With over 212 million members worldwide and 19 million items for sale at any given time, eBay is without a doubt the largest marketplace in existence. Simply, find an interesting item, place it for sale, give it a starting price, and let the magic begin. In as little as a couple of days, you could be raking in huge rewards. That is why eBay is one of the best ways for college students to make money. With just a few steps and the right amount of determination, any student can be well on their way to a part time income, or eventually even a full time business.
Before you get too excited, first you need a product. If you are in college, then you already have plenty of free resources. Any college student is always willing to make some quick money, so try scouring student boards or ask around. You are bound to find someone who has some valuable junk lying around. Try posting ads on Craigs List or MySpace; these are great places to find unwanted items. You can also try snooping around garage sales, thrift shops, or even church rummage sales. And, if you are truly desperate, look at websites such as Overstock.com (a clearance site) or Doba.com (a wholesale dropshipping site). If you do decide to go the drop shipping route, try to watch your overhead. Sites like these charge a very steep fee for their services and could make achieving any type of profit very difficult.
Next, you need to create a sellers account on eBay. If you want to sell, eBay requires you create both a buyers and a sellers account. Enter the necessary personal information, a reliable e-mail address, and a bank account or credit card number to verify so they can verify your identity, and you are done. Although you have the ability to choose your payment types, you will want to create a PayPal account. It is the preferred payment method on eBay. Once your account is ready, you can get started.
Placing items on eBay has been described as both an art and a science by most sellers. For those who are already using HTML for sites such as MySpace, then building ads will be easy. However, if you uncomfortable with coding, then eBay provides an easy to use HTML editor to design your site. My advice is to use as much HTML as possible to enhance the look and feel of your ad, rather than rely on eBay’s enhanced services. All of eBay’s services are great to use for the right item, but can add up in the long run. Try uploading your pictures to a free site such as imageshack.us or freeimagehosting.net, then use the link in your html. This will allow you to use a lot of pictures, without having to pay an arm and a leg for an eBay picture package.
Finally, you need to fill in the pricing terms, shipping terms, and auction length; and you are done. Just sit back, and let the buyers come to you. Don’t be discouraged if no bidders come for the first few days; most people prefer to bid on items within the last 24 hours. Usually, this time period is pretty crazy, so try to add some incentives to sweeten the deal. Although eBay make take a bit of practice at first and creativity at selling, I think it is still without a doubt, one of the best ways for a college student to make money.
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