What Not to Sell on eBay 

1. Items selling for under $10

It may sound like a great idea - after all, everyone loves a bargain don't they? But items that sell for under $10 have a big problem: Shipping. It's quite likely that the shipping for the item will cost more than the item itself and this can be very problematic to buyers.

For example, if the item costs $4.75 and shipping costs $6, the total cost for the item is $10.75. If the buyer can purchase the item at their local store for $8, then this suddenly becomes a much better deal. For smaller items and accessories, a great way to get around this problem is by grouping the items together, such as sets of 12 golf-balls or 6 tea towels.

2. Products everyone else are pushing

Many sellers think that the best way to get started on eBay is to sell items that everyone else is selling. Surely those super hot items such as MP3, cell phones, DS and so on will be a quick route to online success? Well, no. The sellers who are already selling these items are not only more established on eBay - and thus familiar to and trusted by buyers - but they will be able to buy wholesale stock in larger lots than you will, so their prices will always be better. Thus it will almost certainly be very difficult to impossible for you to make a decent profit in a market that is already well covered.

3. Things you love...but no-one else does

Hobbies can be a great way of making money, but only if plenty of other people are interested in them too.

Another scenario is when you find a product that you think is absolutely wonderful and could be the next best thing...but no-one seems interested in buying it. Oh well you think, it's only short term, eventually they'll learn about my item and start flocking to buy it. Ah, no they won't. It's expensive and hard work trying to educate people on the benefits of a product, all on your own. As wonderful as the product might be, it's near impossible to start a trend on your own. To make money from a trend, you need E-zines, magazines and newspapers, word of mouth and television to do most of the work for you.

4. Difficult items to ship - e.g. fragile crystal glasses and plants

Now I'm not saying that these are bad items to sell, but they sure are a nightmare to try and ship safetly. Many sellers do very well from these items. But we don't suggest you sell such difficult items to ship when you are first starting out. Both these items have an above-average shipping risk, particularly if not packed properly. As a new seller, any negative feedback you receive at this early stage could be especially damaging to your career and quite possibly end it before you ever get started.

5. Very large items

Thinking of starting with furniture or pianos? Unless you already have experience selling and shipping these items, then it might be wise to start with something a bit smaller. Shipping such large items is a major challenge and requires an experienced operation to handle correctly. Not only that, these items will sell less often than mid-priced items as they won't attract the same number of impulse buyers.