Sell Products Online

Discussed in this article are three options available to start making money online. Appropriate options are: a website that uses affiliates, a website that sells products while working with a dropshipper, and selling on eBay. Eventually all three methods may be implemented; the use of one method does not preclude the use of the other two.

Affiliates

When a website or business pays a host site for sending them a customer, the host site becomes an affiliate of that company. The company will pay using one of three forms of compensation: pay for the visitor, pay for the referral, or pay a percentage.

Pay you for the visitor

Paying for the visitor is also known as pay per click. This is when the customer clicks on an ad located on a webpage which directs them to the linked website. The customer does not need to do anything else in order for payment to be received; they simply have to click on the advertisement located on the host site.
Puremexican.com is an excellent example of the pay per click method. Any time one of the ads located on their page is clicked on, PureMexican gets paid a pre-determined amount of money.

Pay you for the referral

Paid for referral or paid for lead occurs when someone clicks on a website ad that takes them to an affiliate site. They then fill out the information and sign up for a newsletter, a paid subscription or a club. The original website is then paid a flat rate for the referral.
A good example of paying for referral is forcards.com. Every time a customer clicks on one of the cards at the top of the screen and applies for that credit card, the original website is paid a flat rate by the card company.

Pay you a percentage

A customer clicks on an ad which takes them to another site and then the host website gets paid a percentage of any purchase made. Each affiliate program has different terms such as how and when they pay; read and understand the terms before signing up with any affiliate program.

An affiliate program pays based on how much a customer buys. Most companies pay five to ten percent with a few being higher. A site that uses affiliate programs is usually the fastest to get online and does not have to manage customer relationships.
Working with a Dropshipper

The visitor comes to a site, makes a purchase, the host site takes the payment through their website and then contacts the dropshipper to place an order with them. The host site gives the customers name and address to the dropshipper so the products can be shipped to the customer. The host site will charge the customer a retail price and pay the Dropshipper a wholesale price. The profit is the difference between the two prices. The profit margins available when working with Dropshippers generally range between twenty to forty percent; usually, more money is made with this type of site.

There will be some customer service involved and a merchant account must be set up to process payments. These sites take a bit more work to set up but use the same amount of resources and effort as affiliate sites. A Dropship site has the potential to make more money.
Ruggedflashlights.com sells outback flashlights from an outback supplier. They take an order, send it to the dropshipper, and then the dropshipper sends the customer his/her flashlight. Stopdirt.com uses three or four dropshippers so they can have a wider product selection.

Selling on EBay

Selling on eBay is a quick and exciting way to make money online. The profit margins on eBay are slimmer than they are on an ecommerce site. To use eBay, set up eBay and PayPal accounts. PayPal is eBays online funds management system and allows for the safe transfer of money from the buyer to the seller.

Start by making some purchases on eBay in order to understand how it works and build up positive feedback. Get started by listing some of the things around home that are no longer needed but that others may want to purchase.

Eventually all three of these options can be done, but starting with one is suggested. After choosing which option works best to get started by researching that option.

The great thing about this industry is that it is always changing. For more information please follow the links provided. Thrive Learning Institute is a business consulting firm that specializes in helping people start their own online businesses. To learn more, visit www.thriveli.com or the Thrive Learning Institute elibrary.