This has turned into a comprehensive resource about selling on eBay. Do post your own eBay success story. Definitely include how you began, what kinds of things you sell, the best sources of product, what kind of a return you are making, and whatever else experience has taught you.
There is a New York Times article embedded in the 13th page of posts. Article is about what they call "Agents" - people that sell other people's stuff on eBay.
It really depends what you plan to sell. Some seller barely make $1000 in gross sale (not net profit), some sellers easily make $10000 in gross sale each month. So it really depends on what you have to offer.
The fees suck, but I've made a decent amount of money. Since I live in LA, I shop at like warehouse sales and stuff, for designer clothes. I wear em a few times, get sick of em, and sell em on eBay. Sometimes I even end up selling it for than I bought it for in the first place, usually to people in middle america and stuff (they dont have barney's warehouse sales out there!)
I've sold some things, and have always been happy with the prices I've gotten. It's usually a good idea to search for the item you plan on selling, and watching those auctions so that you know what the close at. Just searching isn't good enough, cause now the trend is that everyone bids at the last minute so items shoot up within the last hour.
Tips: - Take pictures, clear pictures - Know what the going rate is - Have a well laid out, and attractive auction page (use HTML) - If the item is a little pricer, consider using the gallery picture. - Clearly state your terms (payment methods, shipping costs, etc)
- Start you auctions on the weekend, so that they end on a weekend. And consider the time your starting your auction, account for reasonable East to West coast time. Because a auction which starts at Monday at 9am (EST) isn't going to benefit the people who work, and especially the West coast bidders. You'd be surprised how much of a difference this makes.
<< Why does it matter what time I begin the auction since it's ongoing?
Also what are your experiences with reserve prices and other quirky options? >>
When auction ends depends on when auction begins... Most of the bids are made during 1/2 hour before end of the auction. Hence you would really want your auction to end when there are many eyeballs on eBay.. I have found auctions that end on friday between 8pm to midnight or a little later have higher bids. Saturdays are also good.. Sundays mornings are good.. but dont make a mistake of ending it on sunday evening...
This is just one factor and my opinions.. there are lot of other things that you can tweak to make few more bucks than you would normally do.. 3 bucks more on a 50$ auction is 6% more of profit..
Sunday nights are the best nights. It is ebays highest traffic night. Friday night and saturday nights are not so good everyone is out eating, going to the movies, bars and parties. I list Sunday night thru Thursday night from 9:45pm - 11pm cst That way it wont interfer with my bidders prime time TV watching. Sunday and Monday nights are my best nights. My ebays sales over the last 2 years are $230,000 . I make my own one of a kind items and have a huge profit margins. My cost per item is about 20-30 cents to make and I sell them for $7-$14 per item. My eBay fees per month are $700-$900 per month. You need to start small and work your way up after your understand the whole process and develope your own system that works for you. You have to keep on top of your emails also I list 200-300 auctions per week and if I dont answer my emails every 4 hours they start to pile up. I get 40-50 emails per day not counting ebays end of auction emails. I also have a 99.7% feedback rating. You will run into your share of freaks on eBay you just have to deal with it and move on to the next deal.
I'm a powerseller and have learned a lot... I will post some tips tomorrow.
Right now I'm turning 16 in a few days... after my 15th birthday I had $300 laying around so I decided to attempt investing it into goods to sell on eBay. I started buying books because I found a place to get them at a great price... made enough to start buying electronics to resell, then it just kind of took off and my money multiplied until I made about $5500 in 8 months. Not great or anything, but for doing it just for fun and only a few hours a week I'm making at least what my friends make at the fast food places and grocery stores. Plus, here I couldn't get any other job if I wanted to since you have to be 16. (Yes, you are supposed to be over 18 to use eBay... but the account is technically in my dad's name.)
My original goal was to be able to afford a decent car by my 16th birthday, and I just bought that a few days ago.
This week I hope to buy a car to resell; we'll see how that goes!
When you sell so much on eBay, doesn't it get frustrating to ship those items? You have to package them inside a box, print the shipping label, and do other minor labors for each item you sell. (This can take up quite a bit of time)
And the worst part is going to the post office, wait in line, and then wait for the slow clerk to process the packages. Sometimes, you need to make two, three trips to the post office.
That's why I quit selling on eBay. Too much hassle.. I won't do it again unless I can make at least $50 in profit for each item I sell.
You get use to the everyday things like labels, emails, paper work and the post office/ fedex and UPS and going the bank. eBay is a large part of my total income I dont have a full tiem 9-5 job so I like getting out of the house and going to the bank and the post office. I spend about 4 hours per day Monday - Friday on my eBay sales. Not a bad part time job. The key is to find suppliers that you can buy items in bulk. That way you only have to make up one auction for 100's for the same item. If I had to spend time making an auction up for each auction and take pictues of each item it would be a 80 hr per week job. I make up and auction for an item I sell it takes me about 30 mins to do but I then use that auction to sell 100's of the same item.
succkisstaples last time I gave out my eBay ID on fatwallet I got nothing but problems from people bidding on my auctions and not paying and about 50 emails and PM from users asking me to help them get rich on eBay and even a few stoled my pictures from my auctions to use on there own auctions. I do resell some of the hot deals I find on fatwallet. I just dont want the same problems I had last time.
I don't make $100,000 per yet but but I made about $70,000 this year the $230,000 is gross sales not net profit. I do sell other items that I dont make myself like computer parts, toys or just about anything I can make good alot of profit on. edit
sounds a lot like me! why work 9-5 when ya dont need to...it gives you tremendous freedom...and boy it may be a hassle but it sure feels GOOD getting checks in your mail (or your PMB!) =)
im sure youll hit 100k net soon...ebay keeps growing...i understand you dont want to post your eBay id publicly...
PMB= private mail box (like mailboxes etc) ...so you can do business w/o revealing home address....
these are better than a PO Box b/c you have people send you fedex and ups packages there (they dont deliver to PO Boxes) plus you can just tell someone 123 any street #5567 and it seems like its an apartment...
I personally use a POBOX but would love to upgrade to a PMB. I hate not being home and missing those fedex packages. How much do you pay for them? Is it a big difference from a POBOX. For the second smallest POBOX, I pay about $30 for a 6month term. And do you have access to it during late hours or is it just accessible while the store is open? Thanks for your time.
Do you guys really pay Income tax on what you earn? I mean is that stuff taxable?? Moreover I am an international student on F1. Does anyone know if I can sell my own stuff on eBay?? Thanks AP
I pay taxes on all my eBay income. If you make a profit on items you sell you should pay income tax on it but I guess it is up to you. It is amatter of time before the IRS starts cracking down.
<< Sunday nights are the best nights. It is ebays highest traffic night. Friday night and saturday nights are not so good everyone is out eating, going to the movies, bars and parties. I list Sunday night thru Thursday night from 9:45pm - 11pm cst That way it wont interfer with my bidders prime time TV watching. >>
I think I agree with you on Sunday nights, but I feel it's hard to find a time not to interfer with TV watching for all bidders from four different time zones. What do you think?
<< Sunday and Monday nights are my best nights. Why are Monday nights good for you? any tips? Thanks!
jeffrey
My ebays sales over the last 2 years are $230,000 . I make my own one of a kind items and have a huge profit margins. My cost per item is about 20-30 cents to make and I sell them for $7-$14 per item. My eBay fees per month are $700-$900 per month. You need to start small and work your way up after your understand the whole process and develope your own system that works for you. You have to keep on top of your emails also I list 200-300 auctions per week and if I dont answer my emails every 4 hours they start to pile up. I get 40-50 emails per day not counting ebays end of auction emails. I also have a 99.7% feedback rating. You will run into your share of freaks on eBay you just have to deal with it and move on to the next deal. >>
<< I pay taxes on all my eBay income but I do get some cash payments in the mail and from local buyers I dont pay income tax on that. If you make a profit on items you sell you should pay income tax on it but I guess it is up to you. It is amatter of time before the IRS starts cracking down. >>
I do the same. I have revenues well in excess of 20K a year.
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