£10k to invest in Ebay business...but what?

Snooze_Control

Unless you've got a specific plan already in knowing what you're going to sell, how much it'll sell for and how well it'll sell, then I think you'd be crazy to blow £10k on buying stuff to sell on Ebay.


SC

TBeckett100

tickle me elmos?

tomstickland

My advice would be to research very carefully and to not use all of your funds up front only to find out that your masterplan has a flaw. Start slowly.

krazykidskate

I'd buy a few books like ebay for Dummies (not calling you a dummy) and maybe a couple of cheap ebay ebooks for ideas. One suggestion I remember is to sell consumables so people keep coming back for more. Also to use ebay as a launch pad for your own website including links on your pages and flyers in the packages you send to get customers directly shopping with you eventually and cutting out the ebay fees.

Make sure you really track your profit using spreadsheets including all your ebay and Paypal fees and packaging, travel, time etc. its easy to think your making money with ebay when actually your just making money for ebay.

Hope you find a winner - Good Luck!

durham_girl

Nothing much to add to the above posters, except to say Good Luck! I wish I had the balls to give up my job and work at home on ebay!!

grayfray

Thank you for all your replies and wishes,. I understand in regards to finding a unique product to sell on ebay, 18 months ago I put together a software disk using readily available software on the net and made approx £1100 profit in 10 days! Then it was copied by other ebay members and the price dropped!
I have currently have 198 positive feedback and know the importance of a good pic, decription and to tell the buyer the truth. I think the answer I am looking for lies with manufacturing...make something unique or at least cheaper than any one else...but the million dollar question is what!!! Guess I need to keep looking, once again thank you for all your advice and replies.

tourette_t-shirts

With £10,000 would it not be better to look at puchasing a shop .Ebay is very difficult to make a regular income from with so many sellers etc.
Have a look online and in papers and magazines for business ideas and see if one could be set up in yor local area?
Even better would be to setup a shop that sells products that you can also sell on ebay so youcould be sat in your shop working on ebay and in your shop,rather than just being at home with ebay.

cammo12

surely the software issue is a dodgy area. Even though the software is free on the internet, your selling it for profit is likley to be illegal.

competitionscafe

Don't forget to declare your self-employed status to the Inland Revenue too, once you start earning.

richt71

I looked at plasma TV's direct from Taiwan (found on global source website) as they have constantly been good sellers on ebay for a few years. However I ran into major issues - mainly the minimum amount was 40 units plus freight, import duties and a secure storage unit. Think I worked out I needed at least £40K of capital so passed on the idea! The mark-up seemed to be about £200 a tv at the time.