Do you make decent money on ebay?

TrickyWicky

Hi all

I think we've all heard about people who've made their money from ebay and I think we've all heard of someone somewhere who sells bits and bobs etc. Probably fair to say we've all heard of people who have been diddled on there too!

Anyway I was just wondering, with all of you ebayers, do any of you actually make any real money / profit on ebay or do you just tickover? Maybe some of you take a loss just to get rid of stuff?

Whatever your answer, be nice enough to tell us what type of stuff you sell - nothing explicit, just what category it would fit into.

soolin

What is ' a lot' to one person may seem like peanuts to another, just go and look at some of the various threads about 'up your income' where people are genuinely thrilled to receive a £10 Amazon voucher after doing 2 surveys a week for a month.

I am a tiny seller, as I have a life outside of ebay and do not want to be tied down, it does however pay for a number of good holidays each year.

I give enough clues to what I sell, but my motto is if I see something selling well and i can source it, then I will. When market starts to fall I get out and try something different. I do have some regular 'bread and butter' lines that I can source easily and cheaply and can slam out quickly with no real effort- I would be foolish to even hint at what category they are in.

Charshy

I am a private/personal seller and I get rid of stuff I don't use/doesn't fit/want to replace lurking around my house. It's been basically a profitable version of feng shui

I've lost money on some items - recently I had to re-pay £8 International Signed-For because the courier in the destination country couldn't be arsed to send it to my buyer (I believe my buyer - they seemed friendly and honest and were as perplexed as I was that the parcel didn't turn up), and it turned back up at my doorstep. Not even worth going through the RM claims process. It was a £3 item.

On the other hand, I've made £5 from selling a free catalog that came through my door, £40 on my old non-digital camcorder which I had been planning to freecycle, and some free posters I got at a convention* for £4 each.

My current policy is if I won't make more than £2.50 selling it, then it goes to the charity shop, just because of the time/potential faff involved. :cool:

* I didn't just help myself to selling free gifts - there was a stall shutting down at the end of the day that didn't want to carry all their promo posters stuck all over their stand back with them. I happily volunteered to take as many as I could carry off their hands!

Gleeful

I sell clothing

thepedestrian

I find I`m spending far too much time uploading and photographing

- its great when you pick something up for 5 and sell for 50 ,but there's been a lot of times where I have been a bit off in the descriptions and has cost me in postage and return postage and also having to apologies through gritted teeth because of a loose thread

It started off as a hobby and a bit of challenge to make a little bit extra - but is really become a chore now ,especially with all the rules and regulations, I have a build up of stock,that will take me the rest of the year to shift at least,but still cannot resist if I see a bargain

- If I could get rid of everything in one hit ,for even a fairly decent price - I would ,as I am getting sick of wrapping and tapping and queuing at a ever more hostile post office - its almost as bad as having a gambling problem- I'm addicted and could really do with quitting to be honest

freddysmith

I will sell anything that I have knowledge about and can source within my Ebay business. I make enough money to keep me interested in continuing spending time and effort but it's only one source of several income streams I have.
Do I make decent money on ebay? I believe so.

RainbowDrops

Charshy wrote: »

My current policy is if I won't make more than £2.50 selling it, then it goes to the charity shop, just because of the time/potential faff involved. :cool:

I'm a private seller just clearing out stuff, and I have a similar 'policy' - mine is sell nothing for less than a fiver, for similar reasons.

As a private seller, I'm not so fussed about profits, but I want the faff to be worth my while, so I do a bit of research on my items before listing, and tend to make an amount that I'm happy with.

lovinituk

Ebay is one of the platforms my business sells on and it is a significant part of the overall turnover. Saying that, we do better on Amazon and the majority of our business comes from direct wholesale sales.

pulliptears

I'm currently stuck at home with a long term sick DD so I sell a 'crafty' type item which involves me painting etc to order, I use Ebay for UK sales and Etsy for worldwide. It keeps me occupied but all my profit goes into a separate savings account in which I'm saving to buy a Scottie Dog puppy later in the year. I lost my little Scott last year and it's not been the same since so I'd love another pup.

Once I've raised the money I'll probably stop again lol.

BatmansBride_2

Over the last few months i've found myself suddenly in a difficult financial situation so I have been selling my comic book collection and other bits and bobs from around the house.
I've made a few hundred pounds so far and still have loaaads of comics to sell (it's hard finding the time to list them) i've been collecting for years so have no idea how much I paid for most of them originally but it looks like i've made a couple of quid profit on some of the older/rarer ones and probably made a loss on most of the newer ones, but I guess it's needs must and I have read and enjoyed them more than once so it's not a huge loss at the end of the day.
On the whole though, i'm actually quite enjoying using e-bay and at times it can be a much needed distraction as well as making me feel a bit more productive! I'm sad to see my comics go though

Whilst posting here, i'd also just like to take a moment to say a MASSIVE thanks to everyone that takes their time to post on this board, i've read loads and have found out some very valuable information as well as having my few remaining questions answered in a very helpful and positive way! :T:T THANKYOU x

Strapped

freddysmith wrote: »

I will sell anything that I have knowledge about and can source within my Ebay business. I make enough money to keep me interested in continuing spending time and effort but it's only one source of several income streams I have.
Do I make decent money on ebay? I believe so.

^This, except I'd say that I make a "good second income" (with husband the main breadearner these days) but I couldn't live on it alone (or would want to be that dependent on one outlet).