Starting from scratch on eBay

[BusterBloodvessel]

So - the very basic question is, in a market that's already flooded, is it even possible to get a foot in the door, and how?!

So a more detailed explanation, my expertise is an an area of vehicle components. Without sounding bigheaded I know them inside out, know how to sell them, know how to applicate them for different vehicles (they're all unique and with fitment quirks etc), I know the different quality levels of brands and where the brands source from, I know where to buy in the UK and in the Far East. However all my work so far has been in the traditional trade aftermarket. On countless occasions people have said to me "you should sell them on eBay" and the answer has been a complete flat out NO! There's literally thousands or hundreds of thousands of listings to cover all the different vehicle applications, there's UK sellers, there's Chinese sellers, theres a myriad of quality levels, real brands, "invented" brands, and sellers on there with thousands of feedback that have been established for years. For example I just searched for a part for one vehicle and got 5,300 results. I've always just said "why the hell would I get involved in that" - which to be fair is a statement I still stand by!

That said, I am looking to diversify and into other income streams and was talking to somebody who sells in a similar market on eBay. He is adamant that a small number of sales (5 - 10 a day) could be picked up. He sells a premium product on there, he doesn't compete solely on price and does extremely well for himself as a one man band (if I could do 1/10th of what he does I'd be happy!). That said he has been established for over 15 years and has gazillions of feedback.

I mean...it's something that I could try, literally with £100 worth of stock (if that) and nothing but my time to sit there in front of the TV writing some listings out. But even at that, is it just a waste of time?

1. I'm struggling to see how you can compete in any way except a race to the bottom on price? I can sell a quality brand and compete with the existing sellers on there, I could also bring in the cheapest of the cheap and compete with those that are purely on price but I'm not interested in making 30p an item and having to ship 10,000 a day to make any money! Are people using other websites to drive traffic to eBay then just having a shop front? I can only imagine this is online, it's not something I envisage advertising in a magazine to "visit our eBay shop"

2. I can see there's options to promote listings/sponsor them but that's not available as a new account until there's some sales history....talk about catch 22! Does anyone know when this kicks in? I mean I can always have friends and family order a few items and leave feedback but not if it's going to take 500 orders I can't!


Overall, don't get me wrong I'm not one of these that just thinks "I can buy a job lot of whatever and make a fortune on eBay".....but in my case I do have the knowledge and the contacts to source things and from calculating all the pricing, I could sell "competitively" but couldn't massively undercut people on there. Am I missing something big or clever or are there just thousands of listings on there (all with basically products that do the same thing, and at pretty much the same price) with everybody slogging it out to pick an accidental sale up when a customer happens to click on their listing over another one...?

 

[Mr D]

Yes you can get your head in the door. Plenty of flooded markets where people still make money.

Don't compete on price. There's always sellers who insist on being cheapest and they'll undercut you the moment they notice you matching or undercutting their price.

So work out what price you want for an item (taking into account all your costs) and sell it at that price.
If someone buys then you have made a profit on the sale. If no one buys you are out only the time and small amount of money for listing.
Ebay do some good deals on shops - basic shop allows so many free listings then I think its 10p per listing over that.
You usually start off with a low limit on what you can list. Say 10 items, then the following month ask ebay for an increase - maybe they'll double it, maybe do a lot more.
Keep your account in good standing and can increase listings considerably.

Ebay also have their own sponsored products listings - you can advertise for whatever percentage you want. If you want to put a few percent into sponsored ads you can - or if you want to put 20% in you can! Don't have to advertise at all.

Though a good written listing is essential. Read some listings, see how others describe stuff, what sort of pictures they use - can you do better? Write better? Likely come across some who have really bad listings, don't copy those.

Don't play the game of undercutting. Sell for your price, as worked out by you.
If something is £10 plus £3 postage (or £13 with free delivery) then so be it. Doesn't matter if someone is working 10 hour days selling same item for £6 plus £1 delivery. Its what you want, not what profit someone else wants.

I'm one of the more expensive sellers of my type of products - there's sellers with half my price for exact same product.
Yet I sell out of plenty and sell thousands of products a year. Without ever playing the game of being cheapest.

 

[Financial-Modeller]

There are times when the price of an item or service is the prime consideration, but also instances when it is not.

My guess is that in the case of car parts - where part of the overall cost involves the cost of labour to fit them - the value of knowing with certainty that the part will fit and work as expected, is worth a lot more than saving a small amount of money on the part and having to disassemble and reassemble twice because it doesn't fit! Even more so if the buyer is the garage being paid to do the work!

How to convince prospective buyers that your part is perfect, and therefore better than others will be the hard part!

Can you move current customers to your new eBay shop and request feedback to build up your feedback scores from satisfied customers?

 

[Mr D]

How to convince prospective buyers that your part is perfect, and therefore better than others will be the hard part!

Great description works for that.

Including accurate sizes. Anyone else ever purchased a car part that .... supposedly for right car .... but doesn't fit?

 

[wayzgoose]

All as Mr D said plus . . . just get on with it and try ! Remember you have the knowledge so sell that as well in the way you write your listings.

 

[Financial-Modeller]

Great description works for that.

Including accurate sizes. Anyone else ever purchased a car part that .... supposedly for right car .... but doesn't fit?

I bought some parts recently and was amazed at how many obviously incorrect parts the platform said would fit the make and model I was buying for, so there is evident weakness in that part of the process.

 

[RobinBHM]

I often buy obscure, components for specific requirements -like a particular bolt, or tube clip or whatever.

I always end up buying from the seller that has all the dimensions, part numbers and best photos.

Price isnt a primary consideration -I dont mind paying 20% more if I think Ill get what I need.

I have to say some of the Chinese sellers are very good at that.

car parts are awkward -car assembly plants often change suppliers, so its easy to end up with the wrong part.

I think you are best to specialise in one brand, Say Mercedes and sell those parts with lots of info.

If you pack stuff up professionally with barcodes labels or whatever -show an example as an image -people will more have confidence -some sellers stick it in a bin bag with hand written labels.

 

[MBE2017]

Easy to sell on eBay, hard part is getting the price you want. How to do it? Be better, faster, more helpful, better listings, better photos, build trust, and only sell at a price you are happy with.

In the old days when selling cars in newspapers, the most overlooked thing was often the most important to many buyers. Easy to list age, make model, mileage, mot etc, many would forget to put the colour down. It’s little things like that which win you the business.