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Do you guys still recommend eBay?

by storefrontt
15 replies
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Is there still money to be made off of eBay?
I feel there is too much competition and they're all selling the same stuff from the same suppliers and manufacturers.

Or should I make my own ecommerce site and IM the crap out of it?

Arguably I guess I could find my own manufacturer hidden in a deep forest in Oklahoma that likes to hermit his or her products...

What do you all think?
#ebay #guys #recommend
  • Profile picture of the author RunMarty
    Yes, there is a lot of competition on Ebay. However, there is also a seemingly endless amount of traffic.

    In my opinion, the decision between marketplaces and stand alone website should be based on what you are selling and how you want to go about selling it.

    But to answer your question, yes there is still profits to be made at eBay because they have so much traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author jumbo1
    Of course there is money to be made off of eBay, otherwise you wouldn't have found any seller over there

    But it all depends on:

    1- what you're selling
    2- to whom
    3- how you're selling it
    4- and where do you buy it from in the first place

    I don't recommend you build your ecommerce website if you've just started doing ecommerce. People will not magically start pouring over your newly built website, and it will take a long time to rank on Google unless you're selling in a very special niche with little competition.
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    • Profile picture of the author Silas Hart
      Creating my own ecommerce site and investing both time and money into getting it running was probably the best decision of my life. Do $20,000 in gross sales a month on eBay, and do the same on your own site and see which one you prefer. It doesn't work for every kind of item, some people Only go to eBay for those niche items - but I've create websites based on niche items, such as antique style phones that I didn't expect to gain any traction. When I started putting the percentage of my sales that would have originally been paid in fees, into a marketing campaign such as adwords and other forms of SEO to get unique visitors to my site - then sales really took off, and I got to a point where I could scale back operating costs including my marketing budget, and instead of spending 9% or more of my sales on marketing, I was running effectively on 3% or simply setting up a flat rate budget amount. This put more money in my pocket.

      I don't want to start an argument, but I don't feel like eBay is best for a long term investment, and the cost of fees and the cost of operating by eBay and PayPals rules/regulations/expectations isn't worth the money spent on fees, and I am slowly becoming more unimpressed by their traffic to individual listings with high rank or other factors, such as no competition, being the lowest priced, etc. Do I still sell on eBay? Yes, unfortunately - but it looks like 2015 will be my last year across the board.
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      • Profile picture of the author jameyson72
        Originally Posted by Silas Hart View Post

        Creating my own ecommerce site and investing both time and money into getting it running was probably the best decision of my life. Do $20,000 in gross sales a month on eBay, and do the same on your own site and see which one you prefer. It doesn't work for every kind of item, some people Only go to eBay for those niche items - but I've create websites based on niche items, such as antique style phones that I didn't expect to gain any traction. When I started putting the percentage of my sales that would have originally been paid in fees, into a marketing campaign such as adwords and other forms of SEO to get unique visitors to my site - then sales really took off, and I got to a point where I could scale back operating costs including my marketing budget, and instead of spending 9% or more of my sales on marketing, I was running effectively on 3% or simply setting up a flat rate budget amount. This put more money in my pocket.

        I don't want to start an argument, but I don't feel like eBay is best for a long term investment, and the cost of fees and the cost of operating by eBay and PayPals rules/regulations/expectations isn't worth the money spent on fees, and I am slowly becoming more unimpressed by their traffic to individual listings with high rank or other factors, such as no competition, being the lowest priced, etc. Do I still sell on eBay? Yes, unfortunately - but it looks like 2015 will be my last year across the board.
        I sent you a FB friend request
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  • Profile picture of the author loprox
    Ebay is still great but it depends on the niche or market. For most products you get lost in the shuffle. But if you can create something users are looking for, stand out from the crowd, and offer good service, I think Ebay still has a place in the marketing portfolio.

    Fees are definitely an issue you should be considering because they add up. Also, if you have some customer service problems, you might get shut down. Then your business is at $0. On your own site, there's always an alternative you can take. Big risk there with eBay.
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  • Profile picture of the author Connor51
    eBay is good due to the fact that you can always guarantee a successful sale. It really depends on the type of product though and your margins. Doing SEO and PPC/Marketing for a website can be a hit and miss because if the product is saturated you might as well do eBay because it's going to cost you thousands of dollars upfront to get traffic and sales. Real Talk
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  • Profile picture of the author James Foster
    Why does everyone think it's a one or the other deal? Use eBay to feed your own website. Every time you make a sale on ebay, include a card in the box giving them a reason to sign up for your email list (which is on your own website). That way, over time, you build up a following and you can start emailing about products that are on your own website so you don't have to pay the eBay fees, and you have a list of buyers you know are interested in your products.
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    • Profile picture of the author thriftgirl62
      Originally Posted by James Foster View Post

      Why does everyone think it's a one or the other deal? Use eBay to feed your own website. Every time you make a sale on ebay, include a card in the box giving them a reason to sign up for your email list (which is on your own website). That way, over time, you build up a following and you can start emailing about products that are on your own website so you don't have to pay the eBay fees, and you have a list of buyers you know are interested in your products.
      Exactly. My son has been a Power Seller on eBay since he was in High School. Go to Jahda.com and click on the eBay link and check out his User ID. He sells over $3K monthly just on eBay even though he prefers to do business in person.
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  • Profile picture of the author DWaters
    Yes, you certainly can make money selling on ebay.
    Of course it depends on the products you are selling. Using FBA on Amazon is another method you can use which you may find to be much more profitable.

    It does not have to be one or the other. Both marketplaces, ebay and Amazon will always have far more buyer traffic than any individual ecommerce site will ever have.
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    • Profile picture of the author WilliamVillagran
      I will probably always recommend ebay but after awhile you may want to expand your business into selling into amazon. Amazon just makes it a lot easier to sell on. But no matter what don't just sell on 1 venue because you will never know what can happen.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tyoussef
    i never been an ebay affiliate i think amazon is better than ebay. ebay old and the same products witch is the opposit of amazon
    in fact i don't like any of those i prefer digital products marketing
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  • Profile picture of the author jkgultimate
    I personally do over $30,000 in sales on eBay every single month without using an ecommerce site. So you can do this, plus I only drop ship.

    I would take advantage of Amazon, Bonanza as well for results.
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    • Profile picture of the author SDStitches
      Originally Posted by jkgultimate View Post

      I personally do over $30,000 in sales on eBay every single month without using an ecommerce site. So you can do this, plus I only drop ship.

      I would take advantage of Amazon, Bonanza as well for results.
      How has your experience with bonanza been? I recently stumbled across it and made a purchase but was wondering about your experience selling they definitely made it very simple to upload existing listings WOW, but when I was completing my account it is asking for a CC to maintain the account, this is makes me apprehensive. I was looking for any feedback as I have never used the site and made my purchase only 10 minutes ago. Bonanza.com
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  • Profile picture of the author OBNMICHAELAWMG
    I have one client in particular that is doing very well with ebay. While the AOV are typically smaller they tend to move a ton of volume. They are a 5 million plus online only business selling a ton of their own branded product and Ebay accounts for about 30% of the gross sales. Also their platform is using a module that automatically updates new products and qty's straight to ebay so it is virtually hands-off other than filling and shipping the orders.
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  • Profile picture of the author Auctiondebteliminator
    eBay has a lot of advantages that Amazon or other selling platforms just don't have.

    In fact, you can accurately find out exactly how much they item will sell for, calculate your profit margin and even rank higher in the search results if you just use these tools. (And I'm not talking about paid ones that Terapeak that are actually terrible for giving you the exact data you need.)


    Amazon doesn't have these benefits as you're taking a shot in the dark as far as pricing items.

    A seller never, ever, chooses the price of a product - only the market does. You need to be able to consult that market. The biggest issue with Amazon is even if you DO sell items on there, you cannot predict if the item is taking a loss or not.

    High turnover does not equal higher profits.

    In fact, it is reasonable, as business owners, to know where the two lines connect as far as maximum profit and maximum turnover.
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