Merchanting on eBay

7ewis

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Just wondering if anyone here has used eBay to make money, by finding below average price items, then reselling them back on eBay at a higher price?

Thought it might be a good way to make a bit of money in my free time. It seems like it would work.

I would probably want to buy something that I am quite knowledgeable about though, which would likely be an electrical item, for example games consoles, phones, ipod's..

Is this a good idea?
 
If it's a games console , iPod etc it will be selling at going rate when you buy it so how do you expect to make cash on those items when you come to sell and have fee's to add into the mix
 
Not really worth it if you're buying the stuff off ebay in the first place as stuff like iPods, games consoles, phones and most other electronics sell for the going rate. If you can buy stock wholesale elsewhere you'd have a better chance of making a profit.
 
The basic principle you need to follow is

Buy in small uneducated market
Sell in large knowledgeable market

Ebay is so huge, that it is quite rare for things to go under the radar. Your best bet would be to trawl charity shops, car boot sales etc so find stock, and then flog it on. Ideally, you could develop a specialist knowledge of something in particular, like antiques or clothes.

Be aware that there are quite a few people doing this already, so it's unlikely to be easy money. But why the hell not, it's probably a buzz, and you could get lucky and make some decent money.

Buying things on ebay then reselling on ebay sounds like hard graft. That is unless you can add some value, such as buying scrap bikes and renovating them.

Although, even if you lose money, you'll gain something in business experience, so i'd 100% give it a go.
 
Yeah okay, there isn't many car boot sales or similar near where I live, and I don't have a wholesaler that I can buy from, so maybe I could try buying from smaller eBay competitors, then selling on eBay?

Or maybe, I could make a site that say lets people easily sell things, and automatically gives them a price by looking at the average prices on ebay and taking a percentage off? Then when I receive the item, I resell on eBay? The target audience would obviously be older people, or people that find eBay to complicated and confusing.

I would have no clue how to code a site like that though!
 
I would have no clue how to code a site like that though!

You also have to make your site easier to find and use than ebay. Give that you have little money or experience, and ebay have billions of pounds and loads, this might be a hard task. Not to say it is impossible, just difficult.

I'm pretty sure there will be charity shops near you, they make up about 90% of the high street these days. I'd also question there being no car boot sales - but it's your time and money, so do what you want. As long as you don't bet your shirt, it doesn't really matter.
 
It seems like it would work.
Well, yes it could work. Buy cheap, sell high. You've not invented anything new.
But, there are thousands of other people also competing against you to buy cheap items.
Then when you go to sell it on you have no guarantee you are going to get more. What makes you think your auction will generate more money?
Then you have fees. Ebay isn't as cheap as it was 10 years ago.
Also you need to cover postage costs.
You mentioned doing it in your spare time. I know someone who makes a small amount of money doing this, and its almost a full time job.

Also, not being rude, but you mentioned you wanted to set up a 'selling site' that is somehow able to link in to ebay by searching for average prices. This sounds like one hell of a project for a full time coder. This project could eat money like its going out of fashion. For what use? To make a bit of money in your spare time?
And your concept to me sounds very complicated compared to ebay.
 
You will have to pay for fees i dont think this would be profitable
 

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