An Introduction To eBay Consignment

After I started selling on eBay, I was approached by friends without computers who wanted me to sell their items for them. They had heard stories about the outrageous prices items some ebay auctions brought. They knew I could get more money for them on eBay than they could get selling the items themselves. An added incentive to them was I did all the work. All they had to do is say "I don't want this anymore, sell it for me;" and within a few weeks I converted their castoffs into cash.

I was already selling on eBay, and I had developed a system for listing and dealing with sales that allowed me to list lots of items in a short time. The chance to make a few dollars without any investment was too much to pass up. I made some good money doing this and because I didn't have to tie up my money buying inventory I was able to use it to grow my train business.

Consignment Selling Is The Perfect Way To Start Your Own eBay Business.

There are no set up fees or investments. You won't need to risk your own money buying items to resell. You don't need a detailed knowledge of antiques and collectibles. You only need to know how to find the right category, write an adequate description and take some high quality photos.

Selling on consignment allows you to learn about antiques and collectibles without risking your own money. By selling other people's items you learn the value of items in the most practical way. By handling them and selling them. No matter how many price guides you read, and antique shows you attend, you will never get the feel for items until you sell them.

When you sell on consignment, you provide a service that makes your clients additional money. When most people sell something, they sell to a dealer who needs to mark up the item to make a profit. This is not what happens on eBay.

On eBay the END USER is the buyer and will always pay more than a dealer would. Even after paying a consignment fee, the seller makes more money.

This is the true benefit of eBay consignment selling. Finding the END USER. Before eBay this was a difficult and daunting process. With eBay, a simple listing placed in the correct category, with a good description and some high quality photos, is enough to get a few END USERS to fight over the item.

Things You Need To Succeed With Consignment Sales:

1. You need to take possession of the items. When you sell items on consignment you risk your eBay name and reputation. You take these risks when you sell your own items, but you are in complete control of your actions. In order to lower your risks you need to get complete control of the items you are going to be selling. This prevents sellers from changing their minds, and allows you to ship the items as soon as you receive payment.

2. You should always have a written contract. One of my friends was sued by a consignor who felt the commission was too high. The consignor agreed to pay 20 percent of the selling price, then when the item sold for $8500, got upset about paying $1700 to someone for doing 30 minutes of work. While my friend won in court, it would never have gotten to court if he had a written contract.

3. You'll also need to perfect ways to get items. At first your friends and co-workers will provide you with a good stream of salable items. After a while this stream will dwindle and you will need to go out and find consignors. This is not as difficult as it may seem. Remember, by consigning with you, the seller gets more money than they would otherwise.

Terry Gibbs is a collector/dealer of old toys and trains, and teaches others how to buy and sell antiques and collectibles. Gibbs is the author of two best selling eBay books "The Auction Revolution," and "The Complete Guide To eBay Consignment Sales." He has also written numerous other books about buying and selling antiques and collectibles. Learn more at his website: http://www.news.iwantcollectibles.com

http://www.iwantcollectibles.com/consign5.html

Copyright 2005 IWantCollectibles LLC used with permission.

---

Buying Used Dell Laptops, PCs and Servers on eBay - How to be successful

Two years ago I needed a way to refresh more... Read More

Tips on How to Profit from eBay Buy It Now Auction Listings

eBay is an online auction site so it stands to... Read More

The Top Sellers On eBay & What We Can Learn From Them

A fascinating eBay case study is the number one seller... Read More

Five Ways To Detect Shill Bidders On eBay So That You Dont Pay Absurd Prices

There is as a lot of buzz about shill bidders... Read More

Taking Paypal on eBay

Accepting Paypal as a payment method might increase your selling... Read More

How To Write a Traffic Pulling eBay Auction Title

Selling an item on eBay should be simple but it... Read More

eBay: What Should I Sell?

There is an art to picking profitable products. It's not... Read More

Eating and Thriving On-Line

The Internet SHOULD be "the place to shop" for low-carb... Read More

How To Sell On Ebay: Using Store Policies To Cement Your Credibility

In your quest to build credibility as an Ebay seller,... Read More

Is it Antique and is it Worth Anything?

Is it an antique and is it worth anything? Would... Read More

Used Cars For Sale On EBay

There are thousands of used cars for sale on eBay... Read More

Selling on eBay? Heres a Success Tip for Your Online Auctions

Are you planning to sell on eBay? Or have you... Read More

12 Tips To Make Your eBay Business More Profitable

Sometimes it's the simple things that can make your eBay... Read More

So What Are YOU Going To Do About eBays Fee Increases?

Unless you have been hiding under a rock, I am... Read More

eBay is the Greatest Opportunity YOU Have to Create a Career Online

eBay's being spoken about everywhere these days. At work, school,... Read More

eBays Hot Selling Books, Find Out Which Books Sell & How To Find Them

Selling books on eBay can be a very lucrative business!... Read More

eBay After Sales - as Important as the Listing Itself

Your eBay listing has finished and you have made a... Read More

The Webs Best Online Auction Sites

The best online auction links for buyers and sellers are... Read More

Hurricane Katrina Donations Could be Many Millions More - EBay Sellers Try in Vain to Help

Yesterday I saw a mention in someone's email ezine about... Read More

Fundraising Ideas Using eBay

Have you thought of using the online auction site eBay... Read More

Losing Sales By Overcharging For Shipping And Handling

As a serious seller on eBay you're familiar with their... Read More

How To Cut Your eBay Fees By More Than 90%

Now, are you ready for the REAL TRUTH about selling... Read More

To eBay or NOT to eBay

FACT: eBay's Gross Merchandise Sales (GMS) 2003 - GMS, the... Read More

From Ebay Zero to Power-Selling Hero: How To Learn New Tricks Without Spending

The Internet is the fastest-changing marketplace on earth. Million-dollar ideas... Read More

Online Auctions: How To Generate Fast Traffic From Online Auctions

Have you ever participated in any online auctions?Yes, people are... Read More

Auction and Its Benefits

An auction is basically a public sale wherein any object... Read More

Five Tested Ways To Find The Perfect Drop Shipper

You've heard about it many times in recent months. Being... Read More

10 Tips to Starting a Financially Successful Ebay Business Startting Right Now

Ebay is Perhaps the easiest and fastest way to start... Read More

Your Auction Headline Or Title - The Most Important Part Of Your Auction

The words you select to describe your item will have... Read More

Make BIG MONEY on eBay - Your Unlimited Cash Cow

Let me be brutally honest; until recently, I had never... Read More

Drop Shipping Your Way to Increased Profits

Drop shipping, for those who are unfamiliar with it, is... Read More

12 Items You CANT Sell On EBay

Millions of would-be entrepreneurs want to sell things on ebay.... Read More

Making Money on eBay is Really Easy

If I can do it you can.Let me tell you... Read More