Before you start your own site, selling things, it's worth your while to take a look at the established selling services out there. They can be a good place to "get your feet wet" as it were, and start selling things before investing a lot of time and effort into your own site. A lot of businesses never "graduate past them", and you shouldn't feel obligated to do so with your business.
The first option is eBay. It is a widely known site and there are endless possibilities to selling here. It is also something that you can stop or start anytime. If you decide you don't like it, you haven't invested a lot of money and time into a web page of your own.
eBay is the second most widely known sales site on the Internet, after Amazon.com. It has millions of visitors each and every day, and uses the "auction" mechanism to keep people coming back. From the perspective of someone selling products on the internet, it has an easy setup procedure, and you can start or stop at any time. If you don't like it, you haven't sunk a lot of money into it to get it running.
The next step up from Cafe Press is Amazon Shops. Amazon Shops lets you print books on their Booksurge service, or just sell used books online. My internet business is not limited solely to books - we've sold tee shirts, cookware and electronics on ours. Amazon Shops charges $40 per month as a listing fee and takes anywhere from 10% to 25% of the sale price of the item. The advantage is that it's a natural destination for selling things online. Millions of customers go to Amazon every day. The setup is more involved than Caf Press is, but the reduced fees probably make it worthwhile once your business grows.
The all time champion for people selling things online is eBay. It effectively defined (and dominates) the online auction business. eBay is more than auctions, however. You can set up your own eBay shop with a lot of custom options, including setting the price, setting shipping options, and more. Plus, there's always the auctions.
So, now that you've picked a sales venue, what next? First, save any item descriptions for things you'll regularly have in stock in a text file or word processing file. It allows you to cut and paste whenever a new item shows up. Next is to figure out what you're going to sell - the most common choice is to buy items at wholesale (or as remaindered goods) and sell lots on eBay. You'll need to do some research to find a supplier (and a good price) and to research what your sales niche is.
The third option is to sell information or services. If you like to do research on particular subjects, you can put it together in the form of eBooks, magazines, pamphlets, advertising, or software. This saves people much time and money by not having to do research. If you can initially invest some time the profits will come. These options are highly recommended in my internet business Review.
Finally, keep your options open. Never ever sign an exclusive deal, and always be on the lookout for new products you can sell; not all products have to be made of atoms, Informational products are also a natural product for the Internet, and may be the product type that catapults you into doing your own web shop. - 17943
The first option is eBay. It is a widely known site and there are endless possibilities to selling here. It is also something that you can stop or start anytime. If you decide you don't like it, you haven't invested a lot of money and time into a web page of your own.
eBay is the second most widely known sales site on the Internet, after Amazon.com. It has millions of visitors each and every day, and uses the "auction" mechanism to keep people coming back. From the perspective of someone selling products on the internet, it has an easy setup procedure, and you can start or stop at any time. If you don't like it, you haven't sunk a lot of money into it to get it running.
The next step up from Cafe Press is Amazon Shops. Amazon Shops lets you print books on their Booksurge service, or just sell used books online. My internet business is not limited solely to books - we've sold tee shirts, cookware and electronics on ours. Amazon Shops charges $40 per month as a listing fee and takes anywhere from 10% to 25% of the sale price of the item. The advantage is that it's a natural destination for selling things online. Millions of customers go to Amazon every day. The setup is more involved than Caf Press is, but the reduced fees probably make it worthwhile once your business grows.
The all time champion for people selling things online is eBay. It effectively defined (and dominates) the online auction business. eBay is more than auctions, however. You can set up your own eBay shop with a lot of custom options, including setting the price, setting shipping options, and more. Plus, there's always the auctions.
So, now that you've picked a sales venue, what next? First, save any item descriptions for things you'll regularly have in stock in a text file or word processing file. It allows you to cut and paste whenever a new item shows up. Next is to figure out what you're going to sell - the most common choice is to buy items at wholesale (or as remaindered goods) and sell lots on eBay. You'll need to do some research to find a supplier (and a good price) and to research what your sales niche is.
The third option is to sell information or services. If you like to do research on particular subjects, you can put it together in the form of eBooks, magazines, pamphlets, advertising, or software. This saves people much time and money by not having to do research. If you can initially invest some time the profits will come. These options are highly recommended in my internet business Review.
Finally, keep your options open. Never ever sign an exclusive deal, and always be on the lookout for new products you can sell; not all products have to be made of atoms, Informational products are also a natural product for the Internet, and may be the product type that catapults you into doing your own web shop. - 17943
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