is ebay really worth it?

u751904 wrote: »

what dou you mean by a proper shop. I am guessing this is a premium subscription to ebay? I do like idea of a parallel shop.

Sorry didn't explain very clearly. I think it looks a bit dubious if sites have paypal buttons. Most people will have more trust an online shop using something like Actinic or an open source alternative.

u751904 wrote: »

so have you tried other auction sites. I've been catching up on the disgruntled messages about ebay. I've come to the conclusion I'd rather get a market stand. Mind you I know the weather isn't going to help with that one but summer is coming...

I think it is worth checking out other sites by the sounds of things ?

The big issue with Ebay is they are totally in control, I would never "put all my eggs in one basket" and just sell on Ebay, the risk is far too high.

In a normal business if your supplier or landlord has a dispute with you there is usually some form of discussion first and you can normally work something out...or at least switch suppliers. Ebay shoot first and ask questions later. I've had them pull all my auctions without warning over a minor infringement of their terms, any normal supplier would have sent a message to get it resolved first.

There is simply no partnership involved with Ebay, they do what they want when they want. They've been known to freeze Ebay or Paypal accounts with no warning and little communication. Quite simply you could loose your business overnight, it is a very real risk.

By all means use Ebay - their fees are high and their average selling price is rock bottom but they bring plenty of customers - but don't whatever you do rely on them as your main source of income.

IMHO unless you are one of the big boys with a strong brand and lots of buying power general retail is getting harder and harder, whether online or bricks & mortar.

The real money is in the service industry or by adding value to a product. It will cost Costa around 15p for the beans, water and sugar that they turn into a double espresso at £1.70. Electolux are making far more money out of the repair on our washing machine than they made when they sold it to us...but that's a sore point at the moment :mad:

As a personal example when I worked in bicycle retail we made more money charging a customer for building the flat pack they had purchased off Ebay than we would have if they purchased the bike from us fully assembled. It shouldn't make sense but it does!

paulwf wrote: »

Someone on Ebay is always willing to sell for less than you do. Once they give up another person will come along and start selling at a loss *sigh*

You need an edge, perhaps with massive buying power or taking the risk of importing direct from China or being the first to get the product to market. However I think the real way to make money is sell something that others can't so it isn't all about price...custom items, art, antiques, something along those lines.

Ebay and Paypal can take around 15% in fees and everything favours the buyer, but the virtual footfall is so much higher than you could generate for your own website. It's hard to make money online, just as it is to make it in the real high st

Going back to this comment from Paul. If someone is willing to sell the same product as you but for less and to make a loss, let them.

You have to price your products at the price you want to get for your product and sod everyone else who is playing the "lets all be sheep, follow the leader, drop our prices and then complain that ebay isnt working for us".

You are an individual .. not a sheep.

I have been running an eBay business for just over a year now, and so far it is very profitable.
There is around £400 a month eBay fees and I recently lost my top seller rating due to someone who left the same feedback for everyone she purchases off and stating that I didnt combine the postage (When I clearly did). So my 30% discount on the fees is now 10%.

There was more than just that 1 woman as to why I lost it, but all the people who I could work out had left my a low DSR rating were just doing it out of their own incompetance (E.g. not opening the packet before claiming they havent received everything).

But in general I find eBay is very rewarding and that my profit is increasing.

I do get the odd problem on there, like someone nicks my photographs and advert or someone goes n puts the same item on lower than me. Both of which result in a lower sale rate of those products.
I didn't sell one item for over a month due to some cow who had nicked my title, picture, advert (Including all my logos, not taking out my eBay name etc). Gota keep an eye out for people doing the same thing.

Besides from the odd bad point and the stupid changing in the rules eBay is overall quite a good little earner for me. I have set up websites and tried amazon etc but compared to eBay they bring in a lot less than half the money.

What I currently do is, I include a voucher with all orders. The voucher allows the buyer to 10% off on any purchases on my website (1 use per customer). Ive found this has got a few sales, not as many as I would like but it means that I dont have to suffer eBay fees, just paypal ones.