There are so many suggestions and possibilities, that I couldn't include them all in one column. However, I'll continue to provide more in future columns, and will offer a few ideas here to get you started.

Every item that you can purchase in a retail store is being sold at online auctions. These aren't just used items, but new, in the box, retail items. Trading cards, books, music CDs, toys, crafts, collectible gift items, videos, electronics, clothing, auto parts… you name it, it is available on eBay. What amazes me is that many are selling for more than the retail prices found in stores. Perhaps these items are hard to find in stores, or perhaps people just prefer to avoid the crowds and shop from home. Who cares why… they're selling! (Now I say that kind of flippantly. As a seller, you should care why they're selling. If you know why, you can take advantage of that and sell the right things for more money. For example, if this year's "hot toy" is selling like crazy on eBay because it is always sold out in stores… and if you have access to a wholesale supply of this item… well, of course you need to get out there and order some! If an item retails in stores for $49, but is selling consistently on eBay for $75, well then… why just sell it in your store when you can sell it on eBay for 50% more? A few years ago when Pokemon cards were the craze, there was a certain kind of "theme deck" that was very hard to find. These usually cost $10 in the store, but were selling on eBay for $25 or more. I happened to be in a store when they got a new shipment in. I bought 10 decks (because that's all they'd let me buy) and I nearly tripled my money in less than a week. I bought them retail and nearly tripled my money… imagine the return that the storeowners could have made! I did the same thing with the "Pokedex" that year, and made $30 profit on each one that I purchased retail and resold on eBay.

You may ask yourself why somebody would pay $25, plus shipping, for an item that retails in stores for $10. All I can say is, think of the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, "Jingle All The Way" where the star will go to any extreme to get the perfect Christmas toy for his son. No parent wants to see Junior cry because he didn't get his "most favorite present" from Santa. Rather than fight the crowds, or the continual frustration of finding the item is "sold out" once again, many people will pay a higher price to finally get the item.

I know a salon owner with a beauty supply outlet in her salon. Although she sells many bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and styling products to her walk-in customers, she does a much larger volume on eBay. The sales she makes on eBay have increased her volume to a level that enables her to purchase her inventory at an even greater discount. She passes that discount on to her customers, which further increases her sales and gives her the edge on her competition. She completes these sales while offering superb customer service, and has a great process for following up with her customers. She does a considerable amount of repeat business each time those customers need to replenish their beauty supplies.

Do you have an employee that you're paying to "man the store?" Put them to work listing your store inventory for auction. They can do this when business in the store is slow. You'll move your inventory faster, and maybe sell items for more than your in-store retail price.

My brother-in-law owns a golf course, which includes a pro shop. Customers often trade in their old golf clubs towards the purchase of a new club. He used to offer these used clubs for sale in his pro shop, but found that he could get an even better price by listing the clubs for sale on eBay. Instead of being limited to the local customers who come into his shop, eBay provided dozens of bidders who bid against each other and drove the price of the clubs way up.

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Coming soon… In my next column I'll describe how you can use online auctions to: 

• drive potential customers to your web site, 
• generate qualified leads that you subsequently use to direct market your products and/or services, 
• analyze the competition, and 
• gather price, demand and other marketing data

The key to success with any of these suggestions is knowing what will sell in an auction, how much competition is out there, and what price people are willing to pay for the item. You then need to use this information to determine whether online auctions make sense for you and your specific products. The good news is that all of this data is readily available on eBay, and many other auction sites. I'll talk more about how to get that information and how to use it… to best help your business succeed with online auctions.