So you're on your way to becoming an eBay PowerSeller, and you're ready to quit your 9-5 job. Hold on! Before you tell your boss where to shove it, get a reality check.

Here are the ten truths about your eBay business you may not want to know about:

1. Most buyers come to eBay already knowing what they need or want -- they head straight for the search bar. This makes the keywords in your title incredibly important, because it's the keywords in the title that generates results for the search bar. But even if you have the best possible title, the truth is you might have junk no one wants. Your job is to supply the needs and wants of eBayers; and not your own needs and wants to unload stuff. Find what people want using eBays WANT IT NOW section. And be sure to use eBay's advanced search of COMPLETED ITEMS to evaluate the potential of your products in comparison to a previous seller's success on similar items.

2. Your home will become a warehouse of inventory (and someday you will move your operations or inventory elsewhere if you are destined to be a top tier PowerSeller). Sure there are drop-ship opportunities, but the real deal is to cut the middle-man profits and get direct wholesale sources that you can resell for 25-100% profits or to create products of your own that fill a demand. So start thinking in terms of getting a seller's permit so you can buy wholesale, and then plan your future storage needs now, before it's too late.

 3. eBay and PayPal will rape you of profits, but they are the necessary evils to generate traffic for your stores and to get paid efficiently. Knowing that 95% of eBayers use PayPal should be incentive enough to continue using it. Likewise, you simply can't turn away knowing that eBay ranks in the top 25 most frequently visited Web sites according to Alexa rankings with it's 40-60 billion page listings. Even so, these internet giants aren't invincible, so keep your eyes peeled for alternatives: http://www.mermaidmonkey.com/eBayalternatives.html

4. Funding your eBay store will be a problem if you don't have a plan to replenish inventory. Simply, you must reinvest profits in more inventory (and not live off the profits) to keep your business thriving. It sounds simple enough, but often eBayers depend on the profits to feed their families. Your strategy must include a plan to effectively maintain and grow your inventory.

5. You must take massive action to make your eBay business successful. It's a simple thought, borrowed from Tony Robbins, that you must take massive action to succeed. The good news is that success leaves clues. Follow the clues you get from studying PowerSellers (modeling them), then take action to repeat processes to reap the rewards. You simply can't fail. Believe that you can get the same results and you will succeed.

6. You will need to leverage help of family, friends or employees. The day will come when you spend all your time answering e-mails, ordering new inventory, printing labels, packing, leaving feedback, and dealing with challenging situations that you won't have time for yourself or to grow your business further. The best place to start is to hire family and friends for more trusted tasks. You can also use a temporary placing service to help. Hiring from a temporary agency means you won't have any long term commitments or employment tax issues to deal with. The bottomline is that you won't be truly free until you are not doing the work yourself. Hire yourself to freedom.

7. Someday your employees will steal. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 20% of all business fail because of internal theft and fraud. Awareness of these statistics should be enough incentive to manage inventories and put mechanisms in place to keep theft at bay.

8. Someday you will get negative or neutral feedback. You will run into an unforgiving soul on eBay at one point or another. It doesn't matter if you goof of if they just think you goofed, someday you will get a bad apple that won't budge. Don't let emotions get the best of you because it's the emotions that can wipe your chances of getting a negative or neutral feedback erased. The harsh reality is that starting May 19, 2008 sellers will no longer be able to leave buyers negative or neutral feedback. To protect yourself, you can include seller's terms. For more on surviving eBay's feedback changes, visit http://www.mermaidmonkey.com/eBayFEEDBACK.html

9. Figuring your taxes will be a year-end nightmare unless you plan for it. Keep all receipts organized and be sure to use Excel or QuickBooks to electronically capture the data for easy retrieval at tax time. Lastly, try Diane Kennedey's Tax Loopholes, which is your ultimate source for paying less taxes, legally. http://www.taxloopholes.com/

10. You will need to earn passive or residual income beyond eBay to free yourself financially. Of course you already know the power of earning passive income right here on Lazzeo -- the best social networking site for entrepreneurs. Earning affiliate commissions is one way to earn residual income. Another example is to earn royalties from published work, such as a hardcopy book, or automated sales of digital products, like eBooks. While eBay instituted a digital download policy March 31, 2008 to disallow sales of eBooks, templates, backlinks, and other digital products, you can still place a classified advertisement on eBay. Or you can abandon eBay altogether and sell your digital wares on Amazon or other eBay alternative.

To learn more ways on how to make money on eBay and beyond, visit http://www.mermaidmonkey.com/