ebay shop question...

livewire_82

Those of you that have read my thread on the 'How much have you saved?' forum will know that I'm currently out of work following redundancy.
Whilst I'm out of work, I'm keeping my mind busy with ideas to drum up a bit of steady(ish) income - one of these ideas being an ebay shop.

Now, I'm familiar with the fundementals of buying and selling on ebay but I've not yet ventured into the 'shop' side of selling and I'm having a bit of trouble commiting to a particular area.
I know it's the million dollar question but what type of product is likely to get me the best return / what is in highest demand at the moment?
Secondly is the source of stock - where is the best place to go for stock? Wholesale stockists on ebay? Bootsales? Charity Shops?

If I am to go forward with this one way or another, does anyone have any tips for a newbie?

Any answers on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

DaveAshton

livewire_82 wrote: »

I know it's the million dollar question but what type of product is likely to get me the best return / what is in highest demand at the moment?

If it sells well, either a) there are loads of people already selling the same product, or b), only a couple of sellers that don't want another competitor.

livewire_82 wrote: »

Secondly is the source of stock - where is the best place to go for stock? Wholesale stockists on ebay? Bootsales? Charity Shops?

Similar to my point above, if someone's put a lot of effort into finding a good source of stock, they're not likely to hand you (and any lurkers etc) that info on a plate.

livewire_82 wrote: »

If I am to go forward with this one way or another, does anyone have any tips for a newbie?

Only obvious ones.
Make sure you get registered as business, both on ebay and with HMRC.
Don't break any of ebay's rules, no matter how trivial they may seem. If it's going to be your main source of income you don't want to be kicked off.
Ask for advice (which you've done here, so you already know that one :cool:) if you need it.
Never hassle buyers for feedback, it'll annoy them and could result in negs and low DSRs.

soolin

Selling is the easy bit, unfortunately there are a lot of us that would like a cheap and stress free place to buy wholesale quick selling items. Unfortunately the reality is that tracking down that perfect widget to sell takes a lot of hard work and perseverence, following up leads and working a market to find a unique product that no one else can source.

Basically if you can find a site quickly and easily on the web to source your products, then so can everyone else and tht is your business dead in the water. Sometimes the best sources of things to sell are found with leg work, trying locally, making calls trying to broker a unique partnership with a third party.

Forget ebay shops and selling at the moment, concentrate entirely on finding that line of widgets to sell. If you find something, buy a little to start with , don't start spending thousands on stock before you test the water, try a few items, work out your profit margin to the penny and then and only then hit it big time .

StaffsSW

Like the majority of businesses, the money is made in the purchasing strategy, not necessarily in the selling.

buy cheap, and you can afford to be very flexible with pricing and listing strategy, but buying high, and selling only a little bit higher gives you no room for movement, and relies solely on volume to make the money.

livewire_82

Great advice guys. Taking on board everything you've each said.
I appreciate it's a little awkward answering a question relating to supply and demand and I understand thats the work I'll need to do myself.

In your experience(s) in this though, surely there's a pecking order for sourcing methods for obtaining stock?

Bootsales, charity shops, classified ads, etc - all easy to put your hand to.
...but wholesale drop shipping.... I'm interested to know the general opinion on these.
I might be thinking too deeply into this but I live in a 2 bedroom flat with no garage and have a small car - surely these are issues when buying a palette load of stock... or do you not necessarily have to buy loads of that size?

If drop ship wholesalers are a good idea, where abouts can they be sourced?
I live in essex - anywhere I can find a local merchant?

RFW

Sourcing product is easier the more you have to spend. For local suppliers I'd suggest looking through a local yellow pages, might be old fashioned but you'll know where they are!

For selling try and go with what you know, turning a hobby into a business is always a good way to start. A product knowledge is often worth more to some customers and could result in you being able to compete with a cheaper but less informed competitor.

livewire_82

This may sound a little dumb but what on earth do I search for in the yellow pages?
I've no idea where to start.

baffcat

livewire_82 wrote: »

I know it's the million dollar question but what type of product is likely to get me the best return / what is in highest demand at the moment?

Sell something you know about, or in which you're interested. Don't follow the herd by selling clothes, electronics or lingerie. Thousands already do it, few make much money at it and those that do probably got in early on it.

livewire_82 wrote: »

Secondly is the source of stock - where is the best place to go for stock? Wholesale stockists on ebay? Bootsales? Charity Shops?

If I am to go forward with this one way or another, does anyone have any tips for a newbie?

Any answers on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Loads of people search through the places you mention. Why? Because it's supposedly easy to do. Find something with less competition. Like nuts & bolts (for instance). If you're going to sell nuts & bolts, find a good manufacturer that'll sell you over-runs at below cost to clear their shelves for new stock. There may be far less people buying a bolt than looking for a bra, but there'll probably be even less proportionaly selling them, especially if you can hit on an item that you know a lot about, and can answer questions upon. A wholesaler will not only be your supplier, but your competitor too.

Research, research, research. No advice you get here will be better than doing your own reseach.