Singing Pig

Hi...E-bay as a business is the same as any business in practice..

The product has to be in demand somewhere,even if it is a niche product.

You need to be able to buy at very low prices,as well as the product being in excellent condition.

You need to use paypal,for ease and time considerations,but this means that you need as put in a previous post to be selling above £4.00 a unit sale,or do linked sales off e-bay but using paypal..Definitely helps margins!

You also need to know your market ,particularly if dealing in used products.

I have been dealing in rail related mags etc,and have come to the conclusion that at present it's a good way to amuse myself,but as a business with a future,that's another thing.

So at present looking at a non e-bay product area,margins even @min of 30% yield £10+,so give a look at my signature and tell me what you think.

All the best.

Richard Dupont

Strawb where would you sell your business? and how much?. I'm interesting in establishing an Ebay business as secondary to my main business and would be interested in purchasing an established setup which would save me a lot of time.

Cheers

RD
 

Hi Ive just joined singing pig though I used to look at it in the very early days when it first started.

Ive read with interest the ebay posts here because I sell on eBay full time.

My company is going to turn over 1.5-2 million this year in its second year of trading and the NP is going to be around 15%. 1.2 - 1.5 of that is going through eBay.

Ive noticed some of the posts by those who are either new to eBay are not sure how to make their money as missing the point. I agree with the powersellers though that its the same as any other business. Frankly its a marketplace where 20% of all online sales go through. Im going to say that again another way 20 percent of everything sold on the internet is sold through eBay. WOW!

Do I declare to the IR you bet i do! In any business you are foolish to sidestep the law.

Happy to answer any specific questions if anybody needs help.

Freedom Worldwide

Hi David,

I've always had an interest in ebay, and recognised it as a brilliant medium to sell to a wide customer base.  Judging by your turnover and net profit figures, you are obviously doing extremely well.

I have a few questions...

Do you manufacture the goods you sell on ebay, or do you source goods elsewhere (China) to sell on ebay?

Are you working within a specialized niche, or a broader more competitive area?

For a turnover of that size, how many items would you have for sale at any one time?

Have you any tips on how to be a success on ebay? (a general question i know!)

I hope that wasn't too many questions, but I have been waiting for an ebay "expert" to arrive on SP, so we could pick his/her brains!!!

Many Thanks,

Keep it goin'

Hi Keep it Going,

Thanks for the message. Ive just been talking tonight for a group of people on how to make money on eBay showing them the techniques we use to turnover 2mill on the medium. Now Im back in the office awaiting a file from my business partner of new products we are uploading tonight. We aim to have 2000 products (lines) this year.

1. I buy goods to resell on eBay which is a quick way to market, manufacturing takes time and can have long lead times. However, as we have grown we are now looking into co-manufacturing through our current suppliers in future. We do source items from China to sell on eBay however we sell many licensed productst therefore can only buy from the official UK supplier.

2. We do both we are fairly niched but its a broad market also with competitors galore.

3. 2000.

4. It is a general questions Im not sure where to start. As I say I was speaking at an event tonight (for free) and there were powersellers there that don't know what we are doing. Its hard to break it down. In a paragraph. Start with something you know? research the products to see if they sell on eBay. How do you do that? Use advanced search and click completed items. This one point, we know many power sellers don't even know this, most of you making a go at eBay I would expect you to know this (we use another tool for this part so its less manual work). If you don't know it, don't worry, you do now!

I've had quite a few people private message me. I am happy to "give back" I was talking for free tonight. However, if you do message me I will ask you to send the message here so I can reply and everyone can benefit as I don't have much time with such a large business to reply to many emails.

All the Best

David

Hi David,

It is great to have such an experienced eBayer prepared to contribute on this forum - thanks for your time.

I am an eBay Powerseller which I have achieved by using Dropshipping. The problem with this method is that it is very competitive and after fee's my profit margins are only 5% which is too low.  I am now about to expand, buy wholesale and start my own distribution. Do you have any advice on setting this up? Questions which spring to mind are:

1. What stock control system do you use?

2. Which listing Software do you use?

3. What would you have done differently with the benefit of hind sight?

4. How have you found buying from China and have you visited in person?

Thanks in advance

Dave 

PS: Please let me know if you are talking again as I would like to try and attend.