Flipping on eBay

StueyMac40

I wonder if all you eBay experts can give me some advice?

There are (literally) hundreds of thousands of items that can be bought every day on eBay for their initial bid price, or slightly higher. Is there anyone out there who buys stuff like this and then re-sells it almost immediately in order to make a profit?

I'm asking because I might give it a go and see if I can make some cash, I know it takes a bit of work to source and bid for these items but it may well be worth it.

Any views, opinions or tips would be very welcome!

Strapped

It's hard work but good luck to you. Remember to use separate accounts for buying and selling, and it helps if you can get TRS status on the selling account first.

soolin

I do buy on ebay, and resell to a different market. Watch your profit margins though as you need to factor in the postage you pay to get the goods, then all your sale fees and paypal fees plus tax and NI. It works for me as I buy a fe wlines where I can remarket to a totally different audience that has been overlooked by the original sellers

As per Strapped, the important bit is to remember to use different accounts to buy and sell!

fiddiwebb

StueyMac40 wrote: »

I wonder if all you eBay experts can give me some advice?

There are (literally) hundreds of thousands of items that can be bought every day on eBay for their initial bid price, or slightly higher. Is there anyone out there who buys stuff like this and then re-sells it almost immediately in order to make a profit?

I'm asking because I might give it a go and see if I can make some cash, I know it takes a bit of work to source and bid for these items but it may well be worth it.

Any views, opinions or tips would be very welcome!

Problem is if you or a few others are buying items at there initial bid price or just over you have to ask yourself why there is not more interest in them unless you are dealing in art/antiques and come across a sleeper.

Gleeful

I bought a designer dress with terrible photos on eBay. It arrived and didn't fit, so I relisted it with better photos and it sold for 3 times what I paid for it!

RFW

We sell wholesale to a lot of Ebay resellers, so plenty of mixed lots that can be bought at low prices and resold. I can't imagine buying single items and reselling them is the most lucrative market, there are the misdescribed items, wrongly categorised and out of season items to look for, as well as bad pictures, collection items, and quite a few other things to look for.

I'd suggest having a look around and playing with some small value items to resell. I actually had a look at this as an idea for a charity project a while ago and it was quite difficult to do taking a lot of time on searching. Another idea would be to restrict yourself to a category and then add to that as you go along, that way you get a feel for what is available. Also check you are buying unique items, if you buy something for £10 that you think you will sell for £20 you may come unstuck if teh seller has another 100 that they keep relisting at £10.

Aquatronixjenny

It can be done, last year I got into buying old outboard motors with basic 1 line descriptions which said things like 'have no idea if it works, hasn't been used in 5 years'

Got them running with a bit of WD40 and an oil change and then relisted with a lovely description, lots of photos and a link to a you tube vid of the motors running, made about £150 profit on each one.