Looking for some extra income selling on ebay

dannygn123

I have thought for a while I would like to be able to make extra money buy selling on eBay. I've seen sites like wholesale clearance that sell bankrupt/end of line stock and wondered if anyone makes money doing this. Also bee having a look on Alibaba but it seems such a minefield. I'm tempted to just pick something that seems to be popular (I know to avoid branded clothes/electronics) and just see if I can make a profit on it. Is it a good idea or are there just too many people selling on eBay now who will undercut me

soolin

dannygn123 wrote: »

I have thought for a while I would like to be able to make extra money buy selling on eBay. I've seen sites like wholesale clearance that sell bankrupt/end of line stock and wondered if anyone makes money doing this. Also bee having a look on Alibaba but it seems such a minefield. I'm tempted to just pick something that seems to be popular (I know to avoid branded clothes/electronics) and just see if I can make a profit on it. Is it a good idea or are there just too many people selling on eBay now who will undercut me

Yours is one of those 'how long is a piece of string' questions- it is impossible to guess how other sellers will react to you entering their market.

The issue with 'popular' items is that other experienced and established sellers may have a lower wholesale price that you which puts you at a disadvantage when trying to compete, also an established long term seller with good feedback is almost certainly going to be able to outsell a new seller anyway.

Personally I avoid popular items, I source from many different platforms and try and keep in more specialised areas so that my products stand out. I am also quick to move into a new area, and dump an existing line that has run its course, I won't stubbornly continue with a category that is a difficult or overcrowded area.

remember as well to fully work through costs before buying anything to sell, as a business you will have listing costs, cost of returns or losses,tax etc to pay.As a new seller ebay will also limit your exposure, you may find yourself limited to as few as 10 items a month for the first few months which means you won't be able to go into high volume postage discounts or anything. Paypal will almost certainly keep your funds for 21 days as well until you are established.

My suggestion would be to sell a few things you have lying around as a private seller first, get a feel for ebay and selling, get a bit of a history and some decent feedback. Then once established upgrade to a business account and go for it. Perhaps look at selling in areas connected to an interest or hobby you have so you have a possible advantage over other sellers?

RFW

dannygn123 wrote: »

I have thought for a while I would like to be able to make extra money buy selling on eBay. I've seen sites like wholesale clearance that sell bankrupt/end of line stock and wondered if anyone makes money doing this. Also bee having a look on Alibaba but it seems such a minefield. I'm tempted to just pick something that seems to be popular (I know to avoid branded clothes/electronics) and just see if I can make a profit on it. Is it a good idea or are there just too many people selling on eBay now who will undercut me

Soolin covers it above but just as a quick 'soundbite', popular = no profit. Even more so if you don't know what you're doing.


My current best selling line on Amazon is something nobody else sells. I get a window of about 6 weeks with a big rush, the rest of the year they just sell steadily, so no other sellers are interested (so far).


Don't go looking for random stuff unless you have shedloads of cash to burn. Think of what you know most about or like that you can sell. The more niche the better.


If you really want to go down the path of popular items the only way you have a chance of a profit is to sell differently to others. So try bundles of two or three items, either all the same or different.


On Ebay you can search for recently sold items, so rather than looking for what you can sell find what has sold in the recent past. A high value item with just a few sales may have some opportunities.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

The search facility on eBay doesn't help either, you see a listing that has sold 10,000 of something, good luck knocking that off the top spot.

A lot of people buy what is put in front of them and established listings will be at the top already.

I think it's very difficult to achieve an income on eBay these days.

dannygn123

Thanks for the replies. Some good advice. I know alot about baking so I could go down the line of baking/kitchen equipment. Is that niche enough? Do I need to be a registered business or anything to order from Alibaba? How does it work with import tax when coming from China? If I was just to try it as a one off say I ordered 100 items would I immediately need to upgrade to an eBay business account?

I have sold things from around the house on eBay before so I already have some decent feedback. Sorry for all the questions I guess there is alot to think of. I guess I could look at selling on Amazon too?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

You'd need to register as a business on eBay as soon as you start listing items you've purchased specifically to sell.

I believe you can sell £1000 worth of stuff a year before having to register as self employed but I would read up on this.

When you register as self employed it may affect your tax code if you have a normal PAYE job.

Some categories on Amazon now require approval (which it's unlikely new sellers will get despite Amazon accepting applications), I'm not sure what they require for registering these days but a few years back they were after utility bills, copies of passports, etc for the use of their payment system and to comply with money laundering regs.

Amazon can be a mine field as some seller think they own the product page and will try to bully you off.

I would start on eBay and see how it goes.

You really need to check the items you are looking at as if freely available on Alibaba at a price offering a mark up they will likely be others selling it plus some eBay sellers in China as well as.

At a basic level you need to account for eBay fees, Paypal fees, packaging, postage and a buffer for lost items and returns.

As a general I wouldn't invest more than you are willing to lose.

ballisticbrian

One thing I sell on eBay 8 years ago for 6 pounds a bag I now sell for 3 pounds a bag and yet every now and then someone comes along who thinks all they have to do is go 1p cheaper and they haven't seen 8 - 10 years of history. Try that at your own folly.

RFW

dannygn123 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. Some good advice. I know alot about baking so I could go down the line of baking/kitchen equipment. Is that niche enough? Do I need to be a registered business or anything to order from Alibaba? How does it work with import tax when coming from China? If I was just to try it as a one off say I ordered 100 items would I immediately need to upgrade to an eBay business account?

First, baking related is a good idea. If you wanted to track a couple of baking shows you could cross promote your products via Twitter and hashtag the programme.



Anyone can buy on Alibaba. There is tax to pay if you're buying more than a certain amount in one go, from one seller. A very crude way to work is that the price in dollars would be a bit less than what you would end up paying in pounds after tax. There are better ways of working it out but that's helped me decide if something was worth importing.


I'd probably suggest at your stage that you could find some British wholesalers/importers that would probably work. Most big cities still have wholesale areas, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, London, Birmingham, Glasgow (I think), etc. Unusually you may actually be better off finding one nearest to you and visiting them with some cash. Maybe get a few business cards printed so they let you in, although the majority of places would be happy to get a cash customer, so take some with!

RFW

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head wrote: »

You'd need to register as a business on eBay as soon as you start listing items you've purchased specifically to sell.

I believe you can sell £1000 worth of stuff a year before having to register as self employed but I would read up on this.

When you register as self employed it may affect your tax code if you have a normal PAYE job.

If you buy (or make) to sell you are a business, there's no starting point of turnover. Contact HMRC to see how it works with your personal tax. It may well be that you'll be losing money for a bit (start up costs and expenses) that you can offset against tax.



If you go through your local library or council there will likely be some support for someone starting a new business.



On baking accessories there's loads of things you can do to cross promote. Make a cooking video using your products with a web link to your Ebay page, as one example. Or just a simple blog with recipes and which of your products to use.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

RFW wrote: »

If you buy (or make) to sell you are a business, there's no starting point of turnover.

There was a trading allowance introduced:

https://www.freeagent.com/glossary/trading-allowance/

just the first useful link from Google but gives the general idea.

RFW

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head wrote: »

There was a trading allowance introduced:

www.freeagent.com/glossary/trading-allowance/

just the first useful link from Google but gives the general idea.

Thanks.
I've not noticed that before.
£1000 is not a lot though, if you sell a dozen items a week at £5-£10 plus postage then you'll be there in a couple of months.

As I said it may be beneficial to personal tax to register sooner. Always worth a call to HMRC to check, they're surprisingly friendly and helpful.