26/3/10 Powerseller Profiteer Newsletter

Hello!

When is a ‘problem’ not a ‘problem’? 

Back in February, I recommended The Secret Source Directory 

and it certainly got you talking - so much so that it started a chain reaction of email requests for help on anther subject which I’m going to cover this week!

Question: “I’ve now got a great list of wholesalers but how can I start an eBay business when I have very little money to purchase stock?”

Well, this is a common ‘problem’ that actually isn’t a ‘problem’ at all. There are loads of ways to get some cash together to buy your first batch of wholesale stock. I know this because as you may know, I started with nothing. Like most people I didn’t have a stash of money under the mattress or savings in the bank! And what I’ve found is that the one thing that holds many people back from starting an eBay business is that they are under the impression they need to go out and buy thousands of pounds worth of stock, rent a warehouse and operate like Argos! This is absolutely not the case. eBay is perfect for small, work from home, kitchen table businesses. You should start slowly with a small amount of stock and grow from there - this is exactly how I did it and I am testament to this theory.

So, how can you raise funds to start your eBay enterprise? Well, firstly, there’s the obvious one - simply gather up all your old stuff from around the house, garage and shed and list it on eBay. Not only will this bring you in some capital, it will also get you used to finding your way around eBay if you haven’t sold before, give you practice at writing good listing descriptions and importantly it will help you build up your feedback so that you are not listing a load of wholesale products on a zero feedback ID. This means that once you start selling products you have purchased specifically to resell, you will have the advantage of your potential buyers being able to see some feedback which will give them greater trust in you and your goods.

You’ll be surprised at how much you can make just from selling your old stuff and depending on what you’ve got, it’s not difficult to make a hundred pounds or so which will be more than enough to buy a small batch of wholesale stock to get you started.

The cupboards are bare 

Now, in the event that you are a minimalist type and you really don’t have anything lying around that you can sell then you can consider using a dropshipper to start with. This way, the only thing to be careful about is that if you haven’t sold on eBay before it won’t give you any listing practice or a chance to build up some feedback first, so you do need to make sure you know what you are doing! It’s very likely that you will need to ensure that you have at least a small amount of feedback on your account otherwise you may find that eBay restricts the number of listings you can place on the site so if possible combine this method with selling your own bits and pieces too.

So, by using a dropshipper, there’s no outlay until your items are actually sold and in case you don’t know how it works, this is what happens:

• Your dropshipper stocks the product in their warehouse and agrees that you can purchase it at price x.
• You list the product on eBay at price y ensuring that the difference between your purchasing cost and your selling cost ensures you a profit (don’t forget to include eBay and PayPal fees).
• The item sells on eBay from your listing and the payment from your buyer is paid to you.
• You then purchase the same product from your dropshipper and let them know the delivery details for your customer.
• Your dropshipper then dispatches the item to your customer under plain cover.

So, your item has sold, payment has been received and you are left with the profit after paying your dropshipper and leaving them to dispatch the goods. This is precisely how this method can help with your cash-flow because there is no payment up-front. Once you have built up a bank from your dropshipping profits, you can then use this bank to purchase your own wholesale stock.

If you don’t really fancy that and you haven’t got any items of your own to sell, but feel that you should get a bit of listing practice in, then a good idea is to ask around friends and family and see if they have anything that they would like you to sell on eBay for them. This is a loose example of what’s known as an eBay Trading Assistant. You list the item, collect the payment, package and post it and then take a percentage of the profits whilst the rest goes to the original owner of the item. Everyone wins!

Whilst these ideas are relatively simple and are by far the easiest approaches, sometimes you just need to put your thinking cap on and come up with some innovative ideas for raising some capital or saving some money in other areas that you can then put to good use in starting your own eBay business.

Now I don’t know about you, but about six years ago when the idea of having my own home business was just a distant dream, I used to constantly search the internet for ways to make money. It became a rather worrying obsession and I’d be forever dreaming up different combinations of keywords and typing them in to Google in the hope that the perfect money-making scheme would leap from my screen, slap me round the face and instantly make me thousands of pounds! I’m so over that now, but your emails about raising capital got me reminiscing and just for old times sake I decided to type one of old favourite keywords in to Google this week to see what it threw up six years on! (I’m sure I had other more important things to do, but I did it anyway). So bear with me here!

Free Money 

Yes, that’s what I used to type in to Google in absolute desperation. Just two words - ‘Free Money’. And I bet that you’ve done that too at some point. It’s ok - we’ve all been there including me as I’ve admitted and it’s just one of those steps that has to be taken on your journey to finding the business opportunity that’s right for you.

So, I typed in those keywords again yesterday and was met with 112 million results and that was just from choosing the ‘pages from the UK’ option. It was 179 million with the ‘web’ option! Now obviously this wasn’t a big surprise because it’s always going to be a popular search term (I just didn’t realise this six years ago). Anyway, I clicked on a few of the links that weren’t for loans and such-like and found myself on one of those money-saving websites where I read this small piece of text with interest:

“Grants aren't just for students; there's money to do up your home, become more environmental or start a business. Unfortunately lots of grants available in the UK go unclaimed but there’s a lot of free cash out there if you know where to look.”

It was the ‘start a business’ bit that caught my attention - so there is free money out there but it’s just not widely publicised. And I suppose that stands to reason. Why would the organisations who are offering it make a big deal out of it - they probably want to give as little away as possible so they are not going to advertise how you can get some money for free are they!

On further investigation, I discovered that apparently there are businesses, charities and governments that have at least £77 million in prizes, grants, bursaries, refunds, awards and guaranteed zero-interest loans that are sat waiting to be claimed. This means that you could get your hands on some really cheap or even better, some completely free stuff!

I discovered that for the next 18 months the government has made a grant of up to £528 available to spend on a computer (laptop, desktop, netbook and one year’s web access) for low income families with children living in England. Obviously there are conditions that apply but just imagine - a brand new computer for nothing which would enable you to set up your own home business like selling on eBay.

Not being one to turn down an offer of money for nothing or anything for nothing for that matter, I was intrigued by this and decided to find out what else I could potentially get! Well, who wouldn’t!

Honestly I was amazed at what I found. Home improvement grants, discounted and even free flights, cheap toys and books (potential to resell on eBay!), money off vouchers, free samples (sell on eBay and make 100% profit!), testers, I could go on. So imagine my complete joy when I then discovered that there is a guide available with all this information in it, fully researched with all the information you need, ready for you to take advantage of.

The Free Money Guide contains 266 little known sources of ‘free money’ that you can check out and see if you are eligible for! This book has really opened my eyes and I’m only sorry I didn’t know about it sooner. The opportunities you could be currently missing out on are endless and can really help you with things like household bills, studying and most importantly business start-up.

As I was reading, it occurred to me I that if you are struggling to start your eBay business then you might be interested in getting some free stuff (such as DVD’s, Books or Theatre Tickets) that you could sell on eBay to make some capital and of course there’s the chance of that possible business start-up grant!

To test this out I checked out some of the sites recommended in the guide, concentrating on the ‘free stuff’ theme. I found free Max Factor, Garnier and Olay make-up offers, baby stuff and WH Smith vouchers and that was just on page one. I simply filled in my name and address details and that was it.  

DVD’s, books, music, product samples and loads of other items are all included in The Free Money Guide.There are literally hundreds of easy ways to claim things - anything from small amounts like £30 a week to study, up to £124K for business start ups. And incredibly, this is mostly all about money that you won’t even have to pay back and free stuff that you can keep or sell or do what you like with! As with anything though you do need to check out the offers carefully in case there are strings attached.

In my opinion it’s definitely worth checking this out though even if you don’t use it for business purposes and just want to grab a few freebies - I certainly have!

It just goes to show that by using your initiative, doing a bit of research or simply utilising what’s right under your nose, there are ways and means of getting help to follow your dreams and reach your goals.

As always I wish you the very best of success, 

Amanda 

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I produce this newsletter on the understanding that these are my own personal opinions and experiences, which are as accurate as possible at the time of publication. I cannot be held responsible for any error in details, accuracy or judgment whatsoever. 

© Amanda O’Brien 2010 

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