To have a consistent income, you need to sell at least two or three different types of product at the same time. Why? Because many types of product are cyclical in nature. Among the most obvious of these are summer beach gear, winter wear and Christmas toys, which follow the seasons. But sales of other types of products can rise and fall randomly, e.g. entertainment related goods like music CDs and DVD movies. Yet others are fairly consistent, like cat litter and dog food. Since many wholesalers for eBay sellers only stock one type of product, (e.g. a music CDs dropshipper only stocks music CDs, a pet accessories dropshipper only stocks pet accessories) this means you need to work with at least two or three wholesalers for eBay sellers at the same time.

But if you want to get a stable income from China sourcing for eBay, you need to sell several different types of goods at the same time. After all, you never really know whether a particular item will sell. Just because eBay Pulse says Nintendo Wii was a hot seller for the last 3 months, does not guarantee that YOU can sell any game consoles this week.

4) Good keyword optimization – Think about the main keywords and long-tail keywords that potential buyers will type in to find your product. Make sure that you maximize your titles and descriptions with your keywords. You don’t need flashy graphics but you do need to review your auction listing to make sure that all of your keywords are sprinkled throughout your listing. By doing this, you might even attract buyers searching using platforms outside of eBay, like Google.

The directory owners will also categorize the vendors listed. Better directories will categorize on more than one level – by the type of product sold, type of compensation plan, minimum orders, wholesaler or dropshipper, etc.

Finding reliable dropshippers who are real wholesalers is a very difficult task. Although it is common practice in the US, it is yet to become a rage in the UK. You could also try visiting liquidation auctions which can be a useful way of making contacts. Once that is done, you send the winner’s name and contact details and the payment to a drop ship company, say Salehoo. The payment is the cost price plus the agreed shipping cost. Buying some stock from a company listed in a place like the Salehoo Directory and whose products you want to stock will help you gain a reliable contact with the company.

SaleHoo Market Research Lab takes you to the next level in product sourcing. Not only will you have the best suppliers available but you will have the tools to find what the best products are to sell! What use is it have the best suppliers if everyone else is selling them right? With SaleHoo’s Market Research Lab you can find out within 1 minute if the product you are about to buy is going to be a success. YES – Before you even purchase it!!

Drop ship wholesalers who do ship single items often mark up their prices and you end up paying at least 10%-15% above the true wholesale cost. This isn’t a small price to pay when your objective is competitive pricing. Even a small mark up can kill your profit margin.

You should test your distributor, to make sure they are truly dependable. You can trick them by having an order sent to a friend or relative so that you can see how long they take and if they do it without breaking the merchandise. You will also learn if they are reliable or not and if they will indeed drop ship your eBay products within the specified time and with the right labels.