How do you make it on eBay?

[dream-products1]

There are some people that are able to quit their 9 to 5 jobs because of how much money that they make on eBay.......I am not one of those salesman X-D. However, the reason why I am struggling as an eBay seller is because I do not know the answer to these three questions! Please, if you are taking the time to read this, then please respond to these three questions as I am desperate for help!

1 Is it worth it uploading hundreds of items at a time? Because you have to either get a store with a large fee or pay insertion fees per listing after 50 items. I'm afraid with my current business model that I won't sell enough items and end up losing money. Is listing hundreds of items always profitable 100% of the time or would I lose money during some months?

2 How do you find items that sell well? Like sometimes items are trending and they sell many of that item quickly. How do I find those items? Could I ask you? What are some of your items that sell really well?

3 How do I make a profit off of a single item? There's the shipping fee, PayPal fee, and eBay fee if it sells. This means that I have to mark up the price of any item by 3! Which is why I've never been able to sell items for cheap. Unless I buy an item for super cheap at a thrift store or get the item as a gift I will have to mark up the price a little just to break even or even make a profit! How do you sell items like brand new video games and DVDs and still make a profit?

[jewelbiz]

Mr. Lincoln & luckythewinner,

Thank you both for your thoughtful & always considered helpful ideas & suggestions you both share so often & so frequently.

Basically I want to sell my books, all of them but I’m now Quite old & unable to now even lift or carry any box of books to auction galleries or anywhere else. Heck!  I have difficulty even lifting my windows! Taxi fare here in Manhattan would be $25. Per ride to any location from my apartment not to mention all extra tipping ($5.-$10.) involved for my building’s porters getting the boxes downstairs & lifted into cabs.  

I like the idea 💡 of selling a little at a time.  One book sold here on eBay every so often just no longer makes it!

Every year sometimes I fantasize I’ll set up right in front of my fancy apartment building on Broadway & sell books on the street which is protected by our 1st Amendment in the Constitution, Freedom of Speech...but I never do it.  As it’s about to get warmer, I hope this year maybe I do it!

I don’t Like being looked down on by the other upscale tenants living here, doctors, lawyers, etc., etc.  The building is a co-op but I’ve lived here almost the longest of everybody 51 years as a renter.  I got a ton of books 3 shelves deep some I haven’t seen in decades.

[chapeau-noir]

See if you can get a friend or someone to help you get some of the books downstairs - I'm not sure if you can sell them on the streets in NYC (you can here but I live on a funky old first ring suburb where everything is covered in moss) but seems reasonable to me.  Tack up some 'book sale' signs on phone poles and just sell them for what people will give.  Maybe you can do  several boxes at a time and have a few sales.  We have two libraries and a sort of 'sub library' in our not extremely big home and I can understand your dilemma!

As for your snooty upscale neighbours - PTTTTHHHHHHHHH!!!  would be my answer to their snootiness.

[femmefan1946]

@jewelbiz 

There is this cool new invention that might help you.'It's called "the wheel" .

I have a shopping cart with four "wheels" on it which cost me $30 at Canadian Tire.

I can put four gallons of paint in it and move them easily.  Which at 73 with two artificial knees is useful.

I'm pretty sure you could take a shopping cart on the subway.  I certainly take mine on the buses here.

Sometimes you have to not only think outside the box, but figure out what box you are putting yourself in.

[chapeau-noir]

I suspect this long time resident of NYC may have worn a few of those out already.  The issue here may be strength capacity.  One reason I'm getting rid of books I no longer read or use - the last thing I need is a billion heavy things to get rid of when I get older.

[nuclearomen]

despite what everyone else says you don't need to specifically buy low and sell high, you need to know what your selling and what you can get for it is the more important key. Not everything HAS to be huge profit, while it's good to have an amount of inventory that is it's just as good to have inventory your only going to make few bucks on...diversity in product and price. 

I'm not going to tell you where/how to obtain merchandise... this is for you to figure out, the name of the game is business and either you know how to achieve basic inventory or you don't. I will tell you though an answer for your #2 

Don't worry about "trending items"...trending items are items are both only trending, which means hot one day or week and then not also means 100,000 other ebay sellers are also looking at selling those items many of which have the means and resources to obtain them new condition and for cheap. Look for items that you know the product, whatever that maybe, knowledge of product(s) and it's market(s) are most important IMO... for example, I know nothing really about clothing, brands, materials, how to price it, how to list it, how best to describe it... so why would I try to sell it? Go with what you know, have passion for. Money won't be rolling in like endless glistening stream but you build yourself a reputation, earn trust with buyers etc... There is no get rich quick on online selling, the few who do accomplish it usually have a lot of capital to invest and can also heed loses. 

[vintagecraze50]

Anything we source has to have a markup value of at least 2 x the amount required to buy. It is a rough figure we use that covers all the fees fees fees , paper, ink, driving, packaging, shipping costs etc.  When sources stuff, you have to see what the current market values are for these items or you will be doing a fruitless task, and running a free museum for viewing item on here.

[vintagecraze50]

Also, you do not give stuff away on here by caving in too low ball offers. You reduce prices on inventory when you need the cash flow and do that judiciously. This site is known for deep deep deep bargain hunters and sometimes it is best to wait out a sale than to cave in with low balls. Caving in to low balls only helps with voluminous sales for ebay and loss of profit to you.

[coolections]

Just a wild guess but I would say less than 1% of people quit their daytime jobs to be a full time Ebay sellers. With that said, my other guess is only 10% of those who do quit their full time jobs to be a full time seller on Eay will survive. You have to have items in demand that people are wiling to purchase and you have to keep the price low enough for people to be willing to purchase. Too many get caught up into thinking everything will sell and cost is no factor. You would also have to stay away from oversaturated categories: clothes, car parts, jewelry etc. We see a few here on the boards once a week with low demand high priced items that cannot sell anything.