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Finding the best products to sell on eBay

Do you use these four essential steps to find the best products to sell on eBay?

Finding the best products to sell on eBay is trickier than simply stating "selling (fill in the blank) will guarantee you success." As a matter of fact, a large percentage of the auctions that end with no sales are the result of thinking that "if only I could find THE RIGHT product, sales will come pouring in automatically."

In reality, there are plenty of sellers who sell the hottest products on eBay who earn next to nothing for all their work. The question isn't "What are the best products to sell on eBay?" The real question is "What are your best products to sell on eBay?"

Finding products to sell in the wrong way

Looking for a magic product that will automatically sell well for anyone usually results in prospective sellers checking out the best selling eBay products on the eBay Pulse and then trying to find someone who'll sell those products to them wholesale.

Usually, the only "wholesalers" those prospective eBay sellers find are scammers who call themselves distributors, but charge such high "wholesale" prices that the seller will be lucky just to break even.

And even if they avoid the scammers and find a legitimate distributor for products, (such as through the Worldwide Brands or Hienote manufacturer and distributor directories) they hunt randomly until some product catches their eye and they decide to sell that product on eBay without the least bit of research.

So they either wind up buying Louis Vuitton handbags at much higher than they should just because they're one of the best selling products on eBay (whether the seller has ever heard of Louis Vuitton or not), or they sell something on the basis of impulse.

But those kinds of product decisions are where a lot of those "no-sale" auctions come from. So how do you find best selling products to sell on eBay—products that actually sell?

Step 1—look at yourself

Find products that are close to your heart—not just products that you think others will find cool. Ask yourself these questions:

• What do I like to do in my spare time?
• What do I like to collect?
• What do I like to read about?
• What are my favorite hobbies?
• What do people tell me I do really well?
• What do I know a lot about?

Once you've determined what you enjoy and know about, limit yourself to products within those areas. The more knowledge and passion you have about your products the more effective you'll be in selling them. Someone whose passion is about backpacking will not communicate as effectively with the Louis Vuitton crowd as they will with other avid backpackers. You always sell best the things that are part of who you are.

Step 2: Look for problems your target audience has

Once you narrow your search to the areas you know and love, think of all the problems the people who love the same things need solved. This again, is easier in an area you know and love than in a totally unfamiliar one.

What needs do they have? What problems do they face? Don't worry about products at this point. The problems you identify will lead you to thinking about what they need to solve those problems. And the things they need to solve those problems will be your best products to sell on eBay.

Step 3: Check out your competition

Having developed a list of problems, solutions and potential products, you now are ready to research those products. If you have some specific product types in mind, search for them on eBay (or any whatever auction site you plan to use).

How many auctions do you find? How closely related are the products offered there to your products? Click on a few auctions similar to the products you want to offer. Then do the most important research step, the step that most unsuccessful eBay sellers never do.

1. Log in to your eBay account
2. Do a search for the keywords that describe your product
3. In the Search Options on the left side of the page, put a check mark in the Completed Listings box
4. Click the Show Items button

Your search results will change from active auctions to completed auctions. Scroll down the page and see how the products you're considering have done. Have a good percentage of them sold? Then you have a promising product to sell on eBay. Take note at the typical selling price and charge right ahead into finding a supplier for your product.

If auctions for that product show only a small scattering of sales, check out other product ideas until you hit on a winner, or look for other keywords by which your product can be found and repeat the same check there.

You definitely want to know if your potential product is selling before you go through the effort to find a supplier. I'm constantly amazed by the number of eBay sellers who choose the same products that too many people already are selling on eBay, almost guaranteeing themselves failure.

What if your research shows up nothing? Then switch to plan 2.

Check eBay's own What's Hot page. Click on the Hot Items by Category link and you'll see a list of best selling categories on eBay. See what's selling in the categories that are dear to you. The Hot Items by Category report is a great brainstorming tool when you get stuck researching what products to sell.

And hey, don't be afraid to go to plan 3, either. If there are problems out there that you have a solution for that no one else is providing, create your own. Info products are huge on eBay. And if you can provide a solution to a common problem in your niche, you'll have the whole field all to yourself.

And don't feel intimidated by the idea of creating an info product. It's easier than you think, and Jim Edwards' "The Net Reporter" training site has a ton of resources in its vault to show you how to do this easily and profitably.

Step 4: Find your suppliers

Now that you've found your best products to sell, you're ready to find suppliers. You can go the long, tedious way of searching the Internet and contacting potential suppliers to ask if they'll sell wholesale to you, but there are tools that can make your searching much easier.

If you'd like to sell on eBay through drop shipping arrangements (click this link if you want to know more about how drop shipping works), there are two excellent databases available with up-to-date lists of reputable drop ship suppliers:

• Worldwide Brands OneSource Wholesale Products Directory
• Hienote Drop Ship Directory

I've written reviews of both Worldwide Brands and Hienote and also written a comparison of both drop ship directories. Both directories have a huge selection of companies and quality products that are actively looking for resellers to sell their products.

And if you're interested in buying, stocking, and shipping your products yourself, Worldwide Brands also has a directory of wholesalers that will sell at low or no minimum orders.

If you're looking for even more ideas for the best products to sell on eBay, check out Jim Cockrum's MySilentTeam training site. It's probably the best training site around for selling products on eBay and it has a treasure trove of ideas for where to find products to sell that you can get for little or no cost to you.

Final thoughts

The key to finding the best products to sell on eBay lies in finding products that best suit your interests and best solve the problems that people who have those same interests have.

There is no magic product that will ensure your success. But by following these four steps, you can put yourself in a position where you'll enjoy what you're doing and have products that you know people will buy. And that's a pretty good starting point for success.

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