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One of our relatives friends apparently makes a good living through selling stuff on Ebay, when i say 'stuff' what i actually mean is complete junk LOL
So has anyone around these parts had any luck with Ebay as a seller? If so, do you have any tips you would like to share with us?
Regards,
Lee
Well it's definitely a case of one person's trash is another person's treasure in her case. LOL
When we saw the car radio she found at the garage sale... to you and I it was crap. But to the guy in Montana who was restoring that Buick it was gold and he paid well for it. LMAO Now she has an eye AND has an isea of what people are looking for.
The last time we spoke to her I think she was making $6800 a month just on the finds she and her husband make at garage sales and the like. I'd love to know the real secrets to that!
Gary-Alan
Well I haven't myself, my cousin does and my neighbour does and they do quite nicely. The one thing I have constantly heard from them is that you really need to take care as to which category you place the item into. It can be the kiss of death or the gold tub at the end of the rainbow.
I am planning to enter that field, but it really is a bit daunting.
One other thing, is that pictures and details help. Just putting up ... car radio for 1977 chev ain't gonna cut it. or something like 'slightly used cinnimon bagel' just won't get the interest. Pics & good descriptions are supposedly a must.
anyhow just my pennies worth
Ian
when I was working retail, I used to have a little cottage industry selling stuff on eBay.
I once made 25 in a year.
Amazing.
Gee Wiz, guys
I make a couple hundred a month just from eBay's affiliate program. It's really easy to promote, and requires remarkably little maint after you set something up.
Now it depends what stuff you want to sell. If you have cd's or books or dvd's that you want to sell, I suggest that you look at selling it in the Amazon Marketplace, which is pretty nifty.
Steve
by no means do i make a living out of it. people on ebay are cheap lol
or want stuff for free ! i listed amovie once that sold for $1 and the buy bitched cuz the box was not w/the dvd am like dude u payed a buck !
on monday i sold a laptop i bought for cheap and make like 200 bucks off it and i also sold my other laptop and got what i paid for it a year b4 so that wasnt bad. i do browse around for stuff but am more of a buyer than a seller.
the secret to ebay :
it is all about quantity
& demand !Quote:
Originally Posted by desslock
& curiosity !
I dressed my baby in designer goods off of ebay :) Its not making a living, but I would buy the clothes, he would outgrow them, I would sell them back on ebay. Dressed him for free for 2 years....
OK - NOW - Yes, I do know people who make real money from ebay.
Hree is how you do it: Go to government auctions, buy full lots of stuff like computers, printers, office junk, swiss army knoves, labratory glass, digital cameras.... get storage for the stuff, and resell it slowly.
Its a pain in the butt, but for the kind of folks who LOVE garage sales and auctions, its kinda fun!
An acquaintance of mine travels to Las Vegas every month. He scours the pawnshops and consignment stores and loads up with what he believes will sell at whatever mark-up.
That is his full-time job and he does very very well, in addition, he has a closet full of gorgeous clothes (vintage, new and many one of a kind).
No, I do not hate him.
Yeah I suggest that you operate in things that you happen to enjoy. A friend of mine in Colorado goes to Goodwill and has very good luck at finding old lamps from the sixties and seventies, which he buys at Goodwill prices and sells for quite handsome amounts on eBay.
However, he knows what he is doing, and he knows what is collectible. I have no idea. However the nice thing is that there is just so many different fields to operate in.... there is so much potential.
And if you don't actually want to go to the trouble to sell it yourself, you can publicize the auctions using their affiliate program.
Steve
Some of the things I've purchased off of Ebay in the last couple years
-- Convention trade show display (2 of them, actually)
-- Air conditioning system for my '92 Honda
-- tons o' software
-- tons o' consumer electronics
-- Video and photographic equipment
-- DLT tapes (at 1/20th the price of retail)
-- Full size 8 person fiberglass hot tub
and tons more. Probably half the stuff in my house came off of Ebay.
Some of the stuff I've sold in the last year
-- 1987 HP calculator, sold for $120
-- ancient, nonworking shortwave radio, sold for $75
-- magnetic traffic board, sold for $85
-- lots o'computer equipment/parts/etc
-- TON of stuff I was about to throw out but got good $ for.
Knock wood, I've never had a really bad experience. Couple items broke in transit and seller replaced/refunded, but I've never had a really bad experience either as a buyer or a seller. But I'm also careful in dealing with new buyers/sellers.
> ancient, nonworking shortwave radio, sold for $75
Oh how cool. Maybe I should sell my sometimes working/sometimes not Realistic DX 400 radio. hmmmmm
Or was that a shortwave radio transmitter? Chip, I always kinda thought you were a Ham.
Steve
Ummmm....
EBAY is about all I do now besides playing POKER. I spend about 20 hrs a week on EBAY and maybe 60 hrs a week playing POKER. I started about 4 months ago and my income from EBAY is better than any I did with PORN. Became a power seller in 3 months (requirements is a average $$$ amount over a 3month period, so I guess I did something right).
If anyone i really serious, I will write a tutorial based on my experiences. It would be long and I need to find the time to do it. (Still recovering from the World Series of Poker)
The most important thing is finding your business model. Are you going to be a trading assistant and sell for other people, do the yard sale thing (too much time IMHO), buy bulk lots, or find a niche. Getting something to sell that you can make $$$ on is half the battle.
Secondly, you NEED auction management software. The software I use emails the person when they place a bid and thanks them as well as giving my dedicated phone number, does cross promotions, collects email addresses, posts feedback automaticall, and lets them know when I ship an item.
Get a good name, get your FEEDBACK up, and get repeat customers. Conside your business as a cost per acquisition per customer at first.
Your listings are very important as well as the time of day to end a listing. For example labor day weekend is a great time to buy but not so good to sell.
Also if you have a lot of items that are related, as I do (I mostly sell retro games, and also CDs and older movies), and lets say you have 50 auctions running at the same time. Then spend the $20 or so and put a couple of your listings as featured on the search page for that category. You may spend $20 to list an item and it may only sell for $10, but your listing is the first they see and then once they look at that listing they check out your others. It works.
THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX!
Lets say you buy a snoopy dog bowl for a pet at the dollar store. Where do u list it? In the pet supply categor? Nah...
How about in the collectibles.
Heading - Peanuts Snoopy Collectible Pet Bowl -
or lets say you have a DVD - Taps staring Tom Cruise
You could have - Taps DVD as the title or
Taps DVD "Tom Cruise" MINT LOW/FAST SHIP!
Perhaps one of the best tricks is the timing of your listings. Let's say you have 20 auctions ending 11pm EST on Sunday. Schedule another 20 to start at 10:30 PM on the same day as the others end. Many who are bidding on your listings will get to see your other auctions and if you have a bIN may even make a purchase. For this to work optimally u need to stress a shipping discount for multiple purchases.
And accept all forms of payment. I accept checks and on items under $50 dont wait for them to clear. Shipping is the most concer buyers have. My feedback is loaded with the fastest shipper on ebay and things like that. People will pay a premium if they know they are going to get the item fast.
ALSO - ON MOST AUCTIONS START AT .99! DON'T BE AFRAID! AND NO FUCKING RESERVE!!!!!!
MMmm
Great idea: "Convention trade show display"
I see a few that I may just grab on Ebay.
But to get back to the thread.
I used to sell items from www.boysinc.com on Ebay.
The basics...lube, videos, poppers (I mean...room oderizers).
It was easy and there was good money.
Then Ebay found Jesus...or something like that and they really cut down on "adult" materials.
Now it's a hasle to sell adult times.
You can't post hardcore images and you have to watch the way you word the items. Then to make it harder your items are placed in the "mature" section and it is not easy for the Ebay surfer to find.
They even kicked my post for poppers till I sent them the legal notes about what is and is not legal to use and sell. Poppers are legal..blah blah blah..but Amil Nitrates are note. Well...most Poppers today are not Amil based.
Don't forget too...their fees also increased this year.
Long story longer...
I really cut down on postings but where else can you get rid of products that hang around? I guess...they can be your friend but you really have to work harder and be willing to break even on some products.
:)
No..where are my room oderizers?
LOL