Any successful eBayers here?

[Anthony Micallef]

I just wondered what advice you would give to someone who wants to make eBay more than just a hobby?

Would love to make it full time business even if it just gave me an income the same as what I earn now which isn't a great deal.

Is it best to find a niche or sell a broad selection of products you think may sell?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

[mickytruelove]

I have been selling on ebay for the last 4-5 years, started a limited company 1-2 years ago from it.

Without a niche now 'a days its just a numbers game. There is so much competition thats it most times a race to the bottom on price. There is also many sellers who do not pay tax/vat so its not a level playing field. Many chinese sellers with stock in the UK have VAT number showing but if you look it up it will belong to a UK company that is not trading. Not the actual company you you are buying from.

My advise would be look more into selling on Amazon. A few years ago i would say ebay was 60% and amazon 40% of sales. These days Amazon is 75% of sales.

and always remember you have to play by ebay/amazons rules no matter how stupid they are. Ebay will change the requirements for top rated seller ect and you just need to not get annoyed and adapt your business. Its their train set.

Hope thats some help.

[DSLiverpool]

If you can source your own product or customise one you have a fighting chance, even importing generic stuff now is dire.

[Mudgey]

I started out with 10k in my pocket 6 years ago and my business only grew as I was also designing and selling niche products, even in that time frame I have seen eBay sellers become hugely competitive on price along with many many overseas (Chinese) sellers pop up with shipping from the UK fulfilment centre and fake VAT numbers.

I still buy and sell items sourced from overseas manufacturers to sell but unless you are generally buying by the pallet load and having it shipped by sea freight you are otherwise leaving yourself open for someone else to undercut you.

[Anthony Micallef]

Thank you all for your replies so far, its been very helpful.

At the moment I have a niche that I am selling in but its only generating a few sales a week. Im keeping this going for now as its very easy to maintain as the items are very small and can just be posted in a small jiffy bag. I also re-sell stuff that I buy from car boots and charity shops. This is something I may expand on as you can make a fair bit doing this. However my main aim is to sell brand new items rather than other peoples cast offs.

I don't think im ready yet to be buying pallet full of items from overseas just yet.

Keep the advice coming though.

[LordHaveMurci]

We've sold a few things on eBay over the years, the 1st was a training CD which we sold for £22.50 inc delivery. They sold like hot cakes so somebody undercut us & sold them for £14.99 (why such a big drop?), naturally we listed at £14.95 selling nearly as many but making much less.

A short while later several 'entrepreneurs' from the Bradford area were counterfeiting them & selling them for £6.00

We then got a virtual monopoly on another software program, did very well out of that as NOBODY could undercut us, we were making £50 a shot on those

Sadly, that went to online version only, no more CD releases

We've never found anything worth selling since, especially when you factor in the aholes you inevitably end up dealing with.

[DSLiverpool]

Anthony Micallef said:

At the moment I have a niche that I am selling in but its only generating a few sales a week. Im keeping this going for now as its very easy to maintain as the items are very small and can just be posted in a small jiffy bag.

If it needs more exposure you could use Amazon adwords to place an advert for your item on the page of a high traffic competitor ?

[addsvrs]

I dont believe it has to be niche products you have to sell to make any money, I sell widely available items and do ok. Like you OP all i wanted to do was match my previous wage (I was made redundant from my full time job). What i would advise is 'practicing' along side a full time job. I did for about 8 months before committing full time to it.

You sell a few bits and think this is easy when you have another wage coming in, in reality when its your only income it gets way way harder. Ebay / paypal fees stack up quickly, packaging materials are expensive, NOBODY wants to pay for postage so you have to cover that, 30 day returns are painful when the buyer changes his mind at 29 days, and the people trying to rip you off is unbelievable.

But it can be done.

Looking back to 3 years ago when i went full time at Ebay, my listings are 100% better, I now have a 'Featured' shop, my stock has increased by 400%, I think i can spot a time waster / rip off tt a mile away, i have changed couriers / suppliers pretty much every year.

I will never be Alan Sugar but im fairly happy with how its going, but having that 2nd person (wife / partner etc) to sound off to when things are going badly is priceless, i work on my own and when i havent sold much or have Return issues it can feel like the end of the world.

Hope this dosent sound to negative as I believe if you are set up correctly, offer a better customer service than your rivals, you dont have to be the cheapest in your market to make a living

[Anthony Micallef]

addsvrs said:

I dont believe it has to be niche products you have to sell to make any money, I sell widely available items and do ok. Like you OP all i wanted to do was match my previous wage (I was made redundant from my full time job). What i would advise is 'practicing' along side a full time job. I did for about 8 months before committing full time to it.

You sell a few bits and think this is easy when you have another wage coming in, in reality when its your only income it gets way way harder. Ebay / paypal fees stack up quickly, packaging materials are expensive, NOBODY wants to pay for postage so you have to cover that, 30 day returns are painful when the buyer changes his mind at 29 days, and the people trying to rip you off is unbelievable.

But it can be done.

Looking back to 3 years ago when i went full time at Ebay, my listings are 100% better, I now have a 'Featured' shop, my stock has increased by 400%, I think i can spot a time waster / rip off tt a mile away, i have changed couriers / suppliers pretty much every year.

I will never be Alan Sugar but im fairly happy with how its going, but having that 2nd person (wife / partner etc) to sound off to when things are going badly is priceless, i work on my own and when i havent sold much or have Return issues it can feel like the end of the world.

Hope this dosent sound to negative as I believe if you are set up correctly, offer a better customer service than your rivals, you dont have to be the cheapest in your market to make a living

Excellent, thanks this was the sort of post I was hoping for, very helpful.

I use a template at the moment so my listings don't look too bad, I just need to increase my stock. At the moment I'm just sourcing from charity shops and car boots.

[Anthony Micallef]

Just seen your shop and it looks very good. It is a niche though

[DSLiverpool]

When I started in 1997 (!) I sold stuff from the computer fair (remember them) and then I started visiting the ex cat places in manchester whilst working 9-5. Using the ironing board as a wrapping table and sending everything at the post office they were really happy days and I was making ££££.

Not so sure you can do that now - I was offered 1000 * plug in dusk lights for £1.50 by the UK importer which I thought was cheap, however a quick search sees it sold on ebay (UK Seller) for £3.40 delivered - cant compete in any way with that.

[addsvrs]

Thanks, although car parts are pretty much mainstream stuff. One of biggest problems early on was relying on 1 local supplier, after a good 12 months said supplier packed it in and kinda left me high and dry (not his problem). I now buy from 4 or 5 regular places and do lots more mileage but I'm always looking for new streams of stock. Bear that in mind when you need to make xxx amount a week and only get your stuff from 1 or 2 places.

[madmover]

DSLiverpool said:

If you can source your own product or customise one you have a fighting chance, even importing generic stuff now is dire.

Agreed. The good days are gone for new starters unless you find a Niche, or have the ability to add substantial value away from the crowd.

[anonymous-user]

LordHaveMurci said:

We've sold a few things on eBay over the years, the 1st was a training CD which we sold for £22.50 inc delivery. They sold like hot cakes so somebody undercut us & sold them for £14.99 (why such a big drop?), naturally we listed at £14.95 selling nearly as many but making much less.

A short while later several 'entrepreneurs' from the Bradford area were counterfeiting them & selling them for £6.00

We then got a virtual monopoly on another software program, did very well out of that as NOBODY could undercut us, we were making £50 a shot on those

Sadly, that went to online version only, no more CD releases

We've never found anything worth selling since, especially when you factor in the aholes you inevitably end up dealing with.

Oh that brings back memories I used to have a product that sold @ £14.95, sold like hot cakes-100+ a week. Then they died off, a quick visit to eBay found someone selling them for £6.00 delivered. It was great while it lasted These days selling online is harder than working full time for someone else IMO and half the bloody fun.

[aceparts]

We did well out of ebay BUT we started years ago. Specialism in vehicle parts and having a team who understood all the problems gave us a leg up. I cannot imagine starting now. Back in the day you would have a niche for 6-12 months. Now you'll struggle to have a niche for 6-12 minutes before the race to the very bottom begins.
We were very fortunate to have experienced the good old days and also to have sold the company before the bottom feeders got us!

[ModernAndy]

aceparts said:

I cannot imagine starting now. Back in the day you would have a niche for 6-12 months. Now you'll struggle to have a niche for 6-12 minutes before the race to the very bottom begins.

Did that have a bearing on your decision to sell?

[eatcustard]

Gave up selling on ebay in 2005, thats when the race to the bottom started.

It seems now who can make the biggest loss

[DSLiverpool]

Wonder if losing money on eBay is the new "legit front" for other types of business.

Even being a main brand dealer doesn't help these days

And that's why I sold up as well (not just ebay it was every platform)

[Anthony Micallef]

Sounds like I'm wasting my time then.

[DSLiverpool]

Not at all but think about what your going to sell as no point selling what others have.