eBay selling tips
Discussion
A friend from work had recently started selling items on eBay and seems to be doing well. This got me thinking about doing similar.
I have found some products from China which I could sell for a reasonable mark up.
Now, I'm under no illusion that I will be making loads of money, this is really just for a bit of pocket money. All the products will be sub £10 and fit through a letter box.
I was wondering if anyone does similar and had any tips or advice to a newbie?
I have found some products from China which I could sell for a reasonable mark up.
Now, I'm under no illusion that I will be making loads of money, this is really just for a bit of pocket money. All the products will be sub £10 and fit through a letter box.
I was wondering if anyone does similar and had any tips or advice to a newbie?
xiodene said:
A friend from work had recently started selling items on eBay and seems to be doing well. This got me thinking about doing similar.
I have found some products from China which I could sell for a reasonable mark up.
Now, I'm under no illusion that I will be making loads of money, this is really just for a bit of pocket money. All the products will be sub £10 and fit through a letter box.
I was wondering if anyone does similar and had any tips or advice to a newbie?
Don't.I have found some products from China which I could sell for a reasonable mark up.
Now, I'm under no illusion that I will be making loads of money, this is really just for a bit of pocket money. All the products will be sub £10 and fit through a letter box.
I was wondering if anyone does similar and had any tips or advice to a newbie?
or if you do, understand that ebay, paypal, royal mail, envelopes and returns will all cut into your profit, and if you're making a decent amount of money on a line, one of the high power sellers will pick up on it, undercut you and leave you with a pile of stock that you'll end up selling for a loss.
A friend of mine does this, but not for sub £10 products.
He buys container loads of Chinese garden machinery products, directly from China, and sells it all on Ebay.
Chainsaws, strimmers, hedge cutters, small rotators, lawn mowers etc. All petrol engined stuff.
He has the Chinese brand it as his own brand of machinery. It's all cheap stuff. Brand new chainsaws for £80 including carry bag, fuel can, spare chain etc.
He sells loads of it, but he says that you have to allow a significant amount for returns, complaints, people saying they never received the delivery, postage costs, lost in transit, packaging, Ebay fees etc.
Remember that Ebay always side with the buyer these days, so buyers can basically make up any problem they want they want and get their money back.
He buys container loads of Chinese garden machinery products, directly from China, and sells it all on Ebay.
Chainsaws, strimmers, hedge cutters, small rotators, lawn mowers etc. All petrol engined stuff.
He has the Chinese brand it as his own brand of machinery. It's all cheap stuff. Brand new chainsaws for £80 including carry bag, fuel can, spare chain etc.
He sells loads of it, but he says that you have to allow a significant amount for returns, complaints, people saying they never received the delivery, postage costs, lost in transit, packaging, Ebay fees etc.
Remember that Ebay always side with the buyer these days, so buyers can basically make up any problem they want they want and get their money back.
I used to do quite well from sellng on Ebay but to be honest these days it's probably not worth bothering.
There are potentially ways of increasing sales by having multiple adverts. Think of ways that people can make a mistake when typing the the item such as a spelling mistake or chain saw instead of chainsaw etc. If there are other people listing the same items cheaper than you then there is no point in going into specifics in the title as they will just search the same item and buy it cheaper.
There are potentially ways of increasing sales by having multiple adverts. Think of ways that people can make a mistake when typing the the item such as a spelling mistake or chain saw instead of chainsaw etc. If there are other people listing the same items cheaper than you then there is no point in going into specifics in the title as they will just search the same item and buy it cheaper.
xiodene said:
A friend from work had recently started selling items on eBay and seems to be doing well. This got me thinking about doing similar.
I have found some products from China which I could sell for a reasonable mark up.
Now, I'm under no illusion that I will be making loads of money, this is really just for a bit of pocket money. All the products will be sub £10 and fit through a letter box.
I was wondering if anyone does similar and had any tips or advice to a newbie?
On my Tiktok I do a lot of e-commerce tips inc many eBay. It’s the same identity as on here DSliverpool I have found some products from China which I could sell for a reasonable mark up.
Now, I'm under no illusion that I will be making loads of money, this is really just for a bit of pocket money. All the products will be sub £10 and fit through a letter box.
I was wondering if anyone does similar and had any tips or advice to a newbie?
Main things arevdescriptive key word driven title, many clear pics and mentioning you are a U.K. seller not Chinese.
Changing a personal account to business helps you start with feedback as well.
If you can boost the listing all the better.
DSLiverpool said:
On my Tiktok I do a lot of e-commerce tips inc many eBay. It’s the same identity as on here DSliverpool
Main things arevdescriptive key word driven title, many clear pics and mentioning you are a U.K. seller not Chinese.
Changing a personal account to business helps you start with feedback as well.
If you can boost the listing all the better.
def vouch for Dave his tik toks are good and his fb page helpful. not a snake oil seller. Main things arevdescriptive key word driven title, many clear pics and mentioning you are a U.K. seller not Chinese.
Changing a personal account to business helps you start with feedback as well.
If you can boost the listing all the better.
Thanks for the feedback. Its great to hear lots of different views.
I was very much of the opinion that it would not be worth the time either, however seeing how well my colleague has done made me think twice.
Looks like i will have to download Tik Tok and take a look at some of these videos and go from there
I was very much of the opinion that it would not be worth the time either, however seeing how well my colleague has done made me think twice.
Looks like i will have to download Tik Tok and take a look at some of these videos and go from there
DSLiverpool said:
On my Tiktok I do a lot of e-commerce tips inc many eBay. It’s the same identity as on here DSliverpool
Main things arevdescriptive key word driven title, many clear pics and mentioning you are a U.K. seller not Chinese.
Changing a personal account to business helps you start with feedback as well.
If you can boost the listing all the better.
I have just been watching your tiktok videos, they are really good!Main things arevdescriptive key word driven title, many clear pics and mentioning you are a U.K. seller not Chinese.
Changing a personal account to business helps you start with feedback as well.
If you can boost the listing all the better.
The video "Starting a business - why you'll fail" resonated very much with me, looking for the unicorn. Just got to start (after some thorough research) otherwise you never will
xiodene said:
Thanks for the feedback. Its great to hear lots of different views.
I was very much of the opinion that it would not be worth the time either, however seeing how well my colleague has done made me think twice.
Looks like i will have to download Tik Tok and take a look at some of these videos and go from there
Why do you think your colleague is doing so well? I was very much of the opinion that it would not be worth the time either, however seeing how well my colleague has done made me think twice.
Looks like i will have to download Tik Tok and take a look at some of these videos and go from there
xiodene said:
I have just been watching your tiktok videos, they are really good!
The video "Starting a business - why you'll fail" resonated very much with me, looking for the unicorn. Just got to start (after some thorough research) otherwise you never will
Join the club The video "Starting a business - why you'll fail" resonated very much with me, looking for the unicorn. Just got to start (after some thorough research) otherwise you never will

Once we hit 1000 members we can work as a team to really help each other.
jonamv8 said:
Why do you think your colleague is doing so well?
I think probably because he just went for it.I know he is not making enough to quit work, im sure that would be a very big and difficult step.
But there is no magic behind what he does, he just buys things from aliexpress and sells them on Ebay for a profit
I've rarely had a good experience as a seller on eBay. This is the reason I do not consider the site as a way to sell stuff. Like Car Boot Sales, it started off as a fantastic concept but the chancing general public came along and ruined it.
There are far too many flaws in eBay's selling model. In any case, the more their commission, the more people will want to wriggle out of paying them, and they will find ways of doing so. Conversely, if the buyer can stick one on you (and there are plenty of chancers looking for an opportunity) they will. EBay seem to back the buyer more than the seller.
For these reasons, I'm out.
There are far too many flaws in eBay's selling model. In any case, the more their commission, the more people will want to wriggle out of paying them, and they will find ways of doing so. Conversely, if the buyer can stick one on you (and there are plenty of chancers looking for an opportunity) they will. EBay seem to back the buyer more than the seller.
For these reasons, I'm out.
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