eBay Reselling - Am I Blinded by my Passion?

[fooby]

I've wanted to try eBay for a while as I always seem to end up making a profit on anything I sell there (personal use). I've tried the boot sales reselling random junk, and whilst it can be quite profitable at times, it's not fun for me and definitely not worth the hassle.

It occurred to me that photography is my passion, it's what I want to make a business doing eventually, I'm just not in a position to do so right now. What I do know about is the gear. I'm a huge camera nerd and know what the value of everything is and when I'm getting a good deal.

Lenses are a very stable market. They don't depreciate, there's not a huge market but enough to keep the cash flow steady while not being flooded with underpriced Chinese sellers like with most eBay niche's. I made a spreadsheet of all the gear I could think of, how much the upper limit would be to buy it compared to what they sell for on eBay and organised by how easy they are to get hold of and sell. There's a few low price lenses that I can always get hold of and make an easy 33% profit on (all fees + P&P included). The average profit margin is around 30%, including overheads, which seems quite decent provided I can find enough stock consistently enough to actually make any money.

While it sounds like a lot of fun, I do worry that I'm a bit blinded by my passion for photography and not having a reliable supplier worries me. Does this sound viable to someone looking in from an outside perspective?

 

[paulears]

It's a good hobby but not really a business. You can indeed make decent money, but it relies on you finding the items to sell. You used the word 'few' - so what do you do when they dry up?

It sounds like a fun thing to do that will make some money - but there seems little chance of volume and growth.

 

[fooby]

It's a good hobby but not really a business. You can indeed make decent money, but it relies on you finding the items to sell. You used the word 'few' - so what do you do when they dry up?

It sounds like a fun thing to do that will make some money - but there seems little chance of volume and growth.

Thanks for the reply! Sorry I wasn't very precise, by few, I mean there are four very popular, low cost items that are always available to buy at a price I can make a 33% profit on. These would provide a foundation to make sure the flow didn't stop, while the big money tends to be on the high value but less common items that you will only find occasionally.

I definitely think it will always be limited by supply, but I imagine the only way to find out is to give it a go!

 

[Mr A P Davies]

There may not be a huge fortune in it, but so long as your making a profit, with a reasonable amount of input, then you may as well do it. You never know where it will lead.
In the future, you may find opportunities that would not otherwise have presented themselves.

 

[cjd]

Everybody starts somewhere and you seem more organised than most. So if you enjoy it, just do it for fun and see where it takes you.

 

[bharris]

I have been looking at some lens's recently and i have noticed that the same lenses from established shops (own website and and real shop(s)) are almost twice the price as you can buy on ebay. Have you checked what others on ebay are selling the lenses you are planning to sell are actually selling and not just going on the recommended retail price?
As cjd said, just give it a go and see what happens. Good luck

 

[fooby]

U

I have been looking at some lens's recently and i have noticed that the same lenses from established shops (own website and and real shop(s)) are almost twice the price as you can buy on ebay. Have you checked what others on ebay are selling the lenses you are planning to sell are actually selling and not just going on the recommended retail price?
As cjd said, just give it a go and see what happens. Good luck

My prices are based on undercutting the established user camera shops on eBay, so no where near RRP. I don't think new equipment would be remotely profitable on eBay.

 

[namesweb]

U
My prices are based on undercutting the established user camera shops on eBay, so no where near RRP. I don't think new equipment would be remotely profitable on eBay.

What happens when your competitors realise they're being undercut and decide to lower their prices too? If they're a bigger player with bigger volume it's likely they're getting bigger volume discounts than you so probably have a lower bottom than yourself.

Maybe competing on price isn't the way forward, as sounds like it could end up a race to the bottom? Not sure I can advise much more than that sorry!

 

[LinkBright Media]

There are so many different ways to compete other than on price alone and I don't see why you shouldn't give it a try. Nothing ventured nothing gained! Testing is the answer to your question I think. Think about competing on service offered, think about giving away an inexpensive item along with your product (cleaning cloth/storage pouch that kind of thing). Be sure to build up your business outside of eBay at the same time e.g. put a card in with the order asking for the customer to sign up for your list and offer them something in return e.g. short video tutorial for the item they just purchased.

The only thing you mentioned that might be a stumbling block is the lack of supply you mentioned. Why is that a problem for you? Is it because it's a branded item?

 

[IanG]

There's always a market in any Ebay category to buy the poorly photographed, poorly described stuff at a low price and re-list with a better photograph and description at a higher price.

30% per lens sounds reasonable but you'll need to factor in buying things you can't retail, that could easily wipe out the profit from a few good ones.

 

[fooby]

Thanks for the feedback! I acquired my first item yesterday, a poorly listed gumtree item for a whole lot less than eBay price. I'm going to try and price at the higher end, around the same as the other shops and offer free next day delivery and more detailed listings.

I always find it a bit of a gamble buying equipment that didn't have lots of detailed information and pictures showing the condition, and I think a lot of the bigger shops let themselves down here so I'm going to see if sales come in without having to compete on price. As mentioned, I think experimentation will be key.

The lack of supply is simply because of the nature of selling used. I have to track down and purchase all of my own stock from private sellers selling cheap and maybe, rarely, find a good retail opportunity when old stock is cleared etc.

 

[RepricerExpress]

It always helps to sell products that you have knowledge of. I'm sure any interested buyers will appreciate that in your descriptions and messaging.

Go for it! Best of luck.

 

[IanG]

You don't need to compete on price - having a well listed item will put you ahead of a lot of people and looking and acting like a retailer will put you further still.

You'll need good standing with Ebay for them to start doing you favours but assuming you can post on time and resolve complaints you'll get that.

What is your first item of stock? I assume you have the means to test before moving it on? In fact I'd probably be wanting to build that in to your business model, if this also is your passion and its gear you can use them no harm running it for a few weeks so you can be sure its in good order when you do retail it.

 

[fooby]

Yes looking at sales history on eBay, there are pretty big price gaps on buy it now items. Well listed items tend to be able to fetch a good amount more than poor listings due to the reduced risk to the buyer.

It's a lens, I'm focusing on Canon equipment to begin with, as I have the means to test (and I get to have a little play before shifting them!) and I have mentioned in the listing that all items are tested thoroughly.

 

[IanG]

All good then. Out of interest what is it? I got paid to own every lens I ever owned, had load of L gear inc. some of the white long ones, 300 f2.8 was the most ridiculous I ever ended up with but on a 1D body it become a chore to use considering it was supposed to be a hobby.

Also once bought a 70-200 2.8 IS that turned out to be stolen and very nearly got seized as evidence only for the fact that the serial number had been ground off and painted over.

Also took payment for a 17-35 2.8L and didn't send for a few days because the address differed from the Paypal one so I wanted to check it out, money disappeared the day I was due to drop it off with the courier.

Tread carefully.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

With Ebay you always stand the risk of cashbacks or straight theft for high value items

You must also have a firm supply of goods to sell

 

[fooby]

All good then. Out of interest what is it? I got paid to own every lens I ever owned, had load of L gear inc. some of the white long ones, 300 f2.8 was the most ridiculous I ever ended up with but on a 1D body it become a chore to use considering it was supposed to be a hobby.

Also once bought a 70-200 2.8 IS that turned out to be stolen and very nearly got seized as evidence only for the fact that the serial number had been ground off and painted over.

Also took payment for a 17-35 2.8L and didn't send for a few days because the address differed from the Paypal one so I wanted to check it out, money disappeared the day I was due to drop it off with the courier.

Tread carefully.

85mm 1.8. I used the 300 2.8 on a job on Skye a couple of years ago. Insane lens! You've definitely got to be eagle eyed to make money on eBay.

 

[Page]

Everybody starts somewhere and you seem more organised than most. So if you enjoy it, just do it for fun and see where it takes you.

It sounds a bit like a hobby business

Go for it and learn and next year you may be selling something else

But you are best to start with something that interest you and you know about

 

[antropy]

I made a spreadsheet of all the gear I could think of, how much the upper limit would be to buy it compared to what they sell for on eBay and organised by how easy they are to get hold of and sell. There's a few low price lenses that I can always get hold of and make an easy 33% profit on (all fees + P&P included). The average profit margin is around 30%, including overheads, which seems quite decent provided I can find enough stock consistently enough to actually make any money.

Sounds great, more people should do this before trying to make money on eBay.

As others have said, the problem with second hand stuff is because so much time is involved sourcing each item it's a very manual process and you don't get the economies of scale you get when buying in bulk. So it'll be difficult to scale by increasing your sales volume.

The next step is probably to give it a go but if you're still not sure you could also calculate the realistic amount of sales you think you could make per day and the total profit to see if it would be worth doing.