How to become a successful ebay trader?

Brooker_Dave

First_Time_Saver wrote: »

Some very good points here. Thank you all for your replies. I have imported on a small scale from China before. (avoiding import duty and vat) Which I do not intend to do this time as it will be on a larger scale and all transactions will be fully invoiced.

Some members have said that eBay has had its day. I'm not to sure. I still think it is possible to at least etch out a living, Ive just to figure out what to sell LOL. I suppose that's the million dollar question.

Are there any other online methods to either enhance an eBay income or maybe even an alternative method altogether.

The reason I am asking all these questions is that I have had to take a career break from the civil service to care for a parent. I am not allowed to seek alternative employment during my career break, but I can register as self employed and start my own business.

Again, thank you in advance for your replies

Ebay are a **very** unreliable business partner, they can ban you forever for little or no reason at any point, potentially leaving you with stock and no place to sell it.

Always have another sales avenue, do not rely on just ebay.

StaffsSW

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

Always have another sales avenue, do not rely on just ebay.

+1.

It's not that difficult to set up your own website and online shop - EKM Powershop is pretty much a turnkey package for £20 per month, and is no more difficult to operate than an eBay store. You are much more in control of your own destiny, although the market reach of eBay is very hard to ignore or live without in the early days.

cyril82

I'd advise anyone who is currently selling on ebay to look at getting a website up and running, because as Brooker Dave states ebay have the power to close your account at any time for little or no reason, and they often do.

you will need to learn a little about ppc marketing but there is nothing much to it once you get into it, the only thing to beware of is paying for poor quality clicks, think about your keywords carefully, and you need a way to turn browsers into revenue and google adsense and affiliate links are good for this.

but don't overdo them if you are running an online store as it confuses the buyer and can take their attention away from your products.

Use ebay as a starting point, don't rely on them too much or you could loose your whole income overnight.

cyril82

import duty is not a set rate like vat and can vary widely, you should always check with HMRC classifications before committing to an order, i have had rates quoted to me from 3% duty to 38% duty.

Import duty is affected by many factors, for example, if you are importing something that we have a large industry in here in the uk the government will set duty higher for importing that product to protect our own economy and save jobs etc, also if an item is likely to cause pollution or cost money to dispose of, such as some electrical items and batteries, then expect higher rates of duty.

Import duty is, as i think i have mentioned, one of the biggest contributors to ebay businesses failing as they think they are getting a good price but then realise they are making a loss after paying the duty.

First_Time_Saver_2

Hello Folks, Again thank you for your replies

I have been searching the net for idea;s

Has anyone any experience of the following sites offering advice?

terapeak
auctiongenius (ive paid £20 on this already for 2 dvd's)
powerselleracademy
auctionsprofit
tamebay
powerhomebiz
salehoo
experienced-people

Again I would like to thank all those who taken the time to post. I am like a fish out of water but I plan and hope that I learn quickly, as needs most and bills have to be paid

Thanks

Brooker_Dave

First_Time_Saver wrote: »

Hello Folks, Again thank you for your replies

I have been searching the net for idea;s

Has anyone any experience of the following sites offering advice?

terapeak
auctiongenius (ive paid £20 on this already for 2 dvd's)
powerselleracademy
auctionsprofit
tamebay
powerhomebiz
salehoo
experienced-people

Again I would like to thank all those who taken the time to post. I am like a fish out of water but I plan and hope that I learn quickly, as needs most and bills have to be paid

Thanks

There's no need to pay for good advise.

cyril82

It makes me mad to read about people wasting money on these "how to ebay" e-books, the main reason being that they are compiled mainly by people with no real experience or success as a professional ebay seller purely to make easy money and contain mainly information that is available for free on the internet.

Also no one can guarantee you "ebay success" as many of these e-books claim to do.

I have considered putting together my own guide detailing every contact i have for suppliers, every bit of ebay and paypal advise i can give including how to avoid ebay suspensions, how to remove paypal account freezes, tax issues, where to source goods from if you want to import, how import duty works and is applied, etc etc and then selling it for 99p just to cover the PPC costs and get rid of these cowboy scammers.

The only thing stopping me is i don't want to get tarred with the same brush as them.

First_Time_Saver_2

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

There's no need to pay for good advise.

Too late

Ive just spent £100 for a load of books on amazon

Floxxie

Cancel your order then.

£100 on books? :eek:

greeneye

First_Time_Saver wrote: »

Hello Folks, Again thank you for your replies

I have been searching the net for idea;s

Has anyone any experience of the following sites offering advice?

terapeak
auctiongenius (ive paid £20 on this already for 2 dvd's)
powerselleracademy
auctionsprofit
tamebay
powerhomebiz
salehoo
experienced-people

Again I would like to thank all those who taken the time to post. I am like a fish out of water but I plan and hope that I learn quickly, as needs most and bills have to be paid

Thanks

I'd reccomend Terapeak gives you worldwide ebay completed sales info for 90 days. Ebay's completed sales only give you 14. No brainer if you want to research a market and easily justifies their fee.
There's also a suite of tools for analyzing sales/listing data (lots of graphs etc) in a given category or for specific sellers/competitors which I never use but might be handy.