Making eBay REALLY Profitable

[happychick]

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!

[Ken Scharabok]

Two problems with eBay. If you list an item, it is likely among hundreds, if not thousands, of others like it or very similar. eBay now caters to catalog companies giving them showing preference over small sellers.

You need to find something no one else is selling.

It is critical your title be as broad as possible so you come up in searches. For example, including campfire and camp fire. eBay has now expanded the digits in titles. On some of my listing I've cancelled the current one so I could relist with a longer title.

[Kathie]

There are collectors out there for just about everything. I think it is trial and error. Buy something at a what you know is a low price, preferrably something you know the value of, and list it. If it sells well, look for more of that type of item. I believe knowing your product is very helpful. I could sell baseball cards, but I know nothing about them so it would be a shot in the dark if I should sell one that brings a high price. I do, however, know about my prescut glass collection, what it's worth and what people are looking for. I can describe the item, pointing out things I know a buyer would want to know about it. I hope this helps in some way.

[kimmom2five]

Everything that I made the most money on was stuff I just stumbled onto.
Anyway the things that I made the most money on were:
Vintage Nylon Stockings. It's not the women buying these though. I bought a huge box of these still in their boxes at an estate auction. All the buyers were men. One man bought stockings and sold guns. I thought that was strangely Freudian and creepy.
Avalon Hill and related games. I paid $70 for about 30 of these games at a Salvation Army store and sold them for over $3000. They need to be new in the box or if not a rarer game.
Car model kits.
Cheetos. My daughter found a snack size bag of Cheetos from 1983 in the air conditioner vent in her bedroom. We sold it for $30. It had hits from a message board for people who dress up in animal costumes.
Post WWII satin embroidered baseball jacket from Japan. My son got one of these from a storage unit his youth group was cleaning out. It was nasty dirty but he loved it. I had it cleaned and he wore it once or twice. Then I happened to see one on ebay that sold for a lot! I listed his jacket and it sold for over $400. My son got half the money.
Mostly I sold old sewing patterns. Most don't sell for much but some could go for hundreds of dollars.

[happychick]

Originally Posted by kimmom2five

Avalon Hill and related games. I paid $70 for about 30 of these games at a Salvation Army store and sold them for over $3000. They need to be new in the box or if not a rarer game.

WOW! I find myself looking at things in places like Salvation Army, Goodwill, garage sales, and seeing what I could make a profit on.

Ken, I fully realize the importance of good titles, and thank goodness eBay allows longer ones now. I have a method of searching like I am the buyer to see what search terms are most commonly used before listing my item. Makes a HUGE difference if you sell it or not.

Kathie, good point - not only are there collectors for just about everything, but you need to know something about what you are selling - at least most of the time!

Some people do really well on eBay, others don't. I've figured out how to do well, it's just a matter of having the right items to sell. I've thought of doing weekly estate sales/auctions too...

I LOVE to hear and learn from peoples success stories with eBay, (no, not eBay's promotional newletter thing) but people who have done it on a scale that didn't require storage units and staff.

[jcatblum]

I think you do best if you have a strong knowledge on the going rate of items and keep your eye open for things that are easy to ship & in demand. Plus you need to know what people desire. I have had luck buying yardsales, bookoo, thrift stores & listing on ebay for a profit.
I have done well selling boots (EUC name brand that retail for $100 or more) bought for $3-$5. Name brand kids clothes, in lots of 10-30 items. Wisper Mill, retired but huge demand, purhcased @ yardsale for $10 sold for $125 (I already have a grain mill, DH wanted me to keep it as a spare, but the $$$ sounded nicer) Bought a Dave Ramsey CD series for 25c sold on ebay for $36, Video Games, Cricut Cartridges, calculators (Texas Instrument ones that retail for over $100, have found a few at yardsales for $2-$10), this weeks thrift store find was Janome Memory Cartridges- purchased for $2 each, expect to get $10+ per card. The cards have been retired for over 10 yrs, but the machines are still going strong. I might not sale all the cards the first wk I list them, but they will sale & I expect to make over $100 profit for my $28 investment.

It isn't a full time thing, but it is a few extra dollars a month & if I don't want to list anything that week I don't have to. DH often gets frustrated that I can purchase something I find & sale it for a decent profit. For me I enjoy shopping for junk, so resale on ebay funds my hobby.

[TheMartianChick]

I used to be an Ebay powerseller. I sold items that were purchased new from the manufacturer, repackaged them into smaller quantities and resold them at a profit. That worked well for awhile until someone else came along and started copying my technique.

The best way to make money on Ebay is to sell something rare (as others have said) or to sell something that you have no money invested in. If you dumster dive or pick things up at the curb and find items that people want to buy, then you have no money tied up in the inventory.This is similar to the way that you currently have nothing invested in the merchandise that you are selling for others.

Knowing how fickle Ebay can be, I'd advise you to advertise to get more clients for your Ebay listing service. There is a lot less risk involved.

[tyusclan]

I stopped doing any business with eBay when they stopped accepting listing for firearms parts and started requiring paypal for payment.

[Ken Scharabok]

PayPal isn't a 100% requirement. You just can't advertise you accept other forms of payment. In my shipping I put in "Payment via PayPal unless other arrangements made." A couple of times a year someone will send a money order.

[happychick]

I prefere paypal, but accept money orders and bank/cashier checks. There are also e-checks but they take forever. So there are ways around it.

[aunt fannie]

I would like to know more about how to NOT take Paypal? I once added in my description that I would take money orders, EBAY deleted my auction and said that I was to ONLY take PAYPAL, unless I had my own credit card machine thru my bank...

I have tried desperately to get away from EBAY, but I keep getting sucked back in.

I have been successful on a lot of items..... but by the time I list 100 and only sell 20-30 I lose money with the ebay & paypal fees........ Especially now that EBAY gets 11% of what you charge for shipping.....

I have been buying and selling for 38 years.......and am now writing a book about it!

All the best to you all!

[Gianni]

I quit it when there were restrictions as to how much you could withdraw without notification.

[plowjockey]

It never takes long for any Ebay thread to turn into a PayPal bashing.

It's just part of the business.

Concerning selling, how about everything?

I see huge prices going for "vintage" GASOLINE CANS! Yes, people collect gasoline cans.

1970's stereo "HIFI" music systems, speakers, turntables and tape decks, sell very well.

Sears, John Deere and others, garden tractors and even better garden tractor parts.

Antique oil cans

[Roadking]

I don't sell often, but I had a heck of a run on ink wells, blotters and old fountain pens I had picked up as a box lot in an auction...paid $2, made over $3000 (about 6 years ago).
It appears the more obscure something is, the more it will go for. Not set in stone, but has been my experience.

Matt

[Txrider]

Originally Posted by plowjockey

It never takes long for any Ebay thread to turn into a PayPal bashing.

It's just part of the business.

Concerning selling, how about everything?

I see huge prices going for "vintage" GASOLINE CANS! Yes, people collect gasoline cans.

1970's stereo "HIFI" music systems, speakers, turntables and tape decks, sell very well.

Sears, John Deere and others, garden tractors and even better garden tractor parts.

Antique oil cans

Heh, that's about the only way to get a good quality gas can these days. Or oil can either for that matter.

Some of those small tractors sell well parted out into parts. I could buy several old motorcycle on craigslist or ebay, take it apart, make a profit selling it in parts.

[happychick]

Originally Posted by Roadking

I don't sell often, but I had a heck of a run on ink wells, blotters and old fountain pens I had picked up as a box lot in an auction...paid $2, made over $3000 (about 6 years ago).

Wow! Bet that was the best investment you ever made!!

I have found items on Craiglist that can be resold for much more on eBay, where the items get more looked at.

Tins do great - I just sold a vintage tin collection for a neighbor of mine, (I take 10% for my service), couple little coffee tins went for $78 each, never would have guessed!

[Freya]

I would try to buy more of whatever it was that got you the $2k weeks... that seemed to work well for you. Unlesss it was the toy trains and I know those are hard to find.


Some people do well with toy items like Lego's... even used they seem to sell well. Keep an eye open for them at yard sales and such. The older sets are really worth alot of $$$. Heck any really old or vintage toys could do well. If you can get it cheap enough its worth a shot!


I am frustrated with ebay now... it's so bloated with cheap junk.

[Twp.Tom]

I have done well selling non-electric lighting-Coleman,Dietz,Aladdin. Do search on completed listings to see what has recently sold,and for how much. Good Luck* Most of my buyers were from Japan(wealthy collectors)!

[whodunit]

Originally Posted by aunt fannie

Especially now that EBAY gets 11% of what you charge for shipping

When did that start? So, now an honest person who charges about what it actually costs now has to charge 11% to avoid losing money? Frustrating.

[paintlady]

So how do you calculate shipping costs if you don't know where the item will end up going? Shipping costs are a huge factor when buying online. I would like to start selling on Ebay again but the shipping thing is stopping me.