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How do ppl sell so cheap on eBay???!!!

26 posts

  1. kvp

    Joined: May 2004
    Posts: 23

    Hello all,

    I sell mp3 players on eBay. I only sell high quality Korean mp3 players.
    Considering the eBay fees and Paypal fees, I am selling at prices close to my cost.

    I am getting frustrated because buyers on eBay are soooooo cheap!!!

    I've read other posts discussing what products sell on eBay.

    Well, my question is:
    How do ppl sell so cheap??
    I am not talking about store surpluses/returns etc, I am talkin about brand new retail products!

    I recently bought a GPS (Garmin GPSMAP 60C) unit for US$300. I am not complaining since I bought it cheap. MSRP is $US482.13.

    But from a seller's point of view, I dun get how this seller (who sold me the GPS) is willing to let products sell (all through auctions w/o reserve) at low low prices. This seller sells diff category of products each week; a whole bunch of them at a time. And claims they are all brand new (although some feedbacks suggest otherwise). :lol:

    Can someone tell me the secret behind this seller??? Or is the seller just really dumb....???

    If this seller is continuing to sell new products at low prices, it must mean he/she is making money...
    how does this person do it???

    I am more frustrated with bidders who hope to buy things below the wholesale price!!! In my case ppl try to buy at manuf's cost!!!

    It's not that I have no hope of succeeding on ebay as I do have future plans....

    I just want to know how some sell for dirt cheap...

    This GPS is not even an old model..... It's a new model!!

    The seller ID is: prodigy1069
    maybe someone can look through feedbacks and tell me how it is being done....

    well... that's all :D

    KvP
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  2. heheboy2004

    Joined: May 2004
    Posts: 225

    I agree with you, maybe some ebay sellers ARE dumb. :lol:

    But I don't think anyone would keep selling something for $0 profit. From my observation, when a seller lists about 20-25 items (one product) a day, he/she wouldn't care too much if 1 or 2 items of these 25 are sold below wholesale price. However, if the seller finds out that 5-6 items are not getting enough bid, this might be a sign that he/she is flooding ebay with this product, and my guess is that the seller will start to list fewer items every day.

    And I do know that some ppl sell refurbished items as new. You just need to watch out.

    I hope this helps and btw, thanks for the information about Canada customs. 8)

    Wish you good luck with your eBay adventure.
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  3. kvp

    Joined: May 2004
    Posts: 23

    hey,

    didn't know it was you until the end... :D

    well this seller was selling 2+ of each garmin models last night.
    they all ended at similar time all at pretty low prices....

    I feel like i need to go wholesale like u...

    sorry i couldn't provide more detailed info on canada customs. :lol:

    Yep, started selling on ebay... tough audience....

    good luck to u too...

    i'll email u about some unrelated stuff.

    KvP
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  4. bkenn01

    Joined: January 2004
    Posts: 511

    Basically Ebay is one big Flea Market. Just go to any Flea Market and you will find 90% of the vendors are broke. This is because most of them dont have any biz sense. I know cause my dad did this for most of my life.

    If they find a source for cheaper product, rather than reaping the extra profit. I dont understand it and probably never will.

    Many of them equate sales with success rather than profit.
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  5. kvp

    Joined: May 2004
    Posts: 23

    So they are just dumb huh?? :D
    (i m not suggesting that the seller who sold me the GPS is dumb, very nice person... just talking in general)

    All these low prices really ruined the eBay market...

    Those cell phone signal boosters sell for 19.95 (really) in cell phone stores. It would've been nice if sellers on ebay sold them for 5+ bucks.

    Now they are getting cheaper and cheaper!! it seems like they're all fake now....

    anyways,,,,
    good luck to all.
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  6. aroma-bargains

    Joined: September 2003
    Posts: 435

    I've known a few ebay "power sellers" in the past, pretty much all of them were not into the big bucks and having a hard time making it. They mostly just would sell as cheap as they could and only are making a few measly dollars after all fees are taken care of.

    As BKenn said, its a huge flea market thats really easy to use.

    I had a person who was buying a ton of incense from me for a while. I find her selling the stuff she bought from me repacked by her and selling it at really low prices. Knowing how much I sold it to her for I was shocked to see her wasting her time selling on ebay when she was selling it for about $1 profit or less :roll:

    Plus she went through the trouble of repackaging the stuff I sold her into special lots.... same kinds of people you meet at flea markets.

    Do you know those water fountains that change color and make mist? Well I have met the company from China that makes them and know how much they sell them for wholesale. On ebay I find these waterfountains being sold by two different people and how much profit are they making BEFORE ebay/paypal fees... $3-5 each. Seriously what a freaking waste. Its great for buyers but I just have to scratch my head at these people.

    Those same fountains we sell in local malls and guess how much profit we make on each one? $40-50 each..... I took a look at ebay then to see because they sold well if they would be good on ebay.... then I find the idiots on ebay ruining the whole thing selling tons of them for almost cost.

    Many people are finding this everyday. Just look at all the people complaining about DVD sellers selling so cheap. Yea one of the guys I mentioned above who I knew sold DVD's on ebay, he was making almost nothing on each DVD.
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  7. creepyjon

    Joined: January 2004
    Posts: 320

    I hear what your saying, I'm looking into importing some fairy figurines direct from china. Got a good price on them, but of course there are already idiots selling them on ebay for 3 bucks profit before fees. That's ok becuase I can take them to the flea market and make triple my money on them all day long!

    I've backed off on ebay quite a bit, I only strip cars and sell the parts online. I make a very nice profit doing it, and I love ripping cars apart. I'm destroying a bmw right now, it's so much fun! :D

    Ebay is quickly becomeing a wasteland of junk, and vast amounts of junk at that. Everything is dirt cheap for a reason, you get what you pay for. Mostly salvage, refurbished, or second rate products make up the bulk of items there. All ebayers care about is price, so the sellers are meeting thier demands. Most are killing themselfs to do it too, those that dropship are really killing themselfs trying to make anything that resembles a profit.

    The biggest problem with ebay is you are competing against people that are NOT buisinessmen. What I mean by that is they know nothing about how to make a profit, how to sustain a market without flooding, how to purchase good products, how to properly and quickly ship a item, etc. Basically it's way to easy for people that don't know their !@#$ from a hole in the ground to start selling things. :roll:
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  8. aroma-bargains

    Joined: September 2003
    Posts: 435

    Been on the phone several times with these dumb ebayers. I constantly would hear "I need better prices, I'm selling on ebay and you gotta sell cheap on ebay!". I tell them to purchase more then I could offer better discounts, but of course they will reply "But I sell on ebay, I can't afford to have alot of stock".

    This is the mentality of these idiots. We want cheap and are going to sell cheap.... oh but I can't spend to much. They just want to sit at a computer for a few hours and make bundles of money without spending anything.
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  9. creepyjon

    Joined: January 2004
    Posts: 320

    That's exactly thier mentaltiy, go ebay, get rich quick with no investment!

    I think I'm going to make a junk ebook and junk list to go with it to sell to all the morons. The people that do the best are selling lists instead of items they purchase from them lists. Lets see how do I start that ebook off....

    Get rich quick, ask me how. I made 10000 dollars last month and you can too!

    :lol: :lol: :lol:
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  10. kvp

    Joined: May 2004
    Posts: 23

    thanks all for replying with good insight...

    At least I feel relieved that there isn't really a "miracle" source for these sellers..... :D

    Well, I'll continue to do my best to make some money 8)

    thx~
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  11. tartallini

    Joined: July 2004
    Posts: 2

    Hi,

    I found this board only a few weeks ago, and have found it to be a valuable resource for leads and advice. Despite this, I'm still looking for products to resell on eBay this year.

    Last year I found Oakley sunglasses, The North Face products, Marmot products, Panoptx, Clive backpacks and TUMI luggage closeouts all sold very well for me. It took a year for me to realize what worked, and what didn't, and it was a great lesson.

    I found my products by searching online, and locally, for new, closeout or discontinued products. I found searching on http://www.andale.com for what was selling, and at what price, gave me a great deal of assistance.

    Dealing only in NEW, retail packaged items, helped a lot. I only sold items that I had used or believed in myself, and opened my sales up to international buyers. This was at least half of my sales, and once I figured out shipping, customs forms etc... it went very well.

    The current problem that I find is locating quality goods at the right price. Since I store and ship the items myself, I prefer to limit my items. When I became a silver PowerSeller, it was because I was selling a high volume of items that sold for $100-$600 each.

    I would love to locate Tumi closeouts at the right price again because they tend to sell year-round. If you can locate some Christmas items and hold on to them until mid November... you might have a shot at some profit.

    Good luck to all!
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  12. tartallini

    Joined: July 2004
    Posts: 2

    PS...

    RE: How do you sell so cheap? Start all auctions at $1.00... be the only one selling the product... and time the auction to end on a Friday or Saturday night.

    Of course if you fear not selling it for what you paid plus at least 35%... then start selling something else!
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  13. bkenn01

    Joined: January 2004
    Posts: 511

    The reason you cant understand why the sell so cheap is that you dont think like them. Creepy and Aroma even though we have some fun pokin at each others politics, I respect your opinions. You seem to have that Entrepeneur spirit.

    Many of those on Ebay do not, they have pay check mentality. The are not in it to be independant, self employed or to get rid of that SOB boss. Many of them look at it as a way to make a couple extra bucks.

    I can speak from experience cause my dad has spent over 30 years in and out of Flea Marketing. Sold a lot of !@#$, could sell an air conditioner to an eskimo, but never made a dime off his biz.

    They dont think of tommorrow, just suplementing next weeks checks. As long as they make an extra $50 they dont care if it took selling $2000 to make it.
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  14. shopgreatvalues

    Joined: November 2003
    Posts: 213

    If you look at my prior posts, you will find I am disappointed with eBay. As another wholesale4um user pointed out, you can't make a profit on eBay selling new products that can be bought everywhere else.

    I never gave my wholesalers a hard time on their pricing as I know the typical eBayer is super cheap. Now I am working on my website and I am liquidating the cheap stuff on eBay and expect to take a loss on everything I list.

    I actually could make a decent profit on eBay before fees by listing at a semi-fair value, but the close was about 1 in 8 so I gave up almost all my profits to eBay in listing fees and other.

    I once purchased atomic products and sold them on eBay. The wholesaler was really nice and there was only one other seller that sold those products. It turns out this other seller was selling at cost or just a couple of bucks above cost. I went back and checked again and I still see this seller (a powerseller) selling the same products for just a couple of bucks above wholesale (I know this persons cost as there is only one distributor for them).

    What a total waste. To compete, I had to sell at the same cheap price. These were not the greatest products (it was an off brand) so they had more than the normal problems. People had trouble using them, they didn't like the displays, they were unhappy with them, they couldn't get a signal. I spent so much time answering emails and offering refunds that I ended up losing money on them. I just said forget it, it is not worth the time or money.

    I suppose I could make decent money selling !@#$ on eBay on an as-is basis, but I couldn't live with myself doing that. I want my customers to be happy even if it means buying back the product.
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  15. myfashionguru

    Joined: December 2003
    Posts: 268

    Selling on ebay is a strategy. I often see people offering products for well below what they probably paid for the items. As a buyer if you see what you want to buy for 4.99 and 9.99 - you tend to check the 4.99 sellers item - but while you are shopping with the cheaper guy you become more interested in who they are by reading their feedback, checking to see what else they are selling and if all is well you will buy the item and possibly other things from them. The number one step to getting a customer to buy is 'interest" and once you have that attention you are 50% closer to the sale.

    Sometimes companies that are smart will sell below cost to drive more traffic. Once you develop a good relationship with your customer they will continue to trust and buy from you. Also, you will get that "word of mouth" advertising for cutting your customer a deal that is priceless. So this could be the reason the smart business people are selling for these bottom prices. Because when a seller has a hot ebay item they know all customers care about in the beginning is the best price and that's the first thing they go for. If you can't offer the best price unfortunately you can't compete UNLESS you have loyal customers that just come back to buy from you. Next time check and see if these sellers are ALSO selling many other items that might be of interest to those buyers. Just my two cents.

    Good luck in your ebay ventures,
    Michelle
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  16. ice_man

    Joined: July 2004
    Posts: 35

    I am always trying to figure out how all these people sell stuff so cheap and you guys hit the nail on the head!!!! The majority of sellers have no business sense complete morons flooding the market with DIRT CHEAP
    prices....They have created the buyer who wants you to sell him or her the product cheaper than what you paid for it when you bought bulk!

    Yes you are correct when you say these people except ti sit in front of their computers and make tons of money doing nothing.. I guess they
    have read one to many e-books on how to turn BIG dollars on eBay
    overnight! Everyone wants to be a powerseller...

    I love the comments like I sold over $50.000 on ebay last month and you can too! Well it doesn't matter how much you sold it only matters what you got to keep :]....

    I am tired of fighting online trying to scratch out a miserable little piece
    of change every week..I think it's time to go back and get a real job.

    chris
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  17. kvp

    Joined: May 2004
    Posts: 23

    Myfashionguru wrote:Selling on ebay is a strategy. I often see people offering products for well below what they probably paid for the items. As a buyer if you see what you want to buy for 4.99 and 9.99 - you tend to check the 4.99 sellers item - but while you are shopping with the cheaper guy you become more interested in who they are by reading their feedback, checking to see what else they are selling and if all is well you will buy the item and possibly other things from them. The number one step to getting a customer to buy is 'interest" and once you have that attention you are 50% closer to the sale.

    Sometimes companies that are smart will sell below cost to drive more traffic. Once you develop a good relationship with your customer they will continue to trust and buy from you. Also, you will get that "word of mouth" advertising for cutting your customer a deal that is priceless. So this could be the reason the smart business people are selling for these bottom prices. Because when a seller has a hot ebay item they know all customers care about in the beginning is the best price and that's the first thing they go for. If you can't offer the best price unfortunately you can't compete UNLESS you have loyal customers that just come back to buy from you. Next time check and see if these sellers are ALSO selling many other items that might be of interest to those buyers. Just my two cents.

    Good luck in your ebay ventures,
    Michelle



    thanks for that.
    but I am not talking about those sellers with that strategy in mind.
    Obviously that would be the reason you'd think of when you see someone selling cheap.

    The sellers I am talking about simply sell dirt cheap without trying to sell anything else as if they make good money from it.

    And even though selling cheap below your cost is a strategy, ppl still should not try to sell cheaper than the other guys.

    Cell phone industry is a good example (among other things), here in Canada, there are several big cell phone service providers. But they never compete with each other with price. As a cell phone user you'd like see some price competition, but they always do something other than lowering their prices. That way it's better for the sellers and it's stable.

    Obviously eBay can't be compared to something like that, but I just wish sellers were smarter.

    the problem with ebay is that there are always ppl selling dirt cheap.
    What I mean by that is:
    A seller beats the other stable long-run sellers by selling cheaper than them and soon after quits the biz. But there will be other dumb sellers coming in who will simply go out of business just like the previous seller.
    And then there are tons of private sellers who's not in it to make money.
    There's chain of ppl passing through ebay.

    In the end, the long-run sellers can't stay in business trying to compete with all these dumb ppl.

    That's what I think...
    thx

    KvP
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  18. nocturnal

    Joined: February 2004
    Posts: 422

    Yeah there's a lot of people pissed off in here with ebay sellers for being so cheap, tough it's a market economy, maybe just maybe the days of retailers with over inflated profit margins is coming to an end, the consumer is king, ebay auction sellers don't dictate the prices BUYERS dictate the prices, taking into consideration supply.

    Anyway I reckon, and this applies to me too at times, many ebay sellers only have one outlet, i.e. ebay and thay also only have a limited amount of working capital, if say I purchase 100 of XXX product, I sell the first 50 at a good profit, I'm quite happy to offload the remaining 50 at or near to purchase price simply to bring in the working capital again, boxes of stock ain't gonna feed my kids folks, I'll just sell it off and move on to the next product, if by chance someone else has just moved into selling this product looking to make a big fat margin they'll have to rethink, unfortunate yes but reality 2004
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  19. aroma-bargains

    Joined: September 2003
    Posts: 435

    nocturnal wrote:Yeah there's a lot of people pissed off in here with ebay sellers for being so cheap, tough it's a market economy, maybe just maybe the days of retailers with over inflated profit margins is coming to an end, the consumer is king, ebay auction sellers don't dictate the prices BUYERS dictate the prices, taking into consideration supply.


    Buyers dictate ebay prices? Thats very incorrect, it takes both the sellers and the buyers to dictate the prices.

    Ebay buyers don't go to the store and dictate the price to anyone. Like others have mentioned the only reason buyers have power on ebay on prices is because its a freakin global flea market. Flea markets have been around selling !@#$ for next to nothing for ever, the buyers power stops at the exit of the flea market once they enter the real "market".
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  20. nocturnal

    Joined: February 2004
    Posts: 422

    Aroma-Bargains wrote

    Buyers dictate ebay prices? Thats very incorrect, it takes both the sellers and the buyers to dictate the prices.


    Totally disagree if you post an item for sale at say $70 and there are no takers what do you do?
    Post it again and again and again at the same price?

    No that doesn't make sense to pile so much dosh into ebay fees, if that is your only outlet you have no option other than to reduce the price to where there is customer demand, i.e. reduce it to a level that the customer is willing to pay therefore the customer is dictating the price, basic supply demand economics, that is what happens on ebay, you can keep it at $70 all day long but who knows how long you'll sit on it for, 6 months down the line it might only be worth $20.

    Ebay sellers make their income from the RATE of turnover with a small margin they do not rely solely on % profit, they cannot, ideally there would be a nice profit margin in everything but its not an ideal world.
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  21. angrymanclothing

    Joined: May 2004
    Posts: 110

    You have to consider the competition factor.

    On your high street how many shops are selling, lets say.....Ralph Lauren Polo's? is it somewhere like 2-4?

    On Ebay you have like 30 people, so competition is rife! Price is lowered!

    Ebay is the real world, is the real market. It's just an extremely competitive one and in any competition based market the profit is low and prices are dictated by the consumer.

    By which I mean; consumer A will not shop with seller B because seller A has the same stock for $1 less. So by not being prepared to pay the extra $1 for the goods the consumer dictates that seller B must lower his price by $1!

    As Nocturnal says, Ebay is all about turnover and what the consumer will pay.
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  22. artbroker

    Joined: June 2003
    Posts: 1,760

    The man who shops at Bloomingdales does not shop at K Mart.

    Most of my clients know of eBay because of the financial news, but would never sit there shopping. Just like they would not sit and watch TV shopping show. There is a big world out there that are too busy to look at eBay. Don't get me wrong, eBay has its place. And they are successful. But they know how to market themselves.

    Look at the successful wholesalers that have banners here on Wholesale411. They do that to get new customers. They wouldn't be spending the money if it didn't work. That is why they are fighting to pay more money to get that position.

    How many people actually go to pages 2-100 on google for a search? That's right, you want to be at the top on page one. Everyone else wishes they were there.

    It is a new world out there. People think they are professionals because they have a computer. They have no concept of marketplace and don't care. If it gets muddied up, so what. They are not here for the long term.

    If you can think outside the box, and can go to different avenues you can be successful. I have watched coin dealers destroy their market because they can only sell on price and not value of their product. They didn't have the confidence in the product to be successful.
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  23. panzer

    Joined: September 2004
    Posts: 3

    angrymanclothing wrote:Ebay is the real world, is the real market. It's just an extremely competitive one and in any competition based market the profit is low and prices are dictated by the consumer.


    I feel little confused here.

    So Ebay is a mature market that all the other market form will grown up to be or just a primordial one?

    All i know,Price competition is just the rude tool for a immature market.
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  24. caleb812

    Joined: September 2004
    Posts: 11

    This has a lot of replies to it so I don't know if my two cents here will even get read but I will say my peice anyway. One reply here said selling on e-bay takes strategy. Another said something about business sence. It takes these things but also much more. You are not going to get rich overnight. You are going to lose money from time to time, that is part of ANY business. You have to roll with the punches and keep going. You will never know what could have been if you quit. I have only been selling for 8 months and had a really bad month in June, I thought about quitting, but I didn't. I kept going and have acheived another record sales month in August. One guys reply here was "sellers equate sales with success" and hes right. People flood the market a cheap prices on e-bay. They probably are not making any money. They will also prevent you from making money on that item. So, don't sell it. I cannot stress the importance of reasearching an item before you invest in it. There is so much I would love to sell but just cannot make a profit on. So I leave it alone. When I am at my supplier and I see something I think will do well I buy one or two, then if it works I invest heavily. If it dosen't, I havent lost too much. I have made some bad decisions. But mistakes are an asset if you learn from them. Possibly your biggest asset. I started with $50 and now spend thousands every month. Thosands that came from nowhere. I have not take $1 out either. A successful business takes years to build. All my time and energy has not paid me yet, but it will, OH IT WILL.
    I do not equate sales with success. I equate profit with success and I have P&L statements to prove it. I do very very well on e-bay. I am only high school educated and work in a factory. I am only 22 years old. If I can do it, ANYONE CAN!
    If anyone knows of a good place that has electronic pallets that are not 100% junk and at a decent price would you let me know? Preferably in the Mid-West, FOB: IN, OH, IL, MI, TN
    Hope it helps.
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  25. declan

    Joined: May 2004
    Posts: 23

    I am tired of fighting online trying to scratch out a miserable little piece of change every week..I think it's time to go back and get a real job.


    It all comes down to market value. If you bring value to the market it will be reflected in your profits. The reason most people fail is because they are selling (or doing) the same thing as everyone else.

    The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result...

    You need to set yourself apart from the pack by being unique and offering something of value up front. If it were that easy to make money online most people would be telling their bosses to bugger off in the morning.

    The saddest thing to me is when somebody has put so much effort into trying to make money online and quits to go back to a 'real job' so close to having made it. All it might have taken was a little bit of tweaking here or there to really differentiate from the rest of the 98% who are making nothing through their endeavors.
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

  26. caleb812

    Joined: September 2004
    Posts: 11

    Declan wrote:
    I am tired of fighting online trying to scratch out a miserable little piece of change every week..I think it's time to go back and get a real job.


    It all comes down to market value. If you bring value to the market it will be reflected in your profits. The reason most people fail is because they are selling (or doing) the same thing as everyone else.

    The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result...

    You need to set yourself apart from the pack by being unique and offering something of value up front. If it were that easy to make money online most people would be telling their bosses to bugger off in the morning.

    The saddest thing to me is when somebody has put so much effort into trying to make money online and quits to go back to a 'real job' so close to having made it. All it might have taken was a little bit of tweaking here or there to really differentiate from the rest of the 98% who are making nothing through their endeavors.


    He's right! I do things quite different. I offer "an honest ship rate". I don't try to make up for fees by putting all into my shipping charge (.01 listings w/ $19.99 ship rates). Do I pay more fees? Yes. Do more people look at my listing as opposed to the other 500? Yes. I think it helps. I always look at what other people are doing. And try and do it different. I make money in places with people selling 500 of the same thing!
    Posted 5 years ago  |  Login or Register to Reply

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