Trying to Write a Business Plan That Includes Using eBay - Struggling to See How...

PasturesNew

... opinions, help etc required.

Hi

I'm trying to write a business plan, basically it's a "buy things, add value, sell them" idea - and, it'd be madness not to include ebay as part of the marketing and sales mix.

However, I'm struggling to decide if it's madness or doable.

The problem is that I'd expect that buyers would expect me to post the items out the same day they ordered them - and I can't see how that is possible if the business is being built part-time round a full-time job with commuting.

The goods would be stored in a storage unit. Orders would be received, I'd be at work, I'd have to then get the orders, go to the storage unit, wrap the stuff up and post it .... except by then the Post Office will be long closed, so it'd be the next day.

If somebody ordererd, say, at 6:01pm when I left work I'd not even know they'd ordered until I got home from the storage unit with the current orders to wrap. So that 6:01pm Monday order would be "picked" on Tuesday night and mailed Wednesday.

Unacceptable in my book, due to delivery delays.... or is it OK to have just 3 posting days/week (say) and state order cut off times clearly?

Anybody got any way to work around this, or is it just not a go-er?

Crowqueen

or is it OK to have just 3 posting days/week (say) and state order cut off times clearly?

That kind of thing is not really viable on eBay nowadays, particularly for business sellers.

You might get away with two working days' delivery - Amazon mandate that timescale - but you would be competing with people who can offer a better, next-day dispatch service.

EDIT - deleted extra part about handmaking items because I originally misread your 'add value' comment to mean that you were upcycling/handmaking things, for which you should really think about using Etsy.

PasturesNew

Crowqueen wrote: »

...but you would be competing with people who can offer a better, next-day dispatch service...

EDIT - deleted extra part about handmaking items because I originally misread your 'add value' comment to mean that you were upcycling/handmaking things, for which you should really think about using Etsy.

Yeah, competing with people who are at home all day ... bummer

Yes, etsy will be included in the business plan.... need to get good coverage, for analysis of results/effort/costs in order to refine the channels for optimum efficiency.

That's always been my problem with 'starting a business' - when you're out at work all day to pay for rent/mortgage/bills/living .... you're limited as to what you can do compared to people sitting on their 4rses all day with their overheads taken care of .... should have got married.

dktreesea

I think it is fine to only post things out 2 to 3 days a week. Say Monday lunchtime for the things you sell and pack over the weekend, Wednesday or Thursday lunchtime for the items during the week, and Saturday morning for the Thursday evening to Saturday morning items. With E-Bay, just maybe schedule your auctions to end on the days it would suit you for them to end, i.e. the day before your posting day.


With the stock,especially if it is but it now items you are selling, you could just keep a few items at home in case you do get a late order you want to fill but don't want to traipse out to your storage for.

PasturesNew

dktreesea wrote: »

With the stock,especially if it is but it now items you are selling, you could just keep a few items at home in case you do get a late order you want to fill but don't want to traipse out to your storage for.

Couldn't keep stuff at ''home' as I'm just a lodger with a small over-crowded room ... and even my spare sheets will be stored at the storage place due to lack of space.... although the items aren't actually big, so I could keep the top 6 sellers at home, or limit the BIN items... obviously the plan is to build things up, so I could then move out to a 1-bed place - then the whole bedroom could be the stock room and I could sleep on the sofa

Crowqueen

dktreesea wrote: »

I think it is fine to only post things out 2 to 3 days a week. Say Monday lunchtime for the things you sell and pack over the weekend, Wednesday or Thursday lunchtime for the items during the week, and Saturday morning for the Thursday evening to Saturday morning items. With E-Bay, just maybe schedule your auctions to end on the days it would suit you for them to end, i.e. the day before your posting day.


With the stock,especially if it is but it now items you are selling, you could just keep a few items at home in case you do get a late order you want to fill but don't want to traipse out to your storage for.

It depends, but this is a bad idea if you use fixed price listings where anyone can buy at any time - buyers will mark dispatch down very sharply if you cannot post out every day. As a business, I would probably want to list a lot of things at fixed price and have constant sales. Auctions are not always appropriate, for example if someone wants something immediately, and with fixed price listings you give people a lot more flexibility with when they can purchase.

Other sites you might want to use will not use auctions. Amazon in particular has a very strict dispatch time and makes receiving monies dependent on notifying them of actual dispatch. It is hugely important when competing with others to be able to post every day.

Bear in mind, OP - Etsy is only appropriate for handmade items. There is a good blog - Regretsy - which lays into people abusing it for mass-produced items.

I know it's not practical for you at the moment but perhaps something has to give - either the job or the plan for the business - if you want to be competitive. The business seller board on eBay suggests to me most people now expect to have to send out orders very promptly.

PasturesNew

Crowqueen wrote: »

It depends, but this is a bad idea if you use fixed price listings where anyone can buy at any time - buyers will mark dispatch down very sharply if you cannot post out every day. As a business, I would probably want to list a lot of things at fixed price and have constant sales. Auctions are not always appropriate, for example if someone wants something immediately, and with fixed price listings you give people a lot more flexibility with when they can purchase.

Other sites you might want to use will not use auctions. Amazon in particular has a very strict dispatch time and makes receiving monies dependent on notifying them of actual dispatch. It is hugely important when competing with others to be able to post every day.

Bear in mind, OP - Etsy is only appropriate for handmade items. There is a good blog - Regretsy - which lays into people abusing it for mass-produced items.

I know it's not practical for you at the moment but perhaps something has to give - either the job or the plan for the business - if you want to be competitive. The business seller board on eBay suggests to me most people now expect to have to send out orders very promptly.

This is the thing... I need the job to pay the rent ... and the LL wouldn't want me sitting at home all day running a business from their house ... and I'm fed up of waiting and always having barriers (like the small matter of having to earn a living to pay rent/live). Might have to exclude online sales from the business plan for the first 1-2 years as I know how important fast despatch is... and actually being a professional.

Obviously ... the perfect job would therefore have to be to get a job at the storage facility answering their phones.... then rush out in my lunch hour to pack/despatch from my unit Not really feasible is it though .... oh pipe dreams.

Crowqueen

I think the problem is your personal circumstances will militate against buyers' expectations. It's unfortunate, but for example when I go to my boyfriend's house for anything longer than a weekend, I suspend my private Amazon listings because I am not then in a position to dispatch within the time period they specify. Shlepping a huge box of books between houses is not feasible, nor are the costs of coming home every day to pack items that sell.

The thing is, actually, I think you could just about do what you are planning to do, particularly if you charged for and sent first class - but the whole thing needs to run like clockwork and you need to have a contingency plan for when things go wrong.

People giving you advice here, however, are a bit misguided to say it does not matter.

soolin

I hav emultiple BINs and despite having a 2 day despatch (to cover days when I work) I tend to post out virtually every day anyway as I have help at home to cover for me.

However, despite the 2 day despatch I still get several emails a month asking me to post immediately as it is a gift or is needed for the weekend or holiday and is time limited.

I can only manage daily posting as my stuff is stored within my property (I have a large building that used to be a home gym) so I tend to check for sales up to about 11pm at night, wrap them and they are taken to the PO the next day for me.

My despatch star is currently at 4.9 and I have a 1* showing on my dashboard as well , despite mainly shipping withint 24 hours.

Gleeful

This is essentially what I do, buy on eBay for cheap, relist and sell again on eBay for 2-3 times what I paid for them. I also work full time, 8.45am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

With regards to the despatch time, I get everything out within 24 hours and just post the items on my way to work in the morning in a post box using paypal postage. I self insure for loss. When I get the chance, I do sent through post offices to get proof of postage but this is very rare - weekends and holidays. Most of my items just go in a post box. Its worth the risk (self insuring) as my desp star is 4.9.

soolin

Gleeful makes a useful point- would the business plan work if you took out the requirement to actually go to the PO every day and self insured /dropped items in a post box instead? That does of course assume that a) items fit in a Post Box and that they are cheap enough not to worry too much. I do a similar thing myself but as far as my buyers are concerned it has all gone via a post office or mail centre.

I would also caution against over stretching yourself. I work and have worked with ebay sellers who are absolutely exhausted by it all. 9-5.30 in the office, home by 6.30, 2 hours wrapping items, answering daft questions dealing with problems- or just generally shouting at paypal because paypal postage is 'down' again. A few months in and they can barely say the word ebay without crying. They all started off with the idea they could put aside an hour at most each evening, but it never really pans out like that if you sell in quantitiy