Do you know anyone selling on Ebay?

[on_my_own]

I am in the process of finding and sourcing some products to sell on Ebay and see how it goes. Does anyone here know anyone that actually is making "decent" money from Ebay? It seems like a simple enough idea, but there are so many details involved like shipping cost, supplies, sourcing products, etc..when actually trying to take this seriously.hehe

[LGCG]

I've only ever bought products from Ebay but I have thought about selling a few things. If it were me I'd start with research then compare the numbers. Think about the cost of finding the products (including time), as well as all supplies then see how much comparable products are selling for. If the numbers make sense and you find yourself in the black, I'd say go for it!

[Harold Mansfield]

I have a client that sells on Ebay and she seems to do well with it. She, however, is an artist and creates products and sells them, and also has her own website where she sells her entire catalog, does craft and trade shows, and has corporate clients for holiday gifts and such. So I can't say how much of her success is just Ebay. I assume all of it helps promote the other.

[Freelancier]

I do know several people who sell on ebay, but none would be making "decent" money from it. It's too hard to list an entire catalog and keep it up to date if you have a large number of items. And without a large number of items, there's no good way to make "decent" money... unless you're selling that one-off Jesus Toast (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gsr2CuIweo). (Been trying to slip that into a sentence for years :) )

Better to have and market your own web site for the full catalog and then offer some of the items on eBay as a way of increasing your site's SEO and visitors.

[MyITGuy]

It's too hard to list an entire catalog and keep it up to date if you have a large number of items.

Better to have and market your own web site for the full catalog and then offer some of the items on eBay as a way of increasing your site's SEO and visitors.

Or do both....if you use a platform such as Magento or one of its alternatives that allow you to manage your inventory and post to your website, while also listing them on eBay and Amazon while keeping inventory/management in sync ;)

[Dan Furman]

I have a friend who makes a solid living selling on ebay. He sells gun parts. He was in the industry, and has contacts to get product wholesale. He's been at it for years, and has more than 10k transactions, with a 99.9% positive feedback (that's vital.)

But he works. Packing and shipping 30-40 packages a day.

[Freelancier]

But he works. Packing and shipping 30-40 packages a day.

Retail sites are hard work, no doubt. I have a friend who sells scrubs online and does mostly drop-shipping, but he's busy 12-14 hours each day with customer service and selling demands.

[Dan Furman]

Yea, it's not a life I'd want. I like the way I do things better.

[on_my_own]

Do they all work from home? How about importing and storing inventory? I've always been interested in doing something like starting small on ebay and hopefully expand one day

[Freelancier]

How about importing and storing inventory?

My friend works really hard to NOT have inventory. He's working with all his suppliers so that orders to him are forwarded through an EDI link to their computers for direct drop-shipping. He is investigating starting his own line of products as well, and for those, he's planning to start with a relatively limited run so that he's not sitting on a whole lot of inventory.

The only importer I work with is importing a huge volume of product created in China and selling it direct to a few large-scale distributors, not one item at a time on ebay. Doesn't seem like there's a good match between working direct with a foreign manufacturer and selling one item at a time on ebay.

[billbenson]

I see ebay and Amazon for that matter as a difficult venue to make a lot of money at. If you are trying to make an extra $1k or 2 ok. But you are dealing at low margins and not a lot of products for sale at any given time. Kind of hard to make any real money with that business model.

[Business Attorney]

I know someone who sells on eBay but I am not sure how much money she makes. Like some of the others said, it is not easy work. If all you do is list for someone else who is buying and storing the inventory and packing and mailing the purchases, I imagine that the margins would be very thin and it would take a huge volume of sales to make "decent" money.

[PayForWords]

I have a friend that buys and flips stuff. 90% of what he buys/sells is wrestling memorabilia.


Figurines, posters, videos, games, championship belts, that kind of stuff.


He probably profits around $300 a week.


It's up to you to decide whether or not that is good or bad haha.

[goldking]

I used to sell on Ebay..then i stopped because i found something more profitable :)

[EdEvans]

I have been an Ebay powerseller for the last 4 months.Been selling there since May 2012.My ID is amygobble2012 if you want you verify beforehand.My Feedback is 158 and 98.6%.If you dedicate yourself to running a professional, serious Ebay buiness, you will do great, if you are lazy and only list items twice a month you will most likely not like it. Im only saying that because itis a lot more work than people know. I would be happy to give you a few pointers though.I love sharing my Ebay knowledge woohoo!!

[on_my_own]

I have been an Ebay powerseller for the last 4 months.Been selling there since May 2012.My ID is amygobble2012 if you want you verify beforehand.My Feedback is 158 and 98.6%.If you dedicate yourself to running a professional, serious Ebay buiness, you will do great, if you are lazy and only list items twice a month you will most likely not like it. Im only saying that because itis a lot more work than people know. I would be happy to give you a few pointers though.I love sharing my Ebay knowledge woohoo!!

That's awesome. I've been reading a lot from serious ebay sellers and there definitely is a lot of time and effort involved. Did you go the buying and reselling a bunch of stuff through thrift stores, yard sales, etc. or have you found a niche and are actually importing products?