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Many of us dream of a work from home business selling products on ebay. But what would we sell? And how would we know if a market exists for the items we have? To avoid listing items that nobody wants, or items within an already flooded market, some research is in order. The goal of your research is to carefully select your niche on ebay.

Many ebay sellers provide their goods within one specific niche. Others have a handful of niches that they specialize in. The key is to find a group of products that you're already familiar with.

Perhaps you've been a collector of antiques for many years. If so, you probably know when you come across an item that could potentially sell for a good amount of cash. Likewise, you have a good idea of which items are likely to collect dust on your shelves. You can put this knowledge to work for you on ebay. Your expertise with antiques gives you an edge over many competitors.

Once you have a good idea of the niche you wish to fill, it's time for the second half of your preliminary work. Start a home business spreadsheet that lists the different types of items you would like to sell on ebay. Then add a monetary value to each entry. This reflects how much you can expect to purchase the item for.

Be realistic; you want to lay out an accurate portrait of how much money you will be spending to build up your inventory. Optimism won't help in this circumstance.

Expand your spreadsheet to include other home business niche markets, just in case. These can be items you enjoy working with, have expert knowledge of, or something you've always had an affinity for and think you could be successful with.

Remember: no matter what your niche is, someone will buy from it as long as you list quality items at reasonable prices. Estimate the initial cost of each item, including shipping and sales tax. Then prepare to immerse yourself in ebay as your research begins in earnest.

Go to ebay and search through the completed auctions. This allows you to see the actual price that items similar to yours have sold for. Is the average price something you could live with?

Remember to factor in shipping costs. Also, pay attention to the quality of the sold items when deciding whether this home business niche is something you wish to pursue on ebay. Items in "mint" or "like new" condition will bring considerably higher prices on ebay than worn, scuffed items.

Now reflect on your ebay home business findings. Did the completed Ebay auctions fetch your target price, or were the closing bids uniformly low? Did any of the items fetch a surprisingly high amount? If you were unimpressed by your findings, go back and consult your home business spreadsheet; it may be time to start researching another potential home business ebay niche.

If your observations were mostly positive, you may have found your ebay home business niche already. In that case, go out and start building up your supply. Don't go overboard; you're still in the testing phase. Purchase a dozen or so items at fair prices. Then list them on ebay.

Also consider Drop-Shipping as an option. Drop-Shipping is essentially contracting with distributors to sell their products through ebay (Or anywhere). The distributors store and ship the ebay sales products Directly to the ebay buyer. Drop-Shipping has literally revolutionized the ebay store business. All by itself.

For many home business sellers, waiting is the hard part. But you'll need patience for this phase of your niche-finding project. Monitor your listings and see how they perform. If they do well, you can build up your stock even more and increase your listings. If they don't quite live up to your expectations, you can go back to square one. Pick another niche from your home business spreadsheet and start researching it on ebay.

The key to finding your home business niche on ebay, as with many challenges in life, is simply to never quit. If you have a wide variety of interests, you're more likely to find a profitable niche that you will enjoy filling. Think of all the things you enjoy doing, making, or collecting.

Then come up with a list of ten items related to each. This sort of brainstorming is a sure-fire remedy for pushing past your seller's block. Let your imagination roam, and you'll carve out your ebay home business niche in no time.

"When the Student is Ready - The Master will Appear..."

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