Unfortunately, due to the overwhelming popularity of Ebay, the field isn’t anything like it used to be. I originally had a bit of a niche in the antiques business thanks to my Ebay powerseller account and my trusty and rare mobile internet device, and therefore I had a major advantage over the old-school antique dealers. Today, you’ll find that 20-30% of the people attending antique auctions are now Ebay sellers, and these days everyone has mobile internet access.

Because of the growing competition and difficulty to draw out decent profit from those antique purchases, I turned to buying direct from stores going out of business. These are often auctions as well, but they are a whole different breed. With antique auctions, the people attending are usually there for a very select type of item that was advertised, such as Hummels, Steuben art glass or Waterford for example. At auctions where stores are going out of business, it’s a completely different ballgame. Many specific items are not advertised and when you go, you pretty much get what you get. This is still an area where the technically savvy person can create a very sweet niche for themselves. I eventually turned to writing and editing as a primary form of income – but buying up surplus for cheap is definitely a promising money-making venture. So, let’s get to a few online resources and tools that will give you that competitive advantage.

Buy From Business Liquidation Companies

Before you get into this business, it’s important to understand the various forms of inventory cutbacks businesses go through. Before they’ve gone as far as bankruptcy, many businesses try to save the company by turning excess assets into cash so they can pay down debts. This is called liquidating assets, and there’s an entire industry built on helping companies liquidate their assets – including vehicles, electronics, household goods and more. You name it – it’s probably being liquidated somewhere. The way to make money as a reseller (that’s you), is to buy up huge lots of liquidated assets (surplus) at about 30 to 40 percent under retail. Then, turn around and sell them to your customers at retail (or if you really want to do well – offer 10 to 20 percent discounts to your customers on Ebay or your online store).

Where do you find these liquidations? Online, of course. Go to the surplus inventory section of Business.com and you’ll find a long list of liquidation companies where you can buy pallets of goods. Now, keep in mind we’re talking pallets and truckloads here. These businesses are used to dealing with brick-and-mortar stores that will buy a truckload of these surplus items at a time (which can cost tens of thousands of dollars) – so only take this option if you’re very serious about starting such a business. Startup costs are high – but your potential profit is tremendous, especially in the area of surplus electronics. For example, at that Business.com page, I found Discount Wholesalers, where you can buy pallets of surplus electronics at 35% discounts or more.

A downside to the liquidation industry is that there are also scam artists throughout who will send boxes filled with returns or otherwise non-working items. Just check out any online feedback available on them or check with the Better Business Bureau, but when you do find a legit one – hang on to it and run because not many people have the courage (or money) to invest, so if you do, you’ll be rolling in profits.

Buy Your Products From Auctions

Unless you’re a licensed auctioneer or a liquidation firm, the odds of success by contacting a business directly that’s facing bankruptcy in order to purchase their assets directly is slim to none. The bankruptcy or liquidation process usually involves a law firm that contracts out the asset liquidation to large firms or auction companies.  This article has already covered the liquidation route, but what about buying those “going-out-of-business” goods at auctions? The biggest problem I had when attending auctions is that you had to go to the location and register to buy so you could sit in the audience and hold up your bidding number. Well, with the Internet the world of auction buying has completely changed. You can now sit in your pajamas, in the luxury of your own home, and take part in these auctions live. I’m going to cover the top four resources you can use to locate and take part in these auctions. These are the most effective resources to purchase going-out-of-business merchandise.

The first, and in my opinion the best, live auction website is BidSpotter.com.  When you first go to the site, you’ll see that you can choose from three main auction categories – antiques & collectibles, agriculture & construction and industrial & commercial.

For businesses that are going belly-up, you want to go for industrial & commercial. When you view the listings page, you’ll notice auctions for businesses of all types.

Now, something to keep in mind when you search through these is that just because the auction is for something like a bakery doesn’t mean there won’t be anything useful there. These auctions sell off everything the business used – and many times these are items that are not even related to the particular industry. This is why it’s the best way to get awesome deals – you may be competing with bakery business owners or tool machine shop owners – so when electronics, computers or other items you’re interested in come along, you can bid low and often win. The experience is pretty cool too – it’s like being right there at the auction in person. Here, I am attending a toy auction going on in South Dakota (I live in Maine).

Two tips if you decide to try this. First, call the auction house early and register to bid so you’re ready when the auction starts. Second, don’t take your time when bidding starts – bid fast! There are people sitting around waiting for you, so when you sit there thinking, it gets very annoying for the people who are actually there. Be a courteous online bidder and the auction house will love it when you virtually attend.

There are a couple more sites that also offer live online auctions like this, and by using all of them you’ll increase your chances of finding the going out of business auctions that suit your needs. LiveAuctioneers is the next one, and in my opinion it seems to feature more auction listings than any of the others I’ve seen.

There are a lot of categories and the chances are very good that you’ll find the sort of auction that you’re looking for. All of these are live – just find the scheduled auction and be online when it takes place.  Another one of the best live auction sites to locate bankruptcy auctions is definitely iCollector.com. This is another site with a constantly updated stream of upcoming auctions.

What makes this site special is that you can find auctions from all around the world. For example, at the moment there are live auctions scheduled and listed for Spain, Canada and Switzerland as well. While this particular site is weighted a bit more toward antiques and collectibles, you can find closeout auctions here as well.

Have you ever taken part in a live auction online, or have you ever bought liquidated items to resell before? Share your own experiences and insight in the comments section below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• 5 eBay Tips On How To Buy & Sell BETTER (7)
• Top 10 Sites To Find The Hot Selling Items On eBay (19)
• Wootalyzer – Alerts You Woot! Super Sales and Other Sites (6)
• Watch Online Products for Price Drops with ShoppingNotes (9)
• Top 10 Sites For Online Coupons & Promotional Codes (44)

Earning Income from Selling Hot Selling Items on eBay?

At first, it felt almost impossible to make a profit on eBay. I started with a few items from around the house. It was ridiculous what people were willing to buy – but the cheques that came in the mail were very real, and they started to add up. Before long, I noticed those giant eBay PowerSellers with an inventory of hundreds of expensive items for sale. I was curious how they did it. After a few years, I was not only able to learn how they do it but do it myself. The secret is this – you need a source. There are a variety of sources for hot selling items on eBay, including…

• Local auctions
• Local yard sales
• Electronic bulletin boards
• Overstock
• Buying in bulk
• Other online auctions

In this article, I’m going to share the top websites that other PowerSellers hope you hadn’t learned about.

Buying Items at Auction

Finding antiques at a local auction and selling them on eBay was one of the most significant ways that I was able to multiply my sales. In time, I learned how to recognize individual items at auctions that had huge eBay potential – but you still have to be very careful not to overpay for those items or you can lose your shirt. Using auctions as an eBay source is one of the best methods to become a PowerSeller, but finding the best auctions in your area can be difficult. One of the best sites I found to do that is Auctionbiz, which has listings for auctioneers all around the country, from the huge auction houses in the city to the smallest auctioneers out in the country.

Unfortunately, these listings are only available within the U.S., but another great site for European eBay sellers is AuctionGuide, which covers auctioneers from all across the world.

These listings are fairly comprehensive. Just be sure to work yourself up from the cheaper “country” auctions up toward the more expensive city auction houses as you earn more, and as you learn how to recognize the hot selling items on eBay. Also, if you plan to shop at auctions for your eBay merchandise, purchase a mobile device such as a smartphone with an Internet capable browser on it. While you’re at the auction during the preview session, simply visit eBay.com, click “Advanced Search,” and then search through past eBay sales for the items that you see at the auction. Make sure “Show Completed Listings Only” is selected.

This will show you how much the item sold for on eBay, before you buy it. It also tells you how much you should pay for the item without losing your shirt.

Local Yard Sales and Electronic Bulletin Boards

Another great source that I found for items at very cheap prices are local items for sale. These are the deals where you can create a fortune – if you’re diligent and quick to act. Back in February, I wrote an article on an application you can use to search Craigslist for your local area. Whether you use that application or not, Craigslist listings are a constant source of some of the best opportunities for eBay PowerSellers. For example, a recent search for “digital camera” in my area turns up a long list of great deals.

Remember, be smart about how you buy. For each item, search the completed eBay listings. If the Craigslist seller is offering the item at less than what it sells for on eBay, contact them immediately and ask to buy it. Drive over and pick it up so that you can save on shipping costs. The best website out there to look up local yard sales is one that MakeUseOf reviewed before called the Yard Sale Treasure Map – a very cool site that lists lots of yard sales in your local area.

Overstock and Buying in Bulk

If you have enough cash on hand, you can always invest in an inventory. Lots of sellers do this. There really isn’t any secret to it, except that you need to spend a bit upfront. Be careful about scam artists that “cherry pick” their pallets. These items typically come from store closings or overstock inventory. This is a field where reputation is king, and buying locally is your best bet. Just search Google for “wholesale pallets,” and you’ll find a long list of them. One good example is RhinoMart wholesale distribution.

The thing to look for are sites that offer good, clear photos of the pallets, and decent listings of contents. However, in most cases these items were all packaged quickly during store closings - so you simply get what you get. However, in the end you’re paying only a fraction of what the items are really worth, so this is usually one of the best ways to earn some significant eBay income.

Other Online Auctions

If you don’t have a fortune to invest up front, one of the easiest ways to make money on eBay is buying at smaller auction sites and then reselling on eBay. You’ll likely find far fewer items at these sites, but you’ll also find much better deals. A few of these include:

• OverStock Auctions – Auctions of “overstock” items
  
• uBid - Excess Inventory Auctions
  
• GovDeals – Pick up government surplus items at great prices
• ShopGoodwill – The popular “used goods” store is now an excellent Ebay seller source as well

One of my favorite online auction sites is the PropertyRoom Police Auctions, a fairly active website primarily for the sale of items confiscated by authorities.

You can find some pretty impressive deals on PropertyRoom, however competition for those items is getting pretty fierce. For now, there’re still some impressive lots of high quality items available, including computers, cars and jewelry.

The Hottest Selling Items on eBay are Everywhere

As you can see, becoming a PowerSeller on eBay is only a matter of finding a good source of low cost items. When I first started, the hardest part was finding those items. Toward the end of my eBay PowerSeller career, the hard part was keeping up with packaging and shipping. Once you find one or two product sources that work for you, you’ll have no problem making a tremendous income from eBay.

MakeUseOf has written a handful of great articles on eBay tips, be sure to check them out.

Are you an eBay seller? Share some of your own tips and tricks in the comments section below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• 5 eBay Tips On How To Buy & Sell BETTER (7)
• 4 Sites To Find Stores Going Out of Business And Buy Up Surplus For Cheap (6)
• 13 Bargain Websites That are Cheaper than eBay (195)
• Watch Online Products for Price Drops with ShoppingNotes (9)
• The Top 10 Grocery Coupon Websites for Cheapskates (61)

I have some interesting tips to share with you MakeUseOf readers – just in time for the holidays.

eBay can be great to buy gifts at discounted prices or to sell items to make some money to buy gifts! What a magically time of the year.

Looking for deals? Let’s see what we can do you for…

Check out other eBay’s in your native language or use Babelfish to translate. The wife uses Ebay UK habitually and now thanks to Babelfish she is all into eBay France and eBay Italy. I showed her how to browse over to the foreign eBay sites and do a brand name search.

Then using a little ingenuity we try and pin it down to a category (if you can figure it out great, if not it’s OK. Just a little more clicking around later).

Then we copy the URL from the search page and plug it into BabelFish. We choose the “Translate a web page” option and select the appropriate language – here it is French to English (this will translate the French eBay search page into English so we can understand it). Don’t press the back button on your browser – it will bring you back to the BabelFish page no matter how deep you go into eBay.

Now you have a browser opened with your search translated! Sweet!

2. Use a Sniper app to help you get the lowest price and win a auction at the last possible minute. I have been using AuctionSniper (last minute bid software) now for well over 4 years.

AuctionSniper is not a free service but your first 10 snipes are free so hey close enough! Then if you get your friends to sign up for the free 10 snipes as well, they will give you more for free. You can also go on to purchase “snipes” if you run out. But hey I haven’t run out in years and if I do I will move on to another free/similar service.

The way Auction Sniper works is quite simple. You give them your eBay user name and password and they will automate your bid at 5 seconds before the end of the auction (this is the default and can be changed). This way all those bidding wars don’t start between you and some 12 year old kid in Kentucky.This also gives the highest bidder a sense of winning so they are not closely watching.  This lets you and your sniper swoop in for the win at the last second. Just remember the currency is the website’s default – meaning if you are buying from eBay.co.uk it will be in British pounds, France will be in Euros and if you are hitting eBay.com it will be in US dollars. So don’t think they will be converting your 10 Euros to 10 dollars – dig?

3. How about finding great deals because other users mis-spelled their auction?! Check out Misspelled Auctions

Type in what you are looking for and it will try various popular mis-spellings to get you to a low traffic auction. This is a great breeding ground for deals! Low competition = BIG SAVINGS!

Here is a search for the awesome HTC Touch Pro:

You can see it searched for “tc touch pro”, “hc touch pro”, “tuch pro” and a whole bunch more – and look – we got a hit in the above picture!

Selling stuff? Do your homework first!

4. After logging into eBay you have the option of Advanced Search features. These are an eBay seller’s best friend. The advanced search feature I use most often is the Completed Auctions option. Why you ask?

It’s simple – if you quickly peruse the list of completed auctions for what you are looking to sell you can see at a glance the green prices sold and the red prices did not. You can get a pretty good idea of how much you can get for your collection (of something that meant something to you at one time and would be better off spent on beer money now!).

You can then also click on the little icon next to the auction that brought in the most money and use the “Sell Similar”. This will save you a bunch of steps in setting up your auction.

5. Tips and tricks are all well and good but do you know what helps more than anything else with selling on eBay? Pictures, pictures and more pictures!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words – let’s just say it can be worth a hundred bids here! People want to see what they are buying. Take these STRANGE eBay listings… Do you think they would have sold without images?

.

(Images are linked to the completed auctions..)

Think those auctions were strange? Check out Weird eBay Listings for more!

Also be responsive to questions asked by potential buyers and offer a slew of payment options like Paypal and credit cards.

Do you have any eBay tips or tricks to add? We would love to hear from you in the comments. Just think it might get you that internet fame you have been wanting for so long

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• 4 Sites To Find Stores Going Out of Business And Buy Up Surplus For Cheap (6)
• Top 10 Sites To Find The Hot Selling Items On eBay (19)
• Shop Like a PRO: 7 Tools to Crack eBay (15)
• Better manage your eBay auctions with Nabit (6)
• 7 Tips for Private eBay Sellers (6)

1 UnwiredBuyer – Receive last minute eBay notifications and place bids directly from your mobile. Definitely a must-have for every eBay junkie. (US and Canada). Video Demo.

2. Soonr – Need to access your PC directly from the handset? Enter Soonr, a free mobile client that brings remote PC access to your phone: search files, view documents, check emails, run programs and more. US only. Video Demo.

3. Mosio – How old is Yoda? What was Einstein’s IQ? … and for all other questions simply send SMS to Mosio and get a quick reply shortly after. Screenshot. US only.

4. Plusmo – Super-fast mobile feedreader with lots of cool features. Video Demo. Another similar app is Viigo.

5. Fring – Really cool mobile app that lets you place free calls or chat with anyone from your Skype, ICQ, Google Talk, MSN, Twitter, or SIP contacts. Video Demo. You can also get same stuff with Nimbuzz.

6. Mobical – Over-the-air mobile data backup and restore service. Store and backup your contacts, synchronize data between multiple handsets and more.

7. Jajah – Dirt-cheap international call from your handset. Video Demo.

8. AllFreeCalls – Not just dirt-cheap but totally free international calls to over 50 countries. Available in US, UK, and Ireland.

9. Emoze – This one lets you push emails to your mobile. Works both with web-based emails (Gmail) and desktop clients (Outlook). I have covered a bunch of email to mobile apps here.

10. Directory Services - These services offer everything from the nearest Dominos and Movie theater schedules to the driving directions and maps to any address of your choice. There are plenty of good ones: Free411, Goog411, TellMe, and DialDirections. Although i have to warn you in advance, all of them are for the US only. European? See below.

11. Google SMS – Via SMS directory service with lots of extra features: dictionary lookup, currency converter, translations, flight schedules, stock quotes, etc. . Europeans can try Google SMS.

12. Foonz – Handy service to make group calls and send group SMS messages for free.

13. Nutsie – This ingenious app brings your iTunes music library to your mobile. Video Demo. Also check out MunduRadio to access hundreds of digital internet radio stations from any web-enabled mobile phone. Video Demo.

14. Podlinez – Any podcast any time from your handset. Completely FREE. Sorry folks, again US Only.

15. mShopper – Lookup prices and deals for any product right from phone. Quite handy for price lookups while window shopping Video Demo.. US only.

16. Trumpia – Send message to friends and get it delivered to their email, instant messenger, and mobile phone. Recipients can send replies from email, IM program or as a text message. Video Demo.

17. SoLow – Addictive auction service where the winning bidder is the one who has the lowest unique bid. Today’s auctioned items: 250$ cash, Vail Ski Holiday, and Necklace by Laura Shape. US only.

18. BooksInMyPhone – The best mobile book service out there. Comes with an excellent book reader app that makes mobile reading quite convenient. Also see DialyLit.

19. Jott – Voice-to-text transcriber with a bunch of cool features. Dial toll-free number and “Jott” yourself memo notes, Or “Jott” messages to a group of friends. Jott will transcribe your messages and send it to indicated emails.Video Demo. US only.

20. Qipit – Use phone camera to capture documents and convert them to well-formatted PDFs. Forward ready PDFs to your email or even send fax it anywhere you want. Video Demo.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• 15 FREE Useful Services To Access from your Phone (9)
• 4 Tools to Backup your Mobile Phone (28)
• 12 Google Services with Mobile Access (14)
• 10 Sync Tools every Office Worker Should Know About (39)
• 10 Free Microsoft Apps That Don’t Suck (13)

Before I begin, I want to issue a disclaimer. I did some consulting work during 2006 for Digonex Technologies, the company that created and owns Nabit. However, the fact I used to work for Digonex is not the reason I am such a big fan of the Nabit software. I am a big fan of Nabit because it is quite simply one of the most useful free software programs out there, if eBay is your passion. The usefulness of the program is the reason I went to work for them in the first place. But in the interests of full disclosure, I thought I’d better mention my past connection to the company.

I buy on eBay a lot, especially books which I collect with a passion. But keeping track of what I have bid on, what I have been outbid on, when auctions are ending and so forth can be quite time consuming. You have to log into the eBay website, put up with eBay downtimes, navigate your way around eBay to find what you are looking for…if the seconds are counting down to the end of an auction and you need to put in a fast counter-bid, those kinds of delays could mean you lose the item you really want!

Also when you are searching for something on eBay, most bargains can actually be found from overseas buyers (which most people seem to overlook). The search engine on the eBay website is not really that user-friendly for conducting overseas searches. This all creates a huge niche which Nabit more than amply fills.

Nabit is a free small software application, approved by eBay, which lives on your PC desktop. It can be automatically started when Windows loads up and you can minimise it to the status bar. When you are not using it, it runs silently in the background and you will soon forget it is even there!

After installing it, you are asked to log in. Now most people whom I talk about Nabit to get concerned that the company keeps a vast database of eBay usernames and passwords. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Nabit does not have access to your log-in details at all. Instead, they rely on an eBay-managed system called “Authorization and Authentication”. Nabit directs you to a secure eBay page, you log in there, eBay verifies your details and then sends an authentication “token” to Nabit to let you in.

Once you have verified your details, Nabit pulls up all your eBay user information, including :

• live auctions you are currently participating in
• live auctions you are currently watching
• auctions you either participated in or watched that are now over.

When I worked for the company, I wrote a manual in PDF format, which will explain all the intricacies of the software. You can download it and read it at your leisure but it is actually a little dated. I have a slightly more up-to-date version (up to November 2006) of the manual and if anyone wants a copy, they can download it here. But here are the highlights of what Nabit can do for you :

* You can search for an item on eBay either in your own country or, by simply applying a couple of filters, you can instantly search for that item overseas in the following countries – Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States. You can filter by other specifications such as “Paypal-only” just as you would on the eBay site. The search is fast, effective and easy. You can then bid for the item INSIDE the Nabit application, removing the need to go to the eBay site at all.

* Nabit gives you the ability to respond fast to being outbid. With just a few clicks and two Nabit windows, you can place a counter-bid. MUCH faster than going through the eBay site.

* You will receive pop-up notification windows from Nabit in your Windows status bar when an auction ends or when you are outbid. These can be switched off if you don’t need them or if they irritate you.

* You can add items to your Nabit watch list and Nabit will synchronize that list with your eBay watch list, making sure both are updated and correct.

* The Nabit software is multi-lingual. You can change the software language to English, German, French, Chinese, or Portugese – even if you are searching on an eBay site in another language (so for example, you can search eBay USA in German). Everything on the listing page is translated into your chosen language (except text written by the seller) and the prices are automatically converted into your own currency.

* If you enter your zip code (post code) into Nabit, the application will tell you how far away each seller is from you. So you can search for a seller that lives nearby if you have to pick up the item personally.

* If you are an eBay seller, Digonex (the company that owns Nabit) will give you a free custom version with your own auctions auto-updating in the status bar of Nabit. You can then burn this custom program onto a disk and hand them out to customers as a free promotional tool.

In a nut-shell, Nabit offers fast easy access to eBay, timely notifications of any changes to your auctions and a superior search capability.

However, Firefox users may instead prefer using the eBay Companion for Firefox. I use both tools and I am torn over which one I prefer the best!

Which eBay tools do you like the best? Tell us about them in the comments!

Posted by MakeUseOf guest-writer Mark O’Neill

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• 5 eBay Tips On How To Buy & Sell BETTER (7)
• Top 10 Sites To Find The Hot Selling Items On eBay (19)
• How to Find a Free eBay Seller Template [eBay Tips] (3)
• 7 Tips for Private eBay Sellers (6)
• 4 Sites To Find Stores Going Out of Business And Buy Up Surplus For Cheap (6)