Anyone run a Ebay type business?

[Jesse]

Ive been selling off and on since 2004 on ebay. 100% feedback pushing 200 sales. But this year Im wanting to step up my game and hit about 10- 15 garage sales every weekend so i can post dozens of items a week.

I know their are some tricks to the trade, and many people in the area run an ebay business full time. Ive even seen a family on craigslist looking for fulltime help with their ebay shop. Just wondering if anyone here does this or know someone who does, I want to pick someones brain that does it.

[Sam1]

about 8 years ago I was doing it on a smaller scale, few items were sold directly to people but most of it was drop shipped. Made a few hunded extra $ profits per month with just a quick 5 or 10 minute login daily to make sure it was being processed, but then eBay and paypal got crazy with charging outrageous fees for everything so I just quit doing it.  There are so many variables that go into it, there's no way we could answer any questions that aren't already available on the ebay boards, and ebay themselves does the best job of explaining how things work.

 

Wish I would've just spent that time doing other things instead of dealing with that mess from the get go.

[Jesse]

I think the fees actually help the serious sellers. As it weeds out the guys who cant find the high profit items. I dont mind putting in the work if its going to pay off. One reason I want to this isnt just for the money. I actually enjoy hunting stuff, taking pictures and sending them out to ship. I think its my calling. Guess maybe I need to get out there and give it a whirl in my spare time.

[Sam1]

Nah, the fees hurt everyone because now you are competing with straw man businesses set up in China to sell a few hundred items at a time, and when they are shut down, they already have other accounts up and running.  If you have a niche following, it may be worthwhile but remember that even though the items you have may sell for more, it may cost more money to relist due to them not selling fast. same stuff as running a normal business.

[dlm37015]

when i stopped ebay i had 15,000 plus sales.they stopped letting me sell bullets then fees went crazy

[Randall53]

Ebay was a good place to find deals from individuals maybe 10 or 12 years ago. It's a lot harder to find good items anymore.

[TripleDigitRide]

Ebay was a good place to find deals from individuals maybe 10 or 12 years ago. It's a lot harder to find good items anymore.

Yep. For the most part, buyers/bidders are willing to pay retail+ for some reason. I was recently looking for a Noveske QD receiver end plate, and people were paying $35+ plus $5-$10 shipping on eBay. I found one at an online retailer for $25 plus $4.99 shipping. I've recently noticed several similar situations like that on eBay.

[Chadastrophic]

I used to work in the aftermarket performance industry for cars. We routinely sold parts on eBay for more than we had on our website.

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[runco]

I enjoy selling ebay from time to time, have been doing it off and on for 10 years or so, and this past Fall I had a gun project that caused me to round up a bunch of stuff to sell.  The ebay and paypal fees just take big bites out of the net fun, and that packaging thing is not me.  Its not about profit for me, but cash raising campaigns with junk that I have.  I have to come to realize, its better for me to load the enclosed trailer and just pull it to one of those weekend flea market places.  For $10, the only fee that I will incur other than fuel, then I much prefer the face-to-face negotiations and fun.  Back to the OP, if you find it fun, than do it!

[Sam1]

I think everyone here hit it right on the head, ebay has manipulated the fee structure so that people have trouble making money from it on a regular basis.  If someone sells a random thing or two on there, they usually don't mind paying the fees occasionally, but it is hard to make any worthwhile profit on a regular basis from there anymore.

 

The other major problem is how much they have been integrated with paypal now, because of idiots making frivolous complaints I've had my entire paypal account frozen before; even though the complaint was over a $50 or whatever, they locked up a couple thousand$ until they did an "investigation" which usually meant they just gave the customer their money back and they kept the product too.

 

Honestly I think the only reason sellers still use ebay is because they're the only viable option right now.  

[Jesse]

Yeah . I wont be targeting items you can find in your local stores. Its going to be unique stuff thats no longer made or hard to find. Vintage, Tools etc... I cant compete with the big boys from China and stuff.

 

Some of the stuff I will even rework with my own touch. I also sell on Etsy and Craigslist.

ReWorking and Reselling is my forte, I just have to find the best way to get it sold. Ebay has the biggest crowd.

[The Average Joe]

I used to sell and buy from eBay all the time.

As I modified my AR-15, I would try to sell the discarded part on eBay.

Nine times out of ten, I'd get the auction kicked off.

 

Reasons:

1.I had to be a licenced dealer. (I'm not)
2.I had overlooked the internantional shipping in the listing and "assault weapons" parts are not aloud to be sold that way on eBay.

3. eBay just plain old wouldn't let me sell it because it was firearm related.

4. If you listed your firearm related item as "can be used for airsoft", your item might pass and stay on long enough to get purchased.

But you wouldn't get a fair price as it would only attract the "airsoft crowd", not the "firearm crowd".
 

 

Other observations:

As of December 14, 2012....
Most of my "favorite sellers", who I have purchased firearm related items, have since abandoned their eBay stores.

eBay/Paypal will no longer let you purchase guns, ammo, or magazines online with a Paypal account/card.

However, licenced dealers have gun parts for sale on eBay....haven't figured that one out yet.

 

I've abandoned my Paypal account (most banks have a similar online checking account with card...

$25 to open and can have as little as a 0 balance without penanty. No paperwork, it's all done online like PayPal)
....and I only shop eBay as a last resort when I absolutely can't find it anywhere else.
 

I find there are a lot of online merchants, retailers/dealers that are competitive with eBay.
Looking for FREE SHIPPING deals is the trick.

[Oh Shoot]

 

I've abandoned my Paypal account ...

....and I only shop eBay as a last resort when I absolutely can't find it anywhere else.

 

How do you buy on eBay with no PayPal account? Only the biggies there take credit cards directly.

 

- OS

[TripleDigitRide]

I've seen several that allow you to send a check or money order, too.

[Oh Shoot]

I've seen several that allow you to send a check or money order, too.

 

Only in a relatively few categories is this allowed, mainly Motors and Business, sellers get nuked for it in most.

 

- OS

 

edit: duh, never mind, I forgot you can use cc through PayPal without actually having an account nowadays.

Edited May 5, 2013 by Oh Shoot

[DaveS]

I buy on E-bay all the time with credit card. It's a payment option. Me and my wife used to run an E-bay store selling antique and collectable glass and other antique items. We had to close down because E-bay and Paypal fees got to be outragious! We were paying them almost as much as we made!

 

Dave S

[LI0NSFAN]

I have sold somethings in the last 6mo and between the ebay and paypal fees you are looking at 15-20% right off the top. I have basically given away most of the stuff I have listed lately. I only resort to Ebay after my stuff has sat on Craigslist or other sites first.

 

I know a lot of people that have shut down their Ebay business because they just were not making money anymore.

[bigwakes]

I sold wakeboard items on EBay and Amazon from 2004-2008. Sold over $100,000 per year the last three years. It was a part time gig and made some decent extra money at it. I eventually sold the business on Craigslist. I basically sold him my list of contacts for getting started and my inventory. You really have to know what your looking at for random yard sale stuff, but if you want to put in the time I'm sure there is money to be made.

START SMALL AND MAKE SURE IT'S GONNA WORK before you fill your garage and empty your bank.

eBay was worth it for me and I still sell some items there. You pay 15-20% in fees, but you have 10,000% more customers looking at your products. Don't pay more then 50% of what you plan to list used items for and you'll be fine. Edited May 5, 2013 by bigwakes

[DaveTN]

EBay was good years ago. Now it has been taken over by retailers. I’ve always thought one of the big companies like Google would start one up.

 

Sorry, that has nothing to do with your question, just what I was thinking as I read this thread. I would think Craigs list would be a much more profitable way to sell yard sale stuff.

 

[Wingshooter]

I used to make $1K a month net profit selling on eBay. That was my goal... $1000 for fun/gun money, and I usually hit it. The trick for me was to sell stuff I could fit in a USPS Flat Rate box. That way you know what your shipping costs are going to be. I also kept my shipping low because buyers respect that. I avoid sellers that appear to be trying to scam me on the shipping. The post Office will deliver a stack of boxes to your door free, you print the shipping label from Paypal and schedule a pickup from the USPS website. I didn't have to leave the house to ship anything.

For me, I had to keep it simple to do it. When you start having to do a lot of packaging and running to the post office/UPS is when it gets tedious. Eventually, my product source dried up and I stopped doing it.

That was my game, anyway. It was fun though, good luck! Edited May 5, 2013 by Batman

[Oh Shoot]

I buy on E-bay all the time with credit card. It's a payment option.

 

Yeah, wasn't thinking .. forgot PP account apparently no longer necessary to use credit card through seller's PP account these days?

 

You never see that option if you have a PP account as it only lets you go through it.

 

- OS

Edited May 5, 2013 by Oh Shoot

[DaveS]

Yeah, wasn't thinking .. forgot PP account apparently no longer necessary to use credit card through seller's PP account these days?

 

You never see that option if you have a PP account as it only lets you go through it.

 

- OS

Yep, you are right!

 

Dave S