Now, as you may already know, my own business method is to purchase products in bulk at wholesale and resell for profit using my proven strategies which I have perfected over the past seven years. This works and is a method that lots of online (and offline) businesses and sellers use, but, as I was asked this week, is there another way to accumulate ‘resalable stock’ without using wholesalers (or even drop shippers)?

Well yes, actually there are several routes, including:

Charity Shops

You can pick up bargains if you don’t mind trawling through loads of ‘stuff’ and picking out the best items that you know will sell quickly and for profit.

Car Boot Sales

Again, you may find a gem or too but all those early mornings are hard work!

Auctions

You need to know exactly what you are looking for before you go and be sure that you are not paying over the odds before you purchase. These of course are most likely to provide you with one off items which will almost always be second hand or used. Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with that and it’s a perfectly viable way of sourcing stock to resell online. So how about taking that idea and adapting it a little instead…?

Sell on eBay without paying for any stock, without storing any stock, and without having to go to the post office!

Sounds great doesn’t it! And it is – although I have to warn you that there is a little bit of initial legwork required!

Here’s how it works…

Although many companies – small and large – now make it their business to ensure they have a presence on eBay, believe it or not, there are still plenty who don’t and there are a variety of reasons for this – they either don’t have the time, don’t have the know-how or simply don’t realize that eBay isn’t just for selling old unwanted personal items!

And this is where you come in. You can seek out these businesses – I’m talking about your local shops, small bricks and mortar business owners and so on – and advertise their goods for them on your own eBay ID. They will keep hold of the stock, they will dispatch the items to the customer and you’ll simply take a commission from the selling price and pass the rest on to them.

All you have to do is list the item, take the payment from the buyer, tell the company you are selling the item for where to actually send the item, give them their share of the payment and take your commission. How simple is that!

You can do this for one company or ten companies – the potential is absolutely huge. And there’s nothing to stop you advertising your services to individuals too although it is slightly different in that you will have to hold the stock and go to the post office if you do it this way – remember, you still won’t have to pay money for the stock upfront though.

Some people are literally scared of eBay – you could list things for them and take a commission. Others may just not be computer savvy, and what about those who simply can’t be bothered to list their personal stuff that they don’t want anymore. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard people saying: “Oh I really should list X, Y or Z on eBay but I can’t be bothered.” Well they may not want to take advantage of the huge amount of purchasers on eBay who are all waving their credit cards and PayPal funds around on a daily basis, but that doesn’t mean you can’t!

All you need to do is advertise your services, you can then collect their items or get them to bring them to you, list them, dispatch them, take out all your costs plus a commission and everyone’s happy! What’s more you can actually advertise this service you will be providing on eBay itself! Not with a paid for listing but in their ‘Trading Assistants Directory’. If you click here you’ll see what I mean

taTrading Assistants are experienced eBay sellers who will sell your items on eBay for you for a fee, which is exactly what I’ve just been talking about. They advertise their services in the directory so that all those people I’ve just mentioned – be it companies or individuals who don’t know how, haven’t got the time or simply can’t be bothered to list items themselves – can look up someone in their area who can help them.

When you add your details to the Trading Assistant Directory you’ll need to provide information about your fees, your terms and conditions – for example whether you’ll collect items or they have to be brought to you and if you are an expert in any particular area. For example, if you only want to advertise items that fit within the clothes category or only within the electronics category because that’s your area of expertise, then you should specify this. If you don’t mind what the items are then state that you’ll list anything. You can also add extra bits of information such as that you will only list items that are worth over £20 for example. Remember that you must make enough to take out all the fees and your commission and still leave money left over for the owner of the item. There’s no point in selling a pair of shoes for £4.00 because it’s just not worth it to you or the owner!

As with every other aspect of eBay, it’s totally transparent! Within your profile within the Trading Assistant Directory your potential clients will also be able to see feedback from people you have traded for in the past so that they can make an informed decision as to whether to choose you to help them sell their items. This information is within the ‘Member Profile’ link. Potential clients will also be able to see what you are selling for other people at any given time and what you have sold in the past – again this is to help them decide whether you are the man or woman for the job!

So you see it’s all very straight-forward and eBay even help you advertise your services which is a great starting point! But it doesn’t have to stop there. You could also advertise your services in local newspapers, put a notice up in local newsagents, get flyers or leaflets printed up and do a leaflet-drop within your local area and of course you can do that all important extra legwork that I mentioned earlier if you would like to get involved with businesses – which is where you’ll make the real money!

Plan your strategy carefully – you don’t want to just go steaming in to any old business! You must be professional and have a clear business plan to present to the companies you visit. Explain exactly what you would like to help them with – i.e. introduce them to eBay and make them extra profits! And explain how this will work.

Obviously you must also thoroughly check that they are not already advertising on eBay before you make an appointment to outline your proposal with them, otherwise you will look like a bit of a lemon!

There are only two criteria that you must meet if you want to become a Trading Assistant on eBay and that is that you must have a score of at least 50 feedbacks and a minimum 97% positive which I’m pretty sure you probably already have, and if not won’t take much to reach.

The bottom line is this; whether you’re targeting individuals or businesses, you won’t need to pay for any stock so you don’t need any capital, if you sell for businesses rather than individuals then you won’t need to store stock or go to the Post Office with parcels either because they will take care of that too!

Anyone can do this! It’s a simple business idea that you can put into action quickly and easily with no start up costs so why not give it a try!