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If you find that sourcing a regular suppy of new products to sell is one of the toughest parts of running a business on eBay, there is another option…

…Have the products come to you!

An eBay “drop-off store” does just that. A drop-off store provides a place where people with things to sell can drop them off and pay you a fee and/or percentage of the final selling price to do the selling for them.

Now, you may wonder why people don’t just list the items on eBay themselves, but the fact is not everyone has a computer with Internet access. Also, not everyone has the time or inclination to create eBay listings. So it’s worth their while to pay someone else to do it for them!

Drop-off stores are a growing market in the United States with more than 7,000 open for business, and more starting up all the time.

By starting your own drop-off store, you can…

* Generate another stream of income using your hard-earned eBay selling experience.

* Solve temporary product shortages by having the products come to you.

* Use your existing automated auction management processes to help manage other people’s auctions.

* Make great profits! Many drop-off stores charge a commission of at least 25% of the final selling price.

How you can start and run a drop-off store

There are a number of factors to think about when considering opening a drop-off store. Some of them are challenges:

* Red tape: Before you open a brick-and-mortar store, you must get a business license and make sure your place of business meets fire and safety standards and complies with other government regulations.

* Employees: A drop-off store needs to be staffed with reliable employees — which means payroll and staff management tasks and challenges.

* Overhead: You’ll have much higher overhead to factor into your profit margin calculations when running a brick-and-mortar store, as opposed to a purely online business. These include salaries, rent, utility bills, and equipment.

However, some drop-off stores make their owners very good money. It’s a strategy that more experienced eBay sellers might find worthwhile to explore.

Here’s a quick guide to how to go about starting your own drop-off store…

Step #1: Gain some experience by becoming a Trading Assistant. This way you can learn the ins and outs of selling other people’s products and still work out of your home or office. Your drop-off store will only be successful if you can show your potential customers that you have the experience to sell items on their behalf! Start your own online eBay store today!

Step #2: Find premises. You’ll need a location that’s easy to get to and has parking facilities. Premises that are large enough to store the items you’ll be selling plus house a front desk and reception area, as well as office facilities. It should also be very secure as you’re dealing with other people’s property.

Step #3: Hire staff. You’ll need reliable staff to manage the store with you and take over if you’re ever sick or on holiday.

Step #4: Decide what to charge. The usual fee structure includes a per-item listing fee, which could be $1 to $3 and a percentage of the final selling price on top of that(commonly 25% to 30% and sometimes as high as 40%). Payment of eBay fees is usually on top of these charges. How much you charge depends on whether you plan to sell big-ticket items or lower-end items. With big-ticket items you can charge a lower commission as the final selling price is high. With lower-ends items you need to charge more, or sell a LOT of them, to make real money.

Step #5. Advertise! Once you’re set up with a location and premises, you need to advertise your services. Here are a few ways to advertise your drop-off store:

* Buy classifed ads in local newspapers. Put an ad in the “Wanted” and “For Sale” sections of your local newspapers and buy-and-sell web sites such as CraigList.com.
* Set up a website likes these: I-SoldIt.com and CanadaYardSale.com.
* Put an ad in the Yellow Pages.
* Stick posters up around town advertising for items for sale.
* Put ads in your community newspapers or newsletters.

Step #6: Maintain an excellent feedback rating. People won’t entrust you with their goods to sell unless you have a feedback rating that proves you can do a good job for them. So you need to follow all the same strategies it takes to become a successful eBay seller, such as writing effective product descriptions, providing faultless customer service, packaging goods properly, and son on.

All of these steps are important, but Step #6 is especially crucial to running a successful long-term drop-off business. A good selling reputation will generate repeat business, personal referrals, and positive feedback; a bad one will make it very hard to stay in business.

Read this report to discover how you can open your FREE eBay account today, and be earning profits by tomorrow!

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