Preparing for Your Trade Show Visit to Make Money Selling on Ebay

Some may see attending trade shows as an opportunity to take a vacation.  After all, often they are held in popular tourist locales.  However, it is a mistake to take that approach.  Trade shows are really the perfect place to start your investigation to locate great new suppliers.  There is preplanning to do before you attend.  By taking a little time and assembling the right information and plans you can walk away from each trade show with not only some great new prospective suppliers, but also some great bargain prices on merchandise being offered. In this article I present preparing for your trade show visit to make money selling on eBay.

Know exactly the products you are targeting.  This is as simple as developing a list of your current core products.  You’ll use your product list to identify companies you feel you must meet once you arrive at the show.  Don’t stop there, however.  Add products within your current niche you have an interest in adding to your sales offerings.  What better way to make a decision about those products then to view them at the show?  Finally add a third category of products for future expansion into new niches.  If time allows, these are vendors you can meet with while there.

With your product lists develop, start your preparation for the show by obtaining a list of all vendors prior to arriving at the show.  Use the list to develop your plans while at the show.  Use your product lists to match up with vendors supplying products.  The first group to list would be the vendors you consider to be ‘must see’ while there.  Move onto a second tier group of vendors that would be nice to visit if time allows.  You might even want to add a third tier of vendors to meet as potential future suppliers.

Most show lists include the location of displays by the various sellers.  Use the location map to create your own personal plan for the show.  Since your goal is to make money selling on eBay, minimize your time and walking by grouping your path around the vendors that are closest to each other.  Taking this approach will minimize the miles of walking as well as the amount of time it actually takes to see all of the products and meet with the vendors of interest to you.

Arrive at the trade show early.  You’ll find arriving the first day is best.  While many of the other buyers will wait until later the first day, or even until the second day to arrive, your goal is to get there early. There’s an important reason for this tactic.  Arriving early means you will beat the crowd.  You will have time to meet with the vendors of interest without fighting huge crowds.  A more relaxed tour will make decision making less of a hassle for you.   You will be able to ask your questions and you can examine the merchandise of interest as well as pricing options.

Don’t forget to ask every company you meet about their trade show specials and other closeout merchandise.  If your goal is to make money selling on eBay, you will find these are rare buys that add to profits.   Often vendors will have limited quantities of specially priced merchandise available so buy the specials early.  If you are interested in a company and its products then continue the discussion.  Consider placing a small sample order to test whether everything is as claimed.  Continue to build relationships with companies of interest after the show to set you up to make money selling on eBay in the future.

To Your eBay Success!