eBay

miniaturesun · ‎05-01-2023

I'm looking for some input from the pros. I have been a casual ebayer, mostly just selling things around the house, since 2006. I recently decided to make a business out of it. I've been doing the math and am struggling to find things that will be profitable to sell. I'm not too picky about what specific items I sell. I'm leaning towards small light weight things that are easy and cheap to ship, and items with a higher price tag, maybe $50-$100. Obviously, I want things that sell well and that aren't too saturated. I'm taking the estimated selling price and subtracting cost of goods, estimated ebay fees (that include shipping,) and taxes (including self employment tax.) I'm aiming for a 15% net profit margin. My issue is finding things that will meet this goal. Your input is appreciated.

inhawaii · ‎05-01-2023

You're on the right track.

Sell small, lightweight items that don't cost much to ship, that you can get really cheap and sell at a hefty profit.

Where can you find these items?

Why would I tell you that? 😉

Good luck!

Papa Was A Rolling Stone - The Temptations

lakefor94 · ‎05-01-2023

I would immediately raise your net profit aspirations to at least 50% and go from there.

Try local businesses and warehouse type operations and see what they have that you can buy cheap or do on consignment.

Posting ID

vintagepl · ‎05-01-2023

I find it better to sell things you like or are interested in. I happen to like mostly collectibles & antiques, In the beginning I learned so much by going to local auctions. Yard & estate sales are good too. I don't care for thrift stores.

theteamsetguy · ‎05-01-2023

@miniaturesun ,

I've heard there many sellers who buy retail returns from Amazon, Target, Home Depot, or Walmart, by the pallet in electronics, power tools, small kitchen appliances and etc that do well.

femmefan1946 · ‎05-01-2023

I enjoy watching YT videos from some of those resellers.

One thing I do notice is that they don't expect much from their purchases and they have a system for getting rid of the real junk cheaply.

Many also note they are keeping some of the products for themselves. One couple seems to feed their dogs on almost outdated kibble, for example.

The one thing few do is show what they actually get for the saleable items, which is fair enough. I don't tell anybody about my profits either (I don't want anyone hurting themselves laughing.) Nor do they talk much about the storage costs for items that don't/are slow to sell

stainlessenginecovers · ‎05-01-2023

Both me and my wife worked for a few big box stores as managers and I can tell you that:

Items that are on those pallets are written off by the vendor because it's cheaper than having them 'shipped' back to them for 'refurbishing' as well as most vendors (manufacturers) don't have a system for selling off 'factory 2nds'; therefore, 80% of the items are junk and are returned by a customer (and beyond the ability for the store to either just 'tape it up and put it back on the shelf'.

2 items good. 20 items garbage. The only people making money on this is the company selling the pallets to unsuspecting customers (sellers) that THINK they are going to make $$ selling this garbage.

farmalljr · ‎05-01-2023

@stainlessenginecovers wrote:
Both me and my wife worked for a few big box stores as managers and I can tell you that:

Items that are on those pallets are written off by the vendor because it's cheaper than having them 'shipped' back to them for 'refurbishing' as well as most vendors (manufacturers) don't have a system for selling off 'factory 2nds'; therefore, 80% of the items are junk and are returned by a customer (and beyond the ability for the store to either just 'tape it up and put it back on the shelf'.

2 items good. 20 items garbage. The only people making money on this is the company selling the pallets to unsuspecting customers (sellers) that THINK they are going to make $$ selling this garbage.

We have an Amazon junk pallet store in town now. I'm laughing at them watching them go broke. Big sign on the wall says you can't open ANY of the boxes to see what is inside. Apparently they have figured out it's not good buying pallets, and they think it's gonna work passing the scam on to the next sucker. Lol.

inhawaii · ‎05-01-2023

One of my best selling items is something I buy right here on ebay in bulk and turn around and sell them individually at about a 200% markup.

Papa Was A Rolling Stone - The Temptations

sfau · ‎05-01-2023

Or you can take some things apart and sell for parts. My food processor bowl cracked and I sold enough of the parts to almost pay for a brand-new one. I often part out toys/games and can do well.

dbfolks166mt · ‎05-01-2023

All sellers face the same problem. A lot of it comes from research and knowing what an item will sell for either on eBay or any other forum/venue. It seems like those sources are getting harder and harder to find. Every garage sale, estate sale, online auction that I used to source a lot of items from is becoming more and more crowded with people looking for bargains or others that are also sourcing. I used to pickup personal consumables, soap, laundry detergent, dishwasher pods, food items............. at garage & estate sales for virtually nothing but those days are gone.

Like everyone else the estate sale companies and online auction houses have jacked up their prices to cope with inflation. Things are just a bit out of balance at the moment. The bidding on online auction sites like MaxSold and Rasmus has at time bordered on the verge of insanity with items selling for 2+ times what the item could have been obtained for on a number of ecommerce sites or even in a B&M store.

farmalljr · ‎05-01-2023

@miniaturesun wrote:
I'm looking for some input from the pros. I have been a casual ebayer, mostly just selling things around the house, since 2006. I recently decided to make a business out of it. I've been doing the math and am struggling to find things that will be profitable to sell. I'm not too picky about what specific items I sell. I'm leaning towards small light weight things that are easy and cheap to ship, and items with a higher price tag, maybe $50-$100. Obviously, I want things that sell well and that aren't too saturated. I'm taking the estimated selling price and subtracting cost of goods, estimated ebay fees (that include shipping,) and taxes (including self employment tax.) I'm aiming for a 15% net profit margin. My issue is finding things that will meet this goal. Your input is appreciated.

If you really want to make this a business, you need a higher margin. 15% is fine when you are moving a lot of merchandise. Not when you sell a few things a week. Even at your 50-100 dollar ASP, it's not much money. It takes time to build a store.

You also are not calculating, you will likely need to pay promotions to even get views. Even on stuff that isn't saturated (and what are those categories?).

A good place to start is looking for things availible in YOUR area, that are not so availible in other parts of the US. I have sold hats from a local college all over the US. I have sold hats from a closed down headshop in my state, all over the USA. People have sold tons of yeast packets during covid, because it was in short supply then. You just need to think hard about it. Be curious and look at things you come across.

I can tell you there are some people selling goods from the dollar stores, and making money.

In order to always be selling, you need to always be looking for stuff to sell. That doesn't mean EVERYTHING is good to sell though.

Know the RULES! Just because someone else is selling something, doesn't mean automatically it's ok to sell!

1786davycrockett · ‎05-01-2023

@miniaturesun

Wherever you live -- expand your searching outwards, way beyond any major cities and large communities.

And then begin looking for out of the way flea markets, garage sales, consignment stores, etc -- you may have to do some far-away hunting -- but you're looking for the out-of-the-way & unique!

Search for inexpensive, locally-constructed "smalls" -- whatever looks as if it has potential, snap 'em up! Buy all you can afford, so that you can turn them around for a healthy profit.

And don't pass up any of the old and weird items that might be lurking in old barns or warehouses -- old is good!

Good hunting!

onefootflipper · ‎05-01-2023

Look for something you are an expert in and try to specialize in it.

If you aren't an expert in anything than an area to become one in that is rather easy to source is small kitchen appliances. You can pick up 50 of them on any given garage sale day and either part them out or sell them whole.

The problem with small, lightweight and expensive is that such items are very difficult to source consistently as that is what everyone wants to do.