buying in bulk and selling on?

schofield8883

hi im looking at buying something in bulk and selling them on mainly on ebay im guessing. does anyone know what sells well and were do you buy them in bulk. im thinking mobile phone accessories etc as they are low in value but sell quickly and dont weigh much so could make a bit in postage? where do i go to buy things in bulk? any help or suggestions much appriciated

BargainGalore

Do you think people will tell you what sells if they know you may well be direct competition for them?

korny88

I think you will find mobile phone accessories will be very hard to sell on eBay as there are loads of sellers on there selling the same stuff at extremely low prices. YOu may be better off looking at selling through other mediums, eg. at a car boot sale or marketplace.

mobo99

Hi there, I'll try and give you some positive tips.

Find a niche market potentially something you know a lot about. Small market can get you big profits and a loyal clientele.

Selling mobile phone accessories on ebay will be difficult (but not impossible) as you would need to sell (and buy) in massive amounts to make any money as most sellers knock these out for £1-£2 and give free delivery. After fees/postage and packing (let alone time) realistically you would be looking at about 50ish pence profit.

Take your time and research the niche product(s) you wish to sell, who your competitors are and their pricing strategies. A useful tool is ebay pulse, it will show you the best selling items in each category.

http://pulse.ebay.co.uk/

Also see what the sell through rate is of the products you want to sell by accessing the "advanced search" tool (next to the search bar) and selecting completed listings, this will show you in green what items sold and for how much. Also try and correlate the sales with the time of day they sold so you can time your listing to finish then. People tend to be the same in their buying patterns (true on most occasions but not always).

Work out your potential selling price and then work out you profit(or loss) using an ebay/paypal fee calculator.

http://ecal.!!!!!!/en/fee_calculator/ebay.co.uk/

Once you have found the right product(s) at the right price with the right amount of profit you wish to make, start listing. The more you sell the cheaper selling will get on ebay as fees will be reduced.

A good reputable website with great forums and lots of friendly helpful folk is:

http://www.thewholesaleforums.co.uk/

Look in the Marketplace for the latest deals and offers from wholesalers. Other areas contain great information you may find useful.

Have you looked around your local poundland? Loads of items in there that can be turned into profit, a lot of customers have hectic lives and know you are charging more than they can get it for on the high street but are happy with the convenience factor you can provide.

Keep an eye on the latest deals that the big chains offer, most are loss leaders to draw in customers. As an example I remember ASDA selling Nintendo DS consoles for about £60 resold on Ebay for £110 profit of approx £30.

Check out hotdeals.co.uk a community based website were people report the best deals they have found in retail and etail stores.

Lastly find the Holy Grail. Non-web based local wholesaler whom you can build a relationship with over time, eventually you will get better prices and better margins.

Last but not least, cheapest is not always best. Most customers are happy to pay a bit more for better service, good communication and quality/accurately described products with prompt delivery.

I hope this helps you on your way, if I can assist any further send me a message.

Best regards.

mobo99

Find your local group, loads of people looking to get rid of items they no longer need. I placed an advert (its free) saying I would collect any old electrical items. got an email later that day from someone who was moving.

They gave me x2 new dvd players, x1 vcr, a boxed ltd edition 007 mobile phone, a samsung mobile phone, 14" tv, remote controls, a camcorder, a laptop and loads more. I made a really good amount of money from those items,the person who gave them to me just wanted rid of them, he even said I would make good money on ebay from them when I collected them!

If you use some ingenuity the world your oyster.

Im only trying to help as no one helped me when I asked the same question and got laughed at.

People get what they give, later.

mobo99

mobo99 wrote: »

Find your local group, loads of people looking to get rid of items they no longer need.

I forgot to add the link, sorry!!

http://www.uk.freecycle.org/

Good luck!:T

Tetisheri1975

mobo99 wrote: »

I forgot to add the link, sorry!!



Good luck!:T

The point of freecycle is for people to reuse and recycle goods, without the environmental impact of posting etc. and to swap goods for free; it goes against the ethos of freecycle for people to sell the goods on purely for profit and increasing/creating a carbon footprint by posting it out across the country. The local group I'm in have actually 'outed' people who've picked up goods then made money by selling them on eBay. Though not strictly against freecycle rules (to the best of my knowledge), it is frowned upon because you're completely negating the environmental aspect of the group, as well as the money-saving aspect for somebody else - while you're taking stuff you don't need and selling it on for profit, you're denying somebody else - somebody who actually NEEDS those goods and can't afford to buy them. Fair?

Sure, buy things from charity shops etc and sell them on, but I'm afraid this is one money-making suggestion I really don't agree with...

lincroft1710

I agree with Tetisheri on this, Freecycle (or Freegle) is primarily a free recycling site. You give your unwanted stuff to people who can make use of it, rather than them sell it on at a profit.

Ponkle22

schofield8883 wrote: »

. im thinking mobile phone accessories etc as they are low in value but sell quickly and dont weigh much so could make a bit in postage?

Please don't fall as low as those other sneaks on Ebay and do the sneaky ebay postage con. It REALLY annoys me and I refuse to buy from those with inflated postage (ie hidden costs).

Fairie

I am sure if you look into the rules of freecycle it states that you are not to use the items to make money - therefore selling them is not allowed! I love freecycle and have picked up and given away many usefull things.

On a more helpfull note: have you thought about buying bulk/ job lots from auction sites and selling the items on individually?

Fairie

lvm

You would have to find something really profitable to sell on eBay as the fees involved are ridiculous!

I'm sure I worked out that with the insertion fee, final value fee and Paypal fees (you've got to accept Paypal I think) it was about 20% in fees of your ending price. Think the lowest you could get down to was about 18%.

Figures may be slightly wrong but you get the point!