selling on ebay

tyroneshoelaces

hi i hope someone can help here but im really interested in selling on ebay properly, by properly i mean buying items at wholesalers and then selling on ebay to make a profit. i sell the odd item here and there but now i want to make proper money if possible.
i have been looking around on google with regards to what steps i need to take to do this properly but i have no idea where to start. im not looking for ideas of things to sell as i dont want to tread on peoples toes but i would like to know how to get started with buying from wholesalers and anything else that needs to be known in order to do this.
ideally i would like to test the water first of all before taking the plunge and spending out on a lot of stock.

so i would really, really appreciate it if people could point me in the right direction as i want to make a start on this so desperately!!

i look forward to your replies!!

thanks!!

custardy

problem you have is most will give vague suggestions.
they are hardly going to give away whats a good seller now or they would do it themselves
depends how big you want to go and what you are planning to sell,volume,funds you have to outlay etc.

what do you know? when i ebayed full time it was with modded xbox's which for me was a limited sellers market so made it easy for me in regards to rivals.

camper_1982

when i was buying from wholesalers, i found them really expensive and was hardly making any money on ebay selling them. Would be alright if you are in a shop selling at 2x markup, but on ebay, you dont get that much for the goods. I never looked into latest game releases but they always seem to sell well on there but where do you get them from?
Those wholesalers sell a right load of crap that no one ever wants!!!

tyroneshoelaces

hi thanks for the reply, i think you may have understood me but im not asking for ideas as to what i should sell, i have my own ideas but i would like to know how i go about buying from wholesalers etc etc and maybe if people can give other advice that would be great!
like i said im not asking for ideas about what to sell, im not intereste din stealing people's ideas or treading on their toes. i just want advice about gettign started.

thanks

tyroneshoelaces

camper_1982 wrote: »

when i was buying from wholesalers, i found them really expensive and was hardly making any money on ebay selling them. Would be alright if you are in a shop selling at 2x markup, but on ebay, you dont get that much for the goods. I never looked into latest game releases but they always seem to sell well on there but where do you get them from?
Those wholesalers sell a right load of crap that no one ever wants!!!

ok thanks, the problem i have is that i do actually have a product in mind, obviously i wont give away what it is, but there are lots of other people selling it but i believe that if your selling at the right price and the right postage then people will use you no matter how many other people are selling the same item. even if your a little more expensive than other rivals people will still use you if your item finishes earlier than that of the other seller.
mmmmmm..........maybe if wholesalers are crap then i need to look elsewhere.

custardy

its a tricky one.i guess it gets easier once you get a turnover as you can haggle.
plus be prepared ot take losses on noob mistakes.
i often think the smart sellers in some respects are the guys selling loads of small items.
like recently i got a new NIC PCI card for my PC.£4.99 posted.im sure theres little mark up but the seller had 20000 plus feedback and an off ebay site and included a little price list in with the item.

Hintza

I wouldn't recommend you take on established sellers head on. If you stepped onto my patch you would see prices come down so fast you might struggle to make a profit. And there are bigger fish who do the samne to me. I have had many would be competitors came and go and a few months of low prices soon drives them away. The most irritating ones are those that undercut you by a penny that shows lack of bottle and comitment.

This is a dog eat dog market place.

You must do a lot of research and start small and probably test market. You need to know and understand the market, inside out, what or who drives it and what technical changes if any are coming along. You need to be ready for the established retailers having sales and slashing prices.

Start slow and be willing to persevere. If a market goes against you you need to decide whether to step back for a few weeks or decide that the first cut in price is the cheapest.

As for finishing items earlier than others, that can be difficult to achieve, If you are selling seriously only one day auctions are really viable (those you can work to finish at slightly quiter times) or just stick to BIN.


Whatever you do take it one step at a time and grow slowly.

Good luck.

tyroneshoelaces

cheers for the advice!!

musemad

I would not reccomend you take this course without a lot of thought
There are a lot of people doing this and profit margins are wafer thin , plus ebay seem determined to drain small businesses of as much cash as pos by putting their fees up every year (paypal fees, final value fees , listing fees)(Especially true on small low value items) while some sellers have done quite well in the past - this might not be a model for future traders .
It all depends on what you are selling really , but do be very careful

tyroneshoelaces

what are places like makro like?are they any good?

custardy

tyroneshoelaces wrote: »

what are places like makro like?are they any good?

no! trust me i can often buy in the supermarket cheaper!! yes you may get some deals and being VAT registered would remove the VAT effect but macro isnt the holy grail of cheapness lots of people think it is