Ramping Up Your eBay Business

Organization is the key word for any retail business. Yes, your part- or full-time eBay business is an online retail business. Getting organized doesn't have to be a giant pain, but it will take some planning. You can compete successfully with the big guys — if you approach the enterprise professionally.

Setting up your eBay office

It's time to move the stuff out of the corner of your closet (or is it all over the dining room table?) and put it up on shelves. For starters, use any old shelves, but get the merchandise off the furniture and get organized! Here are a few organizational tips:

• Bag and categorize all your items. Use plastic sandwich baggies and boxes — the white boxes they sell at office supply stores to store old file folders. These boxes have lots of white space, so you have plenty of room for labeling the contents of each box. And the cutout holes in the boxes act as handles for easy toting.

If you want to get fancy (and plan for the future), use the translucent plastic bins that are widely available. They have secure-closing tops and easy-to-lift handles.

• Set aside a separate work area. You'll need this for packing and wrapping your items. It will also help when you need to assemble your items to ship.

• Designate a place for storing your packing materials. Don't hesitate to be creative. For example, a spare bathroom may yield valuable space in the tub area for shelving, different sizes of boxes, and mailing envelopes.

Automating your shipping

When you start your eBay business, it's time to sign up with a shipping service. UPS, FedEx, and the United States Postal Service (through Endicia.com or Stamps.com) all provide software that will shave considerable time off your paperwork.

Spring for a thermal label printer. It will cut an eternity off the packing time of each item. Think about what kind of gizmos the big guys have. With the advent of the Internet, handy gadgets like label printers are available to the little guys, too.

Getting legal

With success comes responsibility — responsibility to your local community (translation: You need a business license) and your country (your partner, Uncle Sam). Depending on where you live, you may have to get a business license — even if you work out of your house. Often the license fees are less for home-based businesses.

When you apply for your business license, be sure to tell the nice folks at the county office that giant trucks won't be making deliveries several times a day to your home. Also, note that you won't be transacting business at your home. Your business transactions will take place online and through the mail. This really makes a big difference to the county and to your neighbors. If you get to the point where the trucks are coming several times a day, it just might be time to move to a commercial location.

If you want to buy your merchandise wholesale — that's part of the idea: Buy low, sell high — you need to find out if your state requires a resale or vendor's license. Most do. Genuine wholesalers will require you to produce this license as proof of your business status. If they don't ask for it, they're probably not legitimate wholesalers. This license also allows you to purchase items for sale without paying sales tax. When you resell the items, you will charge sales tax (assuming you live in a state with sales tax). You have to report and pay the tax you've collected to the state within predefined time periods.

Keeping records like a pro

If you're in a business, whether full time or part time, you have to keep some serious records. Get a good accounting program to keep your records. This isn't playtime; it's time to put out a professional image. If you want to do things right, talk to the person who prepares your taxes or go to an enrolled agent to help you set up the books.

Considering a wireless home network

A home network really helps you keep your sanity because you don't have to be tethered to your desk everyday. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to do some of your eBay business while sitting on the porch or in a hammock in the garden? Believe it or not, it can be done — without going to great expense.