Ebay Start-Up

[JimmyR2012]

I'm currently out of work and have decided to set up on ebay selling products. I hear that ebay can have all sorts of issues for start-ups. What's the best way to get going without incurring too many overheads at this early stage. Anyone been there and done it, with time and bills mounting I have little room for error.

 

[MBE1]

Main concerns for start ups is Paypal, who will normally hold your money for a while, until positive feedback is received, to protect them from potential fraud etc.

It varies, a lot depends on the markets you deal in etc, apart from that higher than average fees until you build your business up, and thats before you cross the problem of poor buying power and potential problem clients.

Join the ebay forums, check out returns, goods not received, not as described etc and make sure you understand the DSR.

 

[JimmyR2012]

I've had experience of paypal before, its a necessary evil i suppose in regard to ebay. I'm surprised they hold money until feedback is received. Is this just for business accounts as its never happened to me on a private account. I'm looking to trade with low value items to keep away from the risk of sending out expensive products. My items are £16.99 at the moment with free P&P to encourage buyers. Would love to hear stories on this thread about other people starting off with similar ideas.

 

[tivern]

Can I ask what the items are just curious feel free to PM me if you don't want to say on the forum

 

[JimmyR2012]

Underwear

 

[stender]

Underwear

Worn?
Believe it or not that was one of the biggest sellers on Ebay when it first started.

On a serious note I take it you have done your calculations on fees/margins etc? researched the market on there?

 

[JimmyR2012]

Underwear, that surprises me

I can imagine the really risky stuff sells well because people don't always want to shop for that stuff on the high street. I always remember someone telling me a story about a seller who did well from large ladies boots on ebay. I'll let you fill in the blanks but safe to say ladies weren't the ones buying them and the privacy of trading via ebay helped allot.

My product is a little left field too. I downloaded some good material recently that helped me see ebay as an opportunity to make money. The pdf went into great detail about making sure the product was " not so niche ". Hopefully what I've come up with will bring in some business. At the moment I have no competition but have no real sense that people take to the concept. Watch this space.

Margins are OK, if I bought more in bulk the unit price would drop. Thanks to the same material ( salaryrocket.com ) I have a strong understanding of margins and the impact costs and overheads have on profit. " I can only pay myself from profit "

As your post says, research the market. That's what I'm doing at the moment. I'ts a learning curve in regard to ebay for me. At the moment I need to know if i'm sitting in the right category. I listed three products Sunday night and have had 50 page views across the 3 products. Non as of yet have converted to a sale. I'll give it a few more days and either switch the category or lower the price.

Thanks for your comments

 

[stender]

I find sourcing decent products at a cheap enough rate the hard bit. I once found a product from china which I thought was very good. Then went on ebay to do a search and found not many on there so bought a load from china. By the time they were delivered ebay was flooded with them!

 

[JimmyR2012]

Finding a product is certainly the tough one. However I do think that we can get too focused on having a unique product. One advantage of trading from home and avoiding large overheads is that this can counter some of the levels of uncompetitiveness. I aim to concentrate on a good level of service and make my listings stand-out. To make a decent addition to my living I only have to secure a few sales a day. Once I am back in work ebay hopefully will become the cream on the cake. I'm using this down time to create a revenue stream that will reward me later..hopefully. There are some good things available on the internet that help you get going, its trying to cut through the sales ******** and land on real sound advice that's the challenge.

 

[Deleted member 138423]

I have too started with some items on flea bay - massively oversaturated, expensive, a hassle and I'm pulling out! Same with Amazonia!!

 

[JimmyR2012]

NickJ, why the pull out. What product(s) were you trying to sell. I agree fees are too high. And also agree regarding saturation. There must be people making it pay out there..Lets hope they are around and provide some insight for this thread. Are we not using the features and benefits of the sites. Do you have to be good marketeers, copywriters and salespeople as well as buyers...your thoughts.