Is there any money in this?

first78

I have noticed that Amazon has lots of little bits and pieces for under £1 which includes the postage...I was wondering if there's any money in buying stuff like this and then selling it on somewhere like eBay? I'm going to be struggling for cash this year while I complete my final year at uni on top of paying mortgage, bills and looking after my 2 kids so just looking for a way to make a few extra ££££

asajj

People could buy the same on Amazon wouldn't they? Also many people try to do the same. You could make perhaps some money but won't get rich certainly. I would look to cut my outgoings first instead.

buzzyzoe

Ebay has a huge amount of fees (insertion fees after the first 20 items per month, final value fee of the sale price, Paypal fees and they even charge a fee on the cost of the postage)

Also, depending on what the item is, the postage would probably outweigh the actual cost of the item itself, so you'd be trying to sell a £1 item at £3 to cover your postage, which people aren't that likely to buy.

Amazon sells things so cheaply because of their economy of scale - they don't need to worry as much about postage costs etc, but for individual sellers, the fees and direct costs mean that
1. There's almost no money to be made
2. The price gets pushed up quite significantly before even adding on a profit margin so you're less likely to sell.

I would say possibly buying things on Amazon and trying to sell them at a boot sale or similar would work better

Flyonthewall

You'll be running a business and so everything you make will need to be declared to HMRC.

Reselling means fees and postage costs and if they're selling that cheap on Amazon they're probably not selling for any more on ebay either. Even if they were selling for double you're probably going to be making a loss after you take off fees and postage costs.

Before you buy anything you should research it fully. Check ebay for prices and take into account how much fees would be and the cost to post.