You probably heard it - the fastest way to earn extra money online is to sell on Ebay. You can start right now, today, and in 3 days be paid online for items you sell. All you need is to register at the Ebay site, read their tutorial and get started selling items you have around the house.

Ebay is a 70 billion dollar a year industry giant, and they are dependent on entrepreneurs to make that business figure grow. Entrepreneurs mean people like me and you. In 2005, the number of people making money from working on Ebay increased by 68%. As Ebay researched, over 724,000 million people either make a full time or a supplemental income from working EBAY. And another 1.5 million say that Ebay gives them additional income throughout the year.

So there are many ways to get started on Ebay for an extra income. Lots of people make a few extra dollars while others are making a fortune. Ebay or any business you get into online or in a physical business location has the potential to make money. The great thing about online businesses is it usually costs a lot less to get started than opining a brick and mortar store. For instance, getting started selling on Ebay doesn't cost anything. You only pay fees when you run an Ebay auction ad. Lots of people succeed in business and a lot fail. Your success or failure will partially depend on how well you prepare, how much you study and how much energy you put into the project.

The main thing is to get a plan and work the plan. You should make it a weekly routine to research on Ebay which items are selling like crazy and think about the question whether you might sell them as well. Anyway gather up some income products from around your home, your relatives, garage sales, thrift stores, big lots or consignment shops. Invest a set amount, say $200. Make sure that you get items that are useful or entertaining and that provide a quick turn over. The way to do that is to think about your own buying habits. Would you purchase this item if you saw it advertised, does it appeal to a mass market, is it a niche product people might be willing to purchase? What you want are items that you can pick up for very little money and that you can put up on Ebay for a small price and, thereby, create an immediate cash flow. At first, you will want to return almost all your profits back into purchasing some more items to sell. You will do this until you have a comfortable amount of money invested in your business and then you will have set up your own profit stream.

To get your items ready to market what you need to do is to take a quality digital photo of the item from different angles. For smaller items, you should use a whiteboard backdrop to get the maximum amount of light with few reflections. For larger items, outside shots work well, just have the sun behind your back when taking the picture. You also need to write up a very good description of your item and do not try to hide any imperfections. Once more: it will be always helpful to research on Ebay, what others are doing and how they are doing. You don't have to reinvent the wheel, but don't just copy a good salesletter or listing, let it be an inspiration for you. Point out the usefulness and benefits of your item as well. A description that is fair and honest will result in much better comments received in Ebay feedback.