Ebay sellers thread (other platforms too)

[kork13]

I took a look at a data point I haven't looked at before: sales vs. cost of items sold.

For 2023 YTD, my sales are 8.7 times my cost for the items I've sold. The first quarter wasn't great and pulled down the average.
1st quarter: 5.9x
2nd quarter: 12.6x
3rd quarter: 11.8x
4th quarter so far: 11.5x

So the 2nd and 3rd quarters, and the current quarter thus far, have been quite good. Hopefully I can keep up that multiple going forward. I think 10x or more is very solid.

In most small businesses, that kind of profit multiple is often the goal -- roughly (or at least) 10x cost of goods. And I'm your case, the overhead is minimal (no employees, minimal additional expenses besides gas & shipping supplies), which makes the profit even more impactful.

It really is impressive that you're able to so successfully supplement your income by merely reselling stuff online.

[disneysteve]

In most small businesses, that kind of profit multiple is often the goal -- roughly (or at least) 10x cost of goods. And I'm your case, the overhead is minimal (no employees, minimal additional expenses besides gas & shipping supplies), which makes the profit even more impactful.

The biggest expenses are ebay fees (approximately 15% of the sale) and taxes.

It really is impressive that you're able to so successfully supplement your income by merely reselling stuff online.

Thanks. And as I've said many times, it truly is something that virtually anyone can do. There is pretty much a zero barrier to entry into this business. I know sellers that have never put a penny of start up money in and now make as much as 5 figures a month.

It's also super flexible. You can do as much or as little as you want, plug away hard at times and ease off at times. It's a great side gig.

[QuarterMillionMan]

One barrier that may discourage people from selling on eBay is when about 1 year ago eBay changed its policy requiring your bank account information in order to get paid. Remember before this policy change all transactions required Paypal transactions. Now you can buy things on eBay with Paypal but if you sell something eBay will only pay you directly thru your bank account. I guess it saves eBay money on Paypal fees but I contemplated looking at other websites to sell because I didn't want to give eBay my bank information. I had been selling on eBay for about 5 years before the policy change but after thinking long and hard about it decided to input my bank information in order to get paid. This policy change was similar to T-mobile's policy change where they no longer accepted credit card payments and required direct bank ACH payments and due to T-mobile's policy change I decided not to give T-mobile my bank information and jumped ship to Mint mobile.

[disneysteve]

One barrier that may discourage people from selling on eBay is when about 1 year ago eBay changed its policy requiring your bank account information in order to get paid. Remember before this policy change all transactions required Paypal transactions. Now you can buy things on eBay with Paypal but if you sell something eBay will only pay you directly thru your bank account.

I think most find just the opposite to be true. Ebay made the whole payment system simpler, more streamlined, and more secure when they brought it all in house after they sold off PayPal. I never had a problem personally but I heard many horror stories of people having issues with PayPal, having their accounts locked for various reasons, and not being able to access their funds for weeks or months until they got it straightened out. And many didn't like having to open a PayPal account just to do business on ebay. They didn't want another account.

Now it couldn't be simpler since they cut out the middleman. The money goes straight from ebay to my bank. Before I had to keep logging into PayPal to transfer money. Now every Tuesday without fail, ebay direct deposits my money into my checking account. I don't have to do a thing. And you can have it transferred more frequently if you prefer. I believe you can be paid daily.

So no, I don't think that's a barrier at all. I think it actually removed a barrier for all the people who didn't trust PayPal and didn't want the hassle or risk of opening a new account.

[QuarterMillionMan]

For me, I don't like my bank information being exposed to hacks and I'd rather use credit cards or Paypal which is linked to my credit card but I understand eBay wanted to cut out the middleman. I've never been hacked but we never know when or if it can happen. And I only sell maybe $5 - $10 worth of sales every couple of months so it got me thinking is it even worth putting my bank account at risk.

[disneysteve]

For me, I don't like my bank information being exposed to hacks and I'd rather use credit cards or Paypal which is linked to my credit card

My PayPal account has always been linked to my bank account. It has to be to transfer funds back and forth. Selling on eBay that was a necessity. Now I still use PayPal to pay for eBay shipping so every couple of months I transfer money from my bank to my PayPal account for that.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I see mine’s worked differently before the bank deposit. Upon selling an item eBay sent my funds to my PayPal account where a credit was held in my PayPal account and when I bought items on eBay PayPal would draw down the credit before using my credit card.

[disneysteve]

I see mine’s worked differently before the bank deposit. Upon selling an item eBay sent my funds to my PayPal account where a credit was held in my PayPal account and when I bought items on eBay PayPal would draw down the credit before using my credit card.

Years ago, PayPal was a high yield savings account so I’d leave my money in there. Once they stopped paying interest, I stopped keeping the money there. Every week or two I’d transfer it to my checking account.

Now it’s a non-issue as eBay pays me directly weekly. It’s great.

[disneysteve]

I see mine’s worked differently before the bank deposit. Upon selling an item eBay sent my funds to my PayPal account where a credit was held in my PayPal account and when I bought items on eBay PayPal would draw down the credit before using my credit card.

QMM, without a link to your bank account how do you withdraw money from your PayPal account?

[QuarterMillionMan]

I was not able to withdraw the money from my PayPal account but rather I was able to use the money from my PayPal account to purchase things using the money in my PayPal account instead of PayPal charging my linked credit card. When I sold an item on eBay the funds got sent to my PayPal account and remained in my PayPal account until I used it to purchase items on eBay but I could not withdraw the money since I don’t have a linked bank account to PayPal.

[disneysteve]

I could not withdraw the money since I don’t have a linked bank account to PayPal.

Gotcha. Obviously that wouldn't work for regular ebay sellers. If you're making hundreds or thousands of dollars a week on ebay, you need to be able to access those funds. Even if you're only making the occasional sale, if you need that money for anything, you need to be able to take it out.

[QuarterMillionMan]

This could be part of the reason why eBay changed to bank direct deposts as well besides to avoid having to pay fees to Paypal. If a seller needs the funds to buy gasoline I don't think Chevron or Exxon takes Paypal. Or if a seller needs groceries I doubt Kroger or Wegman's takes Paypal, etc.

[disneysteve]

This could be part of the reason why eBay changed to bank direct deposts as well besides to avoid having to pay fees to Paypal. If a seller needs the funds to buy gasoline I don't think Chevron or Exxon takes Paypal. Or if a seller needs groceries I doubt Kroger or Wegman's takes Paypal, etc.

Exactly. The new system is so much better than the old way.

[disneysteve]

October 2023 wrap up

Ebay:
$948.24 gross
$695.97 net
40 sales

This was a good solid month. Sales volume was up quite a bit though more of the sales were lower priced items. I only had 1 sale over $100, 3 around $50, and the rest below that. On the plus side, 11 of the 40 sales were items that cost me nothing. My total cost for items sold this month was just $103 so gross sales were 9.2 times cost.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Now i'm on ebay trying to buy something...