How do you make a living on ebay?
Hi there I just wondered is there anyone out there who has any tips and hints on making a living selling on ebay. Ive heard there are people who do this but I wonder how this is possible. When I look at the various products on sale there dont seem to be many people bidding and it looks quite hard to make a profit. Ive started buying a few items to get positive feedback but when i have say about ten of these where do I go from there?
It is difficult to make a living on eBay!
Most things I sell are used items, but its hard to find what the buyer wants – things that you think will sell or get the highest number of bids, often take the longest time to shift and the things that you think are not so good and won’t get any interest often go for a lot more than you think….
For example…. I make handmade cards, which are really lovely, not giddy and totally worth the money I am asking for them, and yet I struggle to sell them, not because of the price I’m asking, its because people go to the local newsagent or card shop to buy them and don’t think to look for things like that on ebay – on the other hand – I just recently sold a pair of curtains that I was embarrassed to get the money I did for them (not that they were shoddy or anything – perfectly nice pair of curtains) but certainly not worth the 25 dollars someone bid for them! AND just in case you were thinking – the buyer absolutely loved them! sent me an email when she’d received them and gave me awesome feedback!
I personally look at ebay as a way to make a little extra money, when the kiddies have outgrown things, and when I find I no longer use something! I usually put money I earn towards their new seasonal wardrobe (I have 2 young kiddies that are growing like crazy at the moment!) and must admit that it helped at christmas this year too!
I think for you to be able to get a really good living on eBay, you have to have a really good product, a niche in the market, or at least a product that you have enough of that you can get to the top of the page so to speak (eg if you have 100 of an item at buy it now, you will be higher up the page than if you have only 1 of an item to sell!)
Sorry if I sound negative, but just trying to be realistic! The more you sell (or buy) the more accustomed you become to what products are selling and what aren’t! And at the same time, what is worth actually putting on ebay and what is better to just chuck in the bin! I have listed some things loads of times and its got to the point now where even if I sell at a decent price (what the items worth) then I already spent that on listing fees!
Do research! Just have a browse at what you think may sell, and do international searches on both open and closed listings! Its very time consuming, but if you have a product in mind, you can at least see where the land lies!
Good luck with your Ebaying – Hope it all works well for you!
There are so many people with so many interests. It’s important to have good feedback, not just as a buyer, but as a seller as well. For example, the first item I sold on eBay was a set of the coke bottle caps, because I figured people may want the codes underneath. I collected them and sold them by groups of 10. Once my ratings were high enough, I begun selling other things, like a scarf I had made and a shirt I had been given but didn’t fit. Find a variety of things that you can sell for a decent profit, and make sure you check similar items for their prices. If they can get the same item $10 cheaper, they won’t buy from you.
References :
eBay.com seller for 4 years
You have to acquire items in great number and sell them for more than their cost and eBay and PAPAL charges. Understand you’re going to have enough money to buy your stock and won’t see any income until your items are sold and payment received. Not an easy task as you noted when bidding isn’t what you expect. Also you should have the talent needed to promptly handle all the paperwork required.
References :
What you have to do is to find a supplier online equipped with database, extremely researched packed full of pictures of different origins. The supplier must have a low minimum buy of fifty dollars or so. What you have to do is to compare the products that are available in the website to the products that are found in listing searches totally completed. What you have to notice is if similar products are on sale and on what price. Thereafter if you find them you have no problem to sell at that price.
References :
That information is here —–> http://bizop.org/Ebay_Business_Opportunity.html
It is difficult to make a living on eBay!
Most things I sell are used items, but its hard to find what the buyer wants – things that you think will sell or get the highest number of bids, often take the longest time to shift and the things that you think are not so good and won’t get any interest often go for a lot more than you think….
For example…. I make handmade cards, which are really lovely, not giddy and totally worth the money I am asking for them, and yet I struggle to sell them, not because of the price I’m asking, its because people go to the local newsagent or card shop to buy them and don’t think to look for things like that on ebay – on the other hand – I just recently sold a pair of curtains that I was embarrassed to get the money I did for them (not that they were shoddy or anything – perfectly nice pair of curtains) but certainly not worth the 25 dollars someone bid for them! AND just in case you were thinking – the buyer absolutely loved them! sent me an email when she’d received them and gave me awesome feedback!
I personally look at ebay as a way to make a little extra money, when the kiddies have outgrown things, and when I find I no longer use something! I usually put money I earn towards their new seasonal wardrobe (I have 2 young kiddies that are growing like crazy at the moment!) and must admit that it helped at christmas this year too!
I think for you to be able to get a really good living on eBay, you have to have a really good product, a niche in the market, or at least a product that you have enough of that you can get to the top of the page so to speak (eg if you have 100 of an item at buy it now, you will be higher up the page than if you have only 1 of an item to sell!)
Sorry if I sound negative, but just trying to be realistic! The more you sell (or buy) the more accustomed you become to what products are selling and what aren’t! And at the same time, what is worth actually putting on ebay and what is better to just chuck in the bin! I have listed some things loads of times and its got to the point now where even if I sell at a decent price (what the items worth) then I already spent that on listing fees!
Do research! Just have a browse at what you think may sell, and do international searches on both open and closed listings! Its very time consuming, but if you have a product in mind, you can at least see where the land lies!
Good luck with your Ebaying – Hope it all works well for you!
References :
experience buying and selling on ebay for nearly 20 years