eBay Business All-in-One For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Chapter 2: Sourcing Merchandise Like the Pros

In This Chapter

• Taking the mystery out of finding merchandise
• Getting the best wholesale deals
• Finding unusual (and cheap) deals

I'm often asked, “Where do I find merchandise to sell?” This, of course, is followed by “What can I sell to make the highest profit?” Good questions. But what successful seller has an answer they want to give to the competition? Did Macy's tell Gimbel's?

When eBay PowerSellers have a good, solid source of merchandise, they're not likely to share the name of that source with anyone — nor would any offline retailer. (Think about it a minute.) When I was teaching a class for advanced sellers at eBay Live (eBay's user convention), I was asked the question in an auditorium-size room filled with PowerSellers. I answered a question with a question: Were there any PowerSellers in the audience who would like to share their sources with the rest of the group? You could have heard a pin drop. So I upped the ante — “I'll pay anyone $10 for one solid source” — still silence. Business is business.

When someone is willing to sell you attendance to a webinar or a list of merchandise sources, you can bet the list contains old, fairly public vendors. Also, these folks are in the business of selling lists. If they were so successful, why aren't they filling their coffers with eBay profits?

The bottom line is that all successful ...