How much dosh can one realistically make??

The_Faz

Hi guys

Bit of an open ended question here, but was just wondering if anyone out there can give me a feel for how much money can realistically be made via selling on EBAY?

Obviously it depends a lot on what product you sell, but i'd just like to know if there are people out there actually making good money?

Thanks

Faz

soolin

Yes there are people making 'real' money on ebay but statistically they are few and far between. Of the millions registered as sellers I would think the vast majority are like me and make a little 'luxury' money every week.

There is a lady that goes into the post office at the same time as me each week and she told me she makes enough to have given up her full time job elsewhere. Obviously I have no idea what she sells as she certainly wouldn't want me to go into competition with her.

Soo

bleughbleugh

if you treat ebay as a bit of a hobby, then you can get a hundred or so pounds real profit a week, this usually means about 8 hours work, incl listing and packing and posting

if you take the next step up, you can easilly make a couple of hundred pounds a week, but you really need to spend a couple of afternoons cataloguing and listing, then the best part of sat or sun packing up ready to post on monday.

ebay is NOT easy work, i'm a powerseller there and can tell you that you can make a LOT of money IF you put the hours in,

back about 6 months ago I pulled in about £800 profit a month for 3 months straight, but that meant ALL my weekend gone, two evenings a week, and posting stuff during my lunch breaks in work

angelcake

if you treat ebay as a bit of a hobby, then you can get a hundred or so pounds real profit a week, this usually means about 8 hours work, incl listing and packing and posting

if you take the next step up, you can easilly make a couple of hundred pounds a week, but you really need to spend a couple of afternoons cataloguing and listing, then the best part of sat or sun packing up ready to post on monday.

ebay is NOT easy work, i'm a powerseller there and can tell you that you can make a LOT of money IF you put the hours in,

back about 6 months ago I pulled in about £800 profit a month for 3 months straight, but that meant ALL my weekend gone, two evenings a week, and posting stuff during my lunch breaks in work

What sorta stuff do you sell!? and you have to lay out money to get products in! I don't make very much at all! I would love to make more! I have the time!!

short_bird

Hi: new to this site but e-bayer since 2002. I do know of people who have given up working for companies to ebay full time but most are using it to earn a decent supplementary income. There seem to be periods of feast and famine though. I'm selling off stuff that is surplus to requirements and sticking to subjects I know about. (Have I read/used/worn it in 6 months? Nope? It gets listed!)
If the day job goes belly up, then I may consider full time ebaying and looking for interesting wholesale. Or I may get a bit tired of being surrounded by jiffy bags and packing tape!

JPS

I totally agree with bleughbleugh. eBay IS HARD WORK and it really really annoys me when people say to me you make money for doing nothing. Much hard work and commitment is needed to be successful on eBay.

It can often take me 30 minutes just to design one listing. Obviously the more expensive something is worth, the more time I spend designing the listing. That is also why it annoys me so much when people just copy my auction! >:(

And as for how much money can be made trading on eBay? Well a Titanium Powerseller needs to bring in £95,000 a month or 500 sales a month. I know this isn't all profit, but you can see that a lot of people do quite nicely from eBay!

angelcake

How Much

With regards to preparing the item to list, I have spent the weekend washing and ironing a load of clothes to sell for my MIL all good quality and fiddely to iron! then photgraph then write about it, so it is a job! I don't get much though at the moment, If my other half would permit it, the house would be floor to ceiling full of wholesale clothes etc! I love it, its like owning a shop! only it is open to people all over the world to view your items! and from the comfort and heat of your own house!

But I need to make more money!!!!! >:(

The_Faz

thanks for the input everyone. Makes some interesting reading.

Glad to hear that some people are doing well out of ebay.

I basically have a craft product that I've always thought would sell well (although its very bulky, so P&P may be a big problem).

Must give it a go sometime soon. Nothing to lose i guess.

Faz

soolin

Hi Faz,

If you are looking at high post and packing costs remember to factor the paypal fees in on that cost as well when calculating your opening price.

Craft items tend not to go so well, but if it is a unique item you might be in with a chance before Christmas as people will want to buy unusual gifts. Check out completed listings and see if anything at all similair has been listed before as that will give you a guide price.

Good luck.

Soo

The_Faz

Ta for the advice Soolin.

Faz

Hintza

Not convinced yet.

I have been selling for a while now, make a few bob but get really hacked off at all the costs. On items around the £30 mark ebay/paypal costs will be in the region of 16%-20% and that excludes your time and petrol.

I am not convinced that buyers in the UK trust e-bay yet. The german site is very interesting and easier to predict. I think more people in Europe treat ebay as an alternative retail outlet. More fixed prices and BIN and they seem to shift.

Whilst buyers in UK are looking for the real bargain.

So I feel in the UK its a buyers market currently which is not great from a sellers point of view.

My other problem is finding goods I can make a turn on. You find lets say 10 of something at a good price and make a tidy profit. But I find it hard to get a steady supply.

Also commodity goods (camera memory and RAM) can be very volatile and if you buy too much stock you get screwed when the price drops.

In the summer I was buying RAM in the states and selling it for what I paid in $ in £. But after costs there was not a great margin. Then the market dropped by £10 in the UK whilst holding steady in US...result.....an other wee earner bites the dust.

I just hope UK buyers will start to trust ebay more.