Although the most obvious reason to use eBay for any business is to save money, that’s not the only one.
For instance, one reason to buy is to see how it’s done. While selling gives you customer support training, buying shows you how professionals are already doing it. Buy from people with high feedback (and little or no negatives) to see how the best handle matters.
Of course, buying is also good for feedback. If you’re planning to sell there, you’ll want feedback behind your name to give others confidence (and increase sales). The easiest way is to just go out and buy items.
Contacts are another little-known feature – even buying from people, I’ve met some that I keep in contact with. I’ve actually worked with sellers I’ve met on eBay – one of the benefits of networking.
And as with selling, buying can get you into market research. Can’t find that item you want? There may be a need out there just waiting to be filled. And looking for items can get you face to face with other useful ones. While looking to digital eBooks for business, I came across auctions for website templates – some of which later went into my sites.
eBay is the ultimate bazaar. If you’re selling, you just open a display, and wait for walk-by (browser-by?) traffic. And for buying, ebay gives you a chance to save, and save big.
Whether you’re a business on a shoestring, or just want to improve your marketing skills, consider eBay as a viable option for business – you may get more out of it than you bargained for.
