Are you looking for a hot, untapped eBay niche that will never run dry? Rather than search for the next new thing, try collectibles. Although the general niche category, "collectible items" is huge, the beauty of it is that it provides a nearly inexhaustible source of smaller sub-niches, and many of those smaller niches are also inexhaustible. Another reason collectibles are worth considering is because many of eBay's most devout users are collectors, and eBay itself is little more than a gigantic garage sale and is most successful as a venue for selling one-of-a-kind items. That's why you can put an ordinary object--though one-of-a-kind--and find collectors bidding furiously over it. Who would have thought that your 1959 gold lame Hawaiian shirt might be worth a fortune?
Just who are collectors? Collectors are people who will stop and nothing and pay high prices to obtain their object of obsession. This could be anything as bizarre as napkins used by celebrities, ticket stubs from rock concerts, certain kinds of glassware, and guitar picks to more conventional sorts of things such as antique clocks or vintage motor parts. What makes collectibles a potentially juicy market is that collectors are typically willing to pay a lot for an item. To anyone else, the object may seem absolutely ordinary. Thus, for example, what might look like an ordinary Christmas ornament could be worth a pocketful of cash.
Many people find collectibles at yard and garage sales. It does take effort to attend such sales and pay attention to the items being sold, but that shouldn't discourage you if you treat this as a business. Estate sales are excellent places to pick up unusual items as are auctions held for charities. These can be a gold mine of valuable goods. In this sort of auction, local artists and crafts people and tradesmen contribute things they have made. Such items are often of exceptional quality and typically sell very well on eBay. Police and government auctions can be another source relatively low-cost goods that will turn a profit on eBay.
You may not know this, but eBay itself can be a source of collectibles as well as other unique, one-off items. Here, you would be leveraging eBay to resell items at a profit. If you use this strategy, don't limit yourself to eBay but search other auction sites for collectibles. Although you may find items to sell by searching the categories set-up for collectors, pay special attention to the conventional categories because it is here you are most likely to find those ordinary items that hold special fascination for collators. For example, you might find someone auctioning off a load of old photographs taken out of attic storage. The person selling just wants to make a few bucks as a hobby seller, but those same photos could be of value to collectors who specialize in vintage photography.
One more tip that is related to the above category is that when you sell your own collectible items, try listing some of them in the non-collectible categories. Not only will real collectors find your item because that's what they do--specialize in finding the hard to find, but some non-collectors will go wild over unique, one-off items. You can even do what we call a "split-test." That is, you sell some items in collectors' categories and others in conventional categories and see which sells the best.
A final tip that I want to leave you with is to always do your research. Unless you are a hobby seller, you will need to treat your eBay auctions as business. One aspect of that is to do the research necessary to provide detailed, complete descriptions of the items you are selling. If your items are collectibles, attention to detail is even more important as collectors will recognize and respect your the accuracy of your details. It is important that you provide even the tiniest of details as those often inform the collector of the item's true value. Be sure to take the time necessary to write your own item descriptions. You can look at other auction for examples, but never plagiarize! Not only will eBay ban you, but expert buyers will recognize the fraud. If you are honest in your description and representation of your items, you have nothing to worry about--your items will sell.
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