 4th Edition. The article provides tips for selecting items to sell on eBay and includes this advice to sell what you know.

Now that you have to actually buy merchandise to sell, you need to consider selling what you know. Did you have a hobby as a teenager? Is there something particular that interests you? For example, if you loved drama in college perhaps you know a lot about Broadway shows and could sell Broadway memorabilia like old Playbills and posters. Did you collect coins? You can get back into what's hot and what's not by starting out bottom-feeding and buying coins from people who want to sell off collections.
If you're coming out of a career, think about selling items that would be of benefit to people with a similar job. Say you were in the nursing profession--weren't there a few items that made your job easier for you? Were there certain things you and your friends just had to have? That's what you should be selling.
Get it? Sell what you know! Sell what interests you. That way you'll have a leg up on the competition who has just randomly picked a group of items to sell. When you sell the same item as your competitors it's your personal experience that'll place you ahead. Your experience allows you to move with the trends far better than someone can who's not an expert in the field.
If you're still at a loss for an idea, look around your house. Check out products you use or you think add something special to your life. Check out the packaging and find out the manufacturer's name. Google them and make contact. Find out how you can sell their item online.

Selling what you know definitely gives you an advantage and probably saves you some time familiarizing yourself with the items you want to sell -- the time is money saying applies to profiting from web auctions. If you are stuck selling items that you don't know you will have to do some research so you sound informed and professional in your auction listings.

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