| Now that you sell on eBay, you can quit your job and | | | | your steady income and benefits. Want to know for |
| live the dream, right? Not so fast! Before you walk into | | | | sure? Take a week vacation from your job and put in |
| the boss's office and tell him to kiss where the sun | | | | a week full time selling on eBay. Don't do this during |
| don't shine, you need to ask yourself 5 questions. The | | | | any holiday. Sales always slow down on holiday |
| answers to these questions will help you determine if | | | | weekends because people are away from their |
| you are really ready to become a full time eBay seller. | | | | computers. |
| How much am I making per hour? | | | | Am I setup to work from home? |
| How many hours are you spending per week in your | | | | Do you have enough space to handle the higher |
| business. Be honest here, add it all up. Now add up | | | | volume of business. Is you home office completely set |
| your actual profits per week. Subtract all of your | | | | up and ready to go? Can you handle the distractions |
| expenses from your total selling price. Don't forget | | | | of family and normal everyday life? If your home is not |
| anything. Subtract all fees, shipping cost, inventory cost, | | | | a good place to work, consider renting an office. It is |
| etc. Divide your actual weekly profit by your actual | | | | pretty hard to run a full time business without a place |
| hours worked to get your hourly pay. If you are not | | | | for it. |
| making at least double your hourly pay from your job, | | | | Can I survive to hard times? |
| you are not ready to quit. Hang in there a little longer. | | | | What would happen if you had no sales for an entire |
| What am I giving up? | | | | month? Do you have any cash reserves to get |
| What benefits do you get from you job? Do you get | | | | through the times when sales slow down? Have you |
| paid vacations, medical insurance, sick pay, retirement, | | | | been in business for an entire year? If you have been |
| etc. Do you have advancement opportunities? Do you | | | | in business for less than a year, you really don't know |
| enjoy your work? Always look at the big picture. Don't | | | | what your peak and bottom sales periods will be. All |
| set yourself up to regret your decision. If you are not | | | | businesses experience sales slumps. Make sure you |
| ready to give these things up for good, then you are | | | | are prepared to get through them. |
| not ready to be in business full time. | | | | If you answered all of these questions honestly, you |
| Can I really sell enough to go full time? | | | | know if you are ready to quit your job or not. If you |
| Is there enough demand for your product to double or | | | | are not ready, just keep plugging away, you'll get there. |
| triple your sales? Can you really make more money | | | | The only sure way to fail is to quit. Stay tuned for |
| by putting in full time hours? If not, you may need to | | | | future articles in my "Sell On eBay" series. |
| expand to some other products before you give up | | | | |