Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Learn to flip eBay Auctions in 5 minutes - Free Tutorial

You may have seen my posts about flipping listings using a misspelling tool. Here are the exact steps for how I do this.




Key Tips for Flipping Listings:

1. Know what you are looking for! What brands of clothing, electronics, fragrances, or other goods do you purchase? Think about what is expensive and plug in those keywords. I look for brands like Burberry and Ralph Lauren that have products in lots of different categories - clothes, shoes, fragrances, household, accessories, etc. Browse websites that carry expensive products such as Nordstrom, Saks 5th Avenue, Bloomingdales, Macys. Keep a list of brand names to search for. Zone in on international sounding words (French, Italian, Spanish) as these are frequently misspelled. Good categories are apparel, shoes, fragrances, cosmetics, electronics, musical instruments, and cameras. Stay away from handbags as they are usually not authentic. Also be careful with jewelry if you are not an expert.

2. Do your research. Know what the item sells for on eBay. If you aren't paying for a research tool, now is the time to start. It will pay for itself in one flip. Try Terapeak or Hammertap.

3. Sort search results by ENDING SOONEST. Focus on items you can win in the next few hours. Watch items a few days out and check on them later.

4. Set your limits. The objective is to win the item at a low enough price to resell for a profit. Do the math and stick to your high bid. If you don't win, move on. My limit is at least $30. If I can't make a $30 profit (after fees are deducted) it is not worth my time.

5. Watch shipping fees. You will need to add shipping fees into your total cost of the item. Remember that you will have to re-ship the item. Avoid fragile items as they will have to be shipped to you, and then shipped out again to your customer and this opens up opportunities for damage. Focus on items that are easy to package and ship and aren’t fragile.

6. Always snipe. The more attention an auction receives, the more costly a bidding war is which is not what you want as a buyer. Stay under the radar, watch the item, and use a sniping tool.

7. Prepare to lose. You aren’t going to win every auction. That is ok. You only want to win the auctions for items you can resell for a nice profit. There is no sense winning an item just for the sake of winning it - we are in this to make a fast profit. I lose about 60% of the auctions I try to snipe.

8. Stay positive. Millions of new listings are added every day so there will be plenty of opportunities to win other auctions.

8 comments:

Andrea Prior said...

Hi Suzanne,
That is a fantastic article on flipping eBay auctions. You revealed everything you do from te sites you use to the limits you set on purchases. So much information in one short video. Thankyou so much for sharing!
Andrea

esha said...

Big Thanks to you. Great article!!!

Karla said...

Love this article so good that you teach us newbies how it is done. I have learned so much from you

Karla's Korner Shop
http://stores.ebay.com/Karlas-Korner-Shop

bestmommy said...

Hi Suzanne,
Great info on flipping auctions! I've done it in the past but wasn't aware of typohound at the time. I'm curious to know if you actually won this item, flipped it and what your profit was. Thanks again for this informative lesson.

Eastside Vintage said...

WOW - I learned so much in such a short period of time. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and not being selfish with it!!

KatieCouturexo said...

Thank you so much for this video & article! im trying to making more money working from home so i can stay home with my daughter but still contribute to our household expenses! I plan on trying this over the next week! thank you so much!!

Unknown said...

Wow, this is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this information. I am a single disabled mom and selling on Ebay has helped with extra income. You have actually given me new tools to use. Again, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

Ginger Moon Treasures said...

Terrific Post and audio! Having been less than successful in the past with concept of flipping eBay goods your link to Typo Hound has me hunting again. Of course I should be listing at the moment, but a little side trip helps to relieve the brain. Or is the procrastination? :-)
Looking forward to more great content from you!
Linda
Ginger Moon Traders