Buying Wholeale and Selling on eBay HELP

keary300

Hi Guys, My very first post on this site.

I have been contemplating buying returned goods from a ex-catalougue wholsaler by the pallet load and would like to know if i am doing the right thing, I would like to earn some extra money outside of my normal job and think eBay is the way forward to help earn some extra income without putting in 50+ hours a week.

I am 26 and have never sold anything on eBay before and would like some advice from somebody who is currently doing it as i dont want to purchase something that i wont be able to shift and end up getting into debt because i took a chance.

I have seen previous posts of people who buy from wholsalers and would lke to know if the one I have found is any good is any good??

Pallets i have been looking at are mainly audio/visual e.g plasma tv's etc... and range from £1000 to £3000. I will place an example of a pallet i have been looking at below to see if it is good value or not.


SAMSUNG 50" PLasma PLASMA C.T.V £1,899.00
LG 42PC51 42" HD PLASMA £899.00
LG 42PC51 42" HD PLASMA £899.00
SONY BRAVIA KDL37P3020 37" DIGITAL LCD £899.00



The price list above is retail value and the price that is wanted for this pallet as working returns is £1,149.00, which looks amazing.

If anyone has any opinions or advice it would be greatly apreciated. :beer:
P.S. I am sorry for the length of this post, i have a lot of questions lol

Many thanks


David

RaksP_2

Who are you buying your stock from?

Elle00

keary300 wrote: »

Hi Guys, My very first post on this site.

I have been contemplating buying returned goods from a ex-catalougue wholsaler by the pallet load and would like to know if i am doing the right thing, I would like to earn some extra money outside of my normal job and think eBay is the way forward to help earn some extra income without putting in 50+ hours a week.

I am 26 and have never sold anything on eBay before and would like some advice from somebody who is currently doing it as i dont want to purchase something that i wont be able to shift and end up getting into debt because i took a chance.

I have seen previous posts of people who buy from wholsalers and would lke to know if the one I have found is any good is any good??

Pallets i have been looking at are mainly audio/visual e.g plasma tv's etc... and range from £1000 to £3000. I will place an example of a pallet i have been looking at below to see if it is good value or not.


SAMSUNG 50" PLasma PLASMA C.T.V £1,899.00
LG 42PC51 42" HD PLASMA £899.00
LG 42PC51 42" HD PLASMA £899.00
SONY BRAVIA KDL37P3020 37" DIGITAL LCD £899.00



The price list above is retail value and the price that is wanted for this pallet as working returns is £1,149.00, which looks amazing.

If anyone has any opinions or advice it would be greatly apreciated. :beer:
P.S. I am sorry for the length of this post, i have a lot of questions lol

Many thanks


David

I wouldn't try and flog high priced electrical products as a new seller - no way. People will immediately be suspicious of your 0 feedback.

If selling on ebay was that easy, we'd all be doing it.

I used to make a decent profit from my ebay shop a few years ago BUT the wage worked out at about £1 or £2 an hour. You have to put in soooo much work to find just the right sales and listing techniques. Remember ebay and paypal take around 10% - 15% of your sale in all too.

I wouldn't say don't do it, I'd just say make sure you know who you're buying from and start smaller.

flimes

Make sure you read the sales description and the terms and conditions for the pallet your buying. A lot of the time these pallets carry a high percentage of faulty goods which you'll find difficult to sell. Be careful if it says the goods are untested as you'll be stuck with a lot useless items to dispose off.

sidthesexist

I would also check the prices of the items that are supposed to be included as well, the prices that you mentioned in the OP look well outdated, i'm sure you can get them for around half that price nowadays?

Chloe5

I would have to say I wouldn't buy such big items from ebay. I'd feel it was risky even if you were a superseller with 100% feedback.

If an item like this doesn't work (or customer says doesn't work) who is responsible for item, who pays courier.

I agree prices look high. If you search for these model nos I think you will find them much cheaper from sites like e-buyer. You also have a pretty decent customer service, no quibble even when the thing breaks down towards end of warranty.

Budweiser_072000

I know where your getting your stock from, there RRP prices are always high or out of date but they are getting these prices from argos comet etc, plus remember to add the VAT and £44 delivery charge on top of your pallet amount.

Another way of thinking of it is just selling each one at a certain price and see if you would make your money back eg: sell each tv for £500, total made is £2000, £851 profit, this is how i do it.

soolin

It is a difficult field to succeeed in due to high ebay and paypal charges, the first thing to do even before you go any further is to forget the RRP and look instead at the completed sale prices on ebay itself..that is a better indication as to actual prices.

As others have already said you won;t be able to sell high end goods without some feedback first and ideally should be looking at 50 feedback which gives you the increased paypal protection for your buyers.

Don;t forget as well that as a business you need to register as such on ebay which means you must accept returns for nay reason up to 14 days, so factor in th epostal costs for that as well as some buyers do use the return options. Lastly don't forget to register with HMRC as you will obviously need to pay tax and NI.

It might also be useful to ask for this trhead to be moved across to the dedicated ebay and other auctions forum. You may also want to browse that forum to see about the new changes to feedback and seller protection that many of us are unhappy about before you commit any money to your venture.. Just follow the link in my sig.

jo_b_2

As soolin has pointed out, you might get some more advice over on the eBay board so I've moved the thread over for you.

Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies.

If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL]

minghis

I'd be careful about this one, postage and packaging costs will be high, you'll get the things damaged in transit, they will go wrong and you'll be expected to sort it out, they'll need to be stored correctly, a 50" plasma TV is really heavy, etc.
For your first venture I'd say it will be a lot of hassle. Good luck!

RFW

If you don't know what you are doing spending £1200 to find out is a hard way of learning.

I've been in that sort of business for 20+ years and it isn't easy, I don't ever bother with electricals as it is too much of a minefield.

If the items are returns, legally you have to have them tested and certified by a qualified electrician before you can resell, unless you are selling as spares.

Have a look at the goods you are buying, know how much the retail value is, know how much they sell for on Ebay (highest and lowest) and know how much you are paying. Never buy pallets of goods you can't examine beforehand unless you are very sure of the supplier (even then its unadvisable).

Have a look around Ebay first, maybe buy a small cheap wholesale lot there to resell to get the hang of it.

The advice I usually give for buying wholesale to resell is to stick with something you know or have an interest in, a knowledgeable seller can earn more on the products than one who doesn't know anything about what they sell.