Is Any Warrior Making Money from eBay, or at least Still Interested In How To Do It?

That's great that eBay is making money for you. You might be very lonely with that. As far as I know eBay makes money. Whether anybody else really makes money is more than questionable.

I tried it a few years ago. Made it to power seller within 4 weeks. Result money wise: Everything eaten up by fees.

But if it works for you: Cool. Continue.

I've been making some money via the ebay partner network. I am currently working on using the API to get a better site up. The sad thing is that it does make money, and this is with minimal effort. It's just my laziness that has stopped really getting the full potential.

The API is incredibly powerful, but also large and unwieldy. They have consistency issues and getting all the data with smart caching and the like requires a fair bit of programmatic effort.

I'll be sure to let you know how I go though.

In terms of just buying and selling on eBay, not really interested, too much walking to the post office...

Exactly the fees are way too much on Ebay. I always thought they just take the listing fee. I learned it the hard way after I sold couple of items.

Yes been my main source of income for last 2 years,it's like everything else you have to choose right niche and maketing to make it pay.

Only down side is can be a lot of hassle sometimes with very demanding customers.I sell the same items on my web site and very seldom get complaints but ebay is very different ball game.

The good side is it puts your products in front of a large buying audience, just wish i could get the same amount of sales on my web site.

Thing is they feel safe when buying from ebay compared to a normal web site and as some of my items are high ticket the site doesn't generate anywhere near same amount of sales as ebay.

yeah looked into it several times...even tried it but i can't see an edge at all. Fees. ebay and paypal eat up your profits and then there are the customers.....who play you like a puppet. I bailed.

The changes ebay has implemented in the recent years has caused many sellers to bail. Between 1998 and 2003, 90% of my income was from ebay, but I wouldn't sell a stick of gum there now. Say what you will about Meg Whitman, when she was there ebay rocked!

But that is just my opinion and experience. If you're in the right niche it's still a goldmine from the exposure alone. Also there are other online marketplaces like etsy.com that are doing very well and attracting top sellers. So if you were considering offering a product about making money with ebay, perhaps you could expand it to include other marketplaces?

Just a thought.

My problem with Ebay is that they wont accept you if you have any other advertising (of any kind clickbank, adsense ect) on your website.

So I'd first have to build a quality website with no advertising and then wait a while to apply.

Sam

I still have a closet full or ebay stuff. Slowly working my collection down.

I have noticed my sales have dropped, but an extra $50-$100 every week or so helps.

I stopped along time ago because of the fees...the powerseller status doesn't really benefit you in any way. They make it sound you're special but in the end you still need to pay your fees.

Ditto on much of what has been said, Ebay was the first site where I made a good profit started out in 1999 selling auction items from a local auction house, did really well then things just changed, the cost of shipping just keeps going up and up and the fees keep going up, later I made some good revenue as an affiliate then ebay changed the way they pay out and my affiliate pay flatlined, (sadly and allegedly this looks like it was planned by ebay) as a method of phasing out an effective affiliate policy, strange behavior over all I have stopped doing business with ebay and even paypal is now developing hiccups that are irritating to me, I really wonder about who is in charge of this FUBAR mess over at ebay and when they will hire someone to repair the mess they have.

One thing is for sure Amazon is kicking their butts.

As a few others have said, the fee's are just too much for my liking. I do sell stuff on there from time to time, but I just sell stuff I no longer want.

I've pretty much given up on ebay. It was too much work for me in the niche I was in.

Greetings Eric,

EBay is a great place to learn about niches that have demand and test out your selling ideas.

If you can find a niche that your all of your eBay fees do not each up your profits ... Then it is quite easy to scale up your activity and increase your bottom line.



It is still a great place to do your research and modify your marketing ideas.

Wishing you and your family all of the very best ... Ron

But the truth is if you research properly and find the right supplier you can start making money the same day on Ebay.
As opposed to waiting weeks or months for free traffic for your website.
Ebays traffic is already there you just need to know how to skirt the bottom feeders
Sure Ebay and Paypal are going to hammer you with fees,thats why you need hot items with good profit margins.

Started with ebay over 10 years ago. Was actually fun for a while but I never had the knack for knowing what would sell well. I envied the people who made a living on ebay, still do. Toss my hat into the ring every now and then even though the unholy union of ebay and Paypal is not one I approve of.

And everytime eBay is brought up I'm always DYING to know what the big rollers sell (other than information products lol)!

Hi:

Shireen here :-)

I make most of my money on ebay selling resell rights products + my own ebooks.

My wso is about ebay too :-)

Yes I do, but nothing compared to what I used to make a couple of years ago.

From being a main source of income, Ebay has now moved to the the sideline. To be honest nowadays there are a lot less buyers around and they tend to be a lot more demanding!

I have been selling on eBay for nearly 10 years. I started out selling items lying around the house that I no longer had a use for.

Several years ago I began selling products I created from public domain works and continue to do so. At one point eBay was my main source of income.

I still make a decent income from eBay but it is no longer my main income source.

Although I sometimes have fits about eBays policies and such, I don't see myself ever going away from selling on eBay because of the reasons pointed out in the original post...

-major targeted traffic (overwhelming majority ready to buy)
-instant traffic/buyers who've purchased before
-people with money in hand (paypal), ready to buy
-open 24hrs

I am using ebay for 6 years now. I sell my info products, products from China, use optin box to collect info and so on. It is really good place and what I like is that all people are customers they are looking to buy.

Making money on eBay is a separate subject by itself. It is a slow process but a sure one I believe.

Fee bay kept raising fees and increasing prices. Also, the ban on ebooks hurt us. Well, guess what ebooks are selling now more than paper backs and hard covers. Fee bay shot themselves in the foot - again.

They were great back in the 90's because people could sell old junk from their attic and make money. I believe the motto then was TURN TRASH INTO CASH.

eBay, in my humble opinion, is a lot like the United States of America where you have the top one percent as well as the bottom 90 percent.

On eBay you have a handful making 10 20 30,000+ per month (top 1%) and the rest of us (bottom 90%) making next to nothing after fee's/expenses.

What does the future hold for eBay? Same thing as America. Crash and Burn similar to the Roman Empire.

Some will say, "eBay makes millions a minute, it will never crash and burn." :confused: That may be true, however let 1000+ of us bottom-feeders get together to purchase 10's of 1000's of items from you 100% feedbackers to turn around and completely demolish your spectacular feedback rating with negs.

No, no, no, not suggesting anything. Merely giving my opinion. Feedback? DSR's? Incredibly ridiculous. How will America crash and burn? Oh that's simple.... 'Vote Republican for Pres. 2012'. :p

I started in eBay during 2006. from there on I was making 6 figures every year then in 2008 I switched over to a bigger form of business from all the money I saved. so yes, eBay is very very lucrative if done right. I don't do eBay anymore but I know people here in NYC that use eBay to make a killing, but like anything else you have to work and continue to monetize.

glad to hear you are one of those that are above the rest.

Great thread, I think eBay is still ok to use but again you have to do your homework and find products with a good profit margin.

I used to make some spare cash using Ebay a couple years ago. My father was an antique dealer and I picked up pretty quickly on which items were worth something and which items weren't. I'd pick up about 60-70 dollars a month going with him to popular estate sales and flea markets. Considering I was in my early teens at the time that was quite a lot of money to me!

In the economy today though antique sales have plummeted. The recession cut out a lot of the antique market and most of those valuable ones are selling for something between a fourth or a fifth of their worth. I bought up a few antiques that I know are worth something with plans to sell them off on e-bay when the economy recovers, but it's gotten much more difficult to make cash out of e-bay. And an eye for antiques is one of the few talents I have in that area.

I am interested, I am always open for new ideas, so if you are sharing any info I'll be glad ot receive it! haha

I used to make a lot of my income on eBay and I'll admit it is one of the easier ways to start building an online income stream. But I have actually just sold my eBay business... I have just found that IM is a much more enjoyable way to make money;

It takes a little more work to get started, but I think it is more scalable personally.

I import stuff via alibaba and sell on ebay. If you get a unique product that people want it's easy money until your competitors track down where you get your supply.

One of my friends is still making money on eBay. He buys stuff from garage sales and sells it. Not making a fortune, but good money.

Found out this weekend my across the street neighbor actual runs a virtual bookstore on Ebay. She buys bulk discards from big stores in specific genres and sells them cheap. Not a fortune, but decent money supposedly.

I use to sell on eBay a lot but not so much anymore because of the amount of time it takes to deal with physical products.

This is going to sound crazy but most of the items I sold on eBay I purchased from Walmart. Walmart has a tendency to discontinue items even when they are still popular and red tag them to make shelf space for newer items.

When I see a cart of something marked down big time and know it's still selling I'll grab the entire cart and hunt down the store manager and offer about half of the marked down price if I take all of them. Most of the time the manager is happy to get rid of the items.

Many times other eBay sellers ended up buying out my stock on a bulk deal. When I see the right item I will still do this. Just not as much as before.

Re's
Rob Whisonant

its very tough to make money with ebay.

bbhotgamesb said in post #3 of this thread, I've been making some money via the ebay partner network. I am currently working on using the API to get a better site up. The sad thing is that it does make money, and this is with minimal effort. It's just my laziness that has stopped really getting the full potential.

The API is incredibly powerful, but also large and unwieldy. They have consistency issues and getting all the data with smart caching and the like requires a fair bit of programmatic effort.
What is "API" ?

the only one making money on ebay is ebay itself

This thread go me revisiting ebay, and checking it out. I remember the screams of pain by many people when they change the affiliate sign up rate or program, destroying it effectively, (opinion).

I have spent the last hour looking into their click program on their 'Partner Network'. When you embed some ads into your site or blog and get a PPC commission, If you scroll down to "HOW IT WORKS" on this site:

ebaypartnernetwork.com/files/hub/en-US/qcp.html

In Particular EPC Amount posted, it looks litke you get PPC money only when people spend money at ebay. Does anyone know if they payout great PPC rates when a clicker is a high quality person and buys up big on ebay? I can see why they have done it this way, they can't loose.

But I wonder how it compares to Amazon and even Adsense ?

Thanks you so much Warriors here, I learn so much.

Thanks for a fantastic reply. Just what I was looking for.

Can you sell digital products or must you deliver a physical book. I have a few ebooks, I would like to sell more of and was wondering if ebay is a viable way to sell them. Thanks

I'd love to try to make money with Ebay, but their new affiliate approval process is a pain.

eric w I hope you do release your product. I would love for something like that to hit the market and I would be your first customer :-)
I sell on ebay and amazon (mostly amazon) and I am looking to expand beyond high 3 figures to try and get to the mid 4 figures in the next 6 months.

I think it is worth a try

eBay business is like a sand castle. You can be a power seller, have 100% positive feedback and then suddenly get suspended because someone falsely reported you for Vero.

I gave up on ebay since it requires too much work. Especially in my niche

Hi Eric,

When you have that product ready please let me know by PM also. Thanks!

Ken

I find it rather amusing when people talk about the high fees ebay charges.

Are the people abandoning ebay, not the same people who then spend money
on driving traffic and monetising sites, in the hopes of getting one iota of the
traffic freely available on ebay?

Sure there are fees involved, but on the other hand, eBay is handing you hungry
buyers on a proverbial plate.

The problem is that people don't know how to sell on ebay, they think it means
undercutting other buyers and dropping their prices. In fact, it's just the opposite.

You can charge more and still get buyers flocking to your items, if you know how
to work the system. There are certain criteria ebay buyers are looking for that
transcends price.

It amazes me that people realise they need certain skills to be a success in IM,
yet they treat ebay like a totally different animal.

Angela

Like many before me my start in on line selling was vai eBay listing and selling items that we did not use anymore.
From that little beginning we have grown to sell around $80,000 a month on eBay and of course we now sell on our own web sites as well.

The biggest complaint I read from other people is the Fees that eBay charge and I find this strange as from where I sit the fees are cheap. I mean if you look at getting the traffice and the exposure that you can get on eBay via other avenues the cost is extremely high. I am more than happy to pay the fees they charge me.

However the experince is not always a happy one and IMHO the biggest problem with eBay is the lack of stability. They constantly change the rules and it is not always for the better. It is a full time job trying to keep up with the changes to policy and to keep changing tack all the time costs sellers time and money.

The second complaint that I have is that eBay customers are very high maintenance when compared to web site customers. The eBay system breeds this.
They will pester you with inane qustions for which the answer is frequently in the listing description. You answer one question and often they will send another and another and if you dont respond in 5 minutes the will rate you badly for communication.

The fees are fine but as for the the rest of it......... and No I am not brave enough to dump $80,000 a month of sales so I am stuck with it.

But to answer the OP in my opinion there is still HUGE amounts of money to be made selling on eBay but they have banned digital items like ebooks on how to get rich quick You need to sell physical items and on eBay almost anything sells.

Despite my complaints its still the easiest way to get started and and make a dollar on line.

eBay was actually my first attemp at trying to make money online. I have to admit I failed spectacularly. I think the main problem is I didn't really have enough (well basically none at all) capital to start.

I believe almost all that make decent money have probably a semi-large scale operation. If you don't lower your costs through bulk purchases and streamlining the process somehow, the competiton and the "tax" you pay to eBay can make it a pretty miserable place to make a living.

Still, I don't regret doing it as I learned quite a bit and it eventually led me to SEO. I'm still making peanuts now but more than I've ever made there and I believe it will only get better from here.

I will keep in touch to enable me learn more about making money on Ebay

ebay is a great site, but i stop using them due to their high fees.

Dont get me wrong ebay is a great place for selling, but me personally do not use them anymore.

Im glad that it still working for you.
Good to know