With thousands of workers throughout the country losing their jobs due to the ever-declining economy, more and more will undoubtedly turn to the Internet to not only look for jobs but also to sell items for quick cash.
And, according to one eBay-certified business consultant and education specialist, it can be done - and done well.
"You can absolutely make a living on [eBay]," said Everett-based Cindy Shebley, one of the first 10 eBay-certified business consultants worldwide. "It's like having any other small business."
Shebley, herself, has sold more than 2,000 pieces of photo equipment and has earned the title of a silver "PowerSeller" for consistently selling between $3,000 to $10,000 worth of items (or 300 to 1,000 items) each month. A handful of PowerSellers reach the titanium level of $150,000 each month (or 15,000 items), she said, though eBay doesn't disclose statistics about the different power levels.
Current U.S. figures aren't available, but about a year ago, more than 700,000 people nationwide were selling items on eBay, Shebley said. Last quarter, 86 million people worldwide used eBay to either buy or sell.
eBay has 33 categories in which to sell items - from clothing and video games to stamps, coins and paper money to even vehicles, planes and real estate. Not surprisingly, the top 5 most-sought-after items (in order) are electronics, according to the eBay website: Nintendo's Wii, Apple's iPod, Microsoft's Xbox, the iPhone and Wii Fit.
Market Adjustments
Shebley started selling on eBay in 1998, when she needed to liquidate inventory from her garden store in Ballard. She later closed the store and focused on selling photography equipment on eBay full-time.
eBay invited early PowerSellers to teach others how to use the site, and those who sold out the traveling eBay University classes were certified, Shebley said. Now, there are 11 certified education specialists in Washington state - all of them in Western Washington.
"It's a great way for me to talk about eBay and channel my enthusiasm [for what I do]," she said.
Shebley has written several books about the website (her latest, "The eBay Marketing Bible," comes out in June) and has been teaching eBay classes for four years (www.clovercity.com). Class enrollments had been steady until this quarter, when she saw a bit of an increase, she said: "It's tied to the economy. People are looking for an alternative [way to make money]."
But Shebley encourages regular eBay users to take classes as well. "eBay continues to evolve and change at a rapid pace, and how you market your business changes as well," she explained.
For those starting out, she advises that they spend time on the site (www.ebay.com) to learn how to buy before selling anything. Once they're ready, sellers should start simply with items that are easy to pack and ship - nothing really expensive, because sellers will make mistakes early on.
eBay is a good place to "re-gift" and get cash for it, she said: "Everything sells - from ugly sweaters to brownies."
Crafts and handmade items that aren't household name brands can sell, but they may take longer to sell than a name brand, Shebley noted: "It's easier to sell a more expensive item and less of them for a bigger profit margin. It really depends on the seller's temperament."
She notes that one PowerSeller sells only sewing patterns.
Making Money
eBay does charge fees (pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html), depending on the type of item and the starting cost, for using its website. It also collects up to 12 percent of the final value of the item once it's sold.
But sellers shouldn't wary of not getting their money's worth or being cheated by bad buyers on eBay. "People who spend that much time and energy [bidding on a particular item] usually pay the fastest," Shebley said.
And eBay's partnership with PayPal is beneficial to buyers and sellers because it ensures that the transaction is legitimate on both ends, she explained.
"There's an incredibly small percentage of bad buyers," she said, adding that with the high volume of photography equipment she's sold over the years, she's encountered problems with less than a half-percent of those sales, including those with buyer's remorse.
However, she did speak recently with an apologetic father whose son had bought a flip camera from her without the father's permission and wanted to return the item.
"But that happens so infrequently," Shebley assured.
Vera M. Chan-Pool is editor of the North Seattle Herald-Outlook. She can be reached at 461-1346 or needitor@nwlink.com.
