Thanks my man, thats the sort of response im looking for!
Judging on what youve wrote can I assume you have some experience with eBay? if so, what was it it like for you when you first began trading? are there any types of products you would advise to stay away from? any info is much appreciated.
Also are web based wholesalers such as Salehoo or tradekey worth researching, or would you suggest warehouses?
Cheers
I have bought and sold product at all levels, locally and globally, face to face, over the telephone and over the internet. The principles of profitable buying and selling with a budget of £2k capital is no different from having a budget of £20million. As far as sources are concerned, be open-minded and creative. The more creative you are the better gems you will find. If you just use the same sources as everyone else, then you will have little advantage over your competitors.
Have you thought about approaching your local shops/cash and carries/wholesalers/businesses and asking if they have any goods they would like to shift? Many businesses are still suffering from the recession and need to shift stock, free up storage space, and bring cash into their bank account. This is prime time to knock on doors either face to face or over the telephone.
Try to obtain samples of some goods on a sale or return basis which will reduce your cost commitments. The type of goods you might obtain might range from an assortment of bits and pieces to cases and cases of the same item. Only you can be the judge of what to buy or what to take on a sale or return basis.
Think about your sales channel. Ebay is only one. If you feel like being a sales person then try and flip some deals e.g. you have 100 cases of a certain toy to move, take one case with 10 toys as samples. Go to different shops and outlets literally knocking on doors to see if they will buy some or if you can leave the samples there for them to try to shift. You might find a poundstore who will take the lot. If it cost you £1000 to buy 100 cases including delivery and you can sell the lot for £1500, then you have done a nice little flip deal with 50% margin. Obviously if you can make 400%, even better.
You could try to sell your items on a one by one basis and make higher margins. In my final year at uni, I bought cases of butchers trousers (red and white stripes) at various sizes at riduclously low prices from a local wholesaler. He was desparate to get rid of stock he couldn't clear. They were about 20 pence a piece. I drove my Metro straight to the student union, opened up the boot and sold them for whatever I could. They sold like hot cakes. To be fair, I think the student union would have been the only place I could have sold butchers trousers as fashion items. BTW you need a pedlars/hawkers license if you wish to sell on the streets.
Go to recycling websites and see if you can pick up anything for free.
I can't give you all the answers and training you need but hopefully I have given you some ideas. You will make some mistakes. Losses are fine as long as you learn and you make an overall profit with your other deals. In your situation where you are buying and selling anything that comes along to anyone who is willing to buy, the golden rule is to always buy cheap. If the price isn't right don't buy. Also don't buy anything which is illegal or stolen.
Until you have developed sales channels and sources, I can't really answer your question of what to buy or what not to buy. I used to sell anything for the right price. You will always find a buyer at the right price. I wouldn't buy heavy furnture to sell on ebay, but I might flip a deal locally with the help of a friend and a van.
Since you are still at uni, you have a great opportunity to sell directly to students. Just be creative, open minded and have fun.
Once you have built up some capital you will probably want to focus more on certain products and markets rather than spot buy and sell anything and everything from anyone to anyone. However, this is good self-training and experience.
A tip for ebay. If you are selling any technical items (electronics) with specifications etc. Think about making and uploading a video. Becareful selling second hand or even new electrical items. You must be clear about whether the item is sold as working, with a guarantee blah blah blah. At your level, I would stay away from any item where they could be a high level of return. Returns is one of the main problems of ecommerce trading. The best ecommerce shops spend a huge budget on high resolution 360 degree zoom in zoom out photos and videos etc. to reduce returns.
If you are still uncertain on how to go about being an ebay trader, simply create a Paypal account, an ebay account and sell anything you can see in front of you on your desk right now or in any room in your house. Stick a low reserve rate and just sell it so you can experience the processes involved. You will need to build a good star rating so try to sell lots of cheap high run rate products to begin with. It doesn't really matter if all you are making is 50 pence a deal right now or just break even. You need your star ratings. Of course if you can make lots of money early on, even better.
Good luck.
Ronnie
