Question / Discussion eBay reseller opinions?

[nate99]

Hey guys. Just wanted to get some opinions on ebay these days as a reseller.

Hear a lot of mixed reviews and for myself doing it part time, I've stopped. I had over 100 (good) listings and about 4 items sold in maybe 3 months. All the while with relisting fees, lowball offers. I also don't drive, so can mostly order online. Is it only worth it for the big sellers these days? If it is worth it - any overview of what it takes for a reseller?

Thanks
Nate

 

[homie]

Hey guys. Just wanted to get some opinions on ebay these days as a reseller.

Hear a lot of mixed reviews and for myself doing it part time, I've stopped. I had over 100 (good) listings and about 4 items sold in maybe 3 months. All the while with relisting fees, lowball offers. I also don't drive, so can mostly order online. Is it only worth it for the big sellers these days? If it is worth it - any overview of what it takes for a reseller?

Thanks
Nate

Here's your problem. You need to buy a product and sell it on ebay to make a profit. To do that you need to pass the postage costs for you buying it and the seller fees and postage costs for sending it out onto your customer. So its now probably a lot more expensive than people want to pay for it on eBay, where things are expected to be cheap. Thus not many sales. This is especially true if its a new item where someone can just buy it from wherever you bought it from in the first place. This whole idea of buying things on Amazon then reselling them on ebay, or whichever way round its supposed to be is a nonsense, I think.

Still, it can be done if you know what to buy or have a niche you can exploit. Have a search on here for Andrew's thread about selling on ebay. He did really well but not sure if he's still at it. Someone else used to make good money reselling specialist tools. I forget who now.

 

[nate99]

I do wonder if (for people who get 2nd hand/used/car boot/charity, which I do) it really helps if you drive, but also something that doesn't get mentioned a lot - the area where you live? It seems logical they have access generally to better items/profits because of the area. (I'm in scum central btw!) I've watched in awe as a lot of the YouTubers pick up (mostly second hand) items that I never/rarely see. Yeah I've checked a few of Andrews and Nic hills stuff etc -wish I could get hold of those types of items! I get the feeling I would need to have multiple hundreds of items listed to make a sale. Have heard that people have left in droves because of fees/no sales. I guess it's a case of tripling efforts for some lower profits than a few years back. Cheers for the info!

 

[prudnikov21]

Area definitely matters. My wife sources from car boots in South West London and some of the better ones are in wealthier areas where people are selling nicer stuff. But even more important than the area is actually tracking which car boots are worth going back to. Some feel busy but the margins are rubbish once you count the entry fee and petrol. She tracks everything per trip now and dropped two car boots that weren't actually profitable.