Starting a e-business
Discussion
technodup said:
Frimley111R said:
Is it still the case that listings like that are 30 days, so he has sold 509 in a maximum of 30 days? Or are they essentially open-ended so we can't tell the sales volume in a particular period of time?I've used a couple of printers on Ebay and they're selling thousands, low margin obviously but it must be worthwhile.
It's a difficult one for me, I like the idea of the platform doing a lot of the heavy lifting but at the same time I wouldn't want to rely on a 3rd party site for income- bigger businesses than Ebay have gone tits up. Plus you're at the mercy of their various changes of terms as and when they feel like it.
supertouring said:
technodup said:
Frimley111R said:
Is it still the case that listings like that are 30 days, so he has sold 509 in a maximum of 30 days? Or are they essentially open-ended so we can't tell the sales volume in a particular period of time?I've used a couple of printers on Ebay and they're selling thousands, low margin obviously but it must be worthwhile.
It's a difficult one for me, I like the idea of the platform doing a lot of the heavy lifting but at the same time I wouldn't want to rely on a 3rd party site for income- bigger businesses than Ebay have gone tits up. Plus you're at the mercy of their various changes of terms as and when they feel like it.
Especially when its a frustratingly low value item (£10-20) and it just isn't worth collecting, you end up just refunding them to avoid negative feedback, and they keep something that there is probably nothing wrong with.
We had a negative feedback last week, because the colour of the box (i.e. the packaging, not the product) was a slightly different shade of blue to the photo on eBay. Knocked us from 100% to 99.8% feedback. b
ds.Dr Interceptor said:
We had a negative feedback last week, because the colour of the box (i.e. the packaging, not the product) was a slightly different shade of blue to the photo on eBay. Knocked us from 100% to 99.8% feedback. bds.
PITA admittedly but in every sector, no matter what it is, a business will have these type of challenges. ds.Frimley111R said:
Strangely enough if you can get off your ass and ring EE/Orange, you can get the service for £8, saving £6 markup they charge.There is still money to be made on eBay, but not by thinking of a product you like and deciding to sell it one evening. There are little to no barriers to entry to the type of business you are looking to set up, so unless you want to slave your ass off to make tuppence then you need to think of something else to sell...you need to find a product you can add value to, somewhere you can differentiate. Or you need to offer a service....
One thing a lot of e-commerce hopefuls dont consider is stock & cashflow. Now I have no idea on your financial position, but do not underestimate the cost of stock. It sounds simple, but without stock you cannot sell. Lets take your Apple example - lets say you manage to find a wholesaler and you want to open an account - he isn't going to let you buy 1 of each (If he does you certainly wont get a competitive price.) They'll probably even have a high MOQ just to stop hopefuls getting a bit of stock and cocking it all up for the established accounts.
If they have a MOQ of 50 iPads & 50 iPods - can you splash 22.5k on stock just to get the business going? (assuming iPads cost 300 & an iPod 150.)
As for the other chaps complaining about negatives...you just have to get over them. We get about 500 negs per year, but still maintain a healthy and Top Rated 99.8% - some we deserve, most are complete bullst. Its just part of the job...
One thing a lot of e-commerce hopefuls dont consider is stock & cashflow. Now I have no idea on your financial position, but do not underestimate the cost of stock. It sounds simple, but without stock you cannot sell. Lets take your Apple example - lets say you manage to find a wholesaler and you want to open an account - he isn't going to let you buy 1 of each (If he does you certainly wont get a competitive price.) They'll probably even have a high MOQ just to stop hopefuls getting a bit of stock and cocking it all up for the established accounts.
If they have a MOQ of 50 iPads & 50 iPods - can you splash 22.5k on stock just to get the business going? (assuming iPads cost 300 & an iPod 150.)
As for the other chaps complaining about negatives...you just have to get over them. We get about 500 negs per year, but still maintain a healthy and Top Rated 99.8% - some we deserve, most are complete bulls
t. Its just part of the job...russy01 said:
If they have a MOQ of 50 iPads & 50 iPods - can you splash 22.5k on stock just to get the business going? (assuming iPads cost 300 & an iPod 150.)
And given the razor thin margins, how do you get around the fact all your competitors are far more established and have far more feedback than you. Undercutting them on price is hardly an option. You could end up being stuck with dozens of iPads when Apple announce a new one... now your stock isn't even worth what you paid for it.KFC said:
russy01 said:
If they have a MOQ of 50 iPads & 50 iPods - can you splash 22.5k on stock just to get the business going? (assuming iPads cost 300 & an iPod 150.)
And given the razor thin margins, how do you get around the fact all your competitors are far more established and have far more feedback than you. Undercutting them on price is hardly an option. You could end up being stuck with dozens of iPads when Apple announce a new one... now your stock isn't even worth what you paid for it.But it was seriously annoying at the start and had to tighten up on everything.
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