eBay

onlythebestsales1 · ‎02-16-2020

Hey everybody! First time on the forum. But anyways just wondering how im doing for a new seller. Have had my account since november of last year. All i have been doing is buying stuff at the thrift store then listing on ebay, i try to never buy something unless i can make atleast 20$ after all fees but i do sometimes buy lower paying items if im bored lol. I think im doing pretty good and i am having alot of fun doing it. Does anybody have any tips to take it to the next level? I would like to turn this into a full time job eventually. I look forward to being here on the forum and learning as much as possible.

keziak · ‎02-17-2020

@onlythebestsales1 wrote:
No but as long as the shipping service you use has the permit you can select it from the options. Dont have a list of all the providers that have one yet. Researching it now. Will report my findings. And yes they do come in all ages and sexes, but from my experience its predominantly older sellers. Im not exactly young either ill be 33 this year.

I mean this nicely.....I think you will find that rude or not, people on this board have many many years of experience and if something like BPM is not an option for small businesses (ie permits) then you can bank on them knowing what they are talking about. Many (many) years ago anyone could use BPM and as a bookseller I took advantage of that. But that was, to reiterate, a long time ago.

As for the original question, great to hear that you are off to a good start and feeling upbeat. Just run the numbers for a while and see if it's really possible in your locale (inventory sources) to switch things up to "full time" or whatever you have in mind along those lines. I would hazard to say that many people struggle with having access to enough inventory to maintain a high level of income but that is a pretty vague comment. Definitely, YMMV. Sometimes what I call "glorified part time" is more satisfying and do-able.

keziak · ‎02-17-2020

Also, make sure to have your ducks in a row for state and Federal income taxes.

onlythebestsales1 · ‎02-17-2020

@keziak wrote:
@onlythebestsales1 wrote:
No but as long as the shipping service you use has the permit you can select it from the options. Dont have a list of all the providers that have one yet. Researching it now. Will report my findings. And yes they do come in all ages and sexes, but from my experience its predominantly older sellers. Im not exactly young either ill be 33 this year.
I mean this nicely.....I think you will find that rude or not, people on this board have many many years of experience and if something like BPM is not an option for small businesses (ie permits) then you can bank on them knowing what they are talking about. Many (many) years ago anyone could use BPM and as a bookseller I took advantage of that. But that was, to reiterate, a long time ago.

As for the original question, great to hear that you are off to a good start and feeling upbeat. Just run the numbers for a while and see if it's really possible in your locale (inventory sources) to switch things up to "full time" or whatever you have in mind along those lines. I would hazard to say that many people struggle with having access to enough inventory to maintain a high level of income but that is a pretty vague comment. Definitely, YMMV. Sometimes what I call "glorified part time" is more satisfying and do-able.

Thanks for the heads up and encouragement. I dont doubt that there are people here with years of experience, it just sucks that they have a hard time showing compassion and dont really take the time to help they just provide snarky comments. But i will be here to help as much as i can and to learn as much as i can.

corvettestainless · ‎02-17-2020

In your $20 profit model, are you including Self Employment Tax (15%), Federal and State Income Tax? Sounds like you have a full time job, so this income will go on top of your 'job' income, raising your 'tax rate' for both Fed & State for every dollar you earn here.

For me, a $30 item breaks down like this:

-$1 material

-$4 shipping

-$3 fees

nets $22.

18% Fed/State Tax (after business deductions)

15% SE tax

nets $15 real spendable profit on a $30 item. (all round figures)

mobley120 · ‎02-17-2020

"Are you sure you came to the forum to ask for help ? Because by those rates it doesn't look like you need any . I've made two whole sales on e bay this month and I've been here since 1996 . Tulips"

Clean and neat, ah, let the truth be known. I like your post

Hummm, original poster stating illegal use of a US postal rate service, I guess if one is caught of such then it would invoke a nice fine, and to admit it in a public forum, that takes a brazen mind or a foolish one.

This is the original poster's statement that makes me grin: Buying things at thrift shops and reselling them on eBay, with the mindset of clearing at least 20 bucks in profit on each item. Welcome to the rest of the field. But to come across those type of profit items in a thrift shop, seems to me to be far and few. And a lot of items at thrift shops, like in a Goodwill shop, are broken and or not working correctly, like junk.

I've found better luck with buying items at yard sales and auctions to be able to show at least a 30 percent profit, but with eBay diehard fees on shipping, that target profit of 30 percent has disappeared and with their diehard return policy, well, all said and done by last year's end, I lost money selling stuff on eBay, even with the aspect of once in a blue moon finding an item that might, just might go into the upper hundreds' percent profit, but that is extremely rare and it only takes one fraudulent return to wipe out that nice profit.

I'm like this poster: Are you sure you came to the forum to ask for help ?

onlythebestsales1 · ‎02-17-2020

Hell i didnt think i was doing all that great, it only gets like 10 hours weekly of my time. I figure there is def room for improvement. I would like to start sourcing at yard sales this summer for sure also. The thrift stores around me have been steadily producing but that may be due to me living in one of the fastest growing cities in the US. I just came here to learn and to help where i can, i could live without all the drama and snarky comments lol...and as far as illegal shipping goes the postal worker watched me put it in a mailer when i had to buy one at post office because i was out of them and he didnt say anything about it being illegal. Nice to meet all yall friendly people!

mobley120 · ‎02-17-2020

"Hell i didnt think i was doing all that great, it only gets like 10 hours weekly of my time. etc."

Well, at first glance your prospective figures look awesome.

And, on the mailing thing, best to just leave that alone, that's your business, no one else's : )

When I wrote "welcome to the field", well, you're not by yourself in that thinking of a 20 dollar profit on each item, I think of it like this, a low volume seller almost has to make about 20 bucks on each item to make it worth their effort to do the eBay thing. And if I think such, well, there'll be a thousand others thinking in a similar light.

In theory such sounds delightful, sell five items and make a hundred bucks, but it's just a theory, however, the reality of is it is quite different, unless you own the manufacturing company of your stock and or buy your stock in very large quantities from china, and have it delivered to your selling location for free.

Things we can not omit: your time, the gas you put in your car to hunt those items that you're going to make 20 bucks on, the wear on your car, your shipping materials, the space that will be used to houses your stock: it all adds up in the cost bracket. And there will be items that you'll purchase that will take forever to sell and or possible not sell at all. And you'll have absolutely no use for that item, so you'll end-up donating it back to a thrift shop; such is sad but true : (

And you have to plan on forced returns by eBay, because there will always be buyer remorse and or dissatisfaction. And such will be a solid cost to any seller, the seller has to eat that shipping cost, both ways, in which can be a profit killer on more than one item.

And, in your listings eBay will have scrolling ads of your competitors that might be offering the same item you're selling, and their prices might beat yours by 10 percent or more and if it's an item that china has, well, they'll beat your price by a very large percent.

Welcome to the field, and I'd take it kind of slow for now and focus on making that 20 bucks on what you can, you know, quality not quantity.

I wish you the very best and may you find that glitch that will make you very profitable.

Best regards : )

turquoisetulips · ‎02-17-2020

Welcome to the rest of the field. But to come across those type of profit items in a thrift shop, seems to me to be far and few - mobley --

Yeah ,, in my own experience trying to turn a profit from thrift store items was taking a real chance . The people who work in those places pretty much know what to price each item for . So finding those few items to make a profit is hard to do . Let's hope the OP just has a knack in knowing what items to choose and it's not just beginners luck. Tulips

turquoisetulips · ‎02-17-2020

Im not exactly young either ill be 33 this year. OP

My oldest son turned 33 on Feb. 9th . So you were born in 1988 ? Tulips

onlythebestsales1 · ‎02-17-2020

Sept 87

onlythebestsales1 · ‎02-17-2020

Thanks man! Yeah i think it would be best to just take it slow right now so it will stay fun and not like a real job, because i seriously do have fun doing it at the moment. I have had a 75$ item that fedex smashed that i had 10$ in and then 20$ for shipping i went ahead and just refunded buyer and filed a claim w fedex but i doubt ill get that money back. Also had a vhs rewinder smashed by usps but i had another that i went ahead and sent buyer thankfully that one made it..first rewinder was my fault on the packaging tho... My gosh this forum is not mobile friendly lol its an act of congress to keep up with my posts on here. Nice meeting all the helpful people on here and look forward to learning! Need to get a laptop asap so i can navigate this site easily haha.

mobley120 · ‎02-19-2020

"Yeah ,, in my own experience trying to turn a profit from thrift store items was taking a real chance . The people who work in those places pretty much know what to price each item for . So finding those few items to make a profit is hard to do . Let's hope the OP just has a knack in knowing what items to choose and it's not just beginners luck. Tulips"

Yeah, I have the same experience and if you and I have that experience, it'd be a safe bet that there are many others ; )

I still shop the thrift shops, but not that often, mainly in the winter months and the things I might purchase are very selective items. I stay away from the electronic, glass ware, unless it's very unique and damaged free, and some other things I stay away from, too. The first things I look at are shoes and sporting goods, but I give everything in those shops a good view: looking for those treasures.

While I'm in those shops, I do notice others there, doing the same thing: welcome to the rest of the field. They're really not that difficult to recognize, but it's truly a guess but a good guess.

They'll usually have their cell phone upon their hand, like in, a well dressed lady looking at a 12 inch boom-box 450 watt pioneer speaker and they're click, click clicking away at that cell phone and their cart is full of the odds of items, items that one wouldn't expect a well dressed lady to be interested in: welcome to the field.

A lot of the items I see, in many thrift shops are really only sellable at thrift shops. And some of those items "flat-out" need to be discarded.

But as I previously indicated one might make that find: a winner, but those type of items are far and few, not to mention one is competing with the rest of the field : )

I think o'er the last 40 years I have found two true winners at thrift shops, they are, a folk art, wooden horse and a painting. I liked them and kept them, after about 10 years or so of owning them, I decided to have them appraised. I paid 6 bucks for the horse; it appraised for 400., I paid 3 bucks for the painting; it appraised for 800.

Both are very appealing and about 5 years ago my daughter noticed them in my office and she took claim of them. She didn't know their value, so when I told her, they went home with her, on that day. And such gave me great joy, I think I sported a smile for a solid week thereafter, heck, I still smile about it, sometimes it's not about profit... : )

Best regards and have a great day