The rise of the eBay auction site has been incredible. Set up in the 1980s, today eBay has over 100 million users, both buying and selling, and the opportunities to make money keep on growing. To become a successful eBay entrepreneur however takes coordination, planning and a lot of storage space. Platinum sellers can make sales of up to £15,000 per month – that’s a lot of material to turn around and store in your living room!

Maintain stock control – as a first time eBay seller, don’t feel overwhelmed if your product range gets out of control. Anyone can end up simply surrounded by ‘stuff’. After de-cluttering your own home and selling unwanted goods online, friends and family may start to offload their items to you as well. Personal storage can help if you are suddenly faced with wardrobes full of clothing, piles of books and CDs, together with the odd lamp or two. Decide which items you want to sell, and stick to them.

Develop a niche – used designer items, especially shoes and bags, are guaranteed sales on eBay. Selling quirky items such as decorative teaspoons, Victorian walking sticks, or even giant French chandeliers, can set you up as a specialist seller with a niche market. Visit car boot sales and charity shops to help source your products. Once you have developed your online ‘shop’, you can store bulky items in a self-storage room at Big Yellow, leaving your house or business free from clutter. Self-storage rooms are accessible seven days a week, so there will be no delay in sending items out to winning bidders.

Use trade sellers to maximize profits –the best source for your merchandise after exhausting your own unwanted items and charity shops will come from the wholesale market place. Here you can buy in bulk at a lower cost, sell for a bigger profit margin, and thus really boost your income. When dealing with large quantities however, storage will become a priority. Avoid overcrowding your home and visit bigyellow.co.uk/business for ways to help with this.

Divide and sort stock – once you have a range of items to sell, you will need to organise your stock so it can be stored safely and found easily when needed. Using different coloured or odd sized boxes could help distinguish where different items are kept. Visit bigyellow.co.uk/boxshop to see our full range of storage boxes. When you need to clear out your inventory and re assess your possessions, put sale items into dust and water-proof boxes or temporary storage for a few months before starting again.

Use good quality recycled boxes to store clothing – children’s clothes and vintage items are some of the best sellers on eBay. However, clothing can become very dusty and tends to absorb smells easily. Big Yellow self-storage rooms are guaranteed to be free from cigarette smoke, damp, and pet smells.
Storing stock at Big Yellow gives you the flexibility to store as little or as much as you need from as little as £6 per week. With staff that are happy to accept deliveries for you and no complicated long term contracts, Big Yellow Self Storage may be the ideal place to store your eBay items.

For more information about how Big Yellow can help your eBay business visit www.bigyellow.co.uk/business for a personal quotation.