If you are looking to sell something online, there are many things to consider. If you just have a few things around the house that you want to get rid of you can use an auction site like eBay or some type of classified listing like Craigslist. But if you are looking to make an ongoing business out of online sales, here are several things to consider.

First, some pros and cons of selling products online through a 3rd party web site or an affiliate marketing program:

• You can create a storefront through businesses like eBay of Amazon.
• They provide easy-to-use templates for setting up storefronts and selling merchandise.
• These sites are searched by thousands of people everyday; your products are easier to find.
• You will likely have to pay fees or a percentage of your sale to the site.
• Affiliate Marketing lets you sell other people’s products from any site.
• You get to keep a portion of the sale, this can be a great way to make money online.
• You don’t have any overhead and can do marketing from a blog, email, or any related website.
• You don’t have to take orders, fill orders, or ship anything.

A second option is to set up your own ecommerce website. Some pros and cons of creating your own ecommerce site:

• You will need to find an ecommerce webhost to host your web site. Make sure you will have enough bandwidth and disk space to list all your products and accommodate the number of visitors you expect to your site each month.
• Shopping cart software is essential so your customers can pay for their merchandise. There are many optional features that come with different shopping cart software programs. Some ecommerce hosts even provide you with a free shopping cart as part of their services. Make sure it will work with your accounting and inventory functions.
• Another essential function of any ecommerce site is a Secure Socket Layer or SSL certificate. This provides security for your customers, assuring them that any personal information they enter on your site will be safe from hackers or any third party that may try to access their information.
• Catalog. If you are going to be selling several products, you will need to have a catalog system that allows you to add and remove items as your business grows and inventory amounts change.

Whichever option you choose for selling products online, these are some things to keep in mind and be aware of. Setting up your own ecommerce site is more expensive and much more labor intensive, but may be the best option if you are looking for a long-term business opportunity. If you just want to sell a few things now and then as you come across them, you may choose to sell them through a storefront. Whichever you choose be sure and do your homework. Research a host before you go to a lot of work and expense. Read user reviews and try to find someone that has used the service previously to find out what pros and cons they have encountered.