Are you looking to start an online business? There’s never been a better time than now to invest in such a venture. Such platforms as Amazon, eBay and Facebook, have made it easy to create an online business – right from your home. It is a low-cost investment too: all you really need to get going is a computer, Internet access, and an email address.
What type of online business will you start? By reading the reviews of online stores, you can measure and investigate which products, services and types of online shopping real-world customers like to do. These reviews are shared by people with the aims of helping other shoppers to make better-informed decisions on the shops, businesses, products, and services on offer so that they know what to expect. Peer review platforms such as Reviews Bird offers insights and invaluable feedback for businesses.
Step 1: Pick a Product
The first thing you need for your business is a vision, a direction. Choosing a productto sell will help you stick to your vision and be the first phase of starting your eBay store. This fundamental step needs to be backed up with sound insight and research on the feasibility product, its stock availability from suppliers, and the customer demand for it. Work out details such as its cost of shipping and storage too: large items will require larger storage facilities and incur higher shipping fees, but they might earn you larger profits. Smaller-sizes items might not require any storage as the rate of sale is very high. All these types of factors need to be ticked off and assessed in order to know whether your product and eBay store will actually turn a profit. A good indicator of where to start for many people when deciding on an eBay store as a business venture, is to turn to your hobbies: you are probably very informative about it and informed about the entire industry, so why not look there first for ways to make some money?
Step 2: Start your eBay Store Account
To list items on eBay each month as a business – as opposed to one or two individual items per month – you will need to start an eBay store. There are benefits to this, even though you will need to pay eBay a small percentage of your earnings. By choosing one of eBay’s five store types (which are ranked according to how many listings you want to create per month, starting from 100 to 100,000) your store will be registered with eBay and they will provide you with business support to help you grow your venture.
Step 3: Register with the IRS
If your business turns a profit, the IRS will classify your activities on eBay as business and you must make payments to them. Formally registering your business is easy and hassle-free – and by turning to business lawyers and accounts for help, they will assure you that the process will be smoother. There are different business structures to choose from, such as sole proprietorships, LLCs and corporations, which all create different tax implications.
Step 4: Create your Seller Account and Listings
You will need to decide whether to list your store as a personal account or a business one, and with the monthly package chosen for your eBay Store Account, you can then create your first listings. It is that straightforward and simple. Be sure to fill out your listing with as much detail about your product as possible, offering shipping options, and pricing, and then you can display your products for sale for the world to see. Once the orders start rolling in, ship them immediately so that your customers will receive their packages sooner and leave better-rated service reviews for your new store and business.