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IowaState5
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Joined: 14 Jun 2007
Posts: 7
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# Posted: 20 Jun 2007 11:30
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What is everyones impressions of selling on ebay? Where do you find people to sell you stuff in bulk at a good price, so you can turn around and sell it on ebay? Does anyone know how to do this? I have sold some stuff before on ebay, but I would like to do this on a larger scale. I enjoyed selling on ebay before, so I think this would be a natural thing to do. I would hope I could make a few hundred dollars a month selling on ebay and doing surveys. What does everyone else think?
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robertlaf
Member
Joined: 27 May 2007
Posts: 50
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# Posted: 20 Jun 2007 18:07 · Edited by: robertlaf
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I am selling on e-bay through www.i-soldit.com as my broker for awhile till I see what sells and if it can be profitable. I get around 60-70% and they do a great job, all I do is drop it off and I can track online the auction. I just started it. So far the 43 video games I gave them didn't sell or the 12 new sweatshirts.
I get my stuff in garage sales, I am out there anyway working in the neighborhoods though. I used to give everything away to friends, I just couldn't pass up the great deals, like $! for a leather jacket, 100% silk shirts for $1 each, etc. If you went around to garage sales I don't think it would be real profitable though anymore. There are too many Mexican families in Texas anyway that are great shoppers canvassing them now. The newspaper is 1 place to look.
You don't get the buys you got 5 years ago but you can still get some bargains.
Surveys-you would want to also try products at home and maybe mystery shopping to add income to that I have heard to make any money. www.cashcrate.com is great I have heard Not much money in surveys.
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getagrip
Joined: 20 Feb 2006
Posts: 1965
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# Posted: 20 Jun 2007 20:10
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The big thing with selling on eBay is that you have to find products that will sell, and buy them at a lower price than others are paying - or at least find a way to be competitive with other eBayers selling similar items.
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IowaState5
Member
Joined: 14 Jun 2007
Posts: 7
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# Posted: 21 Jun 2007 11:27
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Thanks for the info! I am trying to find people that will sell me video games in bulk at a good price, and then I can turn around and make a little profit on ebay, but I don't know where to look for these people. I have started looking at the wholesale lots on ebay to see if I can find a good deal. I will let you guys know if I find any good deals. Thanks again for your input!
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robertlaf
Member
Joined: 27 May 2007
Posts: 50
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# Posted: 21 Jun 2007 19:11
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I have 45 video games like :. Star Trek, Star Wars, Sum of All Fears on sale now on ebay and don't have a single bid in 5 days. I will the whole lot for $20, less than .50 a game.
I'll let you know if anyone bids and how much, they were given to me. Maybe they are older ones, I see they sell for $45-50 at Wal Mart I think.
Storage places have auctions too, the stuff people leave behind. That's why I am going thru I-sold It, to see what sells before I do it.
I have 10 new Lee sweatshirts too I bought in a garage sale for $2 each and no one has bid on them either from I-Sold It. They have stores nationwide, they know how to sell on ebay, they are very successful, I guess you have to get the right product.
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netresult
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Joined: 30 Apr 2007
Posts: 64
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# Posted: 22 Jun 2007 06:16
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Hi IowaState5.
The thing about Ebay is that you have a vast potential customer base, equally this size also creates huge competition. However, there is no easier way of setting up an online business!
To be successful you must think 'outside of the box'- two crucial factors are, the right product presented in the best way.
So what is the right product? The answer is to think 'niche' - niche products are NOT computer games, DVDs, children's and adult clothes, IPods, laptop computers, mobile (cell) phones. Every one and their dog are trying to sell these on Ebay. I have just done a search of catagories for sale on Ebay.co.uk and have come up with the following:
Computers 203,134 items for sale.
MP3 13,000 items for sale.
Womens' clothes 413,000 items for sale.
It is impossible to compete with these volumes, you are better off targeting your efforts at minority groups of people who are looking for something very specific. Alright your market is smaller but you have a better chance of making more from your niche product. Again I did a search on Ebay:
Potty training products 497 items for sale.
Child travel cots ( another name in the USA?) 459 items for sale.
Vintage computers 915 items for sale.
If you can add value to a product to make it unique to yourself that is a good idea. Example, a plain white cotton T shirt with your own motif or design on it or say you have decided to sell dog basket rugs you could include a grooming comb/brush. Make your products different and unique!
Open up an Ebay shop and an 'About Me' page. This is part of your presentation, learn a bit of HTML it will make your advertisements look much more presentable. I learned the basics, enough for your purposes, in five minutes. Always include a photo of your product and check your spelling! Use your competition to your advantage, look at the way they present their products - the power-sellers must be doing it right.
Finally, don't charge too much for posting, tell your customers that it will take a minimum of 14 days to send their item and stick to it! Package well and above all send your customers an email thanking them for their business. At this stage you could mention that you also have another product that may interest them - worth a try!
The thing is to be a bit different.
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homewizz
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# Posted: 22 Jun 2007 07:06
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I think that the advice given above is great - selling a product that is high in demand but low in competition. Finding that niche might take a bit of work but well worth it in the end. I've sold on e-bay, just my own stuff that I no longer need. I made approx �150 (approx $300) in a week. Very uplifting. I still maintain that e-bay is a great way to make money working from home and is one of my personal favourites. There is a section here [Link removed - Admin] containing all the information you need to know to start selling on e-bay. If you want to sell as a retailer then join a dropshipping agency, all the info is one the link provided. Let me know what you think.
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netresult
Member
Joined: 30 Apr 2007
Posts: 64
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# Posted: 22 Jun 2007 11:04 · Edited by: netresult
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homewizz - Thats a very useful site you have there!
I meant to mention drop shipping in my previous post but forgot. What I was going to say on that subject is to treat drop shippers with care. The concept is great but there are some disadvantages.
You have to remember that the drop shipper is going to take quite a slice out of your profits. He/she will not necessarily have your customer's welfare at heart as you are dealing with them from a distance and you are just another faceless Ebayer or whatever. Added to this you never actually see the items he sends to your customers so you are inevitably not in control. This is also the case of late deliveries, bad packaging etc. Having said that there is a good case for drop shipping. The best way to go about it is to approach the subject from a different angle.
An effective alternative is to eliminate the middleman i.e. the dropshipper - go direct to a local manufacturer or importer. Put a proposition to them that you will market their goods by finding the customers on their behalf, get them to pack and despatch on your behalf. In the early days you may have to pay up front but if you quote 14 or 21 days for delivery you should already have been paid by your customer...voila! positive cash flow! When established you should be able to set up a trade account with them in any case.
The beauty of this is that you have loyalty from your supplier who will have you and your customers' best interests set as a priority, but best of all you have exclusivity of product. I did this with a UK importer of Italian cleaning machines. The importer gave me all the marketing aids I needed, product photos, literature etc. and he despatched in plain packaging.
Don't restrict yourself to Ebay, there are plenty of other areas to pursue!
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homewizz
Anonymous
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# Posted: 22 Jun 2007 19:32
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Yes, you do have a valid point there netresult - it is best to find out all you can about the dropshipper before using them. A search on Google might be well worth it - to get some feedback on the company and from other users. Another way is to use wholesalers instead. Just buy the products, have them delivered to you and sell on e-bay etc., The only problem here of course is that if you don't sell then you are stuck with the item/s.
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robertlaf
Member
Joined: 27 May 2007
Posts: 50
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# Posted: 22 Jun 2007 19:51
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Good advice on the niche items.
Today on a dead end street I was working a lady had a sign "Free Stuff", she couldn't sell it in a garage sale, so I was lucky the street was dead end.
I loaded everything my car would hold.
There was stationary, envelopes, invitations, a few pic frames, all brand new in the package marked down. It was about $700.
The searches on ebay were great too, under 50/100 on everything and stationary is expensive. How many people write today though that shop e-bay?
There were also 10 pairs of nice/new childrens' boots/shoes and some clothes.
Children shoes had less than 500 items. Children's clothes too were under 500 items, much less than I expected.
I am taking half this stuff to consignment shops and half to ebay and compare which works best.
I'll let you know the results. It may take longer in consignment shops, but what you can't sell on e-bay take to consignment shops especially nice clothes, I bet it works better there for everyday items, not the real niche stuff.
I had great success in shops before, but I walked in with my paint clothes on in my pickup and they thought I was stealing the stuff, no one would sell this in garage sales they said.
Most of it was FREE, one lady doctor threw away outside a dumpster in boxes about $5,000 worth of designer clothes, about 10 boxes of great clothes, some new. I had 25 pais of Levis I sold for good money. Garage sales used to be great, now you have to look.
But go to consignment shops if ebay doesn't work for everyday stuff.
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IowaState5
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Joined: 14 Jun 2007
Posts: 7
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# Posted: 29 Jun 2007 17:59
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I am starting to look at wholesale options for purchasing video games. I need to do some more searching to find out what best fits me. I have atleast found what I really want to sell on ebay. I just have to be carefull in getting the right distributer. Thanks for all your advice.
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robertlaf
Member
Joined: 27 May 2007
Posts: 50
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# Posted: 29 Jun 2007 21:51
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I looked at number of video games on ebay after the above posts, I think it was 230,000 entries! I sold my 42 games, 1 bid, $20. I was very happy after looking at those number of entries.
I found a place that buys them used close to my home but can't do a comparison now.
I would be very careful with video games, I have no idea how anyone found me.
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talfighel
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Joined: 17 Mar 2007
Posts: 70
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# Posted: 1 Jul 2007 10:00
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There are a lot of people who make a good living selling on ebay. Those who do, have ebooks that you can get that same info.
If you go to any of the major search engines and do a search on something like selling on ebay, then you can either buy their ebook or you can also sometimes find good and solid info that wil guide you with this.
Don't forget too that if you want to make money online with Ebay then you will also need to invest money too.
Tal
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Pather
Member
Joined: 8 Dec 2007
Posts: 3
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# Posted: 26 Dec 2007 23:38
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eBay isnt the only place to sell...many people seem to forget about Amazon Seller Central, Amazon Marketplace, Price Grabber, and others....there are many large marketplaces with HUGE traffic. Some of these sites like Markeplace and PG Storefronts dont charge a listing fee like eBay so you could upload thousands of dropship products and as long as you markup the product more then the sales fee on the sites you make money...its that simple.
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xeonkar007
Member
Joined: 24 Dec 2007
Posts: 67
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# Posted: 29 Dec 2007 02:40
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Quoting: Pather eBay isnt the only place to sell...many people seem to forget about Amazon Seller Central, Amazon Marketplace, Price Grabber, and others....there are many large marketplaces with HUGE traffic. Some of these sites like Markeplace and PG Storefronts dont charge a listing fee like eBay so you could upload thousands of dropship products and as long as you markup the product more then the sales fee on the sites you make money...its that simple.
yes people sometimes higlhy focus only on ebay..
there are plenty of other sites which can be used to sell products from wholesalers.
for me i think the best wholeslae list providers are
www.worldwidebrands.com
they are certified by amazon and ebay themselves...
hope this helps
take care
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mely
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Joined: 20 Jan 2008
Posts: 12
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# Posted: 23 Jan 2008 09:11
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I personally have tried selling on ebay and I just couldn't make it profitable. I know there are plenty of people making good money, but I don't know what the secret is, if there is one. I was finding myself loosing money on all the fees because I would have to keep re-listing items that didn't sell.
I would definitely do more research and utilize the ebay tools if you are thinking about becoming a full time ebayer.
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SusanR
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Joined: 23 Jan 2008
Posts: 1
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# Posted: 23 Jan 2008 19:53
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I wholesale and I've been really successful with it, but the amount of trial and error, and "character building" I went through to get things going was very hard.
There are easier ways, but it's still been really rewarding.
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