Product Description

Proven strategies and the latest selling tips from eBay's most elite merchants

With an estimated 200,000 people making a full-time living selling goods on eBay, and millions more earning a part-time income, it's clear that eBay can create some impressive profits for those who know what they're doing. The eBay Millionaire profiles 25 of eBay's elite Titanium Power Sellers-those who move more than $150,000 in goods every month-and reveals the secrets to their success. Author Amy Joyner reveals the fifty top lessons for profitably selling almost anything on eBay, from how to select the best mix of merchandise, ship goods, and keep customers happy to working with wholesalers, making the leap from part-time to full-time selling, and looking like a million-dollar business even if you're working from your kitchen table.

Amy Joyner (Greensboro, NC) is an award-winning reporter for the News & Record in Greensboro, North Carolina, who has been covering e-commerce and entrepreneurship for many years. She is the coauthor of Making Dough (0-471-43209-1) and has won awards for her writing from the Associated Press, North Carolina Press Association, and other organizations, as well as three Knight Center Fellowships for business, aviation security, and military reporting.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #463433 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Review
“…Her top lessons, from selecting merchandise to shipping, proves you really can lap up the profits from your living room.” (Voyager, July/Aug 2005)

Download Description
Proven strategies and the latest selling tips from eBay's most elite merchants With an estimated 200,000 people making a full-time living selling goods on eBay, and millions more earning a part-time income, it's clear that eBay can create some impressive profits for those who know what they're doing. The eBay Millionaire profiles 25 of eBay's elite Titanium Power Sellers-those who move more than $150,000 in goods every month-and reveals the secrets to their success. Author Amy Joyner reveals the fifty top lessons for profitably selling almost anything on eBay, from how to select the best mix of merchandise, ship goods, and keep customers happy to working with wholesalers, making the leap from part-time to full-time selling, and looking like a million-dollar business even if you're working from your kitchen table. Amy Joyner (Greensboro, NC) is an award-winning reporter for the News & Record in Greensboro, North Carolina, who has been covering e-commerce and entrepreneurship for many years. She is the coauthor of Making Dough (0-471-43209-1) and has won awards for her writing from the Associated Press, North Carolina Press Association, and other organizations, as well as three Knight Center Fellowships for business, aviation security, and military reporting.

From the Inside Flap
Since its founding almost a decade ago, eBay has changed the way the world shops. This leading online auction site now has more than 114 million active users who buy and sell just about everything imaginable—from antiques and collectibles to cars, cameras, and crafts. While some log on hoping to sell single items they simply want to get rid of, others have built multimillion-dollar businesses by auctioning off items to buyers around the globe. The most successful of these have been crowned as Titanium PowerSellers by eBay—an indication that they are the most elite merchants on the site.

So, how did these Titanium PowerSellers get started, and what does it really take to build a thriving online auction empire that generates millions of dollars in sales? The answers to these questions and more are found in The eBay Millionaire.

Within every information-packed page, author Amy Joyner goes one-on-one with eighteen Titanium PowerSellers to reveal the proven and tested strategies that will enable you to build your own profitable eBay business. While the book begins with some general guidance on getting your eBay venture up and running, it quickly moves on to profile eBay's top merchants—those collectively moving millions of dollars in goods every year. This diverse group, which sells everything from restaurant refrigerators to designer shoes, shares their exclusive and invaluable experiences, including:

• How to quickly get your business up and running—even from your kitchen table
• The best ways to locate and decide what merchandise to sell
• How to handle growth and go from zero to millions in sales
• The most efficient ways to ship goods
• How to keep customers happy and create repeat business automatically
• Little-known pricing secrets to ensure that your items sell for top dollar every time
• And much more

The eBay Millionaire is unlike any other book of its kind on the market today. Each inspirational and informative profile also contains many "PowerPointer" tips that highlight important lessons from the featured seller, along with a frank "Titanium Talk" question-and-answer section that delves into an especially interesting aspect of each merchant's business. In addition to learning the exclusive tricks of the trade—as practiced by some of eBay's most experienced sellers—the final section of The eBay Millionaire outlines the fifty most valuable secrets of successful eBay selling.

With millions already making either a full- or part-time living selling goods on eBay, it's clear that the online site can create some impressive profits for those who know what they're doing. Filled with in-depth insights and real-world advice, The eBay Millionaire will show you how to get your piece of this huge pie.

Whether you're just starting out, or looking to take your existing online business to the next level, The eBay Millionaire will put you on the road to becoming eBay's next successful Titanium PowerSeller today!

Customer Reviews

Much better than I expected
I picked this book out of a stack of "how to get RICHRICHRICH on eBay!!!" titles -- you know, the usual dreck -- because I thought it might be amusing to read over lunch.

Well, imagine my surprise. Eighteen in-depth interviews with some of the all-time bigest eBay sellers (circa 2004, anyway), conducted in a professional manner, by an author who actually knows something about... selling on eBay.

And Joyner's understanding of the subject does show through. She digs & pokes & comes up with scads of nuggets of very useful information & advice for anyone who's serious about eBay selling, online auctions in general, & for that matter online selling overall.

I cannot agree with some other Amazon reviews. For instance, nobody in their right mind is going to freely give away the contact information for a reliable drop-shipper!! To do so would simply mean giving up market share to a horde of beginners who'd cut into the business & likely muck up the perceived reliability of that niche. And (to address another) anyone who expects one book to hand them a turnkey road to wealth really needs to look into buying a franchise or some other Real World turnkey system to understand how much such a thing would cost.

It's not for the raw beginner, really, or for someone who just wants to put up a handful of items to clear the attic. But, if you're serious about starting (or expanding) your eBay presence, I'd have to put this on the Top Ten of titles I'd recommend.

It's not perfect. There are plenty of editing niggles scattered throughout that might require you to reread a sentence. And I found at least two bits of advice that might get a newbie in trouble: Joyner suggests putting outside links into listings (last I noted, this was firmly discouraged by eBay) & putting keywords into your titles of similar brand names to draw in buyers (again, discouraged not only by eBay, but I think ICANN gets cranky about this practice on your own websites).

Finally, while it's a GREAT one-time read, I'm not certain that you'll need to go through it more than once or twice, so unless you plan to resell it or otherwise pass it along, the $22.95 retail might be too steep for practicality. (If it ever comes out in paperback, I could change my mind.) If you're expecting $23 worth of advice, you'll probably be disappointed.

But if you tread carefully, the good advice to be had far outweighs the bumps.

Profiles of ebay success -- The business plans others have used to make money.
This is a concisely written book of case studies of bigtime sellers on ebay and how they do it.
Any secrets you can steal? Not really, but lots of insight into how others did it.
This is not a how-to-sell step-by-step manual of the basics of selling on ebay.
Instead it is a compilation of stories of and interviews with the people who have started successful and profitable, they say, businesses on the auction site. It includes nice boxes of helpful pointers on most every page.
I found this book entertaining and helpful.
Am a now rich because I read it? No, but maybe someday.

A realistic look at eBay success
Readers should apply critical thinking to book titles and contents. Lots of books that aim to be informative or instructional are going to have "secrets" in the title. This is how a publisher entices consumers. They are trying to sell books. It doesn't mean you are actually getting the benefit of "secrets." If thousands or even millions of copies are printed, how "secret" is the information?

The book is a collection of 18 profiles of Titanium Power Sellers. The profiles are followed by Q and A "Titanium Talk." There are "power pointers" scattered through the text. Power Pointers emphasize key concepts, such as "Before setting your starting bids, consult eBay's listing fees. Sometimes you can save a significant amount by starting an auction for just a penny less."

The book is packed with useful information. For example, one of the "Titanium Talk" segments recounts how a rogue buyer tried to bring down a seller's business. The book ends with 50 Strategies that distill the widsom found in the text.

The book delivers an essential message: You have to be a savvy business person. You need to have your act together. All of the PowerSellers profiled were already established in the business world before getting involved with eBay. They have MBAs and other impressive credentials. There are no stories about people who started by picking up bargains at garage sales. It is a realistic look at what it takes to make a good living on eBay.

If, like me, you are a person who has never been in business, if you have no idea what you might sell, and you have no product sources, what chance do you really think you have? This book will give you a lot to consider.