I just don't get it. How are these people selling these products (high end products like digital camera, brand name clothing, etc) and making such a huge profit off of it all? I have been researching for weeks now how to get into selling on eBay part time and eventually full time. I just am not having any luck at all. I cannot find a reputable dropshipper, I cannot find a good wholesaler, I cannot find anything! Everything I have read says "Sell things from around your house" or "go to yard sales" I can only do that so much...I am running out of things to sell. How are these people doing it????? Are they contacting manufacturers directly and asking them to sell them the products at wholesale price? I am so discouraged right now.
Sorry, maybe this was more of a vent of my frustration than anything else.
goWholesale Forums » Wholesale Buyers » General Chat » Auctions, eBay, Closeouts/Surplus
How do they do it?? (EBay Powersellers)
39 posts
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Hi,
The truth about eBay is that the huge profits are not there on most items. Can you make money on eBay? Yes, but it is either with oddball items or what is hot currently.
If you are just dealing with overstok or liquidated merchandise, you can pull a profit, but it will not be huge.
The problem with eBay is it is strictly a price driven market. The typical eBay buyer is looking for something ofr nothing. Which means we have to buy for next to nothing and sell for a little more than nothing.
I look at eBay as a way to market your company. My plan is to lauch my own website and use eBay as a traffic generator and a way to market who we are.
Good Luck!!! -
Lots of the sellers of high end goods on ebay are themselve wholesalers/distributors in their own right and thus have the buying power to ensure lower costs, also remember that ebays prices are artificially lowered due to the nature of the marketplace in its own right. Using mobiles as an example, there are lots of people selling on their free upgrades and as such they dont care if that £200 phone sells for £130 as the money is in essence free to them.
Like the poster above I utilise ebay as a traffic generator to my own site, I have written a small article on it and it can be found at : eBay Traffic
Mike -
I would love to open my own business/website for that business but guess I just don't have the know-how to get started. Oh well. Stay at home mom I will be for the rest of my life! Thanks for the replies.
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My advice would be do not give up, its would be nice if we could all go into high end products (with nice profits) but unfortunately nearly everyone has the same idea..just look at the amount of people looking for ipods at wholesale!!!
I always advise to think outside of the box and focus onto a niche sector, one of my members of staff (a student) started cutomising his own iPod and then moved onto doinbg the same for his mates and now makes a supplementary income from it while he is at university..
Mike -
The simple rule on eBay is BUY CHEAP - SELL CHEAP.
If myou can't do the first thing, then it's hard to make any money (other than specialist items) -
I just recently became a Powerseller and it took alot of hard work. Also I do not make million - more like hundreds - but it is steadily increasing.
I sell things I find on sale, a friend of mine sells fabric, another sells used items from antiques to kids clothes.
It all depends on you interests and it is not a get rich quick scheme. Like other businesses, you get out what you put in.
Research is also very important.
Hope this helps and good luck!! -
I did not mean to discourage. I would rather try and fail then not to fail at all. You can make money onHigh end itmes and other wholesale items, but there has to be an min. profit margin you want to maintain.
IMO you canot make 100% profit on every item you sale. However, if you can make a min of 30% per unit, then you can make some decent profit. The sellers that get me are the ones that but shirts for $11.00 and sale for $12.00 to $13.00. They are happy with that. After eBay and PAyapl fees, they are barely breaing even.
My recommendation is a diverse business plan. For example, buy wholesale, buy at garage/estate sales, and go to alternate type auctions (Auction Houses and obscure auctions).
This should give you a diverse product line and also a niche product to get yourself started.
You are at home anyway, so you might as wll try. -
Powerseller is not a big deal. I have done it twice with 2 different IDs in 3 months. All it means is you average $1000 in sales a month. Sales, not profit.
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I've got two accounts both at powerseller status. Like was mentioned before, Powerseller means volume not profit. I know many Powersellers who make next to nothing.
That being said, nobody is making huge profits. I'll tell you now that the key to success on eBay is to sell a lot. Work on streamlining your process, organize yourself.
Once you are well organized and automated you can find products that will make only a few bucks each - and sell thousands of them.
No matter, if you quit you'll never make it. First rule of eBay selling - don't stop.
Good Luck. -
the-treasure-quest wrote:The sellers that get me are the ones that but shirts for $11.00 and sale for $12.00 to $13.00. They are happy with that. After eBay and PAyapl fees, they are barely breaing even
I hate sellers that sell at a loss and charge HUGE shipping fees to make a profit. While it's certainly legal, and I suppose most people can see through charade, it annoys the hell out of me anyway. I really like the way Ebay now displays Shipping costs. Maybe that will cut down that practice.
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Frankly, I am fairly new to the game. I have looked into dropshippers such as Zibus.com and I even signed up with wholesalemarketers.com I have seen everything from megagoods.com to dollarstore.............com. I have barely any capital. I am in the military with a wife, a kid and another one on the way. I am trying to help my wife do something so that she doesn't have to sit on her but all day. And she is really enthusiastic about this. What I don't understand is how these people on here get ahold of a couple of hundred XBox 360's and what have you...........I know that if I had the capital to get something like that, there is a market. That will be one of the hottest selling items of all time. And the fact that it is already on ebay and I have seen them surge past $1000 is testament to that fact. While I am lost in the internet sales portion of things, I am still a consumer. I realize the best way to get a deal is to make a deal. And that isn't just me speaking for myself. It's a huge chain, and we need to remember that. The only problem is getting the money to get our hands on such large quantities. I won't give up, and if anyone out there can help out in some way, shape, or form, I would greatly appreciate it. And as for you fitties, if you hang in there, I will too. And I'll help out as much as possible.
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The sellers that get me are the ones that but shirts for $11.00 and sale for $12.00 to $13.00. They are happy with that.
You are giving them to much credit by saying it is because its what makes them happy. Truth is they are just irresponsible marketers. The main reason for this is that most of them have no previous business experience. They equate money coming in as profit.
That is the novelty of eBay. Low start up costs causes and people who think in order to make money, they have to sell what they would buy. Some of the largest sellers on eBay are niche marketing. -
Rich , I must say I think you have a good attitude about this.
The bit about getting a deal is spot on. A lot of ebayers start out with small purchases from 'deal sites', I know I did.
If you don't have the capital to start big, then don't. Start small - look in adverts and on dealsites (http://www.fatwallet.com, http://www.slickdeals.net) for something you can sell for a profit on eBay. It is possible to buy one or two of something at a good price and make some money. -
Thanks, k2god. I have been sitting back and looking at this for a couple of days now, and everything that I said is exactly what I noticed. So thanks, and I have been looking around. I am starting with some little things that were given to me that are brand new, and I hope it works. If it does, that money is going right back into selling. I will use it to buy something else. Thanks for the sites. I will take a look at them shortly. Once again, thank you for the words. Things like that keep people going.
Richie -
Hello,
I am a Silver Level Ebay Powerseller. I can tell you it is not easy. I spend 12 hours a day to keep my business bubbling.
JM
JM_VideoGames Ebay ID
Silver Level Powerseller -
Hi All
Im a Platinum Power seller on ebay and I will tell you ITS NOT EASY. there are no BIG PROFFITS on ebay. Most of the sellers on ebay make %3 to %5 witch come more from the shipping. Do you really thing it cost $15 to $19 to ship a digital cameras or ipod. I manly deal with refurbished samsung produces. with still only makes me about 5% on ebay and I do spend days looking for new items to sell. there is one web site where we got started from. genco.com they are a return center for Sears, JC penny and about 20 other major company's. this is a great place to get started. You will need a business back account, Tax ID and a few other thing. If you have any other question you can email me at Naptronics@aol.com -
Personal I recommend you start out selling niche items that are not mainstream wher the competition is, build your resources and go from there. I personally deal in a certain collectable and regularly make 200%+ profits, thats sounds a lot but on average that means £5-£10 profit after all expenses.
Focus on something you like to do, a hobby for example, and then build experience, ability, funding, your own site to supplement ebay sales ect and take it from there.
Mike -
I second naptronics with his suggestion about genco.com b2b auctions. You will need to be a legal business and reseller in order to do business with them and most other good wholesalers.
This brings me to another point - Keep on top of your paper work. Get legal, and stay legal. Its the only way to operate on eBay.[/b] -
I agree with them.But,i would suggest you have some kind of background in electronics repair or have a good,cheap repairman.You get pretty good stuff but,it is almost a toss up at times.Do not get froggy and overbid on the pallets.You will lose out if you do about 50% of the time.Research the products and see if the pallet or truckload can make a profit.Research is the key.Remember,20 camcorders and 10 digital cameras look promising on a pallet but,10 working camcorders with missing parts and 5 more that are junk does not make alot in the profit area.DO NOT GET CAUGHT UP AND OVERBID !
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I have to agree w/everyones opinion. Ebay is a lot of work, but ultimately rewarding. The real money will be made in volume on it. If you can run 100 successful auctions a week w/ $5-10 profit on each item, look at what numbers you can post. In the past 60 days I sold $17,000(gross sales-40% profit) worth of merchandise, most of was bought at local stores when the items hit the clearance racks. There are many approaches...but one one i would like to mention here...we know the xbox 360 was successful but hard to obtain, it always is with any new game system when it release around xmas. So do this pre-order your box, cost $50 at your local eb or game stop. A week before release date start your auction to end on the realease date or somewhere close to it, as soon as it ends, the person pays, and you collect the system and ship, leaving you with a nice profit and little cash outlay. Why wait in line w/the masses like cattle waiting to be slaughtered. I did this with several items over the xmas season and made money on all. There are other ways I could generate cash(creatively) if interested in discussing any of them feel free to pm me...JAck
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Jack I know someone else that did this with the 360, but you had to be a special customer (meaning you buy a lot) to get the privlage. Did you see retailers pre booking the 360?
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Bill, most speciality game shops are the one doing the pre-oders on the game sysytems, not the big box retailers. Yhey usually employ a 1st come 1st serve philosophy. I did it last year with the nintendo ds at game stop/eb games and pre-ordered about 25. Granted tthese were as hot as xbox 360, and slaes did not pick up until after thanksgiving by about a week when parents realized their was none to be had. Prepare yourselves now for next year, it will be the PS3, which I prdict will be even hotter than the 360, and the previous game are playable on the new. Do your pre-order like I said, if they only allow you one, go to multiple stores in the metro area you live in. If you live in a small, begin to think out of the box. Some things I did this year, star wars lego sets day after thanksgiving $49.99 @ target(retails $99.99) sold one 2 days ago for $140, the other went between $75-140. Toys -R Us in Oct. has a buy 2 get one free sale, do the math spend $100...get $150 retail value...buy the right game Mario DDR sale them for $162 on ebay(that was the price my highest went for), not only that when I purchased those games and I was given $10 TRU gift cards, which I turned around to use on more items to make more money.....bottom line you have to think like a hustler......
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Playing the pre-order game can work wonders..good advice (but don't tell to many people
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Hi, like some of the others have said, find a niche item/items and start their.
I found this guy who works for a telemarketer and all he does is sell paint roller covers
to painting contractors. His boss pays him a 21% commission, would you like to guess how much he made last year? How about $65,000.00!!! He is now thinking of going out on his own
All he needs is a phone, once he gets an order he calls me and I drop ship it for him.
No need to stock product like his boss does. I will do that. contact me at
patrick@see-bee.com We stock all the name brand paint supplies you would find
in a retail paint or hardware store. -
fitties wrote:I would love to open my own business/website for that business but guess I just don't have the know-how to get started. Oh well. Stay at home mom I will be for the rest of my life! Thanks for the replies.
I mean no harm but that is not the right thing to say. there are ways to get it but it will not be easy. Sjohnsom2aol.com I'll talk to you here. -
I was in used test equipment business. I myself have the knowledge and a good lab to fix the used equipments I bought. But I still could not make much on ebay. Finally I worked with my partner, who is a programmer, to come up with a tool to alway keep track of the price of the things we are interested. We are much better now. You can look for something like http://www.equidation.com in your interested area to help keep cost down. Don't give up. You can do it.
- M.L. - -
I too am new to this forum and selling and reselling in general. I've obtained a powerseller account from simply selling a lot of my own stuff, so it's true that obtaining powerseller status is not a big deal. I have very little money to invest in products, but I'm not discouraged. Accept that you won't be rich overnight and you'll have to put in hard work and you'll make something happen.
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in order to make a lot of money you are going to need a lot of money i recommend at least 50k to start really i do not know any other way
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Hermes lover wrote:in order to make a lot of money you are going to need a lot of money i recommend at least 50k to start really i do not know any other way
50k is not needed, i started with 10k... i'd rather not go into detail about it all, unfortunately with the ebay market, i'll be 100% honest, i'd rather no one else sell on ebay, lol... it's horrible when 10 people sell the same item, and a few months later 30-40 people do, cuts your sales way down. not to mention, newbie sellers undercutting experienced powersellers in order to get sales, it's just a bad thing to have to go through.
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