You can still make tons of money selling accessories on eBay if you focus on less commonly targeted items instead just iPhones and iPads. There are plenty of mad people — including me — who will purchase every available accessory for their prized gadgets, and the market for some accessories is far from saturated.
I’m continuing my series on eBay business models today with a look at less-than-obvious niches in the accessories category. I want to encourage you to think outside the box and look for undiscovered product categories that others aren’t bothering to explore.
Beyond The Obvious
There are already plenty of people selling iPhone cases, chargers and USB cables on eBay, don’t you think?
For most entrepreneurs, the biggest problem is learning to think outside the box so they can look for undiscovered niches. Many people try to sell mainstream items and then wonder why they can’t make any money on eBay. Competition is too high and the established players have already gobbled up a big share of the market for those super-hot and ultra-popular items. It’s almost impossible for a newbie to make any profit in those categories.
Take, for example, jewellery. Did you know that the jewellery niche on eBay has just a 10 percent sell-through rate? That means only one of 10 listings is successful. If you have watched my Easy Auction Business video course, you know that I recommend working with items that have at least a 50 percent sell-through rate.
On eBay, the jewellery category as well as listings for iPhone cases, USB cables and all the other small bits and pieces related to iPhones are already oversaturated. Competition is extreme, plus loads of sellers sell below cost to get new customers, build their feedback scores and clear out old stock. Why on earth you would want to work in a niche like this?
I’m sure there are some profitable iPhone accessories out there that people are making a killing selling, but chances are good that you haven’t found one if you’re reading this post rather than fulfilling orders.
Accessories can still be very profitable, however, if you think outside the box and look for more profitable niches than iPhone or iPad users.
For example, I recently bought a keyboard case for my brand new Yamaha PSR 910:
Yamaha PSR 910 flight case – £170
The case is made in the UK and cost me £170. The keyboard itself was priced at £1600, but I also spent about the same amount on all kinds of accessories like a stand, a case, mics, speakers, a mic case, a case for the cables and several other things. Don’t you wish you had a customer like me? Don’t you wish you were serving a niche like that one? Read More…
