Newsweek Asks...Can you really make a living on eBay?

Can 1.3 million people really make enough money to earn a living on the site?


Can more than 650,000 Americans really "make a living" on eBay?

According to a 2006 study conducted by ACNielsen (on behalf of eBay) concluded that "approximately 1.3 million sellers around the world use eBay as their primary or secondary source of income," with an esti­mated 630,239 in the United States.

EBay continues to attract people who would like to make a portion of their living selling. "We think there are about 600,000 sellers that use selling tools on eBay who are trying to make a buck," says J.P. O'Brien, chief executive of­ficer of Sagefire, a Boulder, Colo., com­pany that makes software programs that automatically download data on bought and sold items.

According to Neilsen, among Internet users, the highest percentage shopping online is found in South Korea, where 99 percent of those with Internet access have used it to shop, followed by the UK (97%), Germany (97%), Japan (97%) with the U.S. eighth, at 94 percent. Additionally, in South Korea, 79 percent of these Internet users have shopped in the past month, followed by the UK (76%) and Switzerland (67%) with the U.S. at 57 percent.

Globally, the most popular and purchased items over the Internet are Books (41% purchased in the past three months), Clothing/Accessories/Shoes (36%), Videos / DVDs / Games (24%), Airline Tickets (24%) and Electronic Equipment (23%). Of this, eBay scored the highest internet sales reaching some 124,132,042 people or 36.1% of total internet sales.

Who is making the majority of the money on eBay?
Ebay doesn't specifically say what percentage of theire sellers are 'earning a living on eBay'. However, the ones doing 'okay' are the Powersellers. To qualify and remain in the PowerSeller program, members must:


* Meet the following average minimum sales requirements:
o Three Month Requirement: a minimum of $1,000 in sales or 100 items per month, for three consecutive months
o Annual Requirement: a minimum of $12,000 or 1,200 items for the prior twelve months
* Achieve the following minimum average of items sold:
o Three Month Requirement: 2 items sold per month for the past 3 months (6 items)
o Annual Requirement: 2 items sold per month for the past 12 months (24 items)
* Achieve an overall Feedback rating of 100, of which 98% or more is positive
* Have been an active member for 90 days
* Have an account in good financial standing

Ebay has recently updated their rules making it harder to reach this level if seller feedback isn't the best. They have recently removed the ability for sellers to leave negative feedback as well. A move that has outraged many sellers and really makes little sense.