For many people they see eBay as the opportunity for them to make money online and as well all know it can be done and in some cases with relative ease. However there's more to selling on eBay than just selling on eBay!

Now you may be feeling some what confused by that but, hang on in there.

Let's consider a simple scenario. You are an eBay seller with an eBay Store and you specialise in all things gardening, tools, ornaments, books etc. Business is ticking over your making sales which is great but where are your customers coming from?

Are your customers 'one time buyers' or repeat buyers?

If your customers are 'one time buyers' then you are going to have a hard time making your business sustainable. Imagine a shop where they only ever sell to a customer once - they might be doing a roaring trade but somewhere along the line they are going to run out of customers!

Your eBay customers need to be turned in to repeat buyers. You need them to trust you and come back to you when they need something else. So how are you going to achieve this?

First thing to do is make sure you are offering your customers great value and great service. That first purchase is they key to your future relationship with your buyer. If they go away feeling they have not had a fair deal or had bad service then the chances are they won't be back. On the other hand if they have a good experience the door is open for you to start building a relationship.

So how do you go about building a relationship? OK when you customer made their purchase you were given their email and shipping address so you have the information you need to enable you to communicate with them.

Now whatever you do don't go blasting them with sales pitches for everything you have unless you want to turn them off or even worse have them report you to eBay!

What you need to do is consider what each customer has purchased and how you might be able to help them in the future. For example if someone has purchased a bag of grass seed then there is a fair bet they are interested in their lawn. You could included in the package you send them a letter offering them a free ebook or report about how to achieve a top class lawn all they need to do is send you an email and you will reply with the link to the ebook/report.

Something else you should be doing is following up the sale by sending an email advising the buyer that every now and then you send your customers an email advising them of special offers or new products you have for sale on eBay and ask them to email you back if they don't wish to receive such information from you.

Your objective is to give your customers the chance to develop confidence in you so that they will come back and you can grow a loyal customer base. Now I'm sure there are many different approaches you could take and this article doesn't try to specify a right and wrong way rather it is ment as a thought provoker for you to help you consider ways in which you can grow a sustainable online business.

If you are interested in finding out more about making money online with eBay or indeed any of the online auction sites then why not pay a visit to -

http://www.need2knowabout.com/ebay.htm

You will find free articles and resources and more there to help you.

Good luck

Anne Milne www.need2knowabout.com