posted on March 13, 2001 06:15:03 PM
Jeff, It is very unlikely that you will get many responses to your request.
Ebay sellers just don't give away this sort of information.
The best I can tell you is to do a lot of reseach and buy and sell what you know. I know too many people who spend money they don't have buying to sell on eBay and they end up with a garage full of stuff that they can't give away.
posted on March 13, 2001 08:38:51 PM
Get up early, get in the car & drive, stop EVERYWHERE, look for unique & unusual items at good prices, you will win some, lose some, but you WILL educate yourself, it's really the only way.
The picker's axiom is, the more you look, the more you find.
Determining what to sell can be boiled down to simple criteria:
1) Sell a product that the public wants.
2) Make it extremely easy to do business with you.
3) Price the item accordingly, taking in all costs.
4) And make a tidy profit for yourself on the transaction.
5) Repeat these steps and reap the rewards.
But remember, it all begins with what the public wants…
There is only one reason why anyone buys a product…it is because they see more positive benefits to the transaction than negative. In exchange for money, your buyer is getting something in return. What are they getting? Could they be bidding on a future family heirloom? A rare collectible? Or is it a new kitchen gizmo? What are the benefits that your item will bring to your buyer in exchange for their cash. There are also other hurdles you must overcome during the buying decision such as the effort required to complete the transaction, the possibility of fraud and other risks.
After determining what type of online auction seller you are and where your interests lie, there are two very differing views on how to proceed with sourcing additional goods to sell. (The Mastermind Group debated this quite heavily! It was very intense!)
The two methods are:
1) Start with a target market (a group of people). Assess their needs…whether they have any problems that need to be solved…and what types of goods they are looking for.
Or…
2) Find products for sale (that can be resold) then go out and find a target market that would want those types of products.
There is no right or wrong way to do this. Some people, who may be in a hobby organization or already specialize in a particular field, may prefer to start with their own target market. For example, if you are a member of the English Wedgwood China Club you may wish to trade in that market and would start by listing a number of items that would be of benefit or interest to members of that group (whether the members exist online or not!). You should already have an idea of what the hot sellers are and what isn’t.
On the other hand, if you are purchasing a lot of new goods (not antique) you may have to take the alternate route. For example, a wholesaler you have established relations with tells you about a “hot” buy. He’s just got a shipment of Ginsu knives fresh from Hong Kong. What do you do? Before you buy anything, determine first who might like to own those Ginsu knives and in what categories within the auction you could sell them. There might even be a number of people selling the same or similar items, so it is best to have a peruse through the area to see what the competition is up to BEFORE you buy anything. You don’t want to spend any money on a risky proposition.
Many times, especially if you buy from any sort of box lot or ex-storage lot sale, you will be getting the goods first, and then will have to search out and find a target market. (Predominantly, this applies to used goods as you will have little control over what goods you buy for resale—it all depends on what can be found at estate sales, yard sales, antique shops, closeouts, whatever!).
If you are already a specialist, you will be taking the other approach. You will be able to be more choosey about what you buy because your target market has already been defined.
I know of one dealer who specializes in Rolex watches. He doesn’t buy anything else—just Rolexes. And because he specializes, he has an incredible view of the marketplace. He knows exactly what something is worth and how much he can resell it for. After years of experience he is an expert. The difficulty, however, is that the ongoing supply of used Rolex watches for sale that he can purchase and then resell is very low. Unless he figures out a way to attract more Rolex owners to dispose of their watches through him, his stock will run exceedingly low and so will his income! I suggested that instead of just selling “anything to get by”, that he continue in his niche but expand out to other luxury watches such as Cartier and Philip Patek. Unless you specialize, you will have no choice but to sell whatever good deals you can get.
Anyway, hope this helps!
Kind Regards,
Bob
Lots of great stuff at http://www.auctionideas.com
