A lot of people use eBay to get a bargain on the latest hottest consumer product be it a really hot toy, the coolest electronic gadget or a name brand pair of sneakers. They see thousands of these products sold every day and think to themselves, “I can do that.” Well, I am sure there are a few people out there who could –after all, many of them have. But selling the latest and greatest gadget is a highly competitive arena. Product categories like digital cameras, mp3 players, GPS devices, and hot consumer clothing brands is a highly competitive business crowded with big time sellers with very deep pockets. The large dealers on eBay are companies with warehouses, employees, and sophisticated inventory control and automatic auction launching software. Unless you have a lot of money to invest your chances of succeeding are pretty small. Sure there are dozens if not hundreds of xBoxes and the latest Sony digital camera sold on eBay every day, but do you really think you can compete with someone who has years of experience, contacts in the industry and a $500,000 line of credit? So how does the little guy or gal make some money on eBay? I have always found the secret is niche marketing. The dictionary definition of a niche is “a specialized but profitable corner of the market.” The key word in that definition is specialized. The secret to niche marketing is to find a product that has enough demand to support a business, but not so much that it attracts lots of competitors. It would be very difficult to find a niche on eBay where there was no competition at all, but as long as the field is not too crowded, there is usually room for another seller. There are hundreds, if not thousands of small interesting and profitable niches on eBay. It would take too much room to list them here, but they run the gamut from people who sell their own hand made arts and crafts, sellers who specialize in old fountain pens, vintage fishing lures, people who sell coupons, specialized tour and travel operators, and people who sell information such as how to build an espresso stand or start a knife sharpening business. Virtually any type of hobby, special interest or collectible area is ripe for developing a niche market. One fellow made thousands of dollars last year selling plans and kits for the annual cub scout pinewood derby can racers. Another seller collects and sells vintage Hollywood photographs. He sells thousands of dollars worth each month. The only limit to finding a niche is your imagination. If you can think it up, you can try it out. If there is a market for what you are selling people will find it. If not, you will know pretty soon, and you can just move on to something else. If you just don't know where to get started, I wrote a great little eBook called Ten Highly Profitable Little Known Niche Markets Anyone Can do. This lays out ten great little niche markets hiding on eBay. I not going to claim you can make a fortune with any of these, but they can help you learn how to make more money on eBay with niche marketing and give you some experience, while you research more niches than you can profit in. If you would like to find wholesale sources for thousands of niche products, I recommend OneSource. Forget those websites that claim to have suppliers for Rolex watches, Apple iPods and Gucci handbags --they are all either scams or places that make their money from the monthly membership fee. OneSource is a reliable trusted source of true wholesale sourcing information and the only one actually endorsed by eBay. Best of all they charge a one-time fee. There are no ongoing charges or membership fees. They are now running a $50 off special. f you use this link, you will automatically save an additional $20 on top of that. This is a limited time offer, so if you find this blog post several weeks from now and it is gone I am sorry. | 
