Is profitting on ebay as simple as:

50 replies
1. Find out whats hot using Terapeak
2. Find a cheap source for "hot" product ie. alibaba.com
3. Sell it for more than you bought it and cheaper than your competitors

?

Then of course step 4 and beyond would be awesome customer service, upsells etc.
#ebay #profitting #simple
  • Profile picture of the author peewhy
    Step 4!

    Fighting the neggers and converting the possies into upeslls ...good plan!

    I've done well with selling 1p items of really good value and plentty of upsells. But eBay make it difficult to sell the very, very cheap stuff.

    Avoiding suppliers that don't deliver or produce crap is essential so if you can do it in-house and ensure you have really good quality control ought to be a priority...it's not as easy as it used to be!
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  • Profile picture of the author DotComBum
    My advise would be don't sell something that everyone is selling, find a niche with a big enough market so you can sell to them, and also don't use a wholesaler which everyone is using, find a supplier which less people are using plus giving you a good price so you can sell cheap and yet still making a profit.
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  • Profile picture of the author mogulmedia
    Yeah as long as you have good enough suppliers it's an easy, honest business. Problem is no matter what you sell there always seems to be people that are able to sell items cheaper than you!

    Also there are so many damn charges!
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    • Profile picture of the author DotComBum
      Originally Posted by mogulmedia View Post

      Yeah as long as you have good enough suppliers it's an easy, honest business. Problem is no matter what you sell there always seems to be people that are able to sell items cheaper than you!

      Also there are so many damn charges!
      Of course there are charges, but it is still a greatest place to sell your stuffs.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Foulds
    Yeah, i'm looking into becoming a Powerseller, not sure if its worth the costs... IF i decide to go the way of ebay over an eCommerce site that is
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  • Profile picture of the author nicholasb
    not quite, you will have to know how to write good sales copy, in order to make the offer irresistible, drive targeted traffic, and the real pain in the ass is getting cheap shipping supplies and shipping everything.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Foulds
    The international side of things is the easy part for me! I spent 7 years in the international import/export game as a juinor customs broker. I'm out the industry now but still have a lot of contacts. My passion has always been strength & conditioning, I'm building my income streams to not just include services - I've written 1 ebook, 3 more in the works and am looking at what products I can sell too
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  • Profile picture of the author Silas Hart
    Originally Posted by Steve Foulds View Post

    1. Find out whats hot using Terapeak
    2. Find a cheap source for "hot" product ie. alibaba.com
    3. Sell it for more than you bought it and cheaper than your competitors

    ?

    Then of course step 4 and beyond would be awesome customer service, upsells etc.
    Looks like you've read some poor quality eBooks.

    1) Terapeak kind of sucks, any data on eBay older than 60 days is almost useless. You can't fully judge the profitability of an item by old data. For all you know, an item might have sold for $29.99 for the past 90 days, but now someone is selling the item for $9.99 currently. Plus, you need to differentiate local data and international sales data (Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, etc) because 70% of buyers are U.S buyers, and the rest is split up among U.K., Australian, and other international buyers. Plus, Terapeak is actually kind of messy for most categories. I actually recommend Vendio's Search, but Terapeaks Title Builder is pretty good.

    2) I don't recommend Alibaba. Most people on Alibaba get their items from another website owned by Alibaba. You want to buy items on this other website because its safer, and you'll get much better deals (as opposed to what the middlemen on Alibaba will give you). Most new people on eBay totally underestimate the number 1 rule on eBay. "Buying items as cheap as possible is the most important part about selling on eBay."

    3) The cheapest person makes the sale, or the local person makes the sale. This means that you won't make as many individual sales as someone from China selling an item for the absolute lowest price on the marketplace, but you can still make sales by being the person selling an item at the lowest price of your country. For example: Here's a Green Yoshi Plush sold by a Chinese Seller:

    New super mario bros green yoshi 7"plush doll toy-M7 | eBay

    - 60 sold since April 25th

    Lowest U.S. seller:

    YOSHI~SUPER MARIO BROS~TOY~8"~PLUSH DOLL~GREEN~GIFT!~NEW!~FAST SHIPPING! | eBay

    - 11 sold

    However, if you look it up, more of these have sold locally.

    And between those two links alone is how you can actually get started on eBay by buying low and selling higher to make a profit, by buying right on eBay.

    More Advice, eBay is about volume which takes a while to create trust with eBay to allow you to sell in volume (You cant just list and sell 500 items a month if its within your 90 days, or you've never done it before) - and controlling the ratio of items you are selling for a good mark up which are usually perceived value items and historical data items, such as the ones listed above which allow you to calculate how many to buy based on how many have sold, allowing you to further calculate your expected profits. Selling the historical data items is a lot of work but it allows you to keep your volume high, so that stuff like a negative feedback doesn't shut you down or drag down your ratings or prevent you from TRS status, but the perceived value items, such as a Large Leopard Print Rug or a cool looking glass lamp, are the items that sell for a high profit margin and really allows you to pay yourself but don't have a large market of people looking to buy these items so you can't always rely on them selling. To many perceived items and you will see yourself dropping your prices just to bring in some money for new inventory.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tad 100
      Originally Posted by FaJeeb View Post

      Looks like you've read some poor quality eBooks.

      1) Terapeak kind of sucks, any data on eBay older than 60 days is almost useless. You can't fully judge the profitability of an item by old data. For all you know, an item might have sold for $29.99 for the past 90 days, but now someone is selling the item for $9.99 currently. Plus, you need to differentiate local data and international sales data (Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, etc) because 70% of buyers are U.S buyers, and the rest is split up among U.K., Australian, and other international buyers. Plus, Terapeak is actually kind of messy for most categories. I actually recommend Vendio's Search, but Terapeaks Title Builder is pretty good.

      2) I don't recommend Alibaba. Most people on Alibaba get their items from another website owned by Alibaba. You want to buy items on this other website because its safer, and you'll get much better deals (as opposed to what the middlemen on Alibaba will give you). Most new people on eBay totally underestimate the number 1 rule on eBay. "Buying items as cheap as possible is the most important part about selling on eBay."

      3) The cheapest person makes the sale, or the local person makes the sale. This means that you won't make as many individual sales as someone from China selling an item for the absolute lowest price on the marketplace, but you can still make sales by being the person selling an item at the lowest price of your country. For example: Here's a Green Yoshi Plush sold by a Chinese Seller:

      New super mario bros green yoshi 7"plush doll toy-M7 | eBay

      - 60 sold since April 25th

      Lowest U.S. seller:

      YOSHI~SUPER MARIO BROS~TOY~8"~PLUSH DOLL~GREEN~GIFT!~NEW!~FAST SHIPPING! | eBay

      - 11 sold

      However, if you look it up, more of these have sold locally.

      And between those two links alone is how you can actually get started on eBay by buying low and selling higher to make a profit, by buying right on eBay.

      More Advice, eBay is about volume which takes a while to create trust with eBay to allow you to sell in volume (You cant just list and sell 500 items a month if its within your 90 days, or you've never done it before) - and controlling the ratio of items you are selling for a good mark up which are usually perceived value items and historical data items, such as the ones listed above which allow you to calculate how many to buy based on how many have sold, allowing you to further calculate your expected profits. Selling the historical data items is a lot of work but it allows you to keep your volume high, so that stuff like a negative feedback doesn't shut you down or drag down your ratings or prevent you from TRS status, but the perceived value items, such as a Large Leopard Print Rug or a cool looking glass lamp, are the items that sell for a high profit margin and really allows you to pay yourself but don't have a large market of people looking to buy these items so you can't always rely on them selling. To many perceived items and you will see yourself dropping your prices just to bring in some money for new inventory.
      I would like to add or correct some statements.

      1. You can't judge anything without testing it yourself. Terapeak show other seller's data and you will get different numbers then you start selling same products. So you need to test your products without investing your money in the first place.
      2. I found a lot of real manufacturers on Alibaba. I even give away free manufacturers list in my site and I found them all on Alibaba. This is not pitch but fact. And yes you need to focus on getting cheapest product, because other suppliers just make money by reselling same product at a higher price.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Foulds
    Thanks FaJeeb - my theory dates back to the old Andale days!
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    • Andale, good heavens. They were local to me. I went to a party at their HQ once and talked venture capital with Munjal Shah, the CEO.

      eBay doesn't want you. Don't feel bad, it isn't personal. They don't want any small sellers and they will kill your business by degrees. A friend of mine is the #5 seller on eBay (#1 through 4 are all the same Chinese guy) and they are making it difficult for him. It's amazing he's hung on this long.

      If you achieve any level of success at all, PayPal will slap a reserve on your account.

      fLufF
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      • Profile picture of the author Tad 100
        Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat View Post

        Andale, good heavens. They were local to me. I went to a party at their HQ once and talked venture capital with Munjal Shah, the CEO.

        eBay doesn't want you. Don't feel bad, it isn't personal. They don't want any small sellers and they will kill your business by degrees. A friend of mine is the #5 seller on eBay (#1 through 4 are all the same Chinese guy) and they are making it difficult for him. It's amazing he's hung on this long.

        If you achieve any level of success at all, PayPal will slap a reserve on your account.

        fLufF
        --
        eBay doesn't want you? Nonsence. Your friend is doing something wrong if he don't know how to compete with China sellers. Buyers like to buy from local sellers period.
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        • Originally Posted by Tad 100 View Post

          eBay doesn't want you? Nonsence. Your friend is doing something wrong if he don't know how to compete with China sellers. Buyers like to buy from local sellers period.
          You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. I spent over 10 years selling on eBay full-time and I know exactly what's going on there.

          fLufF
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          • Profile picture of the author Tad 100
            Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat View Post

            You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. I spent over 10 years selling on eBay full-time and I know exactly what's going on there.

            fLufF
            --
            It is the stupidest statement I ever heard. You think that you had eBay account for 10 years and you know more than me? eBay don't want you, eBay is bad. This is just gossip and your imagination, can you prove it?

            I spent more than 7 years on eBay and I am doing business till now. I think this is the main difference. You quit because you can't make enough money and I stay because I can grow even bigger. I have students already who make money on eBay too.

            I judge people by results only. 10 year is not result but timeframe. It is the same with tennis. People like to ask how long I play tennis and I say one year. After that they say oh so you are not playing good. I go and play with people who play from 3-5 years and beat them. This is the result. I am doing business now and teaching how to do it, so maybe I know what I am talking about too.
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            • Profile picture of the author David Neale
              Tad I've looked around your website and there is a lot of very good information for free. I have a few questions if you don't mind.

              1. You focus a lot on electronics, how do you handle warranty work?
              2. Have you ever tried Amazon?
              3. Do you sell a lot of other products besides electronics? Isn't that easier because of warranty?
              4. Do you have a small warehouse or ship from your home?
              5. Do you ever sell things NOT from China?

              I tried eBay about 10 years ago and failed. I purchased locally wholesale and got no interest or sales but still have my account (4 feedbacks for my purchases only). I tried but not very hard.

              I see people selling ebooks and DVDs for .99 etc., I assume they are just trying to build a buyers list?

              Originally Posted by Tad 100 View Post

              It is the stupidest statement I ever heard. You think that you had eBay account for 10 years and you know more than me? eBay don't want you, eBay is bad. This is just gossip and your imagination, can you prove it?

              I spent more than 7 years on eBay and I am doing business till now. I think this is the main difference. You quit because you can't make enough money and I stay because I can grow even bigger. I have students already who make money on eBay too.

              I judge people by results only. 10 year is not result but timeframe. It is the same with tennis. People like to ask how long I play tennis and I say one year. After that they say oh so you are not playing good. I go and play with people who play from 3-5 years and beat them. This is the result. I am doing business now and teaching how to do it, so maybe I know what I am talking about too.
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              David Neale

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              • Profile picture of the author Tad 100
                Originally Posted by David Neale View Post

                Tad I've looked around your website and there is a lot of very good information for free. I have a few questions if you don't mind.

                1. You focus a lot on electronics, how do you handle warranty work?
                2. Have you ever tried Amazon?
                3. Do you sell a lot of other products besides electronics? Isn't that easier because of warranty?
                4. Do you have a small warehouse or ship from your home?
                5. Do you ever sell things NOT from China?

                I tried eBay about 10 years ago and failed. I purchased locally wholesale and got no interest or sales but still have my account (4 feedbacks for my purchases only). I tried but not very hard.

                I see people selling ebooks and DVDs for .99 etc., I assume they are just trying to build a buyers list?
                Great questions let me cover them fast.

                1. I never provide warranty for my products, but I accept returns over 30 or 60 days. Buyer must pay for returning the item and most of the time they don't want to pay for shipping it back if product price is $30 or $50. I never had problems with people after 30 or 60 days. Even if I have problems, I ask them to ship products back to me and I replace them all. I contact supplier and provide pictures so that he can add new items in exchange in the next order. Basically manufacturer is responsible for warranty and most of the time you will get products with warranty cards. Quick example, I bought tennis ball machine from Canada. If something will happen I will be responsible for bringing it back to Canada because manufacturer don’t have office here in Lithuania. This is the same with products from China. Buyer must ship product back to China. But 99% of the time I help my buyers because they bought from me. If you act nice with people they will think that it is not your fault. If you act badly with people after you sell a product, they will think that it is your fault. People don’t like to blame themselves. So I do all my best to solve any problems with my buyers. Remember one more thing, always check each product before shipping.
                2. No, because I live in Lithuania. I think Amazon is better for USA or maybe other bigger countries.
                3. Yes I do. I can give you one example if you want - Apple Ipad case cover. You need to check it before shipping and that's all.
                4. My target is small and light weight product. So I don't need big warehouse. Recently I moved to the office just because I decided to create studio for video recordings.
                5. No, but I did in the past. I sold many silver and gold coins. I used USA drop shipper and I bought pallets from UK.

                You can sell ebooks to build list and upsell, but I don't use this technique.
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            • Originally Posted by Tad 100 View Post

              It is the stupidest statement I ever heard. You think that you had eBay account for 10 years and you know more than me? eBay don't want you, eBay is bad. This is just gossip and your imagination, can you prove it?
              Absolutely. I am a member of the Professional eBay Sellers Alliance -- the top sellers on eBay. You're what, some guy in Lithuania? Tell me, "Tad", how many eBay Live conventions have you been to? How many eBay execs have you spoken to in person? How many eBay marketing reps have visited your place of business? How many times have you been to eBay and/or PayPal headquarters?

              You're here to sell your eBay course. You've posted on nothing else. So tread lightly.

              Be careful about making "stupidest" comments -- you can get an infraction on this board, have your comment removed or even be banned if the moderators think it's justified.

              fLufF
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              • Profile picture of the author Tad 100
                Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat View Post

                Absolutely. I am a member of the Professional eBay Sellers Alliance -- the top sellers on eBay. You're what, some guy in Lithuania? Tell me, "Tad", how many eBay Live conventions have you been to? How many eBay execs have you spoken to in person? How many eBay marketing reps have visited your place of business? How many times have you been to eBay and/or PayPal headquarters?

                You're here to sell your eBay course. You've posted on nothing else. So tread lightly.

                Be careful about making "stupidest" comments -- you can get an infraction on this board, have your comment removed or even be banned if the moderators think it's justified.

                fLufF
                --
                Yes, I am pure guy from little country without any background, but you are so big. For me it sounds like a corporate language. It just proves what I said in my previous post.

                First of all I make money on eBay and I have top rated status for more than few eBay accounts. I have students who make money too. I think this background is more than enough to say my opinion. I know how to make money on eBay and I do it.

                I am here to share what I know. I even don't have WSO and it is you fault that you don’t believe that someone can commit without getting something.

                And don’t threaten me just because you don’t have facts that prove your statements. All you can do is talk about how big you are.
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      • Profile picture of the author Tad 100
        Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat View Post

        eBay doesn't want you. Don't feel bad, it isn't personal. They don't want any small sellers and they will kill your business by degrees. A friend of mine is the #5 seller on eBay (#1 through 4 are all the same Chinese guy) and they are making it difficult for him. It's amazing he's hung on this long.
        --
        Two sellers from Canada are selling dental cameras on eBay.com and making a lot of money.
        The first seller is eBay ID – ‘Dental-Digital-World’ and in last 30 days, he sold more than $12,000. Click the link below to see what he is currently selling:

        http://myworld.ebay.com/dental-digital-world/

        The second one is eBay seller – ‘All-Dental’ and in last 30 days, he sold for more than $4,570. This seller has 2 eBay listings selling same product. Click the link below to visit him:

        http://myworld.ebay.com/all-dental/

        They make money selling one good product only. They started their business just by selling this dental camera only. I monitor them from long time ago. Competition is huge. Type dental camera and you will see a lot of sellers from China are selling same product at lower price.

        This is real manufacturer from China they use:
        http://www.magtole.com/

        I can give you hundreds of examples like this.
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  • Profile picture of the author eplanellas
    Originally Posted by Steve Foulds View Post

    1. Find out whats hot using Terapeak
    2. Find a cheap source for "hot" product ie. alibaba.com
    3. Sell it for more than you bought it and cheaper than your competitors

    ?

    Then of course step 4 and beyond would be awesome customer service, upsells etc.
    I think you are making it way too complicated. I make my ebay money simply by finding an online wholesaler that does dropshipping and then but their items up for bidding. The people buy, I order from the dropshipper and everyone gets what they want. The trouble is finding a dropshipper that you can rely on. Still, I have a good one and I managed to make quite a nice piece of change that way. Plus, there is

    1. No inventory to keep up with

    and

    2. No spending money buying an item that may or may not sell.

    Plus, there are a lot of good wholesalers that let you promote their products for free. I would stay away from paying membership fees. I like making money online for free .
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  • Profile picture of the author alfid
    I think the starter of this thread is onto something. Any time you can buy cheap and sell for a profit is a great opportunity.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Foulds
    Alfid: Its the same with many things mate eg., Success in shares = buy low, sell high
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  • Profile picture of the author nnaij
    I would suggest you create a niches for different types of Ebay products you want to sell. But stay away from products that many people is merchanting on.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Foulds
    Not sure about other countries but here in Australia we cannot sell digital products like ebooks or downloadble videos, webinars etc. anymore - I have gotten around it with my ebook though
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  • Profile picture of the author elexmedia
    Another option:
    1. Find 'hot' branded fashion items through eBay Pulse
    2. Search for the branded items at Craigslist (beware of replica products)
    3. Use 0.99 cents bid auction + BIN and no reserve. Branded items usually get a lot of bids.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tad 100
      Originally Posted by elexmedia View Post

      Another option:
      1. Find 'hot' branded fashion items through eBay Pulse
      2. Search for the branded items at Craigslist (beware of replica products)
      3. Use 0.99 cents bid auction + BIN and no reserve. Branded items usually get a lot of bids.
      I used this one too, but with no luck here in Lithuania and I suggest auction only without BIN. You don't need to set the limit because it can be even greater .

      One bad thing is that you can't predict your income. With good manufacturer you are sure that you can get same quality and quantity every time your order. But this craigslist you need to spend a lot of time for hunting each product. Inspect each product individually and be expert at what you are selling. If for example apple ipad has a problem and you will not notice it you will lose your money.

      I remember how I decided to resell mobile phones and I lost some money because it was very hard to check each function fast.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rojak Moon
    Steve Foulds glad you started this thread and Thank You FaJeeb for the informative reply.
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  • Profile picture of the author silyavski
    Ebay sucks! Why:
    -After the ultimate changes you have to pay overall 10% fees
    -You can not vote the buyer negative
    -It doesn't matter what you return policy is-if the buyer wants to return it, paypal always decides in his favor
    -they do not favor small scale sales or sale of cheap items

    That does not mean i stopped selling at Ebay. I thought even of writing a perfect guide how to beat them at their game. I will when i have more time.

    Some, but not all points on how to beat them:
    1.Never use and pay for their image and other services. upload one image and include the others in the post , hosted on your server
    2.Make a bait listing to point to your external/ hosted by you/ shop

    etc... You guys here are smart, can figure the rest on your own. And be merciless!!!
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    • Profile picture of the author Tad 100
      Originally Posted by silyavski View Post

      Ebay sucks! Why:
      -After the ultimate changes you have to pay overall 10% fees
      -You can not vote the buyer negative
      -It doesn't matter what you return policy is-if the buyer wants to return it, paypal always decides in his favor
      -they do not favor small scale sales or sale of cheap items

      That does not mean i stopped selling at Ebay. I thought even of writing a perfect guide how to beat them at their game. I will when i have more time.

      Some, but not all points on how to beat them:
      1.Never use and pay for their image and other services. upload one image and include the others in the post , hosted on your server
      2.Make a bait listing to point to your external/ hosted by you/ shop

      etc... You guys here are smart, can figure the rest on your own. And be merciless!!!
      Few notes:

      I am thinking how to create a tool or something like that so that sellers can protect themselves. Some buyers don't care about other sellers and leave negative comments just like that. Maybe people here have some good ideas?

      Paypal will be in your side if you used shipping with tracking number and paypal can see it online. In this situation buyer has to pay for returning the item.

      With image hosting you are 100% right. This is why I created free ebay image hosting.
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  • Profile picture of the author ProServices
    eBay is also now Feebay. It is so difficult to make a decent living on eBay with the excessive fees they charge. Then paypal take their cut. The poor seller is left wondering ''was it all worth it?"

    If you get the right product at the right price, done your costings,have a system in place, have great feedback from customers, have sold or bought 100's of items to seem credible, then you have a fighting chance to make it with eBay
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Foulds
    Maybe its time the experts from here banded their expertise and funds together to start an auction site that is win-win-win, goes back to what ebay WAS
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  • Profile picture of the author seoimninja
    Find something that people want to buy and sell it at a lower price than all your competitors. Although you won't be making bank at first, you will develop loyal customers who buy more. This, in the long run, will cause you to make higher profits.
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  • Profile picture of the author ebaypowerguru
    Originally Posted by Steve Foulds View Post

    1. Find out whats hot using Terapeak
    2. Find a cheap source for "hot" product ie. alibaba.com
    3. Sell it for more than you bought it and cheaper than your competitors

    ?

    Then of course step 4 and beyond would be awesome customer service, upsells etc.
    Don't always have to be the cheapest! Have a well written and structured description, good feedback and a decent keyword rich title.
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    • Profile picture of the author Silas Hart
      Originally Posted by ebaypowerguru View Post

      Don't always have to be the cheapest! Have a well written and structured description, good feedback and a decent keyword rich title.
      I disagree with this and have done much research on this matter.

      When I was able to secure the cheapest price possible on the entire marketplace for an item located within the United States, 97% of my customers chose the item because it was cheapest. 3% (Just 3%) chose the item because the professional touch of graphics, descriptions, and text regarding increased information on shipping and information about the seller.

      Because eBay is a volume based selling platform, it is almost counter productive to spend an increased effort beyond the necessary information on eBay listings.

      As far as listing, K.I.S.S. is a very good acronym for this. Of course, this doesn't mean someone shouldn't provide necessary information on the product to avoid confusion of some kind.
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  • Profile picture of the author prismkuet
    It's not always the fact that cheapest will win the market. Another point is, if you can offer at lower price than your competitor, someone else will offer cheaper than you! It will lead to certain lowest point of profit where everyone will stop. It will just reduce everyone's profit margin and business, nothing else.
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  • Profile picture of the author gbarrows31
    You might want to check out my wife's book.. She is a TopRated Seller and PowerSeller..

    The book is what you need to know and how to do it.. No Fluff..

    Happy to Help!!
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  • Profile picture of the author ElaineHenderson
    I used to buy products which were on sale or searching for offers and re-sell the products a bit more expensive. It was working for me but you need to search for sales all the time.

    What Tad 100 described sounds interesting, but I find it very difficult to be done.. Selling only one product through ebay needs a lot of promotion and hard work. But those guys must be really happy with the results.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tad 100
      Originally Posted by ElaineHenderson View Post

      I used to buy products which were on sale or searching for offers and re-sell the products a bit more expensive. It was working for me but you need to search for sales all the time.

      What Tad 100 described sounds interesting, but I find it very difficult to be done.. Selling only one product through ebay needs a lot of promotion and hard work. But those guys must be really happy with the results.
      The hardest part is to find good and profitable product. You don't need any promotion on eBay. eBay itself is very powerful tool with a lot of buyers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Drew Cleveland
    Stay the hell away from alibaba.com thats all i gotta say.
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  • Profile picture of the author webcosmo
    if alibaba is bad what are the other options?

    i also gotta say ebay charges too much on fees.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tad 100
      Originally Posted by webcosmo View Post

      if alibaba is bad what are the other options?

      i also gotta say ebay charges too much on fees.
      How can alibaba be a bad place? Alibaba don't sell products, it is the same marketplace like eBay. You need to find the supplier on your own. The problem is that you need to know how to do it right. But it is not bad at all.
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  • Profile picture of the author JamesHughes
    I would stay away from the likes of Alibaba. There are cheaper alternatives and plenty of access to wholesalers that don't require recurring membership fees.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tad 100
      Originally Posted by JamesHughes View Post

      I would stay away from the likes of Alibaba. There are cheaper alternatives and plenty of access to wholesalers that don't require recurring membership fees.
      You don't talk about Alibaba aren't you? Alibaba is free to use.
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  • Profile picture of the author Silas Hart
    I use a website owned by Alibaba that is mostly only for people that live within China. I get the absolute lowest prices, and 99% of people on Alibaba are middlemen that buy their goods in bulk from this website. Buying wholesale and finding the original manufactures of items within this specific website is easy to know what you are doing. Luckily because you have to know a good bit of Chinese (Google Translate does not work very well) and have an agent in China that doesn't add much to your overhead, you can buy goods at their economic price point. Americanized/Western Market items are super cheap if you can find them, for example, something made by a Chinese manufacturer in Shenzhen that over produced something and doesn't know the exact name of stuff that was originally intended for the store "Hot Topic" in the United States can be bought for pennies above the price it cost to make it. Many of these items I sell for a huge mark up when brought into the States, and most of these items sell really quick because there is no competition from the Asian sellers, and the competition from western market sellers (U.S., Canada, U.K., etc) are usually dropshipping these items at a price that might be only 5% below retail.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tad 100
      Originally Posted by FaJeeb View Post

      I use a website owned by Alibaba that is mostly only for people that live within China. I get the absolute lowest prices, and 99% of people on Alibaba are middlemen that buy their goods in bulk from this website. Buying wholesale and finding the original manufactures of items within this specific website is easy to know what you are doing. Luckily because you have to know a good bit of Chinese (Google Translate does not work very well) and have an agent in China that doesn't add much to your overhead, you can buy goods at their economic price point. Americanized/Western Market items are super cheap if you can find them, for example, something made by a Chinese manufacturer in Shenzhen that over produced something and doesn't know the exact name of stuff that was originally intended for the store "Hot Topic" in the United States can be bought for pennies above the price it cost to make it. Many of these items I sell for a huge mark up when brought into the States, and most of these items sell really quick because there is no competition from the Asian sellers, and the competition from western market sellers (U.S., Canada, U.K., etc) are usually dropshipping these items at a price that might be only 5% below retail.
      Yes, I think I know this site. Well, I found a lot of manufacturers on Alibaba only. But do they accept paypal? I mean suppliers from other site?
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      • Profile picture of the author Silas Hart
        Originally Posted by Tad 100 View Post

        Yes, I think I know this site. Well, I found a lot of manufacturers on Alibaba only. But do they accept paypal? I mean suppliers from other site?
        Very few do, I use AliPay mostly.
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    • Profile picture of the author tjk1058
      Have you ever sold in bulk to US buyers so we can re-sell over here locally? I might be interested in buying some things as I haven't sold on Ebay for years because of the lack of reliable and cheap suppliers.

      Thanks,

      TedK

      Originally Posted by FaJeeb View Post

      I use a website owned by Alibaba that is mostly only for people that live within China. I get the absolute lowest prices, and 99% of people on Alibaba are middlemen that buy their goods in bulk from this website. Buying wholesale and finding the original manufactures of items within this specific website is easy to know what you are doing. Luckily because you have to know a good bit of Chinese (Google Translate does not work very well) and have an agent in China that doesn't add much to your overhead, you can buy goods at their economic price point. Americanized/Western Market items are super cheap if you can find them, for example, something made by a Chinese manufacturer in Shenzhen that over produced something and doesn't know the exact name of stuff that was originally intended for the store "Hot Topic" in the United States can be bought for pennies above the price it cost to make it. Many of these items I sell for a huge mark up when brought into the States, and most of these items sell really quick because there is no competition from the Asian sellers, and the competition from western market sellers (U.S., Canada, U.K., etc) are usually dropshipping these items at a price that might be only 5% below retail.
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      • Profile picture of the author Silas Hart
        Originally Posted by tjk1058 View Post

        Have you ever sold in bulk to US buyers so we can re-sell over here locally? I might be interested in buying some things as I haven't sold on Ebay for years because of the lack of reliable and cheap suppliers.

        Thanks,

        TedK
        I used to, for mostly generic things that were better sold at local markets rather than online (eBay). This is because it didnt make sense for me to research, build a relationship with a supplier, risk face, transfer funds, and handle logistics for pennies.

        As far as items that sell better a local markets, things such as:



        I can get those as low as $3.00 (after all overhead including shipping to the U.S.) but on eBay, stuff like this sits and collects dust because its non-name brand, has no following, and when listed as a "Doll Clothing Lot" I'm trying to gain visibility against 3,000 other eBay listings.

        ...but locally, something like this can be sold for $20 or $30 all day long.
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  • Profile picture of the author Hamida Harland
    I did eBay a few years ago (I think it was around 2004-2006) but as a small seller it got harder and harder to compete. The ebay fees are high and profit margins get lower once competitors see you're doing well selling something.

    You'll always find someone willing to sell for lower than you, and when you're up against sellers with actual shops and warehouses etc. that can buy in massive bulk for really cheaply you're pretty much pushed out of the market.

    My best success was using eBay arbitrage. I used to find products on eBay US that weren't readily available here in the UK (or were available alot cheaper in the US), get them shipped across, and resell on eBay UK.

    Eventually after having problems with Paypal I decided to give it up. Best decision I ever made. I know eBay is good for some people though - particularly if you have the purchasing power (which as a small seller I didn't).
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  • Profile picture of the author Tad 100
    My aproach is a little bit different, I try to find products like in example about dental cameras in my previous post.
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