Can I really make money on eBay and where do I get my start up capital from?

Well the short answer to this is yes and no, this may sound ambiguous but the reason I have answered like this is because it depends on what you do.

 Most eBayers are not traders, they use eBay because they want a bargain, or they want to sell the items that they no longer want. To give an example a friend of mine has been using eBay for a considerable number of years. He recently obtained Powerseller status for a few months, the reason? He sold off his complete model railway in a number of packages. As model railway parts command a high sale value his sales qualified him for Powerseller status. He did not make any money on this he merely re-cooped an amount of money that was dormant so that he could use it for something else, in this case a top class plasma TV and theatre kit. So really he was not trading as such.

 Now let’s contrast that with someone who wants to make a second income on line or even trade online full time. They need to find items they can continually re-sell at a profit. Remember my “Powerseller” friend did not make a profit he only recovered most of what he had spent out in the past. So the point being that there is a limit to what you can sell of your own and also how much money can you re-coop? So if you sell possessions you no longer want what can you do with the cash you have made?

 You could spend it on something you want like my friend did, spend it on a few nights out, or use it to obtain some stock for resale and kick start your own business without touching your savings. Consider this, if you had never sold the items you did not want you would still have them, but there monetary value would be nil to you. By selling them what have you got, your starting capital for something else, what if you should lose it all (very unlikely) you really are no worse off, you simply do not have the things you sold, which you will remember you did not want anyway.

 So have a good look around, anything you would not miss? What about the old ex-contract mobile phone in the top draw, trade this on to one of the companies that specialise on buying old phones or sell it on eBay itself this can be just enough to start you trading on eBay, worth a thought? Plugin Auction Profits has many other suggestions on raising the start up capital to trade on eBay or Amazon.