46 Occupational Outlook Quarterly • Spring 2013

Elka Torpey

Elka Torpey is an 

economist in the 

Office of Occupational Statistics 

and Employment 

Projections, 

BLS. She can be 

reached at torpey.

elka@bls.gov.

You’re a what ?

What would you do if you knew 

you couldn’t fail? When a friend 

asked Ann Drew Yu that question, it prompted her to open her imagination. 

Eventually, she decided to take a risk and start 

her own business: developing an inspirational 

product that she now sells online.

An English teacher turned stay-at-home 

mom, Ann designed a product—a box with 

cards and other tools—to help girls and 

women direct their lives in a positive way. Her 

original idea was so popular, Ann created a 

different version for classrooms.

Ann likes that online sales have allowed 

her to connect with people as far away as 

Australia. “Having an online business gives 

me the reach of the world,” she says. “It gives 

me a platform to share what I think is a really 

useful and meaningful product.”

As online shopping has grown, so too 

has the number of people who make money 

selling products online. Online sellers can sell 

just about anything. Some, like Ann, design 

or create the products themselves. Others sell 

new merchandise, antiques, or used items, like 

books or toys.

Starting an online business can be as 

simple as having something to sell and access 

to the Internet. But there are a lot of factors to 

consider if you’re going to have a business that 

thrives.

One is to have confidence in your idea, 

especially early on. “You really have to 

believe in what you’re doing, because it’s a 

twisty and bumpy road at times,” says Ann. 

“If I didn’t really believe in what I’m doing, 

I’m sure I would have walked away by now.”

Another factor for business success is 

helping your product to stand out among the 

millions of other products online. Search 

engine optimization is one way that online 

sellers like Ann ensure that their website link 

appears at or near the top of the results when 

people search for a product. “You can have the 

most useful or beautiful product ever,” Ann 

says, “but connecting it to the right people 

defines whether you have a business.”

One of the easiest ways to start selling 

online is to set up an account with an established shopping website, which brings in 

customers and provides guidance on how to 

sell online, usually at some cost to the seller. 

A leading site recommends that you start out 

selling an item you already have, to get a feel 

for how the process works.

In addition to deciding what to sell, you 

should also consider how much to charge, who 

will buy it, and how to sell to those buyers: 

through your own website or an online shopping site. Other decisions, such as shipping 

options and whether to accept returns, are 

important, too.

And creating your own product also 

requires being able to make what you are 

going to sell. Before Ann could make her box 

a reality, for example, she needed to find a 

manufacturer that could produce it for her. A 

friend who worked in merchandising helped 

Ann find a company that would make the 

boxes.

Online seller
Spring 2013 • Occupational Outlook Quarterly 47

Online sellers do a variety of tasks. They 

photograph and write descriptions of the items 

they will sell and put the information online. 

They calculate total purchase amounts, taxes, 

and shipping costs; process payments; and 

send orders. And they interact with customers 

to answer questions or resolve problems.

Many online sellers spend a lot of time 

promoting their products, either online—

through social media, email, newsletters, 

advertisements, or blogs—or in their communities. Ann, for example, gives workshops and 

speaks in schools.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics does 

not have earnings or employment data for 

online sellers. But earnings for online sellers, like those for any self-employed workers, 

depend on factors such as demand for their 

products and how much money the sellers 

take in after accounting for expenses.

Keeping products affordable and competitively priced, while still making a profit, 

is often difficult when selling online, because 

consumers can easily compare products and 

prices.

Even for successful sellers, earnings 

fluctuate—so it’s important not to rely too 

heavily on potential earnings from an online 

business. “If we were relying on my income 

alone instead of my husband’s,” Ann says of 

her family’s finances, “I would not have been 

able to quit my day job.”

As self-employed workers, online sellers 

have other expenses, too. These often include 

health insurance and saving for retirement. 

Prospective sellers should also check to see 

if they need a seller’s permit or if their state 

has other requirements for people who sell 

products online.

Frequently, online sellers work part time 

at their business, perhaps holding another job 

or, like Ann, raising a family. Work hours are 

often irregular, as sellers occasionally need to 

work additional or unusual hours to fill orders. 

But they have more control over their schedules than does someone who works a traditional, 9-to-5 job.

No formal education is required to 

become an online seller. Still, it’s important to 

have good writing skills for crafting product 

descriptions and other web content, strong 

organizational and bookkeeping ability for 

keeping track of earnings and expenses, and 

resourcefulness for figuring out how to get 

products noticed.

Some level of technical skill for creating 

and managing an online presence is helpful, 

says Ann. Although other online sellers may 

work on search engine optimization and site 

design themselves, Ann hires people to do 

these tasks for her.

But technical ability and other skills 

aren’t always enough to turn a good idea into 

a profitable venture. Success for most online 

sellers doesn’t happen overnight: It takes a lot 

of hard work and a willingness to adapt as you 

go along.

“When you’re an entrepreneur, you’re not 

following a path,” says Ann. “You’re learning 

from what other people have done, sure, but 

you’re making your own way.”

Photo courtesy of Ann Drew Yu.

By selling her products 

online, Ann Drew Yu has 

the reach of the world 

from her own home.