Help! I Want to Sell on Ebay! What Do I Need to Get Started?

The potential for making money selling on Ebay is enormous! Imagine being able to profit while clearing out the excess clutter in your home and garage. It's the very principle upon which this mega sized auction trading platform is based. You may be overwhelmed by all the potential possibilities and don't know where to start. You'll be relieved to know Ebay selling requires very little up front investment on your part. You probably already have many of the items needed to get started.

To sell successfully on Ebay, you're going to need the following:

1. A computer and access to a reliable high speed internet connection

I recommend investing in a high speed cable connection. I use one in my own Ebay business and can tell you the times that my cable has gone down and I had to use a dial up connection, my Ebay business has essentially ground to a halt. Don't let this happen to you! Time is money in the auction selling business. Make sure your connection to your "office" is both fast and reliable. If you just want to sell a few items lying around your house, a dial up connection will be sufficient. If you hope to start a full Ebay business, plan on investing in a high speed connection.

2. Access to a digital camera or scanner

In most cases, you're going to way to have access to a digital camera. For years, I have sold books on Ebay auctions. The fact that books have a flat surface gives me the option of generating images using only a scanner. When I finally expanded into larger items, a digital camera became an absolute necessity. If you're selling anything other than a small, flat item like books which can fit easily onto a scanner bead, you're going to need a digital camera You should be able to get a decent one without spending a fortune. There's no need to purchase a state of the art, deluxe SLR model. A basic point and shoot camera with at least 3 mega pixels should be sufficient. By the way, Ebay's a great marketplace for buying that new digital camera and it would be good practice to carry out a transaction as a buyer!

3. Packing and shipping supplies.