What have you tried, but failed at

Ambit_miffed

Hi all,

I am quite a regular participates in cottage industries and trying to come up with "something" I can sell on eBay etc to make a few extra quid.

What I would be interested to know is what ventures have people attempted, but failed at, and the reasons why.

In a constructive way, it would be a great way to potentially learn from other peoples mistakes.

I don't have any specific examples myself, but wondered if anyone has had a brilliant idea, gone through with it, only to realise there was so much more to it that they didn't plan for in the first place.

I do remember hearing a story of someone who thought she was making a mint on eBay, as she had a huge turnover. When she declared it as a business and filled in her first tax return, she then realised she was actually losing about £100 a month!

Hermia

This is not a mistake at such, but just an example of how the market can change. I used to sell cross stitch kits on ebay and always made a nice profit on them. Then suddenly, cross stitch became less trendy and papercrafts and then knitting became huge. I had noticed things were changing when I saw the crafts magazine section in WHSmith. I was suprised how quickly things changed on ebay though. Only the trendiest cross stitch kits still attracted big bids and some of the more ordinary kits started not getting bids at all. A friend who makes handmade jewellery says she really has to keep on top of trends not to get caught out.

wesleyad

Like Hermia, I had a change in market conditions. I used to buy and sell minimotos on eBay (the dinky little motorbikes). I'd buy them in batches of 5, throw some motorbike stickers in and sell them as replica mini motos. People loved them and I couldn't get them in and out enough. But then the government brought in that law that meant they would be scrapped if found on road, and over night business pretty much disappeared.

Moral is don't rely too heavily on one product.