Does anyone make a living on eBay?

peace800

Does anyone make a living on eBay or decent money? Is there any way in which information about wholesalers be obtained and do all require minimum order.

Money_maker

Yes they do. I spent 6 months carefully googling to get my list of suppliers so dont expect it to be handed to you on a plate. Minimum orders vary from supplier to supplier. Be prepared to put in a lot of effort to find out the start up information and even more to keep the business running.

soolin

peace800 wrote: »

Does anyone make a living on eBay or decent money? Is there any way in which information about wholesalers be obtained and do all require minimum order.

I'm too lazy to spend enough time to make a living- but I do very well on the few hours I do put in. I know of several people though who make a very good living, certainly more than they would by working on the High Street or in an office.

The most successful sellers are the ones who have spent time and energy doing research and found either a niche market or a wholesaler that no one else has found.

Every wholesaler is different, you need to find one that suits you , but at the very least you are likely to have to show them proof of business in some form- sometimes just a letter from HMRC seems to do.

Brooker_Dave

peace800 wrote: »

Does anyone make a living on eBay or decent money? Is there any way in which information about wholesalers be obtained and do all require minimum order.

Selling anything new is a waste of time - a race to the bottom as everyone and his (or her) dog tries to undercut each other.

And if what you sell is made in China a billion Chinamen will undercut you as they can airmail packages across the world for less than the price of a stamp.

RFW

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

Selling anything new is a waste of time

Probably true in the OP's case as he doesn't have a clue what to do, but plenty earn money selling new stuff. The problem is people coming along trying to undercut and not working out basic sums.

Even the Chinese argument is easy enough to overcome, you just need to use some common sense.

I've just had a competitor on Amazon list about half a dozen items I had listed and undercut, they should have checked with me first as they've picked a few lines that won't sell at any price!

As for OP all wholesalers are different, some will want you to buy a container load of stock, others might be happy with £30 cash. Most of the big cities in the UK have wholesalers, get to one of those, find the wholesale places and knock on some doors. It's a much better way than via the internet.

Have a product in mind before attempting it, something you know something about is a good start.

RFW

soolin wrote: »

Every wholesaler is different, you need to find one that suits you , but at the very least you are likely to have to show them proof of business in some form- sometimes just a letter from HMRC seems to do.

For a lot of wholesalers in my area the only proof of business they'll ask for is cash;)

soolin

RFW wrote: »

For a lot of wholesalers in my area the only proof of business they'll ask for is cash;)

You are probably right, it's been ages since I last did any serious searching. :beer:

justjohn

we have been selling for well over 10 years. suppliers have come and gone.
Its harder to make a living now. we try to buy very large quantities that many cannot handle or don't have the cash for.




if you have a large initial investment I would not recommend ebay...rent a shop there is more profit.


however its still ideal for small startup and gradual growth


we started from a box room in an ex council house. now we run from a 80 sqm office/storage commercial building and a 160 sqm larger workshop/storage area.


we did own a shop, but we only opened for 4 hours monday to Friday due to the location. (no point in over doing it lol)

Brooker_Dave

justjohn wrote: »

we have been selling for well over 10 years. suppliers have come and gone.
Its harder to make a living now. we try to buy very large quantities that many cannot handle or don't have the cash for.

Too many ebay and amazon sellers mistake turnover for profit these days.

fishybusiness

Does anyone make a living on eBay or decent money?

Starting to!

We are a year down the line, and looking back I thought I knew the online market places. I didn't and no doubt another year down the line I will have realised how much I learnt in the second year.

Re wholesale, there are many many online wholesalers that just are not. Their prices are marked as 'trade prices', and they will happily sell you 5, 10, 20 or 100 units of stock.

Start to look at margins, costs and fees and you will easily make a loss on each sale you make.

We dipped our feet last year, tried a couple of wholesalers, made a bit of a loss in the beginning, tried something different and have found a market that works for us. Still playing with costs, listing idea's, and other ways to entice custom.

It's harder work than I ever imagined!

forgotmyname

What about the auctions?

I have bought stuff from the auctions, But my local one is costly.

15 - 20% buyers premium +VAT also. So your £100 bid is £140 to take it out the door.

If your reselling you need to be wary.