What to sell, what not to sell - on eBay

Many people are fascinated by the online auction platform eBay. They love the thrill of auctioning off different things at on some point they might decide on actually opening their own ebay store.

What to sell on eBay? What products to concentrate on? What are the things that people like to buy? Are there some categories that are better than others? Those are the questions that many of them ask themselves before storming off towards a product category they like.

However, selling what you like without doing any background marketing research might not be the best idea. By going through a quick checklist before deciding on a product category you might be able to keep away from some serious dangers and troubles.

Is the item you want to sell a high-demand gadget?
If yes – forget it. You would have to compete against big brand names in this category and this means in most cases an unpromising outlook.

Is your product a consumable good?
If yes – good. People need consumable goods, which mean that they will buy them often and this means an endless source of money for you.

Is your product a service?
If yes – excellent. Selling your knowledge or your performance is unique and you will therefore not find people selling exactly the same stuff, not meaning that you won’t have any competition, however.

Is your product rare?
If yes – wonderful. With rare products you might attract collectors or people that are only after this product which means that your prices are quite likely to rise to the ceiling.

Is it easy to ship?
If no – you have a problem here. Your product has to reach your customers somehow and people are often deterred by high shipping costs. Go for something more simple.

Do you have competition in a category?
If no – this sounds good, but it might simply mean that consumers don’t like or need the product you are offering. Do some market research!
If yes – also not a good sign, as this may mean that you have to put increasing effort and money into advertising that will eat up your profits.

There are also some eBay tools that you can use in order to find out what products are popular with people. The “in demand” tool will tell you what the most sold items and the most searched for products in a given category. Both are of interest to you. The most sold items are the ones that people obviously like, but you might have a lot of competition selling an item like that. The most searched for items are the one you should go after as you may find an item that is searched for often, but that not many sellers often. Here is your niche – go for it!

Also the “hot items” report that is published by eBay monthly might give you some clue on what’s hot and what’s not. eBay pulse gives you a daily picture of the best-sold items and also merchandise calendar is worth having a look at. Here ebay publishes which categories it is going to promote in the upcoming months. Going for one of those might be a good idea.