With the new eBay policies being constantly reviewed, many readers are having doubts whether they should still go for eBay. Lots of existing sellers are feeling a little panic by now. Feedbacks scores changed and losing the Powersellers status is enough to make you feel dreaded about selling on eBay again.

Are there anymore opportunities? Having bought a couple and more books from Skip Mcgrath, the eBay guru, I decided to contact him personally for a brief interview to see what he thinks about this issue. Read on.

1.Do you think there are still opportunities for newbies and existing sellers to profit on eBay despite the recession and new policies updates?

Actually the new rules aren’t that bad. They are having the effect of getting rid of a lot of marginal sellers. It will take new or small sellers a little longer to reach Power Seller status, but once they get there it is worth it because the new rules really reward Power Sellers who give good service and keep their detailed seller ratings up. My Detailed Seller Rating is 4.9 out of 5, so we get the maximum 15% fee reductions and starting in a few weeks our listings will come up higher in search than others with poor ratings.

The main thing new sellers have to realize is that it is very difficult to sell hot consumer products, famous name brand products and consumer electronics. Those markets are highly competitive and controlled by really large sellers who will always undersell you because they import directly or buy in large quantities. The market for the little guy or gal is down in the weeds. Find a unique niche where there is little competition and where you can have some pricing power.

2.What do you think of the new eBay policies updates? Are they really killing the smaller sellers?

I think the really large sellers will have the most problems. In fact, when the new feedback rule went into effect this week, over 50% of the top 100 sellers on eBay lost their Power Seller status. When you sell hundreds or thousands of products every month you just don’t have the time to do the high-touch customer service that the new rules require. The key for small sellers is to sell items that have higher values, so you can make money with fewer actual transactions. If I am selling a dozen items a week for $200 each, that is $2400 in sales, but I only have to communicate with a dozen buyers and ship a dozen items. So I can give those 12 customers excellent service.

But if I am selling a $20 item, then I have to sell 120 items a week to make the same $2400. Now I don’t have the time to give 120 customers the same level of service that I can give to a dozen. So my feedback and Detailed Seller Ratings are going to suffer.

3.What is your greatest challenge selling on eBay or online?

It’s always finding merchandise to sell. I am constantly researching new niches and looking for unique products. We currently sell in about 4 different niches –both on eBay and the web. Niche marketing and wholesale sourcing is one of the strategies I spend a lot of time on in our eBay course, The Complete eBay Marketing System. The other challenge is just keeping up with all the changes on eBay. These days it is really important to check the eBay announcement boards at least twice a week or even better sign up to receive email announcements from eBay whenever they make a new announcement.

4.Any advice for beginners who wants to start an eBay business now?

First get some experience. Just start by selling stuff you have around the house. While you are doing that, start researching a niche to sell in. Forget trying to sell iPhones, Prada handbags and mainstream competitive consumer products. Here is an example of what I mean: I was teaching an eBay seminar in Las Vegas. One of our students was struggling. I asked what her niche was and she said it was plus sized women’s clothes. Well that is a niche but it’s still pretty big. I asked what she did for a living and she told me she was a nurse. So I said, why not specialize in plus-sized nurses uniforms –or even nurses uniforms, shoes, clothing and so on. She started doing that and now has a nice little business. She has competition, but her competition is also selling in other lines. Because she is specializing she is dominating the competition in her particular niche.

There are tons of free articles and information on his website at www.skipmcgrath.com and he published one of the largest and oldest FREE newsletter for eBay sellers. It comes out twice a month and contains news, tips, eBay selling strategies and new wholesale sources in every issue. You can read the current issue at http://www.skipmcgrath.com/newsletters/current.shtml. There is also a link where you can read the back issues.

His Book – The Complete eBay Marketing System was recently updated for 2008 where he shares his tips and techniques about selling on eBay plus how to cope with all the new changes.