posted on January 16, 2004 11:56:53 AM new
Volume? A housewife poster onced boasted here or at OTWA that she bought used books at Library sales for a dime and sold them for a dollar and made a lot on volume sales. ( no pun intended )
-------------- sig file ----------- *There is no conclusive evidence that life is serious*
posted on January 16, 2004 12:29:50 PM new
I have my doubts how that could be profitable, even with volume. You're look at 35 cents in ebay fees and possibly another 38 cents with paypal. That's 73 cents. Supplies would be free, but you need to probably print labels or invoices. Sell 1000 items, you are looking at $270 in profit. I think the time it takes me to process an item is quick, but it still takes time. The per hour rate would be so low, why bother?
posted on January 16, 2004 04:14:17 PM new
I have always wondered the same thing!
The profit margin may be the same, but it boils down to making maybe $1 an hour when you factor in ad time, packing time, post office time, etc. For me, it just wouldn't be worth it, and I sell items that are easy to package.
posted on January 16, 2004 04:26:12 PM new
If its DVDs CDs or maybe jewelry where the seller is buy a very large volume,they can start the items at 1 cent or $1.00 and make enought profit off the shipping to make a monthly income,if they run a few thousand auctions a month,it would equal out to where they would make money. But someone running a hundred auctions a month doing that is going to be out of business shortly.
posted on January 16, 2004 06:04:37 PM new
If they start them at $1.00 or a penny,whichever, I can see it, if they are making it up in auctions they have that are getting more bids...the ones that run 500-1000 auctions weekly, they are bound to get one 'stuck' at the $1.00 start bid...but it wouldn't make much difference if they do well on the other hundreds of auctions they have
I tried it, when ebay was doing real well, and it did work... the 1 cent start sure looked good to bidders, and sometimes those penny bids turned into $50 bids. Hard to do now, for me anyway..
__________________________________
"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."- Carl Sagan
The $16.50 s/h is the reason the seller can start at 99 cents. The 99 cents pays the ebay fees and the majority of the profit comes from the excessive shipping fee as the item can be sent for a few dollars.
-------------- sig file ----------- *There is no conclusive evidence that life is serious*
posted on January 16, 2004 09:23:01 PM new
In my example case about the original thread topic here with .01 to $1.00 auction goods with actual shipping charges with the housewife seller selling book sale books the seller had the added incentive of occassionally getting a rare book or an ebay find. Maybe only one in 15 of her books went over $2-$3 but a few had high bids.
-------------- sig file ----------- *There is no conclusive evidence that life is serious*
posted on January 17, 2004 07:38:44 AM new
I was looking at some sellers listings and FB pages, and all I could think is how do they survive? They must be deep into it for the fees.
One or two I was looking at had pages of listings at various prices (none .01 or 1.00) mostly 9.99 and up, but no bids whatsoever. Some on one sellers listing, the stuff was stock wholesale things. Cheese grater, whatever. But they too must rely on a few good sales per month to cover themselves? How can you even make your fees back listing and listing and not have the potential to make it off the shipping charges if you have no buyers at all??
The 01 or .99 is a gamble for sure. But I think people like it and bid because they know you are putting it out there. It must all balance out somewhere. Reminds me of stock market costs & potential of say nasdaq vs. blue chip stocks. Same game - different level of playing it.
posted on January 17, 2004 08:33:37 AM new
the answer is -they are not making it.
they will eventually max out on their credit cards with lots of cheap stuff they cant sell in storage.
remember those resin teddy bears,the limoge style trinket boxes,the mass produced dolls,toys and ginzu knife??
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
posted on January 17, 2004 09:36:22 AM new
I agree with stopwhining -- there's no way these people can do this for long without realizing, "hey, I am spending every minute of my spare time for $1 an hour." Most will quit, but there ARE people that will keep on because it's better than $0 and they need the money and they don't have a job. Glad I'm not one of them.
posted on January 19, 2004 11:01:25 AM new
The seller in question starts everything at $1.00 with exact shipping. Most items had no bids at all. Out of curiosity I checked their feedback to see closing prices on the first few items.
Most closed at $1.00. One horrible looking clown nick nack closed at $30.00 a few around $15.00. They seem to sell flea market-garage sale junk. Like Ace says they probably hope for the occasional hidden find. If they do come across an Antique someone could sure get it for a steal.
They have over 600 feedback. It just seems like such a waste of time and energy. I could never start everything at $1.00. Not to mention I would starve!
I would think they could make more working at Mc Donalds!
posted on January 19, 2004 07:40:38 PM new
I just listed a batch of Post cards at $2.99 each. I think it was a waste of time on my part. I listed the cards for my kid. Some of you know the old story. He gets the sales money, I pay the fees and do the work.
May the luck of the Irish be with you.
(like it is with my kid)
posted on January 20, 2004 09:29:28 AM new
I list starting at 1 penny..My shipping is $4.95 for the first item-$2.95 for the second and any thereafter. I make it by selling in high volume. My profit is generally $1.60-$2.00 per item-that is if the bid is only .01. Generally the items go a little higher. My sell through rate is anywhere between 75-100% depending on the month. Since my items are small I can package them in about 3 minutes each-Including sending customer notices and keeping track accounting wise. I sometimes package up to 40 items in one night (2 hours) I sell multiples of the same items so once I have the listing created it is just a matter of re-listing. So monthly I probably spend about 3 hours listing new products. I also have a full time job but am considering part time because it is working for me and is much better than working for someone else.
posted on January 22, 2004 06:54:28 AM new
As discussed before some of these sellers donate their time to community thrift stores and reap the cream of the crop in return.
posted on January 22, 2004 01:16:41 PM new
What's the big difference between a seller that makes a few extra dollars on ebay with tiny profits and a very large seller that makes a decent living off of ebay but must work 12 a day and 7 days a week to do so?
It's great being your own boss but is it really worth it? Wouldn't a 40 hour-a-week job paying the same pay ( with benefits ) be a better bet?
-------------- sig file ----------- *There is no conclusive evidence that life is serious*
posted on January 22, 2004 04:49:50 PM new
horsey88:
I'm one of those guys that donates his time to thrift stores and yes, I get the cream of the crop in return. That's how I get most of my inventory. I was raised with a community service ethic, so it's activity I would be doing anyway. So doing good is rewarded.
posted on January 23, 2004 04:24:10 AM new
Hi, does anyone else here remember a couple of summers ago on this board when it was still Auction Watch and before you had to give a cc to post, one poster kept saying how he/she was making it with $1.00 or 99 cent starting bids. Summer sales were slow and this was the only way to do it. I remember some of us tried it with items that we had listed and re-listed and quite of few of us, including me found out they only sold for the $1.00 and to the pickiest buyers that gave you more headaches, with shipping and packing instructions then you would get from a $100.00 buyer. Once was enough for me, one even threatened me with my first neg because they felt the cup should have had more bubble wrap around it even though it came through fine. Never again.
Reenie
I don't get even....I get even better Jimmy Hoffa
posted on January 23, 2004 06:01:08 AM new
Ace- OH YES! It's worth it to me anyway! No more 2 hour plus commutes each way on snowy days. No office politics ... no more dealing with brown nosers that make my skin crawl..!! I can work in my jammies and I am always around to run a left behind paper to my daughter's school if needed. I can take a break when I want and not worry about vacation schedules. I love it and the 12 hour days 7 days/week don't bother me at all!
Luckily I get my benefits through my husband's company. We couldn't live on my income but it pays for college for daughter #1 and will help with daughter #2 (she'd better get some GOOD scholarships).
I am not getting rich and I work very hard but I do what I want and work when I want and that's priceless to me!
You didn't address the tax benefits of running your own business and there are several.
I like what I do and wouldn't re-enter the "normal" work force for all the tea in china!
posted on January 23, 2004 06:02:01 AM new
What's the big difference between a seller that makes a few extra dollars on ebay with tiny profits and a very large seller that makes a decent living off of ebay but must work 12 a day and 7 days a week to do so?
(UH MONEY!)
LATTEFOR2:
The $1.00 customers are definitely the worst. Last year I listed an item I got free for $.99. The buyer decided they did not like it. She ended up trying to get her money back by filing a Paypal complaint. My only Paypal problem.
posted on January 23, 2004 06:40:31 AM new
neglus, you are so right, I enjoy being able to work in any attire I choose. I was fortunate enough never to have the commute you had, but I have 2 cousins that have been with the same companies for years, Each one working their way up getting promotions and the standard cola increases. I am now hearing horror stories about the office potitics. One has worked their way up the corporate ladder for many a year only to find out her company was sold and they are saying goodbye to old employees offering them what they think to be a fair exit package. The other one is a nervous wreck discussing the A@# kissing, brown nosing, toe stepping. I do not know if anyone has seen the Donald's (Donald Trump) new reality show called them apprentice, they have separated the players into groups of men and women, so far the women have succeeded in all assignments, with the exception of one women who used what she thought to be the right negotiation format to buy a golf club, the rest of the women used their feminine attributes.
Reenie
I don't get even....I get even better Jimmy Hoffa
posted on January 23, 2004 07:10:37 AM new
giftsforall-
you did not mention the big seller who sell a lot ,what is the gross margin per item??
if he sells many items at starting bid of one penny and over time,these items get lower and lower bids??
soon he will be just breaking even,then he will be losing money.
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
posted on January 23, 2004 07:30:42 AM new
Somebody needs to do the math here. (and its not me because thats not my strong suit)
If a seller sells, say, 15 items at 1.00 each and their cost is zero or at least 50% less than that 1.00. and right from the start you are out .30 cents, and at best .55 cents from the cost of the sale - okay, obvious loss already, but where does it go when two, maybe three, or even one of your items does extremely well at 15, 20, or 40 dollars?
I dont know. Reminds me of the penny stocks. If nobody was getting anything out of it, WHY WOULD They be doing it?
ps: doing what you want, when you want, being your own boss making your own decisions -- is priceless. I watched my brother at the same company for 17 years, thru one merger after another. Playing the politics and dealing with the stress. Always threatened if his job will be secure. Got his yearly 4% or prob. 2% raises, then he died of a heart attack. His job was probably filtered to another worker faster than you could say the work day is now 7-6, not 9-5 so dont have any life around it.
ed for spelling.
[ edited by neroter12 on Jan 23, 2004 08:11 AM ]
posted on January 23, 2004 09:46:39 AM new
if the seller cost of the items at one dollar starting bid is zero or 50 cents-
unless they are his aunt's heirloom and worth a lot of money and cost him zero,ELSE,they are worth just that-zero or 50 cents.
you can go to a garage sale at the end of the day and buy up all the leftovers for almost nothing or 25 cents a piece.but how much would they fetch on ebay??
every now and then,one item gets bidded up to say,10 ,20 or 30,but that item has to pay for itself plus all the other items which did not sell.
you dont have to be albert einstein or use a spreadsheet,for most of us who have been selling on ebay,you know the answer is obvious.
and dont forget besides ebay fee,there is also paypal fee.
to say this is total bliss (selling on ebay) compared to your brother/brother in law or neighbor who holds a full time job with a company and get a paycheck and benefits is just plain ludicrous?(mispelled??).
are you saying we should all just forget going to school and throw a blanket under a tree and layout all the garage finds and see who would buy them??
they do that in africa,go trap a wild animal or shoot down a gorilla and chop up his body and sell them in an open market,lots of good animal protein there.
and then someday when they run out of wild gorilla,they can take their rifle skills and join the revolution and help unstablise the country.
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
