Niche Market for Ebay? Help Please me explore options.

[jmtinmi]

I don't want to use anyone else's ideas, but we sure could use a niche market for selling items on ebay. We live in Michigan and the economy is horrible here.

I want to find something that will bring some consistent money in. I thought that purchasing denim skirts (thrift/yard sale) and reselling them might work--nope! I've had some luck with vintage items, but I don't have time or gas to scour sales and thrift stores for items.

Can anyone recommend a underutilized niche that might help us through this tight spot?
Any time or attention to this message will be greatly appreciated.

[Nevada]

Originally Posted by jmtinmi

I don't want to use anyone else's ideas, but we sure could use a niche market for selling items on ebay. We live in Michigan and the economy is horrible here.

I want to find something that will bring some consistent money in. I thought that purchasing denim skirts (thrift/yard sale) and reselling them might work--nope! I've had some luck with vintage items, but I don't have time or gas to scour sales and thrift stores for items.

Can anyone recommend a underutilized niche that might help us through this tight spot?
Any time or attention to this message will be greatly appreciated.

Quite frankly, eBay is self-destructing. Sales are dropping for a couple of reasons.

First, sellers have to get creative for listing position, similar to the way we used to have to do to get noticed at Google. That's because the listings aren't fair with the Best Match listing priority, which is the default.

Second, the listing are now diluted with commercial product from buy.com and others. EBay is courting them by listing their products for free and giving them priority position over regular paying customers.

I'm still a Power Seller, but I don't know how long I can hang on to that rating. I'm moving on. There just isn't enough business at eBay to justify the effort.

I've found a new product that I'm trying to sell directly. The product is a medical practice application. That's all-in-one software that handles appointments, medical records, billing, and lots more in a single integrated application. That kind of software can be insanely expensive, up to $25,000. The kicker here is that the software I'm using is free. Here is my promotional web site.

http://easyemrtoday.com

So if it's free, why would a doctor pay me $50/month to use it? Because it's difficult to install & maintain. Consultants normally charge $3000 to $4000 to install it on a Linux server, and another $300 each month to maintain it. However, since the application is presented as a web page, I can do it from my wholesale hosting account for practically nothing. I can also do database backups and version upgrades easily. Doctors see $50/month as a steal.

The new version (3.0.1) was just released April 23, and is the first version with a comprehensive billing module included. This has become the application that everyone wants. Moreover, clinics don't have a choice any longer, since Obama has mandated that medical records will be maintained electronically. In other words, there will soon be a law that says doctors have to buy software like this.

I'm doing a promotional experiment right now, but mailing out a letter about my service to 200 doctors. I don't know if direct mail is the best way to promote this product, but I'll know by the end of the week.

My short answer is, learn to install & maintain OpenEMR and offer it to doctors as a hosted application. I think there's going to be a lot of money in doing that.

[How Do I]

What do you like to do? That's what you need to ask yourself when exploring niches. You need to find what someone else is doing and do it better. Or something no one else has even thought of. Your idea may have worked out profitably on ebay way back in the late 90's, but many niches there have been saturated time and time again. I've seen some of my favorite Powersellers on ebay finally throw in the towel in the last few months. Most have went out on their own and I applaud them for the effort even though their sales may suffer during the transition. While selling on ebay was certainly an experience, it isn't the golden key for making money on the internet. Ebay does have traffic (I'll give them that), but they buy a lot of that traffic and a shop owner with their own site could probably do much better with their own paid and/or organic traffic. If you want to survive financially on the internet, you should really understand how it works. Get a freebie site and learn how a website works. If you like it, lease some web space. Play with some html. While products sell on the internet, so do services. You may find that you like designing websites and there's still plenty of money to be made with that. Like maintaining your site? Many people pay others to take care of that chore so they can focus on their business. Like genealogy? You can make some cash researching family trees. Like to garden? Research value-added products. Whatever you do on the web, do like Nevada. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. The bottom may fall out of it.

[jmtinmi]

Thanks for the advise. I didn't realize that Ebay was on a slippery slope.

[blufford]

If you had some woods and nice trees selling carving wood might be an option. Make sure you check the whole catagory.

http://crafts.listings.ebay.com/Wood...istingItemList

http://cgi.ebay.com/HUGE-Balsam-Popl...lenotsupported

You might try selling a little syrup.
http://home.search.ebay.com/maple-mi...saobfmtsZinsif

[ErinP]

Originally Posted by jmtinmi

Thanks for the advise. I didn't realize that Ebay was on a slippery slope.

It depends upon what you're doing.
eBay is still doing quite well for me.

[Ken Scharabok]

Slippery slope? eBay is just transitioning from a garage sale to a commercial outlet.

While my sales are down from 06 and 08, they are on a par with 05 and 07. I don't have that much history but I seem to have a up year/down year pattern developing.

Pretty well my only sales outlet is my eBay store. I use some bidding listings as teasers to direct people there. For probably 2/3rds of my items I do not have direct competition on eBay.

[blufford]

[QUOTE=Ken Scharabok;3890381]Slippery slope? eBay is just transitioning from a garage sale to a commercial outlet.

While my sales are down from 06 and 08, they are on a par with 05 and 07. I don't have that much history but I seem to have a up year/down year pattern developing.

Pretty well my only sales outlet is my eBay store. I use some bidding listings as teasers to direct people there. For probably 2/3rds of my items I do not have direct competition on eBay.[/QUOTE]


Ken, Are you still selling those left-handed monkey wrenches on ebay? Blufford

[Ken Scharabok]

Yes, and I've recently added a line of metric screwdrivers.

[foxtrapper]

Find a need, fill the need. Just becoming one of the many resellers of someone elses item isn't a good consistent or easy way to vast fortunes.

Figure out a thneed.

My personal favorite is the person selling that little wet sensor for kids sleeping. It's very simple, easily made at home, and well marketed.

[blufford]

I saw a rural mailbox this morning that had been fashioned from an old scuba diving air tank that had been cut open and the end hinged. That might make a good item to market especially towards the scuba crowd.

[Ken Scharabok]

Problem there is USPS can refuse to deliver to a D-I-Y mailbox. Technically they have to be approved by the Postmaster General and while you may buy and install one such, they still belong to the PG. In that way theft of mail therefrom becomes a federal crime.

[jmtinmi]

Thanks for the advise everyone. Currently we are taking the 'garage sale' route and clearing out the house at the same time. Short term goals are to pay the cable internet with the money earned.

We moved away from Michigan in the early 80s because of no work and we don't want to have to do that again. Trying to hang on here in Michigan--where there's family!

[clovis]

There is still tremendous opportunity on ebay.

I think the best thing that ever helped me was this:

A powerseller friend told me to spend some time browsing the completed sales categories.

This will help teach you that some of the old garden tractors are worth a fortune in parts, some sewing machines are very valuable either working or as parts, that a John Mellencamp CD is basically worthless, some Pampered Chef items are really profitable, that some newer, but used college text books can sell for insane amounts, etc.

Another thing that helped me was making an actual written list of things that I saw at garage sales, but was too afraid to buy. I then looked them up later, again in the completed sales categories to find out the real value.

Don't forget, sometimes you gotta go to 10 sales to get a few good items. 8 or 9 sales will be complete busts, but one of them will be great.

Some of my past scores:

A huge box of softballs cost me $20, I resold them in lots of 25 for a total of $350.
A convertable boot for a Chrysler Sebring for $3, brought $99
Climbing spikes for utility workers, $15 and brought $105...should have been more.
A guitar for $50, brought $550
Harley Davidson heads, $5, brought $250
Pampered Chef item $2, brought $40
A big box of Legos for $10, the little people in it brought $63, another lot brought $50
A Lego castle for $4, brought $127

I am not trying to brag. I'm just trying to share that the $$$$$$$ is out there if you can go get it. I have a cousin that makes me look like an amatuer, but she really knows her stuff. She bought a box of dolls for $1, and they brought $900. Not a typo, and I am not kidding. She bought a set of Herman Miller chairs, maybe the ugliest things in the world for $1 each, and they sold for $2800.

Wanna know what she does as well? She studies completed listings. Just do it for an hour or so every day, and you will get the feel of stuff.

Commercial and business foreclosure auctions are even better than yard sales.

Making the internet cable bill every month should be a cake walk!

Study those categories of completed sales!!!!!!!

[clovis]

Originally Posted by jmtinmi

I don't have time or gas to scour sales and thrift stores for items.

I guess I should have read your post better before I spent all that time pumping up yard sales!

I can be such a dolt!!!!

Still tons of opportunity out there.

[Ken Scharabok]

For others reading thread:

I read about one couple in the Nashville, TN area who stop off at garage sales in upscale neighborhoods and simply leave a business card with them on the order of "Your leftover garage sales items hauled off free." XXX-XXXX.

Some folks cruise thrift stores looking for designer labels. Here reportedly thrift shops at churches in upscale neighborbood can be an excellent source.

When eBay was first getting to be known estate sales were an excellent source. However, soon many people got the same idea. What use to be stacks of dollar boxes now became expensive per the box.

At one I bought the electric range, washer, dryer and deep freeze. About a half-hour later I was approached by a couple arriving late who had wanted those items for a child setting up a household. I sold them for twice what I paid and didn't even have to move them.

[clovis]

Originally Posted by Ken Scharabok

When eBay was first getting to be known estate sales were an excellent source. However, soon many people got the same idea. What use to be stacks of dollar boxes now became expensive per the box.

You are right. Around here, the estate auction scene got crazy for a while. $2boxes were going for $20, and even some for $50.

I once saw a $20 train set go for $240, only because the buyer had more money than sense, and thought it would do well on ebay. Since trains are one thing I know quite alot about, I didn't know whether to LOL or just shake my head.

While there is a definate ebay crowd, prices have softened alot. There are plenty of deals still at estate auctions. It seems like people specialize in certain areas, leaving even more room for opportunity.

[jmtinmi]

Originally Posted by clovis

A powerseller friend told me to spend some time browsing the completed sales categories.

Thanks for this tip!! I didn't know that ebay had anything like this. While I don't have the time to go to garage sales all the time, you would have a hard time getting me not to stop when I see them!

[jmtinmi]

How do I link to completed sales catagories from the Ebay homepage?

Found it, thanks again

[clovis]

Originally Posted by jmtinmi

Thanks for this tip!! I didn't know that ebay had anything like this. While I don't have the time to go to garage sales all the time, you would have a hard time getting me not to stop when I see them!

Going to yard sales can be time consuming and expensive. But, If you were able to hit a few each week day while running errands, and several on a free Saturday, you might be surprised how many you can hit in a week.

I am happy to hear you are checking out the completed sales on ebay. Again, it won't make you a pro at anything, but will help give you an idea of what has value to other people.

Don't forget that prices and values go up and down on ebay. I have seen it happen many times. Again, use the completed sale as a guideline.

Like I mentioned earlier, a Mellencamp CD is basically worthless. But late last year, I bought a box of classical CD's at a garage sale. Those sold very, very well, especially when I sold in lots by the same artist.

Make sure to make a written list of all the items you saw at a yard sale but didn't buy because you didn't know if it was worth anything. Just jot down those items when you get to the car.

My list looked like this:
Singer Serger model 115A white
Ball glove, Hank Aaron model, poor condition
Canon printer ip1700
Vintage Yahtzee game, 196-
Stanley #5 wood plane in box
Tupperware bowl, NIB
Alloy Rims for Chevy _________
Basketball rim, no net, no backboard
Very new real estate CD package with work books
Fiestaware rose disc pitcher

Some of those will be a good deal, and some are worthless. Looking them up when you get home will show you which is which. It will give you a good idea of value the next time you see them.

Make sure you check as much of the completed sale categories. The Fiesta disc pitcher might be worthless in rose, but not in chartruese.

And don't forget, 10 items with a $10 profit = $100.

Hope this helps.