reselling for e-bay

[nitajaye]

Forgive me if this has been asked before, i am relatively new at this.

I am unemployed a the time and was looking through some job sites and saw an ad for reselling to e-bay.

Has anyone else seen this and if so could you tell me what you know about it.

• Is this a ligit job
• can you make money doing it
• have you done this before
• would you recommend it

Thanks in advance for your input!

[creditcardfree]

I haven't seen that ad but I'm guessing that it is NOT legit.

You can however legitamitely sell your own things on ebay. Find things around your house, goodwill, or garage sales that people would want to buy.

There are some fees involved but they are relatively minimal.

[tabbycat31]

If you have the time, many people actually will sell for others on ebay. They'll advertise (around here, there's flyers in grocery stores) and they'll charge a commission on what items sell.

I'm tempted to use one of those to get rid of some clutter. I have no time to sell things myself.

[poundwise]

Some folks in my state started what has now become a chain of store-front businesses selling for others on eBay. People just take the items to them and they handle the photos, listings, collecting payments, and shipping. They do take a steep percentage but many people prefer taking a box of stuff in and then getting a check in the mail to all the hassle.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by nitajaye

I am unemployed a the time and was looking through some job sites and saw an ad for reselling to e-bay.

Has anyone else seen this and if so could you tell me what you know about it.

I'd want to know exactly what you would be doing. This could be legitimate as it could be one of these storefront places hiring additional help. I also know individual ebay sellers who have gotten busy enough that they had to hire someone to help pack and ship their items. So I wouldn't discount that ad without more info.

[nanamom]

It depends on where you saw it. I get an ad to sell on ebay in my email (spam) about once a week or so and delete it. There are stores that sell for ebay as well as agents but I doubt they advertise. The stores would put it in their job description along with other stuff I'm sure but not just resell. Alot of times companies or people who want to sell you wholesale lists will do that kind of advertising and they just want to sell you a list of places you might be able to buy wholesale and sell retail on ebay. So look carefully at the info you get.

[JustinH]

the only way you are going to make any money on ebay is buying truckloads of items at a time, and selling them piece by piece.

20 grand to buy a truckload of mixed electronics that are store returns from major retailers.

Plus you need someplace to store 25 pallets, that are 6 feet high.

Anything less you are getting middled and wasting your time.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by JustinH

the only way you are going to make any money on ebay is buying truckloads of items at a time, and selling them piece by piece.

20 grand to buy a truckload of mixed electronics that are store returns from major retailers.

Plus you need someplace to store 25 pallets, that are 6 feet high.

Anything less you are getting middled and wasting your time.

My best month on ebay I made over $2,600. While that isn't enough to support my family, I think most of us would consider it to be a lot of money, especially for a side job. I didn't buy a truckload of anything. I bought and resold items from yard sales, auctions and thrift shops. I bought things at regular stores on clearance and resold them. I bought things at outlet stores and resold them. I even bought things at dollar stores and resold them.

There are thousands of people making tons of money on ebay, many who are doing it for their livelihood. There is plenty of money to be made on ebay and it isn't terribly difficult to do it successfully.

[Grover]

eBay is great a giving a man a fish to eat, but there are only a few who have truely learned how to fish that particular pond....but I ain't about to advertise them here. They do a good enough job of it themselves, which is why they are making the big bucks!

Look beyond the obvious "buy low (at garage sales and junk stores) and sell high (on eBay)" - scroll down to the bottom of the eBay home page and you'll be surprised at how many ways they can help you make money.

But don't stop there - look where you are right now! You've got hundreds, if not thousands of people all looking at this forum for an answer. Give them that answer (within the bounds of the forun rules) if you have an answer.

Grover

[corns]

Why is there a word "Banned" under Grover's nick name? From the post count, you only made 1 post, which I am guessing is this post here. What is it in this post that got him to be banned? I am so confused. Can the moderators answer me since.... obviously Grover himself cannot answer anymore.

[greedy4chips]

Ebay store front shops are basically just a consignment shop that has the potential to reach many more customers.

Selling on Ebay is simple from what I see. Getting the best price is not. Just look through the completed sales of some products like iPods or hard drives and you will see a huge variance in final bids.

A properly executed sales plan on Ebay could easily generate thousands in a month in sales. Remember you are supposed to pay taxes on your profits Do I have to pay tax on stuff I sell on eBay? - Answer Desk - MSNBC.com

I would find a few items that sell well (low numbers being sold and good price) and investigate bulk purchases of these items from the manufacturer. If you believe there is a profit to be made then by all means go for it.

[Quynne]

If you go to Ebay.com do a search for Trading Assistants. If you your ebay score is high enough you can list an ad to become a Trading Assistant. I have a friend who does that. I plan on doing that also when my score gets higher...I am new to ebay. I am not sure how much money she makes, to be honest...she also has her own store. She doesn't do it full time either. But it is worth looking into. You can also advertise in your neighborhood.

[corns]

I'm also starting out to buy stuffs and resell them on ebay. It is true that the completed final sales figures has huge variances. This makes it difficult to find the needle in the haystack.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by corns

It is true that the completed final sales figures has huge variances.

There are some controllable factors that affect final prices.

1. Clear, close-up photo
2. Appropriate title with important search words
3. Proper spelling
4. Appropriate category selection
5. Accurate and detailed item description including condtion specifics
6. Reasonable shipping charges
7. Reasonable terms of sale
8. Reasonable starting bid

I think all of these things help your auction succeed.

[carsensejoe]

paypal gets 3 % so what does ebay get???? ad space to sell???

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by carsensejoe

paypal gets 3 % so what does ebay get???? ad space to sell???

ebay gets a listing fee which is based on your starting bid (or reserve price). Then they get a final value fee which is a max of 5.25% and gets gradually lower as the price of the item gets higher.

They also offer a bunch of bells and whistles you can add to your listing like bold print or featured positioning that can add a bunch to your fees if you choose.

[creditcardfree]

I have 22 items up on ebay right now that are just from around our house. One already sold as a buy it now option. About 2/3 have several people watching the items but no bids yet...2 days to go. Only 1/3 are still sitting idle. I will agree that these items may not be in high demand, I figured the other items that were more in demand would help guide traffic to them. We'll see how it goes. Turns out my best sale ever was our souvenior mugs we bought in DisneyWorld!!

I would highly recommend the OP start with things around home that are already free to you to start getting an idea of how ebay and paypal work before investing.

[Quynne]

I have seen a few sellers that don't use paypal. They insist on money orders because paypal takes too big a cut. I hate the paypal fees but I do like paypal. I still made decent on ebay regardless of fees.

Good pictures, detailed descriptions and honesty will get you good prices and repeat customers.

[b4freedom]

There are tons of ads out there to promote "books/tapes/dvds/courses/systems" with promises of "inside secrets" to making riches on ebay. They'll charge you anywhere from $20 to $2000. It's not worth buying. If you want to know everything that you'll learn from them, go to the book store and look for a few ebay books. You'll quickly see most of it is common knowledge or can quickly be learned from a dozen different trades. The "secret" they sell is sold to so many people that it really isn't a "secret". Follow the ad and I bet they'll somehow want money from you.

[PrincessPerky]

Do your research before you list...my husband lists and he will often search for his item and see it with a starting bid of say 1$ and immediately below it a starting bid of 10$ or even 100$! Make your own listing stand out, we go for making his first with the loswest starting bid, but we ware mainly trying to get the stuff out of the house, not to concerned with a profit.

Not to mention do your research before you buy...don't bid on that one for 100...

I think before I would buy to sell, I would sell what is in my house..once you are good at knowing when to list (searching for stuff seems to spur a trend, talk about it on related forums too....either that or my husband has some amazing luck)

Anyway once you know the ropes (try a library book for specific tips if you need em) you can then try reselling.