anyone here an eBay power seller?

[OneBlueSky]

I'll be unemployed in a couple of months, partly by circumstance and partly by choice, and I'm curious if one can actually earn a living selling on eBay . . . to begin with, I have a lifetime of stuff that I never use and probably never will use that I wouldn't mind selling, everything from clothing to books to cds to tools . . . after that, I'd have to either buy or make stuff for resale I guess . . . how hard is it to make, say, a grand a month? . . . just beginning to look into it, and would like to hear about personal experiences . . . thanx . . .

[Kamika]

1. Its possible

But you really need capital to pull it off.. you need to buy expensive stuff cheap and sell expensive..


cd's.. books etc.. forget it

[caledesi]

2. I sold on Ebay for about 3 years and stopped this past year.

I stopped bec it has been commercialized. In the "old" days the sellers were individuals, nowadays the sellers are companies.

When I sold, I used to go garage sales every weekend and pick up stuff that I knew was worth something or was being collected. I had to study about this. Anyhow, I used to buy stuff for a couple of dollars and sell this stuff for 10 times the amount.

Example: bought some beautiful chopsticks (4 sets of 6 each) for $2. Sold them in sets (4) and got about $10/set.

My best coup though was an Erickson Uniphone, pink (you know the dial is on the bottom). Bought it for $2 and sold is for $76. (I had rad about two weeks before this that old phones were collectible).

Those were the good old days.

At the time I was selling, my nephew and his wife got into it and used to go to auctions every Saturday, spending about $100. They were making about $50K a few years ago. They have stopped selling too.

Agree, CDs, books are not worth it.

If you still want to "take the plunge," PM me and I will give more details.

[OneBlueSky]

6. thanks for the info . . .

I think I have a bit of research to do before taking the plunge . . . probably start out small, with just a few items, and see how it goes . . . and thanks for the offer . . . if I actually do this, I'll drop you a line to pick your brain . . . :)

[Heddi]

3. not a powerseller

but we sell a good deal of stuff on Ebay. Books, CD's, DVD's. We're able to make pure profit b/c 99% of the stuff we sell we got for free (through my husband's work) and everything is new or sealed---sealed DVD's go for ALOT more than unsealed DVD's---the other 1% is stuff we bought for cheap, but it's all in good condition.

Like the other poster said above, you gotta have the goods, and belive it or not, there's alot of stuff that we thought would go for TONS of bucks, and didn't get a single bid, and other things we figured we'd GIVE away that ended up selling for alot of cash.

We don't sell high-priced items. We start everything with a low price (under $5 in most cases), no reserve, and charge shipping plus about $1.00 or $1.50 handling per item.

In 3 months of selling, we've racked in about $700. It's not a full-time business, and we dont' always have stuff listed---some 'cycles' we have 30 things up for auction, other times, we have 5 things up for auction.

If you're going to try to make a living off of Ebay---I'd say don't try doing it all at once. Start slow, build a reputable client base, build good feedback.

ALso, you can't be a Powerseller based on inventory alone. I believe you have to have netted a minimum of $1000 a month for a minimum of 3 months, have a 99% or higher feedback, and some other stuff too---

I don't know if you've ebayed before, but seriously build up feedback before you start selling ALOT of stuff---we've only got 57 Feedbacks (would have about 200 if eveyone who bought/sold left us feedback!), but we're working our way up.

ALot of people (myself included) would be very wary of someone who just opened an account on Monday, has 0 feedback, and has 200 items for sale. Would seem...sketchy to me.

Also, if you have low feedback, people may be fretful to bid on high-value items---you could be a scammer! (not saying you are, but alot of people who scam list high-value items, have little or no feedback, take money, don't deliver items, and then LEAVE with money in hand).


Also, don't list too many things at once because you may not have what people want----I thought that every book, CD, and DVD we listed would be gone---even if for $1---hardly. Some things sell like hotcakes, others drop like a stone---ususally the things I think will sell the best have no bids, and the things I was 2 seconds away from throwing in the garbage went for sizeable amounts of cash (relatively speaking)

Here's some helpful ebay info/links:

how to become a power seller:To Become a PowerSeller
• Be an active seller on the eBay site for a minimum duration of 90 days.
• Maintain a minimum of 4 average monthly listings for the past 3 months.
• Maintain a minimum feedback of 100 with a 98% positive rating.
• Keep your eBay account current - no outstanding balances.
• Comply with eBay listing policies.
• Uphold the eBay community values, including honesty, timeliness and mutual respect.
• Maintain a minimum of $1000 for 3 months of average gross monthly sales.
Different tiers of PowerSeller
There are 5 tiers that distinguish a PowerSeller, based on their gross monthly sales. The benefits and services vary with each tier. Each month we calculate eligibility for each tier and notify members through email.

Bronze Silver Gold Platinum Titanium
$1,000 $3,000 $10,000 $25,000 $150,000


Ebay discussion forums (ask questions! These people are SO helpful!)

http://pages.ebay.com/community/boards/index.html

good luck!

[Wickerman]

4. My opinon - the good days for the little guy on Ebay have passed

3 years ago I supplemented a self-imposed part-time income nicely. I had fun. It was easy find inventory at auctions - no one was buying stuff to sell on line and no one was buying what I sold so I got it dirt cheap. There would be few items for potential buyers to chose from when I did post the items. Now there are 5 or 6 items identical to mine each time I post, even if the item is rare, or, at least what I considered rare a scant 3 years ago. Worse, so many people locally are trying to make coin on eBay that I can't get my auction inventory cheap anymore.

I hear the story repeated a lot - the glory days are over. I suppose someone with good business sense and startup capital can make a living but a hack like me can't make serious money any more.

The only plus is that I also collect similar stuff to what I used to sell - the prices are lower and I get stuff cheaper and find it listed more often.

Good luck!

[amazona]

5. i second this

Making $1,000 to $2,000 a month selling on Ebay was easy 4 years ago. Those days are gone. Unles you can get merch for nothing, you can't compete. People are selling so far below wholesale it is scary. Some people apparently make a business out of robbing their employers and selling the merch on Ebay. You can't compete with that. It is also much, much harder to get good stuff free because companies are more aware of "dumpster divers" and many destroy perfectly good overstocked stuff before putting it in the dumpster.

Selling Books and CDs is not worth the trouble. Too many people selling too many 99 cent books out there. Sorry.

:-(

[corarose]

13. Businesses took over

If they would have left it to the little guy then you could bring in bucks.

Most of the Power Sellers are companies or small stores hiding behind a fake identity.

[OneBlueSky]

7. thanks for the tips, everyone . . .

I'll probably just dip my toe in, and see how things go . . . I actually have quite a few of rather unique items that I could offer, but will hold them back until I build up some positive ratings . . . may or may not ultimately take the plunge . . . have to wait and see . . . thanks again . . . :)

[Robb]

8. You know how eBay could make a killing....

I mean, not that they're hard up or anything.

Create a new section on eBay, just for sellers who have less than, say, 25 sales a year. Give it a clever name, like "Country Style" or "Extra Chunky Old-Tyme eBay". I know I'd rather shop there than with someone named felloffthetruck(23115), power seller or no. :)

[brook]

9. Thinking about it myself.

In fact, I bought EBay for Dummies today. Recently I asked a dealer friend about EBay and he felt that the 'good' stuff doesn't go very well while things you wouldn't dream would, do quite well. I'm only at the research stage. I want to find something I can do from home via computer. The job I have isn't worth the toll it's taking on me.

[grasswire]

10. some hints

I've sold on ebay for about six years. When I worked it the hardest, I could make about $4,000 a month. I sell mostly antique and collectible paper items. Postcards, all kinds of paper memorabilia, sheet music, etc. My biggest profit was an item I bought for $12 and sold for $1100. Plenty of things that I thought might bring a few dollars brought hundreds. An old horse-racing program brought in more than $400. An old book on wireless radio brought almost $500. (I had bought it for five bucks at a garage sale.)

The tips are these:

1. Sell what you love. Your enthusiasm will show in your listings.

2. Learn all you can about the value of items and their particular desirability. Even though I specialize in paper items, I can also recognize value in other niches, such as pottery or linens. At a tag sale, I would be able to spot the item that could bring a profit.

3. Be scrupulously honest in your listing descriptions. Describe every flaw and don't make any claims you can't substantiate.

Regarding the mechanics of eBay, I've never had a bad check in thousands of transactions, and have sold all over the world to the most remote locations with no trouble worth mentioning.

[brook]

11. Thank you.

Sounds like good advice to me. I've dealt mostly in smalls (eclectic).Sometimes, I turned stuff over in 24 hours for 10-20x what I paid for it. Then again,I also have things that didn't sell - but that I enjoy in my home.

In your opinion, is it better to stick with one catagory (i.e. pottery) at a time - or list a variety of things at one fell swoop?

[grasswire]

14. hmm

I've seen plenty of sellers who are selling a large variety of things, but they might list items from categories consecutively. Why? Because in one listing you can refer the viewer to your other similar items. You can say "I'm listing pottery over the next few days, so be sure to check my seller list for other pieces of Roseville" or whatever. I recall one seller who closes out collections from estates, and he lists a hundred or so jazz records and then a hundred or so movie autographs and then Hummels....and then he'll go back to jazz records. You get the idea.

[corarose]

12. Before we lost our Business & House

I was pulling in about $4,000.00 every other week.

[izzie]

15. I have a friends that wants me to do it.

I think I will if she will take some of the profits and I do not have to do it myself.I am not up to speed on this thing.