Where do I get profitable products? That's the big question when selling on eBay, and it might seem like the hardest question to answer. Maybe you've been frustrated when you have found products from a 'drop shipper' and found that the items sell on eBay for less than the 'wholesale price' that you could buy them for.

Now it's obvious that it's not the best business model to sell stuff for less than you pay for it. The only exception is that you have a strategy to have a 'loss leader' or overall strategy to make up for the losses in the front end. That's an advanced strategy, so don't worry about it if you're just getting started selling on eBay. As a beginner, you should always sell items for more than what you buy them.

Also, I don't want you to get stuck in the 'dropshipping' trap. I've wasted hours and hours literally going through every single product in a dropshipping company's catalog only to find out that none of them are profitable to sell on eBay.

The real way to make money on eBay is to analyze what the big sellers are doing. How are they profitably moving inventory? You'll soon discover that selling eBay is very different than selling on most sites. Yes, people are looking for a great deal, but there's more you need to consider.

If you hopped on to eBay right now looking for a specific item, you would obviously research and try and find out where to get the best price. However, it gets to a point where you don't want to necessarily pay the lowest price because as the saying goes 'you get what you pay for'.

I know a lot of people who think that if they were just the cheapest price they would be selling more items on eBay, and many unsuccessful people in business think that as well, and that's why they aren't in business for long. You're in business to give a customer an excellent buying experience and a great product, but you're also in business to make a profit.

So how do you enter a cut-throat competitive marketplace? How do you earn business when it seems like everyone just wants the lowest price?

There are a few different ways. One of them is to make sure that your listing stands out from the crowd on more things than just price. Draw your customer's eyes away from the price tag by taking amazing pictures. Make sure that you have the most relevant keywords in your listing title to maximize your listing traffic. However you can, get people to click on your listing. Once you do that, you'll have a better chance of selling to that customer.

Once they land on your listing, yes your feedback has much to do with trust, but also the professionalism of your listing. You need to position yourself in a way that shows you are a trustworthy quality seller who is dedicated to providing the best customer experience.

How do you do this? Have a nice looking listing template, professional and clear policies, original pictures of your item, and a clear description that isn't just jargon ripped off of the manufacturers website.

Think of the times you've gone looking for an item and wondering if the seller was legitimate and if you could trust them with your money. You don't want other buyers doing the same thing once they land on your listing or eBay store. Some people are just skeptics and you can't change their mind, but many people are savvy buyers who want to do business with someone they can trust.

What people see is what they are going to get. If you can set yourself apart from the other "small time" sellers and model the successful ones, you'll have a competitive edge to getting started selling on eBay.