I Sold It Franchise - eBay.

[Jason_Lee]

Hi guys.

Has anyone heard of the I sold it franches? Some one has just offered me to set up this franchise in my local town. Can anyone give me any advice on this. I have never ran a franchise before, do you think this one can be profitable? Basicall people just come to your shop and get you to list their items on ebay and you take a % of the sale.

Any advice would be great

thanks

 

[mattley23]

Its basically a real easy thing to set up, just depends if your local community would benefit from it.

Drop-off stores are global and very popular, one was even featured in the film 40 year old virgin!!!

the I-sold-it one has their own site which it might be worth reading: www.i-soldit.com

 

[DuaneJackson]

They'd have to be doing some heavy duty marketing to make it worth getting a franchise from them instead of setting up on your own.

 

[Invicta]

I looked at various franchises many years ago and found that most generate an income equivalent to what you would be paid as a branch shop manager. The only difference is that you are expected to pay a considerable amount to 'land' that job.

So I agree with KashFlow. They'd have to be bringing a lot to the table to make it worthwhile your involvement. And since what they are doing is not rocket science, I suspect you would be better off going it alone. That's assuming you're convinced there is a good profit in acting as a listing broker.

 

[fastfences]

I offer a cynical comment - way out of character for me; I think the only winner will ever be eBay.

Jason, I reckon you would be extremely wise to find a couple of stores and speak with the owner/manager. If you were really keen on that type of venture, I suggest looking at 'Cash Convertors' and the like, although the purchase price would be far higher.
Cheers, Nigel

 

[Whistle Ink]

Personally I couldn't see this being mega successful.

If people are wanting to get rid of their old items, they know they are not going to get that much for it in the first place. Unless it's a high value item or very popular they will only get a few quid for it, and then on top of that is your few quid charge, plus ebays, fees, payment fees etc.

A couple of quid become no quid!

 

[Sparky331]

Hi Jason,

There is one of these stores in Redditch, Worcs. which was one of the first in the UK. Not sure how it's doing though but it's been open about 4 or 5 months. There never seems to be much action going on there but that can be deceiving.

I would be very very carefull in investing in this or indeed any franchise. There are some members of this forum who are franchisors themselves and are probably 'the best'. There are others like Nigel (Fast Fences) who is franchising his business and going about it the correct way. I'm not suggesting that the I Sold It franchise has not been set up correctly but you must undertake a lot of research before taking such a bold step.

Speaking as one who has just lost 20 thousand in a franchised business I would advise you to obtain the services of a solicitor who specialises in franchising or has had considerable dealings with franchise agreements. Ensure that you fully understand the implications of the 'entire agreement' or 'whole agreement' clauses within the contract as you will have little or no redress if you ever attempt to claim for misrepresentation later. Basically, it doesn't matter what you are told or what projections you are given, once you sign the agreement you cannot refer to anything prior to that point unless it was perhaps fraudulent.

Follow the advice given by the British Franchise Association and the franchising departments of the major High Street banks in your verification process of the franchisor.

If you search on the website Franchise-Chat there are at least two threads regarding the I Sold It Franchise. There is also an interesting article on the ecommerce-guide website (article 3631266) giving the history of this business to date which may make you think twice.

Their projections on store openings have not materialised and it seems that many have closed throughout North America.

Best of luck and do lots of homework!!

Regards

 

[Jason_Lee]

Thanks for all you comments.

'Invicta' i have also looked into the cash converters franchise and believe this would go down well where i live. Also aswell as what you would do in that business you could also list on ebay. Cash Converters is a shop where you can buy goods and also sell your second hand goods. Second hand goods i buy from people i could also list on ebay.

This sounds interesting.

 

[Arcadian]

Any franchise is a big issue in itself and I agree with others that there is no point in being a franchisee if the business is something you can do yourself. Do it, grow it, become the franchisor!

I suggest you become VERY familiar with eBay first. Do a lot of buying, selling, watching and monitoring. It's not all fun. You will have people bringing in their tat and expecting a high price. You will have buyers who don't pay, people who make malicious reports and/or leave stupid feedback. Also IMHO eBay is having several problems. They have enouraged sellers in the Far East to flood some categories and you will be in competition with them. Some categories now have their own competing auction sites - see CraftyBids.co.uk for an example. I'll declare an interest as I'm FD of that!

Sorry - I sound like the voice of doom!

 

Have a look on the ebay help pages for 'Trading Assistants' as this is what they are really offering you to set up.

I have researched this as I thought it might be a good enough sideline to help pay for a full-time member of staff for my office (I am out and about and didnt want to miss any other business, etc).

I have some information (eg sample contracts, etc) which i could email you if you PM me your email address.

Mark