Walk through any thrift store and you’re bound to bump into an eBay Powerseller or two replenishing their eBay inventory. The truth is there are still good bargains available at thrift stores for resale on eBay if you’re astute enough to spot them.

While it’s true you’ll probably pay more at a thrift store than you would at a garage sale, the prices for some items are still low enough for you to make a decent profit. The key, of course, is to do enough research on eBay to know what types of used items are hot sellers. And, I don’t mean a quick little glance. I mean really do your homework.

For example, if you’re interested in buying and selling used men’s shirts, go to eBay and perform searches for “used men’s shirt,” “nearly new shirt,” “gently worn” and all the other synonyms you can find for “used.” Go through the “vintage” category and the “collectibles – cultures, ethnicities” for Hawaiian shirts. Research the labels. Note any patterns and colors. Do some sizes sell better than others? (I always found I had a harder time selling men’s shirts in size small).

Do the same type of research with all the used items you may find at a thrift store: clothing, shoes, boots (especially used cowboy boots), purses, books (don’t ignore cookbooks – they can sometimes sell very well, especially the Betty Crocker Pie Cover cookbook).

When you find a thrift store or two (or, hopefully, more) that offers good quality used products go back often as new items are added every day.

With used clothing it’s very important to thoroughly check for any tears or stains, because once you buy it, it’s yours, you can’t take it back. I once bought several collectible Hawaiian shirts I had checked for tears and stains, but failed to check the collars. When I got them home I found they all had a bad case of “ring around the collar” which didn’t come out in the wash. Of course, I had to disclose that in my descriptions on eBay. The shirts sold, but for less than what they could have sold for in better condition. Also, check for any odors that may be tough to get out with washing or dry cleaning. (Do make sure you wash or dry clean all used clothing you list on eBay.)

While it’s true that used clothing and other items do sell well on eBay, your research will help you spot items with which you’ll actually make a profit. There’s a thought out there among some that you can slap anything on eBay and make money. Not true. If you don’t do your research you may find yourself losing money. Don’t just assume there’s a sucker born every minute and that anything will sell on eBay. Without proper research you might end up finding out the sucker is you.

It’s about what they consider their “Accepted Business Model”. The things that stood out for me were:

*Publishers may only place links and/or promotional content on sites they own. Affiliate links on third party sites such as Craigslist, MySpace, etc. are not allowed.

*You will not redirect any traffic to middle servers for the sole purpose of masking your referring source of traffic. This includes the use of URL shortening services (including but not limited to tinyurl.com, short.to and cloakedlink.com).

Ok, I understand the concept in general.

But why on earth would they stop someone with an affiliate account from seeking traffic from MySpace or another third party site? I can see how posting Ebay affiliate links on Craigslist would probably violate Craigslist’s terms of service, but bands and local businesses could have a presence on MySpace (the site seems pretty well ranked for some local search keywords). Why not link to items they don’t sell on Ebay?

I can see why you wouldn’t from the affiliate’s point of view… hand posting individual links that may constantly change would be a time consuming nightmare. But I don’t see Ebay’s complaint on the surface of things.

How do you react to these new changes? Will they affect your ebay business?

You can read her sales page here (affiliate link): Summer Toy Guide

I’ll let her describe it in her own words, but I think the logic is sound. Toys sell at the best prices during the upcoming holiday season. NOW is the time to get inventory from yard sales and thrift stores that go for pennies and can be resold for significant markups when there is a more active, hungry market for the items as Christmas approaches and the bargain hunters come out of the woodwork:

EBay sellers are frustrated this time of year because many markets go into a summer slump. Used toys ARE SELLING right now with huge profit margins!

Look at this email I just got from Heather – she just made over $200 on ONE USED TOY AUCTION a couple
of weeks ago!

“I just wanted to drop you a note and let you know, just how much you have helped me. I bought your
Holiday Toy Guide and did very well with the information that you supplied. After the new toy market
dropped in January, I was at a loss.

Thanks to your persistance in sending me new information about selling used toys, I have found my niche.
I have started garage selling and am absolutely hooked! Now, if I could just get enough time in the day to
list all the great deals I have gotten. I bought a Playmobil house with lots of accessories at a garage sale for $20. It just sold Sunday for $238.50. Woohoo! I have bought the Summer Toy selling guide and hope to find lots more great deals.

Thanks so much! – Heather”

The Summer Toy Guide comes with a downloadable ebook with strategies and tips for selling used toys -
but, honestly, the real value is in e weekly report that is emailed out.

The regular price for 3 month’s of weekly reports is $45… but, the Summer Toy Guide includes 3 months
and is only $27. Not to mention all of the other goodies in the Summer Toy Guide package.

You can read her sales page here (affiliate link): Summer Toy Guide Check it out if this sounds like a market you want to tap into!

You can go to the site right now and see a list of current sellers.

It’s a legitimate $70 value for $27!

You can read her sales page here (affiliate link): Summer Toy Guide

I’ll let her describe it in her own words, but I think the logic is sound. Toys sell at the best prices during the upcoming holiday season. NOW is the time to get inventory from yard sales and thrift stores that go for pennies and can be resold for significant markups when there is a more active, hungry market for the items as Christmas approaches and the bargain hunters come out of the woodwork:

EBay sellers are frustrated this time of year because many markets go into a summer slump. Used toys ARE SELLING right now with huge profit margins!

Look at this email I just got from Heather – she just made over $200 on ONE USED TOY AUCTION a couple
of weeks ago!

“I just wanted to drop you a note and let you know, just how much you have helped me. I bought your
Holiday Toy Guide and did very well with the information that you supplied. After the new toy market
dropped in January, I was at a loss.

Thanks to your persistance in sending me new information about selling used toys, I have found my niche.
I have started garage selling and am absolutely hooked! Now, if I could just get enough time in the day to
list all the great deals I have gotten. I bought a Playmobil house with lots of accessories at a garage sale for $20. It just sold Sunday for $238.50. Woohoo! I have bought the Summer Toy selling guide and hope to find lots more great deals.

Thanks so much! – Heather”

The Summer Toy Guide comes with a downloadable ebook with strategies and tips for selling used toys -
but, honestly, the real value is in e weekly report that is emailed out.

The regular price for 3 month’s of weekly reports is $45… but, the Summer Toy Guide includes 3 months
and is only $27. Not to mention all of the other goodies in the Summer Toy Guide package.

You can read her sales page here (affiliate link): Summer Toy Guide Check it out if this sounds like a market you want to tap into!

You can go to the site right now and see a list of current sellers!

You can read her sales page here (affiliate link): Summer Toy Guide

I’ll let her describe it in her own words, but I think the logic is sound. Toys sell at the best prices during the upcoming holiday season. NOW is the time to get inventory from yard sales and thrift stores that go for pennies and can be resold for significant markups when there is a more active, hungry market for the items as Christmas approaches and the bargain hunters come out of the woodwork:

EBay sellers are frustrated this time of year because many markets go into a summer slump. Used toys ARE SELLING right now with huge profit margins!

Look at this email I just got from Heather – she just made over $200 on ONE USED TOY AUCTION a couple
of weeks ago!

“I just wanted to drop you a note and let you know, just how much you have helped me. I bought your
Holiday Toy Guide and did very well with the information that you supplied. After the new toy market
dropped in January, I was at a loss.

Thanks to your persistance in sending me new information about selling used toys, I have found my niche.
I have started garage selling and am absolutely hooked! Now, if I could just get enough time in the day to
list all the great deals I have gotten. I bought a Playmobil house with lots of accessories at a garage sale for $20. It just sold Sunday for $238.50. Woohoo! I have bought the Summer Toy selling guide and hope to find lots more great deals.

Thanks so much! – Heather”

The Summer Toy Guide comes with a downloadable ebook with strategies and tips for selling used toys -
but, honestly, the real value is in e weekly report that is emailed out.

The regular price for 3 month’s of weekly reports is $45… but, the Summer Toy Guide includes 3 months
and is only $27. Not to mention all of the other goodies in the Summer Toy Guide package.

You can read her sales page here (affiliate link): Summer Toy Guide Check it out if this sounds like a market you want to tap into!

You can go to the site right now and see a list of current sellers!

Because the webmaster decides how the plugin will be used and exactly how many listings will be shown, the product doesn’t make your site “all ebay” listings if that’s not what you want. It just makes ebay listings – for all ebay’s site world wide – available to you wherever you wish to deploy them.

If you’re wondering what this looks like in practice, just visit the PHPBay Pro site and click on the “carousel” of web pages and you can see “live” PHPBay Pro sites at work. You’ll soon be able to envision how the product could be working for you on your blog or to power a stand alone site.

The unlimited site license lets you use the script on 1 or 1,000 websites (actually any number you have). Many affiliate marketers find Ebay auctions to be one of the better affiliate programs on the web these days if you want steady sales.

With a simple update to the .htaccess code on your site so that all your ebay listings show as a link from your site. (The code and instructions are with the plug in and it’s easy to understand user manual.)This effectively fills your web page with more of the keywords and details the search engines love. Because these constantly change as Ebay listings change, it “trains” the search engines to come back and see what’s new on your site.

I already said this comes with a complete user manual. In addition, support for this product is offered directly by the product creator. It is fast and very helpful. In addition, there is a strong following of product users who post frequently at the product’s private forum who are likewise friendly and helpful. Reading the archives of the forum alone are educating with regard to affiliate marketing.

The product is reasonably priced at $79 currently. Like any script you may purchase to use online, it requires that you have a hosting account. For most users, I suggest Hostgator for reliable service and tech support. An FTP client like FileZilla (free) and high speed internet access is recommending for installing the plug in. I’ve posted a coupon code for Hostgator below (on the graphic). With your hostgator account, installing word press is just a few clicks!

I highly recommend PHPBay Pro if you want to learn to maximize your Word Press blogs, use wordpress blogs to create affiliate websites (and not first and foremost as “blogs) and want to advance your overall knowledge of affiliate marketing in general.

Maybe so. Some people just want to “buy it now” at a price they consider fair rather than hoping for a “bargain” only to get “sniped” at the last minute by somebody with a piece of software.

But is Ebay really moving away from online auctions or just giving it’s sellers more flexibility?  This author things so because, essentially, ebay has made sellers and consumers more savvy to the actual value of what they’re selling.

Take a gallon of gasoline. What’s it cost these days? Everyone knows it’s “about $3.55″ where I live today. People are aware enough on a daily basis that a station trying to sell at $5 per gallon would get nowhere. A station selling at $3.25 might get lots of business because that would be a rare short term deviation from the standard.

Ebay, the writer says, has essentially educated a vast market place so that buyers are no longer willing to risk selling cheap at auction. They know their acceptable price range and shoppers will pay it if they find it reasonably price.

So, in a sense, Ebay has to move this way, though auctions will be likely available for anyone who wants to give them a try. And as I alluded to above.. there’s auction fatigue. People don’t want to get “sniped” at the last minute. They want to buy and move on.

This author also notes something else. Ebay’s biggest cash cow is PayPal. Ebay will only allow payment by paypal – no cash or checks any more. I personally like this because it tends to protect the seller and the buyer. But it’s also a big deal for Ebay too. “Mo money” as they say.

Hey, I think making it easier to sell is great. Then people only pay the back end fee when they actually make money! I don’t care if Ebay is making money by PayPal. All I care is whether I get my product or get paid for what I sell.

And as an affiliate, my commissions are based on the back end sales fee, not the listing price anyway.

More power to Ebay! Just try to keep your sellers and affiliates as happy as you try to keep the customers!

In my opinion, it’s STILL a great time to Get Started On Ebay!

Related Links: If you are an aspiring affiliate marketer hoping to take advantage of Ebay’s potential for affiliate dollars (50% commission on auction fees when products sell through your link) you want to know about these two tools:

If you’re completely new to online marketing, you want to get a hosting account and then invest in Build A Niche Store. It takes you step by step through the process of building an Ebay affiliate store.

If you are a bit more experienced and have experience with WordPress blogs you want to check out PHPBay. This script functions like a plugin for WordPress that lets you easily post relevant ebay auction listings on any blog post or page. Both are excellent ways to get started tapping into the Ebay affiliate marketplace. If you have experience with WordPress already, I’d definitely point you towards PHPBay!

I’ve always thought “Buy It Now” auctions were fantastic, especially if you’re selling electronic information products on eBay… but if you can profitably sell multiple items of any product for a flat rate, this will make it even better for marketers!

If it’s part of their strategy to make sellers happier, it seems like it might help some to me!

It’s a great time to Get Started On Ebay!

Related Links: If you are an aspiring affiliate marketer hoping to take advantage of Ebay’s potential for affiliate dollars (50% commission on auction fees when products sell through your link) you want to know about these two tools:

If you’re completely new to online marketing, you want to get a hosting account and then invest in Build A Niche Store. It takes you step by step through the process of building an Ebay affiliate store.

If you are a bit more experienced and have experience with WordPress blogs you want to check out PHPBay. This script functions like a plugin for WordPress that lets you easily post relevant ebay auction listings on any blog post or page. Both are excellent ways to get started tapping into the Ebay affiliate marketplace. If you have experience with WordPress already, I’d definitely point you towards PHPBay!

It’s never made me rich, but I love the site.

When Commission Junction was eBay’s affiliate partner, this site seemed to spit out commissions daily… even if they were just small ones.

It may be a pure coincidence, but since ebay themselves picked up handing the commissions, my commissions have been almost ZERO. Finally a commission of $1.14 showed up today.

Possibly there’s just a huge time lag between bidding, winning, and collecting fees which result in tuition. Perhaps the money will start coming in steadily again.

Hopefully THAT’s what’s happening.

Have you had the same experience? Any thoughts on the subject?

Related Links: If you are an aspiring affiliate marketer hoping to take advantage of Ebay’s potential for affiliate dollars (50% commission on auction fees when products sell through your link) you want to know about these two tools:

If you’re completely new to online marketing, you want to get a hosting account  and then invest in Build A Niche Store. It takes you step by step through the process of building an Ebay affiliate store.

If you are a bit more experienced and have experience with WordPress blogs you want to check out PHPBay. This script functions like a plugin for WordPress that lets you easily post relevant ebay auction listings on any blog post or page. Both are excellent ways to get started tapping into the Ebay affiliate marketplace. If you have experience with WordPress already, I’d definitely point you towards PHPBay!

Though the article is 3 years old, you still can’t sell these things!

The key to selling on ebay is to have a legitimate product that is not federally regulated for some reason (alcohol, tobacco, firearms, for instance) and which doesn’t cross the line and say “Pirated”.

So it’s still good advice.

Otherwise “The Ski is the limit”.

Related Link: Ebay Misspelling Tool lets you save money by finding auction items at bargain prices due to misspellings!