CeleryJello Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 Has anyone had success (or know of anyone) selling a a large number of items on Ebay? I realize that there are alot of people who do not own their own businesses and have ready-access to things to resell, but there must be a certain roadmap for getting things cheap for resell. I have recently gone through the old things in my basement and attic to resell, however I am very curious on how I can expand this hobby into non-from-my-attic things. With college expenses looming, it would be very nice to have some huddler hints on successes on Ebay or what kind of buy-cheap/resell-high options seem to work well. Thank you all in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meat Face Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 I've sold lots of books on amazon.com, if that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 Not really going to be any help to you but I do know two people that no longer do the 9-5 because they sell stuff on Ebay. They go to public auctions on the weekends and buy stuff to put on Ebay. I don't really know the ins and outs of it all but I am lead to believe they make decent money on just the shipping and handling. Either way, I know that they are doing good with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 Establish a credit account with any wholesaler of itemes you wish to sell on eBay. You'll need an FEIN to do this. This is simple form to fill out (your name, business name, type of business, location, etc.). Now your on 30 days net and you've got merchandise to sell. Sell at a reasonable markup (30-50% depending on the going rate on eBay) and pass all shipping costs on to the purchaser. Charge a flat rate for shipping rather than exact shipping costs (this is how Skippy's buddies make their money). In this way, you won't have to shell out any cash up front. You pay off your credit account with income from sales. At first you don't want to accept credit cards but eventually you will. Credit card companies scarf 5-10% of sales $$ and debit cards companies will grab 2-5%. Avoid these as long as possible. Paypal is your friend. Your only concern then is warehouse space. At first a spare room or basement can be used, but eventually you'll want a storage/shipping room. Talk to your landlord. My guess is that he has extra space that he can let you have for a song. If not, he knows someone that does. Finally, as crazy as this sounds, there are plenty of people who will shop on the Internet but not on eBay. Set up a web page/online store for those people. Here, you will have to take credit cards, but by then you should also be in a position to consider a storefront as well. In that case, you'll need a Web presence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 Not really going to be any help to you but I do know two people that no longer do the 9-5 because they sell stuff on Ebay. They go to public auctions on the weekends and buy stuff to put on Ebay. I don't really know the ins and outs of it all but I am lead to believe they make decent money on just the shipping and handling. Either way, I know that they are doing good with it. 1269258[/snapback] Estate sales too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 Estate sales too. 1269834[/snapback] Are you my friends. Yes I forgot to mention that this is one of their favorite things to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shotgun Messiahs Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 Shipping cost ebay is a fking joke. It's like a rubber band will cost you 15.00 to ship. Alot of Sellers will bring down the cost of the product so you think your getting it cheaper and crank up the shipping cost to make up the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H8tank Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 Credit card companies scarf 5-10% of sales $$ Uhhhmmm, I don't know where you get this info from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomicCEO Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 Shipping cost ebay is a fking joke. It's like a rubber band will cost you 15.00 to ship. Alot of Sellers will bring down the cost of the product so you think your getting it cheaper and crank up the shipping cost to make up the difference. 1270194[/snapback] This works on the stupid. I'd like to say that people are getting less stupid, but I've been so wrong on that before. I tend to use the reverse technique. I've made some good profits selling hard to find video games on eBay. I list the item with no reserve, and put "FREE SHIPPING" in the title. I do this for a few reasons: 1) Once people bid on an item, they get attached to it and are more likely to get into the "it's only a dollar more" mentality. 2) People are more likely to bid on something that a bunch of people have bid on already, because they get the impression that it's more desirable than an item with no bids. I usually end up getting more in total than the people who have "buy it now"s and high shipping costs. But, video games tend to have a younger demographic of people looking for it who are perhaps more savvy on shipping rip-offs. I don't know what it's like for estate sale items. I have a friend who makes good money with rare movie soundtracks. If you know what things are worth on eBay, you can make money selling just about any fetish items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 I've sold lots of books on amazon.com, if that helps. 1269255[/snapback] They had better not have been economics books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darin3 Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 (edited) Celery: In your case, I suggest checking this out... I-Sold It ... I'm considering opening a franchise, FYI... they're legit, and a breeze to work with. Edited January 17, 2006 by darin3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliaz Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 My best friends mom quit her job and rakes in around $2000+ a month going to estate auctions, garage sells, etc and putting stuff on ebay. BUT you need to have a logistical mind in order to pull it off, when you have 50+ auctions ending on the same day, packaging up the orders, waiting for payment and then shipping them to the right address is tricky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeleryJello Posted January 20, 2006 Author Share Posted January 20, 2006 Thank you to all. Any extra money I can make for my daughter's college plans will be worth it. Looks like I may need to get focused on a certain type of item and hit the estate and/or garage sales. Curious if you know what kinds of items your friends have success with (antiques, jewelry, lamps, etc ) - regarding the estate sales. Or do they grab smaller, random items (books, movies, etc)? I do appreciate all the discussion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piranha Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Shipping cost ebay is a fking joke. It's like a rubber band will cost you 15.00 to ship. Alot of Sellers will bring down the cost of the product so you think your getting it cheaper and crank up the shipping cost to make up the difference. 1270194[/snapback] Good info here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yukon Cornelius Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Thank you to all. Any extra money I can make for my daughter's college plans will be worth it. Looks like I may need to get focused on a certain type of item and hit the estate and/or garage sales. Curious if you know what kinds of items your friends have success with (antiques, jewelry, lamps, etc ) - regarding the estate sales. Or do they grab smaller, random items (books, movies, etc)? I do appreciate all the discussion. 1277914[/snapback] if u can get ahold of antlers cheep u will make a buuku money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiegie Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Thank you to all. Any extra money I can make for my daughter's college plans will be worth it. 1277914[/snapback] Sell your daughter. You'll probably get a decent amount of cash AND you won't have to pay for college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piranha Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Sell your daughter. You'll probably get a decent amount of cash AND you won't have to pay for college. 1277947[/snapback] Good info here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skrappy1 Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 (edited) Shipping cost ebay is a fking joke. It's like a rubber band will cost you 15.00 to ship. Alot of Sellers will bring down the cost of the product so you think your getting it cheaper and crank up the shipping cost to make up the difference. 1270194[/snapback] This works on the stupid. I'd like to say that people are getting less stupid, but I've been so wrong on that before. I tend to use the reverse technique. I've made some good profits selling hard to find video games on eBay. I list the item with no reserve, and put "FREE SHIPPING" in the title. I do this for a few reasons: 1) Once people bid on an item, they get attached to it and are more likely to get into the "it's only a dollar more" mentality. 2) People are more likely to bid on something that a bunch of people have bid on already, because they get the impression that it's more desirable than an item with no bids. I usually end up getting more in total than the people who have "buy it now"s and high shipping costs. But, video games tend to have a younger demographic of people looking for it who are perhaps more savvy on shipping rip-offs. I don't know what it's like for estate sale items. I have a friend who makes good money with rare movie soundtracks. If you know what things are worth on eBay, you can make money selling just about any fetish items. 1270346[/snapback] Keep in mind that while some people are surely trying to rope in people who aren't paying attention to the listed shipping costs, others are just employing a good strategy. Ebay takes a percentage of the sale price of your item, so the more the item sells for, the more money they take from you. But they don't mess with your shipping costs. So by selling an item for cheap and jacking up the shipping price, these people are basically getting the price that they want for their item while minimizing the skimming that EBay can do from them. Makes sense really. Edited January 20, 2006 by Skrappy1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sores Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 (edited) I think I have related the story of selling a slew of baseball/football/basketball cards a few years ago. I put them up with a buy it now price of $12,000 and within an hour of posting the auction worked a deal with a guy and sold them to him for $9,999. edit to add: Didn't pay ebay a thing....cancelled the auction and worked with the guy directly. I paid shipping cuz I made so much $$ on the deal. Edited January 20, 2006 by Sores Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonkis Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 I think I have related the story of selling a slew of baseball/football/basketball cards a few years ago. I put them up with a buy it now price of $12,000 and within an hour of posting the auction worked a deal with a guy and sold them to him for $9,999. edit to add: Didn't pay ebay a thing....cancelled the auction and worked with the guy directly. I paid shipping cuz I made so much $$ on the deal. 1278033[/snapback] Did you have some rare cards or was it sold "as-is" a "lot" of cards. I have a hugh box I was thinking about selling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliaz Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Coins. I'm a coin collector and 9 times out of 10 people sell coins over valued on ebay. BUT there are times where people up something up and it is very under valued. I have a penny (1939 S) which is a very rare item. I just saw it sold for $900 on ebay a week or so ago. I'm thinking....hmmmmm maybe I should. But then I told myself no. So i started to watch other peoples habits on ebay. I saw that old Dungeon and Dragon books are like gold on there. I went to garage and yard sales and got books for 25 cents. One auction I did, I had every single book from the 1980s vs of the game and it cost me $35 to get them but I sold the whole collection for $278. Just sit on there and watch was sells. Remember, one mans junk is another treasure. The problem is there is no market from used sex toys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sores Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Did you have some rare cards or was it sold "as-is" a "lot" of cards. I have a hugh box I was thinking about selling. 1278147[/snapback] It was mostly garbage, but I did have a complete 1949 set worth about $2800 in there and some graded cards, but I kept out most of my valuable stuff and stuff I really liked. I may try and sell the rest off soon, but the market has really cooled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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