some questions about selling (ebay)

llol_slim

Hi, ive been thinking about buying stuff to sell on ebay and was just wondering .. those people on here who have shops and sell regularly are you selleing specific items regularly for example buying from wholesale and selling on, or do you make items to sell or find whatever bargains you can and put them up?

Sorry if thats a dumb question, but I am trying to decide what direction I want to take, whethe I should find a niche, gap in the market, find some bargains (not sourced from this website)

How do you guys go about it?
-im not hunting for links and contacts literally wondering.
thank you

mummysdragon

I go to car boots and tend to sell stuff that I am interested in or collect myself, that way I know abit about the background etc., Also have a look on completed items and see what certain things sell for.
Selling the same type of items also has its benefits as I get regular customers come back.
Finding a niche on ebay I would have thought is almost an impossibilty, as with Ebay being Worldwide, somebody somewhere is bound to have thought of ideas.. but remember competion can be healthy.
If you list any items at a price you would be happy at getting, even if you only got 1 bid, you will be happy. Some start items at 99p and end up getting decent prices in a bidding war, but I dare not take risks myself.
Good luck, I am sure if you are determined you will be fine. But research is the answer, COMPLETED listings is where I found most of the info I was looking for.

soolin

Looking for that niche market is the way to go...You do better selling items that you have an interest in especially as you'll have more of an idea where to source your stock from...and that's the difficult bit!

llol_slim

thanks both .. car boots is a good idea. I will be recruiting some family so our knowledge will be a bit wider than just me alone
When i said niche, I knew really that almost everything is covered and sold, maybe I should go into selling worn fish-nets
Now to find some stock sources

mummysdragon

Also have a look at factory shops near you, charity shops, car boots, trade warehouses ...that you may be able to join. Also placing wanted ads in local papers for collections etc.,
Before you invest though check what stuff sells for. Many times I have been to a car boot etc., don't exactly know much about the items I have purchased only to get back home, check ebay completed and found out I am not going to make any profit at all. The items I make on are ALWAYS the ones i know best.

mummysdragon

Worn out trainers, with pictures of somebody actually wearing them do well lol, and believe me its tempting when you see some smelley dirty totally worn out trainers fetching £46!!!! ....I've probably got thousands of pounds worth of trainers in the cupboard, its just I havn't got the guts to list them lol

edsjad

hi - my experience is not to buy too much of anything. Three years ago, I went mad and bought loads of stuff (too much) - vintage pottery from ebay as a hobby really - I started doing art deco fairs but that's a very specific market and not very profitable, things shift slowly - I am now needing to sell the stuff to clear my house and debts, but the market in pottery seems to have plummeted - both on ebay and local antique shops. The good news is that I had also bought some vintage jewellery 3 years ago, and selling that realised that that was on the up - so alongside continuing to get rid of my pottery stuff, I am now selling vintage jewellery - bought from car boots and occasionally from usa. So as you say, research is important - and completed items is a good place to start. good luck.