Making eBay REALLY Profitable

happychick · #1 11/13/11, 12:00 PM

Quick background:
I know some people do so well on eBay it is their living. Right now, I have a small store, sell anywhere from $200 - $2,000 in a week (it greatly varies). My brother has a DCC (Digital Command Control) model train business fixing, buying & reselling HO scale trains. We sold thousands of dollars selling things stored away in the basement, garage and attic. Bought a nice hoop house with some of the money

. However, other then the forever ongoing train business, we are running out of things to sell. So, when friends started asking us if we would sell for them on eBay, we started doing that and taking a percentage of the profits. Sell for about 11 people now, and that's going really well.
We've sold all over the world, selling everying from antiques to ipods.

My question is:
What have you been successful with selling on eBay? I'm thinking about possibly investing some of the profit money into stocking up on items I can turn around and make money on. I really enjoy eBay, and we are very successful with it, I don't need it to make a living, but I would like keep making extra because it really helps out with projects like the hoop house and other home/farm improvements...

Thanks ahead of time everyone!

happychick · #2 11/29/11, 10:03 PM

Seeing as no one was replying here, I posted this under 'Homesteading Questions' and got loads of replies, even though it really is a 'Work-At-Home-Business' question...I'm fairly new here, but it seems that Homesteading Questions is turning into a catch-all where any question goes and more people look...Not sure if that is a good thing or not?

NostalgicGranny · #3 12/03/11, 05:34 AM

I did OK but I didn't do fantastic on eBay. Sold Vintage items.

What I can tell you from my business classes is that you want to look for a high ticket item that yields you the most profit. Essentially what it boils down to is you can sell 1000 of Widget X for $2 ea and make maybe $0.50 - $0.75 ea. Or you could sell one big ticket item. Less time, less work, more profit.

Nomad · #4 12/03/11, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NostalgicGranny

I did OK but I didn't do fantastic on eBay. Sold Vintage items.

What I can tell you from my business classes is that you want to look for a high ticket item that yields you the most profit. Essentially what it boils down to is you can sell 1000 of Widget X for $2 ea and make maybe $0.50 - $0.75 ea. Or you could sell one big ticket item. Less time, less work, more profit.

I agree. Most of the items I sold didn't make me much yet took the same amount of time to photograph, edit the photos and write a listing as high dollar items. Unfortunately I rarely had any big ticket items to sell.

Nomad

TeamChaos · #5 12/03/11, 12:40 PM

When I sold on ebay, I was buying at auctions and getting stuff that I know about and that I wouldn't necessarily toss if I got stuck with it. I sold lots of fire king dishes and other 30's/40's/50's kitchen stuff mostly.
A few times, around the holidays, I ended up with extras of hard to find toys on ebay but my ethics prevented me from buying them on purpose to resell- of course those made the most money consistently!
Good luck!

katlupe · #6 12/06/11, 04:40 PM

I have been selling vintage items on eBay also. Old stuff that I had in my trunks in my attic. Nothing of big value. But it does sell. Little streams of money coming in at various times. I used to sell books but they sell for pennies now. Old photos and antique nails that we pulled out of the walls in our house as we remodel it seem to sell pretty good.

happychick · #7 12/06/11, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nomad

I agree. Most of the items I sold didn't make me much yet took the same amount of time to photograph, edit the photos and write a listing as high dollar items. Unfortunately I rarely had any big ticket items to sell.

I think it's kind of a balence of both. Because higher dollar items are harder to come by then smaller one's (at least most of the time), but it's good to always have a large and changing inventory. So I have everything from $1.25 up to $500 right now. At least 50% of items are under $50, but by selling both cheaper and expensive things, I have achieved a higher seller status with more transactions and acumulated lots of positive feedback. Basically a dollar is a dollar. I always say, 'if you saw a dollar laying on the street, would you pick it up?'. granted you do have to consider your time and effort, but I've found this attitude has served me well.

NewGround · #8 12/07/11, 07:21 AM

Never sold there before but thinking of selling some excess books to start off... Either sell or dump them so I figure might try to get a buck for them...

Ken Scharabok · #9 12/07/11, 07:43 AM

Also check out half.com. I think it is owned by eBay.

KnowOneSpecial · #10 12/07/11, 07:53 AM

Don't forget timing!!

One late September I happened to be in Target when they were selling their school uniforms for 90% off. Blouses that were $9.99 were going for .99, etc. I bought about $500 of them and stored them in an unused closet. The next August I started selling the stuff at 3 for $9.99. I was still making a profit of $7 per deal and many deals went up from $9.99! I made enough money with just those uniform parts that I was able to fully fund our homeschooling that year! My hubby who spent from September to August wondering if I lost my mind changed his tune and told me I was one of the only people he knew who could make money out of going to Target!

Ken Scharabok · #11 12/07/11, 07:59 AM

I've heard of folks who cruise thrift shops looking for designer labels. Reportedly a good place for this is church thrift sales in up-scale neighborhoods.

NostalgicGranny · #12 12/07/11, 01:35 PM

Whoops double post

NostalgicGranny · #13 12/07/11, 01:41 PM

Ken I used to do that. Ralph Lauren, Laura Ashley and the like. Oddly enough if I could match the colors of whatever designer label I was posting with my vintage items they often bought the two together.

My quickest sell was early one morning when I could not sleep I was listing vintage towels. Listed one and went to go check how the ad looked and it had already sold. Just a matter of seconds.

Also wanted to mention if you use excel or some other like program keep track of what your individual bidders are buying. It's really helpful to know if your customer collects certain things or only buys thing in one color.

happychick · #14 12/07/11, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NostalgicGranny

My quickest sell was early one morning when I could not sleep I was listing vintage towels. Listed one and went to go check how the ad looked and it had already sold. Just a matter of seconds.

I think my record is about 5 minutes. Makes you think you put it for to cheap! But it sure is fun to sell that quickly!

Quote:

Also wanted to mention if you use excel or some other like program keep track of what your individual bidders are buying. It's really helpful to know if your customer collects certain things or only buys thing in one color.

Yes, Excel is a great way to keep track of everthing!

Ken Scharabok · #15 12/07/11, 02:59 PM

I suspect what happened is you were on their watch list to receive your new listings. They were on-line and jumped on it.

I remember someone on the forum saying they left business cards at garage or yard sales in upscale neighborhood to the effect left-overs were hauled away free. Someone gave then a like-new $1,500 couch as they didn't want to move it back into their garage.