***Make Us Money in 2010 with Ebay Challenge***

don9999

Wow. I've just spent MANY hours reading through this and other, related threads. VERY interesting reading. Lots of tips and tricks along the way too which is great.

However, I'm a little weary of the instances where several people have numerous ebay auctions (sometimes several hundred, which amazes me) and often these as well as others are reporting that they have no bids, or 99p or something. Is it really worth the effort? Of course, I appreciate that something (even 99p) is often better than nothing, but I'm just not sure I could put the many hours of effort in just to make 99p (or nothing if it doesn't sell). You can relist (for free I think, though not sure of the rules) but you're still going to end up paying listing fees at least once. Not to mention selling fees and ebay fees. So you may end up with pennies.....for a lot of work :-(

On the other hand, I've read of the people who have turnovers of many hundreds or even thousands of pounds a month! Kevess just reports £2,550 last month. That is great!

I gather that the majority of those that have written are selling their own bits and pieces. That's basically what 'I' do. But in my case, it's usually selling off old computer parts when I upgrade - and each part usually earns in the range of £20-£150. I've never sold clothes or books, as I've never thought them worth anything (or at least not worth the effort of selling). Perhaps I'll give it one go and see what happens.

However, I'm more interested in reading about the people that are running businesses - I'm assuming these are part-time, but not sure. By definition, this means they have bought 'stuff' and are selling them on at a profit. I'm always on the look out for such opportunities, but don't expect anyone to give away their secrets.....lol.... The best 'I' have managed is to buy some 'gadgets' from America for around $5 each and selling them here for about £12 each. They aren't massive sellers, but I sell 2 or 3 a week, which is nice pocket money, but certainly nothing exciting. I bought in bulk, and taking into account postage and import duties etc., I make a good profit, though on small turnover - boosted as they did not charge me import duties on my latest purchase :-)

Anyway, just thought I'd say hello and jot down some of my comments. Good luck to those who enter 100's of auctions; though it sounds like a lot of effort for little reward. I'm certainly going to look forward to hearing more from the big sellers - or should I say sellers of 'big' items. Am keen to hear what sorts of things these are.....

Am sure I will post again in this thread over time..... :-)

Cheers,
Don

mrscmr

hi don, thanks for posting!

well i was never a believe in the ebay thing until a friend sold me to have a go. from the very first thing i sold i was hooked - that was april 09 and since then i am up to about 9k. this 9k kept us all going during the 'rough' time last year when we had no income [you'd have to read my diary to see what happened] and its been a life saver ever since.

yes, you are right, having 100's of items is sheer madness and hard work and sometimes you get disappointed in the bids, but over all it has been positive!

and now it seems i have actually started to turn this into a proper earning business!

sooo im a big fan.

good luck with your ebay! theres a big market in pc spares etc.

jaynemaria

Hi Don,

I wasnt that interested in ebay till I found this site and thought Id give it a go, in 6 months last year I made over a thousand pounds and this has paid for our holiday cottage in Norfolk this year and plenty of spending money,which we wouldnt have been able to afford,and now, as I cant work due to health problems, we are finally managing to put some money by for emergencies.

too_much_debt

Hi Don

I started using Ebay in Feb 2002 buying things on Hawaii, I went to Hawaii on holiday in Sept 2001 (was there when the planes went into the World Trade Centre). Anyway, the first item I bought on Ebay was a Tray with a Hula Girl on, think I still have it somewhere, think it's in the Annex. I started selling on Ebay in 2003 when I was pregnant with DD1, it's certainly changed a lot since then, used to enjoy it more back then.

I've been Ebaying as a Business for a while, stopped doing it in August last year but went back to Self Employed last month as I missed doing it and needed to make more money.

Think the most items I've had at one time was about 300.

On my personal account I was finding it frustrating to list things at 99p for the free listing and not making anymore than that on it so I don't list anything now that I want more money for, I always list my auctions at the minimum I want for something so if it gets one bid then I'm happy and if it gets more bids then it's a bonus.

I find wrapping things up quite easy so don't mind if I don't get much more than 99p for it, even 20p profit is better than no profit, I don't sell anything that is too hard to wrap or too big, I'm selling swim suits on my Business account at the moment and they are so easy to wrap.

I know a seller who sells childrens clothes and buys from one of the Wholesalers that I buy from and she has about 1,200+ items listed, god knows how she finds things when she sells them.

Good luck with your selling.

smem

l work a little differently than most of you - l only list my items as BIN so l don't have things going for 99p. My items are sourced from all over the world but not bought from ebay, and l try to keep the same theme running through the items so get alot of repeat customers.l also do not mix odds and sods in with my sales, these are sold by my DH(not included in my total) As l said at the beginning of the month l had to start with a spend of £294 which l have nearly got back but it is hard sometimes to take out the money to spend on stock. So £74.00 for me today so far.

mummy2mygirls

Had a few sales tonight - 6 things finished and 3 sold and 3 didnt!! Not for a great deal but they were books so didnt cost me anything to list so all helps a little - have relisted the ones that didnt sell with BINs and will see if they sell this time.......

I only sell things from my house and it is a pain when they dont sell etc but then its all on there and can be relisted..Also its a good way to try and declutter a little

skintbint_2

hi folks trying to catch up- TMD -hows the rats/mice? have you heard them again.
Mrscmr - well done on your sales - you too ~Kevves

Don, I have got my friend onto ebay - she's been paid off and struggling to pay her bills but thanks to ebay she's made over £200 in the last 3 weeks, she normally throws things out or puts bag loads into the charity shop, she's been starting a few of things at 99p and looks on it that whatever she makes on those pays her listings for the more expensive things she lists.

dont have much on at the moment but have pledged to have twenty listed by sunday - have seen books in the charity shop for £1.99 which are selling for £12+ so may pop in tomorrow and pick them up and just put them on BIN - prefer a quick turnover with a small profit. i know i should clear all the "tat" i have collected over the years but "they're a bargain":cool: Was absolutely gobsmacked at the prices in the charity shop, will definately not be looking at clothes/handbags from there to sell on. Have guiness hats - you know the ones that look like pints do you think they would sell? just thinking of St patricks day.

too_much_debt

Hi Skintbint

Haven't heard the rats since the other day when one ran through the wall (touch wood I don't). We have rat traps outside but never catch anything. My stupid OH keeps throwing bread up on the Annex roof for the birds, which the birds knock off onto the floor so no wonder we have rats, don't think he has many brain cells in his head, he does some silly things and I just find myself hoping that our children take after my side of the family and not his (God help them if they do).

Get down that charity shop and buy those books if you can make over £10 each, we have an RSPCA charity shop up the road which I like to look around, they have books for 50p (paperback) not sure how much the hardback ones are but I never really look. I'm no good at spotting something that will sell.

I've sold a couple of things today.

skintbint_2

well done on the sales! normally i wouldnt even consider books as i know nothing about them (also have a bit of an aversion to 2nd hand or library books - make me feel dirty - as in unclean)but remember reading text books are good sellers so came and ckecked them out before buying, will dash round tomorrow and pick them up, there was also some other txt books but cant rmember what they were called - will maybe just buy them anyway if they are a couple of pounds and try my luck. with exams being due soon they may just be a popular seller at the moment

too_much_debt

Just checked my Paypal account and from 1 Jan up to today (Thurs) I have withdrawn from Paypal £1,101, that is after all fees but not including postage to send the parcels.