If you make money on Ebay...please read this!!

I wish I knew. I too am looking for some way to make some extra money. I have never sold on ebay though. I dont see how you can make that much money on there.

Most of them run consignment businesses where they sell items for other people, and keep a % of the sales. Then there are the junk dealers- they sell all the wholesale dollar store crap they can find, 10/$1 and usually have 10-15 auctions for the same items going at the same time. Then you have people who spend the year scouring things like estate sales, yard sales, 2nd hand shops, etc, picking up small things cheaply, then reselling them. Or, if needbe, fixing them up/cleaning them up first, then reselling them.

It can take a lot of paitence, and usually the time & money to invest in buying stuff first. Your best bet would be to pick things up inexpensivly at yard sales that you are sure would be worth selling on eBay. Keep track of when you buy something, where you bought it, how much you paid, and whether you paid tax on it. Keep a notebook in the car with you. Leave an open column for how much you resell it for, but also keep track of the fees to post it, and if you take a loss on the shipping before coming out with the profit.

Jill, Look at sites like liquidation.com. What you need to do is but items in bulk and sell them individually. Start small with one or two lots, then use the income off of those sales to buy more. It takes a few months, but it's not as risky as buying a ton of things at once. I buy about one lot a week. I make sure its something that either I would want or that is popular on eBay. I list everything. Most things I give two shots. Then I give the leftovers to charity.

It's good to pick something to specialize in like clothes or jewelry. That gives you repeat customers. Also pick something that doesn't cost much to ship. For instance, right now you can get 100 new books on liquidation.com for $200, but the shipping is $90. It still may be worth it. Small items like jewelry cost less to ship.

There are other wholesaler sites also. Double check everything with the better business bureau. There are plenty of scams out there.

Kathryn

Jill, I buy lots of fabric online, I'm a quilter. There is lots of fabric for sale on ebay. You can buy fabric in bulk, cut it in squares and sell it in lots of alike colors, or sell the fat quarters by themselves. Some odd lots made of odd colors sell fast (sometimes), then never sell at other times. Novelty fabrics are sometimes the rage, sometimes not. you can put together quilt kits if you know what all is needed for the various sizes of beds or wall hangings. The shipping is minimal as fabric does not weigh much unless you get into larger batches of fabric that might weigh a bit more to ship. You would have to invest in a good rotary cutter with a good blade, and a good straight edge and 90 degree angled edge -- squares need to be pretty exact or the quilts are "off"! This is just a suggestion, but I see many fabric stores selling these things, and there are always different fabrics available in different parts of the country that other quilters might like to have, quilters like me! lol

I was told "dollarstore.com" is a really good place. gl2u

My husband used to work at Hastings (the movie store) and he would get his employee discount on box sets & make a pretty penny on those. He also said that they had customers who would steal movies & sell them on Ebay. They would catch them occasionally...I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of stuff was stolen on Ebay....

too bad I'm not a thief Birdee! LOL

A friend of mine is a powerseller -she sells beads and jewelry

You have to take into account some overhead, especially if you start buying in bulk. you have to have a place to store and sort the things you have bought for resale. As I see it, there's no middle ground. Either people have to do this resale really bigtime, with a warehouse and employees, or item by item out of their home as you are doing.



When Worry Gets Out of Control: GAD

When I was selling on ebay, I made about $350 a month...all of it was kids' stuff...toys, clothes, etc.

I gross about $2500 a month on just a certain highly collectible item. My problem is that a lot of the profits are reinvested into more of that item since I am also a collector. So for me it's more of a self funded hobby.

Thing is to find a niche in a specific line of item or to just be a good yard sale buyer. Lots of people speculate on what the hot toy items will be during the holiday season and then purchase and resell whatever is hot.

I'm no expert, but I get the impression those making money via eBay (or off the internet) have to approach it like a regular business... or sell porn. Somehow, I don't think THAT is what you have in mind.

You definitely should find a niche. Find something you want to specialize in and do that. The great thing about Ebay, is you can sell just about ANYTHING and someone, somewhere may buy it. When I sell, I generally sell books, jewelry, CDs, and things I find around here in my house or at yard sales, fleamarkets, auctions, etc, and I can sometimes make a couple hundred dollars in a month. To be a powerseller and make 1000's a month, you have to sell something you have a steady supply of and can buy pretty cheaply. There's tons of wholesale jewelry places, beads, books, and liquidation places online..but you have to have the $$$ to put up to buy starting inventory and reinvest your profits to buy more stuff. You can even search Ebay for wholesale lots of books, clothes, DVDs, jewelry, etc and buy things actually on Ebay and resell the items individually. If you buy from most liquidation places, you have to buy in big lots that cost 100's to 1000's per lot, so your best bet is to find places that have no minimum or smaller minimum purchases.. you can try places like wholesalewholesale.com

Very good question!!

I sell on Ebay but I've slowed down some. I use to go and buy from thrift stores but I didn't make a lot. I just sell occasionally if I have something around the house because it takes to much time to take pictures, upload and write the entire listing so it becaame a dread to me so I just do it every now and then. Money is to be made if you do it right, I hope you find something to sell and do great with it.

I wish I knew. I had some luck with Star Wars comics, but everything else was a waste. I wish I knew the secret. I don't bother with them any more since they raised all the fees.

I have noticed that in the past 6 months that things have slowed tremendously on Ebay! Things that would have sold before, like name brand kids clothes, aren't selling at all or just for $.99. By the time you factor in fees and paypal fees and a trip to the post office, is it worth it?? I don't know what is going on there.

I sell mostly books on Ebay and on Half.com. Between the two I make about $300 a month.

Jill I think I would find another source. a lot of the things sold as new aren't, sold as originals are knock offs. I think I would just take you childs outgrown clothes, toys, used furniture you no longer use and have garage sales. Its hard work, but you keep the profit and know everyone wins. You said you were on a weight losing try. Sell your wrong sized clothes and sell them, more incentive not to have to buy more that size.
Learn to make some crafts that arent expensive, try to sell them if not plan to give them for Christmas. What just absolutely will not sell. Donate to Salvation Army get your husband a good tax deduct. Ask Krissy. I lived for 17 years with no income having lto do all this to just keep things going. Never had utilities turned off or owed anyone.

I tried selling on Ebay and I just got tired of it! Never really made anything! Win or lose situation and I just got bored with it! Wish you luck though!

I don't know if this will help, but I have been selling my paintings on Ebay for almost a year at KeatingArt.com. It's been a pretty decent supplementary income, and I am hoping that it will increase as I get more established and gain more feedbacks. I reinvest some of the money that I make in the form of listings and my monthly Ebay store fee. Entepreneur Magazine usually has a lot of information about how/what to sell on Ebay. I just bought a "special issue" of Entrepeneur at the Airport that was all about Ebay. One of the things that I gleaned from one of the articles is that a lot of successful sellers say that you should sell what you know and love.

Have no clue girlie!!!! Hope you get some good advice though!!!

I did make $ 100 selling a food processor - and it was broken!!!! AMAZING!!!!!

maybe find your interest on what kind of products do you want to sell, in this way, you have a driven spirit to better advertise and sell it to target buyers.

My husband is a power seller. He sells sports memorabilia, bought from decades ago and recently. He has thousands of cards in a warehouse.

We are extremely busy with our jobs, kids and online pursuits.

You need to have something unique that others don't have.

We also buy from ebay - such as Polish pottery and an oriental rug.

A friend of mine has had some success with buying at estate auctions and reselling the items on Ebay. She always stays to the very end of the auction. By then many people have left and the remnants are often combined into boxes of misc items and auctioned for just a dollar or so. Some times there will be nothing of value but every so often she has gotten some amazing bargains. Before attending auctions, she tries to take the listing of items being offered and do some quick research on the web to see what they are selling for.

no clue!

Used/repaired cell phones highly sold item.
it takes your nice time to run it properly. find nice looking items from yard sales and throw them on ebay. It is will give you 10 times higher profits.

I sell a few things on ebay. I have one ID that is solely for cosmetics but it has slowed down a lot. The other I use to sell everthing else from my house, thrift stores, etc. Its seems the biggest selling item form my second id is baby items but again that has slowed down too:( I am with you on making more on ebay!