Do you think this is a good idea for ebay??

soolin

If you do a search for ebay shops in the US you will see that this took off big time a couple of years back over there. However, most places have now dropped out as they found no real profit in it.

The story always is that they started these little drop in shops and struggled to cover overheads, so started selling coffee while you chatted with the owner. Then they added muffin and cookies, and one day realised they were making all their profit on the coffee and snacks.

So, they gave up ebay and concentrated on just the coffee shop aspect, and the better placed ones got bought out by Starbucks and the ilk, and made a fortune!

Soo

soolin

You can actually still buy a franchise in the uS:
http://www.isolditonline.co.uk/uk_franchise_3.aspx

clarkeyi

Thanks for all of the comments - quite positive. I am just finishing off my web site today, ready to advertise next week. I understand about pitfalls and the amount of fake items on ebay. If I feel it is not quite right then I will simply say no. I am not going to use Paypal for this because of chargeback problems and I am half way in to writing full terms and conditions for the potential seller.
I can see that if you sell a small think for 1 or 2 people then the profit is not worth it, but I am also advertising loft\garage clearouts, and aiming for businesses and advetising around the 'nicer' of my town.
You never know until you try something - If anyone is intersted how I get on in the next few weeks then I will kepp you posted - It may be of interst for somebody else to give it a try.

Thanks again for the input

soolin

I can understand that you don't want to take paypal but if you are taking cheques then remember that you might need to upgrade to a business account which will incur monthly fees. You will also need some sort o finsurance against cheques being bounced after goods have been sent.

Banks will take large amounts of cheques for people over the counter, but eventually you may well be asked what you are doing, or whether you are a business, which of course you are, so may trigger a request to change the nature of your account. I used to sell books on a party plan basis and if I did a large party or something I was usually asked why I had so many cheques, and on a couple of occasions I was asked to speak to someone more senior.

It might be worth looking into a completely separate bank account for business use though for tax reasons as it will be easier to see all the transactions to work out your taxable profit.

Also, make sure that if you are stroring goods on behalf of others that you upgrade your home insurance, all you need is a slight problems with damp or water getting at your stock and you will be scuppered as it will be obvious that you are running a business so ordinary household insurance won't be sufficient. You will also need other insurances if potential sellers will be visiting your house.

Build all this into your business plan before you start.

Soo

misty

There's a shop near to me called WeEbay4U that offers this service. I don't know how successful it is but it has been open at least 12 months so must be making something to continue. They presumably have shop overheads to think of that you wouldn't have if your doing it from home

MissBehaving

We have one that advertises in our local community newspaper thingie.

It is called We Sell 4 uBay Ltd

• Take a digital photograph of your product
• Research and chose the best category for your product
• List your item for 7-10 for maximum exposure
• Answer all questions on your behalf
• Communicate with and invoice successful buyer
• Collect payment
• package and ship your item to the buyer
• Send you a statement adn payment 7-14 days after receipt of cleared funds
• We are comission based and a minimum charge applies

dont know if they make money, but they have been advertising for ages now. OH said that it would certainly help people who dont have time to do the whole ebay thing and also people who are computer illiterate.

motorguy

misty wrote:

There's a shop near to me called WeEbay4U that offers this service. I don't know how successful it is but it has been open at least 12 months so must be making something to continue. They presumably have shop overheads to think of that you wouldn't have if your doing it from home

I've just found https://www.stuffusell.co.uk, which is quite explicit about their charges. i thought initially, this would never work, but the more i think about it, the more i think it could stuffusell have feedback of over 8000 since July 04 which means they are definitely selling.

Anyone found out anything more about fees for lower priced items? for example, they sell a load of DVDs, how do they charge for that?

Mandles

I have been a big seller on ebay for years and would never do this.People try to get you to sell silly things that you know just wont sell and they dive for like 99p and then you have fees to sort out. I hate selling for other people its more hassle than its worth.
You sound like you have a good brain for finding an oppertunity to make some cahs but if i were you id think of something else!

motorguy

clarkeyi wrote:

Thanks for all of the comments - quite positive. I am just finishing off my web site today, ready to advertise next week. I understand about pitfalls and the amount of fake items on ebay. If I feel it is not quite right then I will simply say no. I am not going to use Paypal for this because of chargeback problems and I am half way in to writing full terms and conditions for the potential seller.
I can see that if you sell a small think for 1 or 2 people then the profit is not worth it, but I am also advertising loft\garage clearouts, and aiming for businesses and advetising around the 'nicer' of my town.
You never know until you try something - If anyone is intersted how I get on in the next few weeks then I will kepp you posted - It may be of interst for somebody else to give it a try.

Thanks again for the input

Well done on giving it a go! What fee rates are you proposing charging?

soolin

I would tend to agree with fay, this is not something I would ever consider. I did once sell a few bits for someone and it was so mush hassle that I swore never again. They had an unrealistic idea of what it was worth, and had no idea how much ebay and paypal fees were and I know they were disappointed to be charged for some things that never actually sold, and then receive so little for those things that did sell.

I would be interested though in how much payment is needed upfront to safe guard the sale in case it doesn't sell.

Soo