Real-life MMD: Should I buy up cheap stock from a friend so I can flog it myself?

Former_MSE_Debs · 7 March 2014 at 2:19PM

Money Moral Dilemma: Should I buy up cheap stock from a friend so I can flog it myself?

A friend of a friend's shop is failing. She's planning to sell the stock very cheaply to make some money back. I've suggested she put the items on eBay but she's insisting on selling it for next to nothing. I'm also struggling financially and think the eBay idea is a really good way to make cash fast. Would it be totally out of order to buy the stock from her and sell it myself for a profit, given that I gave her first refusal?

If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply

Note: Please remember that these are real-life Money Moral Dilemmas and while we want you to have your say, please remember to be nice when you respond.

If you have a real-life money MORAL dilemma, email [EMAIL="MMD@moneysavingexpert.com"]MMD@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL]

Previous MMDs: View All

[threadbanner] box [/threadbanner]

louisekatie31 · 11 March 2014 at 9:13PM

You could offer to put it on ebay for her for a percentage of the takings? That way hopefully you both win

the-mango · 11 March 2014 at 11:37PM

Not at all out of order - you've told her to do it. She wants to sell it for little, you're totally ok to buy it and sell it on as you have bothered to do it

sazaccount · 12 March 2014 at 1:27AM

I would personally tell them that I am going to sell it on ebay/facebook/other selling sites if they are still happy to sell to me for a quick sale I would say thank you, buy it and start selling

They are properly wanting a quick fix for cash flow problems and not wanting to wait for items to sell on ebay.

florere · 12 March 2014 at 1:53AM

She obviously wants to get rid of the stuff quickly, perhaps she has nowhere to put it and the rent on the shop is expensive, you have already suggested she sell it on e bay, you have done your duty, so sell it, you could give her a small commission but I don't think it's necessary,

mummytotwo_3 · 12 March 2014 at 7:43AM

I would have no problem with buying it and selling on for a profit on ebay etc. You have already told as friend the best option and it's being ignored. Your doing the favour by buying it and providing much needed cash quickly.

Go for it, everyone is a winner

roses · 12 March 2014 at 8:52AM

Ask her if she's ok with you buying it off her then selling it on yourself.

If she says yes, it's win-win for both of you.

happyinflorida · 12 March 2014 at 9:20AM

I would suggest that you do it but say first, if I make lots of money I trust you are not going to come after me for a share of it? Just to make sure she's not just being lazy and then if you are very successful, she might come after some of your profit, which would not be fair on you as you've done the hard work.

You could also keep quiet about any profit you make and lie, if asked how much you've made, just add a few pounds! That way you keep the profit!

I think the person doing the hard work should keep the profit.

catylulu89 · 12 March 2014 at 9:38AM

I'm gonna go ahead and say no!!!!! Irregardless of what plan you figure out with your friend, hear me out.

I did something very similar last year. We really struggle for money most months and I am unemployed, but no benefits, but we got a tax rebate and feeling a little flush I bought cheap stock with the intention of selling it on ebay and similar sites.

Well I thought it through and planned for a worst case scenario if everything sold for only £10 I'd still make some money and how could it fail as there was a lot of baby items like brand new buggies, highchairs to other very expensive stuff.

It didn't sell anywhere near as quickly as I thought it would, and we were in the run up to christmas. I was pricing it much lower than retail price but still people weren't going for it.

I had items unsold on ebay time and time again and the listing fees started to add up.

I will tell you that I'm still sitting on some of the stock cause I can't get rid of it. I can't afford to pass it on for free but I'm down to asking £2 for massive items like brand new Swan touch bins and pans and they are still not creating interest.

It's not worth your time and I really can't stress that enough. It may seem like you have it figured out but you really don't and this has cost me more money than I've made back.

Can you figure out where you can easily store large amounts of stock for months on end if it doesn't sell?
Can you plan ahead for items not selling at anywhere near a good profit price?
Can you realistically afford to keep listing items on ebay, face bay gumtree etc? Apart from ebay those other 2 are free but you won't get anywhere near as good money because they are bargain sites.

I've been in your situation, I thought I had it figured out and boy did it backfire on me and now I'm even worse off… Buying stock and selling on may seem easy enough but the people who manage it already have a semi decent flow of income so that they can write off any unsold/broken items. You can't do that.

Please avoid doing this!! I'm talking from experience and I made a huge mistake by doing this...

joehoover · 12 March 2014 at 10:17AM

You are fine to do that, you made the suggestion so they should not harbor now ill feelings for you doing that. But be warned by what the other poster said about its pitfalls.

Maybe your friend understands the problems selling individual items on ebay can cause, it could end up being a massive headache. It depends what products they are, is it something that can be popped in the post?

If they are higher value or bulkier items then courier charges whack up and then there would be limits on what you can claim if they damage or lose something in transit. This would be your responsibility so you could end up losing money.

Maybe your friend has weighed this up but realised it may be a problem. I've only tried selling a few items on Ebay and the hassle I had for clothes as someone complained it was too small to be a medium (label says medium, advertised as a medium) but they still complained to ebay. I prefer sites like Gumtree as it is more sold as seen, they collect it they see the condition and that's that. Selling on Ebay opens the door to other issues. I've sold gig tickets and they said they never got them despite me having a proof of delivery they said no one lived there by that name, and later found them selling them online themselves so they obviously got them.

These are the things to weigh up, can you afford to make a loss on some items, can you be bothered with the hassle if things go wrong? Ebay can be crazy as people get in bidding wars and pay silly prices (just sold a bathroom shelf which was too big for my bathroom, I gave a link to the Victoria Plumb where it was selling at £15 so people could see the spec. But still people starting getting sucked into a bidding war and ended up paying a bit more than they would have done from the original site, even though mine was not used it still seems insane to me that people go bezerk and start outbidding for the sake of not losing)

So you may make more money if you are lucky on Ebay, but there is a lot to be said for simplicity of selling on Gumtree and having buyers pick goods up.

JuceLuce · 12 March 2014 at 10:20AM

I agree with the post by catylulu89 - what you should really be thinking about is if it is a good idea for you? As this sentence confused me a bit: 'I've suggested she put the items on eBay but she's insisting on selling it for next to nothing.' Some things on eBay can sell for next to nothing, so I am assuming that these are designer clothes and there is actual evidence that these will make money and you will not end up out of pocket, if you are then it is the perfect opportunity. At the end of the day you are doing this lady a favour by taking the stock off her hands. Why should you give her a cut when you are doing all the hard work? What you do with it afterwards is none of her business and she won't find out if you made loads of money or not! Good luck!!

Real-life MMD: Should I buy up cheap stock from a friend so I can flog it myself?

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free