posted on May 11, 2001 12:47:06 PM
I list things that I'm pretty sure will sell 1st or 2nd time. Maybe you know what sells from your operation?
Fees do add up. I list 250-300 auctions per month, and the fees can be $250+ - but that's with FVFs.
Also, you might look for a listing service or payment plan that's flat rate, a much better deal when you're listing alot. Personally, I wouldn't like a 1 year plan with no out.
Buddhafinder's right. The trick is to make sure you already know that your product will sell well on eBay. The best way to do that is to search the completed and active auctions for similiar products. Also make sure that in your opening bid price you cover the cost of your item, fees and even anticipate fees for 1-2 relists.
The second trick, is sell things with a high percentage of profit. Unless I know that I can make more than 200% profit on my items, I don't consider it worth my time to list them.
Finally... if your items don't sell after 2 relists... try combining the items in a larger lot. This can sometimes generate greater interest. Hope this helps!
posted on May 11, 2001 01:26:21 PM
Hi..
I don't post replys very much but really enjoy and learn from what everyone here talks about..THANKS.
I am a powerseller and do this full time. Yes, I quit my salaried job to work this full time and no I don't have any health insurance at the time..which is the only thing I plan to change in the near future.
I profit about $1000-1500 a week and am doing better than the corporate job with a company car I had. I am thrilled to death. Yes, ebay fees add up but the mark up for old and antique items is really high so I can justify it. I usually am paying ebay $375-800 a month. The $800 was last November and I made $7000 profit so I was ok. That was also when I thought everything had to have a picture in the gallery and that featuring, bolding, and highlighting were really helping me. NOT TRUE!!! I have come to realize that just the basic listing fees will do, I don't need to jazz it up.
I work about 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. I very rarely list on the weekends because I do want to have some kind of social life. I am single and no kids so I am lucky that I don't have to worry about the extra household chores if there were other people here. Well, I think lucky now but maybe in 5 years if I am still single I won't be thinking lucky then
I am planning on doing this MUCH more and hope to have sales of $10,000 a month and make it to the next level of powersellers in a month and 1/2. I will then be able to have my mom quit her part time job and work with me as she loves to go to the auctions, estate sales, etc with me. I will just have to teach her not to use a full $5 worth of bubble tape on a $20 item.
I think doing this full time is a blast and don't seem to have a problem with listing 200+ items a week and keeping track of it all. I used to use Andale and them switched to Auctionwatch and now use the offline bulk lister to do that...what a relief. Plus, auction watch sends out my WBN's so that is such a time helper.
If you want to do more then just make sure you NEVER make less than double or triple of what you paid for it.
Good luck and sorry this is so long (probably why I don't post too often)
posted on May 11, 2001 01:42:16 PM
I know my business very well, which means I spend a lot of time researching and looking for new products, I spend quite a bit of time looking at what's doing well in my field on e-bay, sometimes I like to take a gamble on an item to see how it will do. This often pays off bigtime, its always a plus to be the first to offer a new product on E-bay.
The fees can add up so, I try to watch this carefully. I also keep track of slow payers and deadbeats, these folks can really eat in to your margins.
I find the best products to list are items over $20 that you can list over and over again. One of the best things I can reccomend is having an organized and simple as possible set up, to track auctions, inventory, and supplies. I've been doing between $3500-$4500 on E-bay the last few Months, I did around $300 in my first month 2 years ago. I plan to keep on growing.
posted on May 11, 2001 01:49:00 PM
If you compare fees on auctions verses rent for a store , tables at a show, or a booth at an Antiques Mall its not a bad deal. Plus you don't have to deal with shoplifters.
posted on May 11, 2001 03:16:23 PM
You need capital to buy goods when the time is right and the deal is there. You need space to store them when you get that sudden good deal. The listing and monitoring part is easy if you have the right goods.
posted on May 11, 2001 07:07:45 PM
We also sell a lot of items on commission for other people which means no money layout for stock. We pay the consignors 75% of the sale price and take the fees out of our 25%. We generally try not to accept any commission items that will sell for less than $20.00 - otherwise its too much work. Its a great way to learn about other categories that we are not experts in, because most of the consignors we have are collectors who are upgrading their collections, or dealers who don't have a computer or have the time to list on ebay.
We started listing some things for friends and it grew from there.
About half our business is our own stock, and half is commission items.
posted on February 21, 2002 09:49:17 AM new
Does anyone have experience with large scale selling on a venue other than Ebay? When you say how much you earn, do you mean on Ebay, or do you spread your charm around a little?
