posted on June 6, 2003 11:46:54 AM new
I am looking for others who make their living selling on ebay, especially those with children... for support more than anything.
I am 26yo and have been selling on ebay full time for 5 years now. My husband and I have no other job, ebay has provided our sole means of support for 5 years. We have 3 kids, and now that summer vacation is here... it makes things really rough.
My husband buys things at auctions, garage sales, retail stores and from classified ads. I then research the items, list them, follow through with emails, pack and ship the items. We list 50-75 auctions every week, and it's almost always different items. I wish I could have the luxury of finding an item that I can order and sell multiples of, but we haven't found anything yet. A few years ago we did really good with diet pills, it paid for a cruise for my husband and me... and we just bought a house with our ebay earnings... so it's good... just tiresome.
I'm just wondering if there are others out there that eat, sleep and breathe ebay. It seems I am always working. My poor kids know that if I buy a toy at a garage sale, they will only get it if it doesn't sell. LOL
I can't wait until they are old enough to help though! I am getting tired of this... but not tired enough to want a real job.
posted on June 6, 2003 12:00:39 PM new
I do it full time as well. I was laid off about 6 months ago and started doing eBay full time. I do the same thing as you do.... I buy things that most people do not have access to outside of my area and it seems to work really well. I dont have any kids but we are currently working on that. We are getting married in July and eBay has paid for all of it.
I love being able to work at my own pace... Take off days when I want and leave on vacation at any given moment. Ahhh the joys of running your own business.
posted on June 6, 2003 01:05:45 PM new
I have made a living off of ebay on and off for about four years. I drift in and out but for the past 8 months ebay has been my sole source of income. If I am awake I am either working on ebay related stuff or my website. I run 3 accounts, 2 for specific genres, 1 is an etc account. While I'm doing this I am also trying to get everything together to move out of the country which means... Going thru various area of my home deciding what goes, what stores, what ebays. I share in your insanity!
For me, finding my niche involved researching the hell out of a couple of my interests, finding distributors and manufacturers and turning on the charm : ). I have a couple buyers that have become friends, I check out boards that relate to the genre to find out what people are looking for, what they like, what they hate and then staying up until stupid hours trying to find it. Finding a niche and gaining as much expertise as possible is the key to building customer loyalty and that will keep you afloat during the worst of times. I had one of my regulars email me last week because he felt like spending money but didn't really know much about any of the specific items I had listed this week. He asked me if, considering his past purchase history, there as something I thought he would like.
You actually have two amazing sources for ideas. You kids... find out what is hot with them and their friends and start the research process, you never know what you may stumble into.
posted on June 6, 2003 01:12:50 PM new
It's not my sole source of income, the one thing that I would have a problem with is lack of benefits. My spouse has a good job with benefits, that helps a lot! I also have a consulting business that I do pretty well with. I've always enjoyed (and frankly, been pretty good at) buying and selling, so I've been doing ebay for some time, and lately more than less. I also sell on half too, which is basically the same thing. I have two kids, and they also are involved as they come along with me to garage sales. I use them as an advantage though, since I sell a lot of kid movies, and video games. It is amazing how people will either reduce the price, or agree to a low offer because you have kids. Maybe they think the item is "going to a good home" - whatever, I don't complain. I pick up a lot of stuff for them that will not go on ebay, sometimes they complain but overall they like garage sales.
posted on June 6, 2003 01:22:15 PM new
I do it full-time. It is easy to work too much when you're doing it from home; after all, the office is right there so what are you doing reading the newspaper, you lazybones?
Lots of sources for merchandise. We buy from l*q**d*t**n.com occasionally and I've been happy with the purchases. There are some amazing deals there if you know about the products. The bulk of our merchandise comes from an exclusive contract to buy returns from .... no, I'm not going to say. Sorry.
Building up sources can take quite a while. I now have a guy in Southern California who passes along his closeout merchandise to me because he doesn't want to do onesie twosie eBay sales. But it took about two weeks of doing nothing but prowling the Web to find him and strike up a relationship.
If you are interested in product liquidations, explore the Web. Here's a search term to get you started: IMASD. There's a mailing list you can join and that should give you some ideas about what's available.
Last, a word of caution about sourcing: I get a lot of inquiries from people about selling to them "wholesale". They don't mean it, of course; they just want maybe 5 of one item at 5% of its actual value. They're prissy and cautious. They don't want to risk any cash until they find out if it sells.
That's not how the real world works. The best and most exciting deals are done when you take the plunge into something you've never bought before. Heck, I made a ton of money by driving 6,000 miles roundtrip to pick up 78 pieces of Roseville pottery that a collector was liquidating. Had I ever met him? No. Could I tell what condition it was in? No. Did I know if it would even all fit in my car?
No! (It did, just barely.) But he only wanted $5,000 for all. How could I pass that up?
--
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posted on June 6, 2003 02:37:54 PM new
In the last few years my wife and I have sold 7 or 8 thousand items on ebay. All antiques or collectibles. All different items. We work a lot. We go out 4 to 6 hours a day 5 to 6 days a week looking for items to sell. I list the stuff and my wife packs. We wind up working 7 days a week 11 to 13 hours a day. Our Ebay business has 100% paid for our son's college, plus his rent, food, car and fun money. He has one more year to go in college. If my wife and I hold up and Ebay holds up our son will finish college not owing a penny to anyone. ONE MORE YEAR and we will BIG TIME slow down our Ebay sales. We will only sell when the mood hits us. My big worry is that Ebay prices will keep falling to the point where its hardly worth all the effort. The prices are so low now its almost to that point.
posted on June 6, 2003 03:20:21 PM new
A lot of people keep saying the prices keep falling on ebay, but I don't really buy it. Yes, on some items, if there is more competition prices might go down, but remember this is an auction environment for the most part. It just means people are not bidding as high. It happens in real life too. In the early 1980's, my dad had a retail store for a specific specialty product. It was moderately popular, and he was doing rather well. Then, it really took off, and every place was selling this item. It actually killed his business. The profit was too low, so it was time to look for something else. The market is constantly changing, you just have to try to stay ahead of the curve. I have another online business I started in 1995, and I have had to change my business model and market about a dozen times to adapt. If I stayed with the same concept I had in 1996 (which I was doing very well) my business would be dead. You have to evolve!!!
posted on June 6, 2003 03:34:03 PM new
I only sell on E-Bay for fun. Most of my business is done at the Flea-Market. I have to agree with falling prices on E-Bay many items that are collectable won't even sell anymore at any price. The prices of Post cards,Toys,Maps,coins and glassware are the lowest I've seen them. It used to be I could make a few dollars off of stuff like that,but not anymore.But it is true that collectable items do very poor in a bad economy,people tend to buy what they need and start selling what they have collected.
posted on June 6, 2003 04:18:54 PM new
UNEMPLOYED FOR 30 SOME YEARS. YOU NAME IT MOST LIKELY I HAVE DONE IT.(all legal!!!) 3 YEARS ON E BAY. WHO KNOWS WHAT HAT I MAY WEAR IN THE MORNING. AND THE BEAT GOES ON,,,,,,,,
[ edited by jackswebb1 on Jun 6, 2003 07:14 PM ]
posted on June 6, 2003 04:25:55 PM new
Just lost my job of 23 years about 6 months ago so I am full time now. My house sure looks like it too! I got away from my job with cheap insurance so this is working out well. I always liked to go to garage sales and auctions so now I 'have' to go, Ha, Ha. I am so glad to hear all the success stories, it looks like you just need to keep on keepin on!
posted on June 6, 2003 05:01:08 PM new
Hey ahc3, You are right about evolving, like I said ONE MORE YEAR and I am going to evolve right out of ebay along with thousands of well seasoned good honest dealers. I will step aside so that nice folks like you can keep evolving. Through the years I have watched hundreds of auctions, shows and stores where the GOOD DEALERS have left and along with them the GOOD BUYERS. If you can't see that prices are way off on Ebay then you are in an evolving dreamland. I am not being a wise guy and don't think I am picking on you, but please remember good buyers want to buy from good dealers. Ebay is loosing both and that is a fact.
posted on June 6, 2003 06:11:41 PM new
If it is a fact, please provide documentation. It sounds like an opinion to me, and one I don't agree with. People in 1998 were saying the ebay bubble was going to burst, fees were too high, prices were going down, dealers and customers were going to leave. They also said that in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and now 2003.
I do know with certainty that the growth of ebay has really hurt one of my businesses, which is why that model has changed. I've lost quite a few good clients who have decided to sell on ebay only. It's easier for them, that is where people are looking, and in some cases I believe it is less expensive even with all of the fees and competition. I don't think lower prices in indicative of fewer buyers or more dealers. I know from my buying experience that if I see something that is hard to find, and the price is high, I will tend to not bid too high because I might have a chance of finding something similar down the line. If anything, ebay has made it easier to find more difficult items, which reduces the final bids perhaps. That isn't going to make a difference if a few dealers go offline, ebay will be here, probably with more sellers and more buyers next year than this year.
posted on June 6, 2003 06:43:23 PM new
Well I have noticed a drop in ebay prices, but not one that I can't deal with. I sell toys and collectibles. It's been harder for me to find them to buy lately, but when I do I still get close to the same price as I used to. I just sold a half put together model kit in a water damaged box for over $100. And I even said in the listing that I didn't know if it was complete. I fmy husband had put it in the car instead of standing in the rain with it, it probably would have brought more... but he thought it was junk.
I attribute the lowering of prices to the fact that ebay has been around a few years now. In the beginning (I have been here since they had their other name, but I can't remember what that was right now) things went really high. Ebay was new and collectors were being offered something they had never been offered before. They didn't know if ebay would be there tomorrow, so they bid early and high. Of course things were fast and furious. But the newness has wore off, and many of the bidders have already boughten what they need. Now they have a smaller list of items to buy, and the common sense to be patient. Sure there are new members joining and that helps keep the price up, but it will never be like it was in the beginning.
posted on June 6, 2003 07:47:44 PM new
As long as eBay is still a fun buying experience, there will be plenty of bidders.
I hate like heck what eBay is doing to their Euro site, though. It worries me that the move to charging 17.5% VAT is just the beginning.
--
California voters: Be a part of the first-ever successful gubernatorial recall! Defy media pundits! $21 million of our money is going down the tubes daily because of our incompetent corrupt governor. Visit http://www.recallgraydavis.com to download your recall petition.
posted on June 6, 2003 07:57:38 PM new
deltim & ach3, Years ago I lived in a small village. Our only water supply was personal water wells. A local gas station in the village had old in ground tanks that leaked over the years. The gas got in the ground water and made the well water undrinkable. Every test that could be made was made and they all showed gas. When the home owners found out that this problem ruined their house value. Most wanted to get out of there fast but a few people went into denial and said there was nothing wrong with their water well. Nine years later a major gas company had to buy out those houses. The place is like a coast town now. You guys remind me of those people your in DENIAL about ebay. Yes, ebay will be around for a long time but its like a person that lives too long the quality of live goes way down. Ebay's quality has dropped way down and continues to drop. At some point you guys are going to have to face reality. When the good dealers leave so don't the good buyers always remember that. I have seen it happen hundrends of times. GOOD LUCK to you both.
posted on June 6, 2003 08:13:15 PM new
You actually have two amazing sources for ideas. You kids... find out what is hot with them and their friends and start the research process, you never know what you may stumble into.
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.Boy, is that ever true. My son asked for a Pikachu a few years ago. I asked him what that was. I then did a search on Ebay for Pokemon and got a total of 3!! matches. I went to some local stores and found other children asking about anything Pokemon, and the owners saying they'd have stuff soon. I wound up getting my son his Pikachu from a fellow in Japan, and finding the stock that held the distribution rights for the merchandise in the US, and making 7 figures.
posted on June 6, 2003 08:27:49 PM new
Sorry about your town, but don't really see any analogy here. Maybe ebay's quality has dropped for you, as for me, I've done more business this year to date than any other year I've sold. Business is booming for me. If that is denial, bring it on!! I kind of regret I am taking a 3 week vacation starting next week with sales as good as they have been, but I will use my time not only as a vacation, but as a buying trip so that is ok. I don't see the "good dealer" leaving, I see the ones who don't adapt and who whine a lot leaving. The good ones are still there.
Your generalized statements are pretty funny. You've seen it happen hundreds of times. Name one other arena that is even remotely similar to ebay. Maybe you've seen people leave a flea market or an antique mall, but that also is not a valid analogy...Those have dozens to possibly hundreds of dealers, the quantity of sellers on ebay are so large that it would take literally 100,000 leaving to make an impact (and if that many did leave, others would take their place!) Ebay isn't a sinking ship, it is a commerce revolution.
posted on June 6, 2003 09:01:22 PM new
ahc3,,,,,Amen. If ya got the RIGHT Stuff, they beat each other up for it. That was this week. Not last year or long ago. 6 days into the month, Over $1000.00. May not beat many others but it sure beats a reg. job.
