Money for Nothing eBay Auction Product Ideas

Money for Nothing eBay Auction Product Ideas Articles by Avril Harper™ Updated: Tuesday November 24, 2009

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Money for Nothing eBay Auction Product Ideas by Avril Harper

I've said it before, I'll say it again, nothing beats targeting the public domain for a vast storehouse of free to obtain, easy to process, fast selling eBay products. Look at these ideas spotted recently on eBay or still ripe for the picking.

1) PUBLIC DOMAIN RICHES

* Several of the world's most popular artists entered the public domain in the past few years, amongst them Cecil Aldin, master at illustrating dogs, wonderful at creating hunting and coaching scenes that regularly fetch double figure, sometimes three, sometimes four figure sums on eBay. Most people can't spare that kind of money to decorate their homes and offices but I bet most would buy a reprint copy of Cecil Aldin's great works. So look for Cecil Aldin books on eBay, buy a good original copy, scan the pictures onto your desktop and upload them to eBay. This way you can stock literally thousands of pictures and sell in quantity or individually at a few pounds apiece. Print them out to order on quality 90 gram paper; cover with paper back cellophane front bags, the kind florists use which you'll find at most bigger stationers listed in Yellow Pages.

* Study out-of-copyright photographs fetching high prices and multiple bids on eBay. Do this using the advanced search method mentioned in the article on becoming an eBay affiliate. Choose highest price products, buy the original if you can and relist copies making sure bidders know they are reprints. The truth is most people buy for picture value, not collecting or rarity value, and most would prefer $10 a copy than the $320.00 fetched for a real photograph of a mob lynching in America's deep south in the late 1900s (macabre but a really popular subject) or $280 for a late 1800s photograph of a gorilla. You best profits will come by offering reprints of items fetching high prices on eBay or something similar even if it means buying the original. It's money well spent.

2) AUCTION GIVEWAYS

There's a trick often found working at local auctions which can repay handsome dividends for you.

Where goods are exposed for all and sundry to view and the auction house is under-staffed or staff rushed off their feet, look for valuable items hidden in generally low value products by unscrupulous visitors.

I have to admit, if I find these things and spot a scam I always tell the auctioneer, who usually tells me to forget about it and bid anyway.

Last month I bought a grotty postcard album containing really rubbish postcards. At face value that is, because hidden behind some of those awfully common greetings were cards I knew would fetch double figure sums on eBay.

I told the auctioneer, he with the 'Don't bother me' attitude, then returned to bid next day.

A real photographic postcard of the Australian Cricket Team taken in 1902 went for £107 (I sold these items on eBay’s UK site), a view of Walney Lighthouse went for £77, a view of the Miniature Railway in Groundle, Isle of Man, fetched £72. Many others fetched £20 or more.

The album of rubbish stuff at auction? It went for £100. To me. These valuable cards were hidden behind dozens of other low cost specimens by rogue bidders who thought no one would spot their con and the album would go cheap, to them, only they'd never pay more than a few pounds to get their prize. Many even have the nerve to bid and I know who the perpetrators are as they're at every auction where this scam happens.

Other popular treasure hunting cons at auction include hiding paper items and jewelery under paper liners in drawers or behind dustwrappers on low value books. I've even seen an album of rare actor and actress autographs concealed beneath a paper liner in a jewelery box filled with tacky baubles and the jewelery box not much better.

So if something looks really naff, look more closely, your cloud could have a silver lining.

Avril Harper Products

The Ultimate Dropshipping Report NEW

A Complete Newbie's Guide to Making Money From the Public Domain NEW

Thousands of AdSense Dollars Year On Year From One-Day Blogs and Mini-Sites NEW

“Cut & Paste” Your Way to $1,000 a Week Online Promoting Best Selling ClickBank Affiliate Products Through Low-Cost eBay Classified Ads. NEW

A Complete Newbies' Guide to Making Money With ClickBank

Make Money Tearing Up Old Books and Magazines and Selling Them on eBay

Bank Big Profits Selling Vintage Topographical View Postcards on eBay

The Easiest, Most Profitable, Fastest Way Possible to Make Money Selling Information Products on eBay

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