posted on May 11, 2004 10:14:01 PM new
Hi everyone! Here's the deal. I work for a company that has slashed expenses and cut my hours down to 10 a week for the summer. I don't want to find a new job since the layoff is only until mid August and I'll go back to full-time. I'm thinking of supplementing the income with eBay sales until then. I know it's the dreaded summer slump, but it seems better than the other options (temp work, retail). Here is what I have so far:
-insurance through my wife's job
- two eBay I.D.'s. One with 663 positives 0 negs and another with 555 and 0 negs.
(I'm not a newbie)
- P.O. Box
- Voice Mail number for calls
- .com that matches 663 postive I.D. with hosting setup but no website yet.
- laptop and iPaq handheld
- digital camera (Mavica)
- auction management and listing software that I am already familiar with (don't plan on learning new one)(S. Star and Toaster)
- dial up. I can't get DSL in my area and I don't want to buy cable tv in order to get cable internet access. At least not yet (money will be tight enough as it is)
- I'm finishing my Computer Science degree in Internet Management next semester so I plan on putting what I've learned in my HTML and Java classes to good use on designing a web site and ads.
What I don't have is a stable source of product. I plan on scouring the usual sources of garage sales, flea mkts, pawn shops and thrift stores. Has anyone had any luck with wholesale purchases on eBay?
I guess what I am looking for is tips, advice, affirmation, or anything I may be overlooking. I was just told in a meeting today about the summer cuts and I'm still getting my head on straight, but as you can see I'm working on a plan. Any thoughts?
posted on May 11, 2004 10:40:39 PM new
Hi Redd...Welcome back. Haven't seen you on here for awhile. Since this is happening so fast, one of my first thoughts would be to sign up one of those i.d.'s as a sellers assistant, then go knocking on the doors of all the usual suspects to get some quick consignment inventory to list. Then, concentrate on the usual sources for what it is you are most comfortable selling. As far as wholesale lots, I'll defer that to someone else who is more experienced in that field than I am. Be forewarned that no one is going to give you the names of their good sources, and it takes some up front capital to get a decent price when you do find a good source. Again, these are only thoughts that spring to mind. The only advice I will give is don't get succered into a drop shipping scheme unless you have a few years experience in that field under your belt and the resources to bail you out of a sure fire deal that turns south.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on May 11, 2004 10:43:09 PM new
Sounds like you've got it all under control!
I don't want to buy cable tv in order to get cable internet access
You might check with the cable company, but I have cable internet without cable TV. It costs $10 a month more without the TV part, but it's soooo much better than dial-up. We have DirecTV, so we don't need cable TV too.
Has anyone had any luck with wholesale purchases on eBay?
This is just my personal opinion, but at this point in time, I'd say that most, if not all, of the easily-accessed wholesale items are already listed on eBay in great numbers. Unless you can come up a product that few other sellers are offering, or can beat the others' prices significantly, you might find that it's not worth it.
Yard sales, flea markets, estate sales, etc. might be your best bet in finding unusual or rare items. It's more legwork, but in the long run, I personally think you'd be better off.
You might also consider consignment sales ... selling other people's items and splitting the money. One advantage to that is the ability to research the item's value prior to listing it, and being able to decide whether it's worth fooling with or not. Be sure to have a contract handy, clearly outlining who pays the fees, how the money is split, etc. Cross all the T's and dot all the I's.
Good luck! I've been a full time seller for almost 6 years, and although it's definitely not the easiest job in the world, it's still better than any alternative I can think of!
Edited 'cuz the "quote" function doesn't seem to work here. (??)
posted on May 11, 2004 11:13:56 PM new
The yard sale-flea market suggestion might work for you IF you know something about collectibles already. Otherwise, you'll either be listing in the dark and making some big mistakes OR spending a lot of time studying up on each separate collectible that you want to sell. The continuing education involved is considerable, I can tell you from experience!
I suppose you might find objects that aren't collectibles, at yard sales, which you can sell on Ebay. Many here do.
Meg (bless her) on TV just said that her best advice is that you find your passion, sell what you love. (And some of us said that works unless your passion is books, in which case she's pulled the rug out from under all of us!)
Good luck to you!
___________________________________
posted on May 11, 2004 11:25:31 PM new
Redd - There are some wholesale lots sold on ebay that can be be resold as individual lots for a profit but you have to do the research. Some sell wholesale because it is easier to deal in larger lots and they have access to larger amounts of inventory. Some sell in wholesale lot because they can't get rid of their inventory on an individual basis and hope that someone with stars in their eyes will deal with it.
Since it looks like you are going to have some time on your hands your best bet is to identify a few different lines of items that you are interested in selling, have the room to store and do not present shipping problems for you.
Once you have a direction it's just a matter of the time you are willing to invest. Wholesale411.com is a good source of leads, Alibaba.com is an excellent source if you are willing to invest a little more in inventory and understand that you are going to have longer lead times on delivery sine you would be buying from manufacturers or distributors in the far east, there is also the B2B section of Yahoo searches. Do not waste your time googling Wholesale Whatsimagiggles - Wholesale is the most misused keyword on the internet.
I started selling wholesale lots a few months ago after I stumbled on a LA distributor whose prices allowed me to sell at a profit. I bought and sold their products while I waited for orders from foreign manufacturers to arrive. They served as a bridge allowing me to start building a following until the new stuff with higher profit margins came in. Don't feel you have to go for broke from day 1. If you select a product line that attracts return bidders the most important thing is to grab their attention, once you please them once they are yours for as long as you offer a good product.
Definitely develop your website!! Consider payment options you want to use... do you want merchant account? Start looking at them now, start comparing merchant account, portal and shopping cart compatibility so you don't find out at the last minute that you have just built a shopping cart that is not compatible with the portals your merchant account uses. It's boggling some of the stupid little things that can trip you up.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on May 11, 2004 11:48:08 PM new
Suggestion: If you live in a larger city you might be a seller's assistant, but advertise in the paper. Many people of items to sell and want to sell them on eBay but don't have the means to do that. There are a few around. Auctiondrop, another in Florida, someone might know the user ID for him and start that way.
Be sure if you do that you have them sign a contract to which you tell your customer just what you expect. You know like what % you will charge them and that you have item in hand and do all your own packaging. You be responsible for everything do not let your customer do anything. If I have missed something someone will come along and tell you the rest.
Another idea check through your home and get rid of the items you don't want. If they have some value put them on eBay. Good way to do housecleaning. Also what you don't think will sell on eBay try a garage sale. I have sterling silver jewelry that doesn't do well on eBay and I am going to try it in my garage sale. I can get the same prices locally as on eBay. I don't have to mail then.
posted on May 12, 2004 06:27:58 AM new
Sparkz- Thanks for the welcome back! It's always nice to be remembered. I didn't update my credit card info when it expired since I wasn't really selling anything (got a regular job & went back to school full-time), but I have still been lurking every now and then. It's great to be back. This really is the best forum out there!
Libra63, Roadsmith, thedewey - Thanks for the help and advice everyone! I appreciate your time. I will be getting myself setup as a Trading Assistant today. After I get settled I'll start accepting some consignments. Does anyone have a good contract template? After a year of college I feel like it would be cheating to ask. I've also started going through and cleaning out my stuff. I have a lot of misc items that can be sold. Who would have thought, an eBayer with misc "junk" around the house. I listed a dozen items last night. I'm just trying to get back into the swing of things. It's almost like riding a bike. A bike that needs to be dusted off, updated, rechecked, and redesigned.
fenix03 - Thanks for the info. I understand the fact that no one likes to give out their hard earned sources. I would be apprehensive as well. Thanks for the nuggets to start me off. You are right about the "wholesale" web search. Quite a waste of time. I'm trying to network around town for some info on local buying. I may come up with something. While I love the thrill of the hunt with yard sales and such, I really would like a product source to back that up.
posted on May 12, 2004 07:30:13 AM new
Talk to local dealers,some dont have time or kwowhow to sell on ebay,ask if they would let you take pictures and list them on ebay.You can develop good relationship with some,and they are the folks who have years and years of experience and contacs as to where to find interesting items.
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on May 12, 2004 09:43:14 AM new
Check out AuctionDrop and see if you can get a copy of their contract.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on May 12, 2004 10:08:22 AM new
I have the "Seller's Agreement" from AuctionDrop, which I suppose is a contract, but scanning it would do no good as it is all fine print.
Me, I'd skip the consignment stuff unless you really want to deal with educating strangers about eBay.
How much capital are you planning to commit to this effort?
posted on May 12, 2004 01:11:34 PM new
Wow I think this thread is Ebaying 101!
My favorite source of items is mini-storage auctions and Pick-A-Part style junkyards. This can get you some items to move cheap, until you settle on a market segment for business development.
Have a TOS forfeiture term for returned duty items and remember to avoid broker fees on international shipments. And require M.O.'s to be in US dollars drawn on a US bank. Hold on personal checks should be at least 15 days, now. And if you have a high dollar item seriously consider pre-qualifying buyers. Keep an eye on time requirements for certain actions. Anytime you pick up a pen you are doing it wrong, unless you have a specific reason for using a pen.
The market is wide open for CD copies of works that exist outside of copyrights......., IMHO
posted on May 13, 2004 11:44:14 AM new
I do consignment selling and I got my contract in MS Word. There are different forms that you just fill in the blanks. For the life of me I can't figure out where they are in Word but I know that is where I got mine. I had to modify it somewhat but it wasn't hard. Also it probably isn't watertight and if I had a problem with someone who I'm selling for it might not save me. Chances are though that I won't have problems since I don't sell for that many people. Anyway check it out and see if you can find the forms.
