Anyone sell on Ebay?

[kevinsgirl]

Does anyone on here have experience with selling on Ebay? I’ve currently started to re-evaluate my current job and am interested in working part-time and being an at home wife (and eventually mother). I’d like to get good at something before we have kids, so I could do it part-time when we do have them and I’ll be able to help supplement my DH’s income.

I’ve toyed with a lot of ideas and one that I’ve been really thinking about is reselling baby stuff on Ebay. I already do consignment shopping, thrift stores and garage sales, so I figure I’m pretty well equipped to find used brandname kids clothing. I know it is something I would enjoy and so I’m curious–have any of ya’ll ever done something like this?

Ideally I’d like to do this on the side with my current job and if it took off, quit my job and do this from home.

Give me your (name removed by moderator)ut!

 

[Nielz]

Hi kevinsgirl, I’ve also looked briefly into this, and I know people who make a living out of it. I’m sure it can work.

 

[kevinsgirl]

Hi kevinsgirl, I’ve also looked briefly into this, and I know people who make a living out of it. I’m sure it can work.

Thanks for the encouragement! I figure that I could always give it a try (invest $25 bucks in baby clothes) and sort of test out the whole market thing. If everything went smoothly I’d have a little head start and if not, it’s not a big loss.

 

[Sierrah]

I sold some sports equipment on ebay that I needed to get rid of. It can be a pain in the but if you haven’t done it before. Especially figuring out the shipping costs. I would take a class and maybe go to one of the ebay sellers groups to talk with people who have experience doing this before I would just jump into it.

 

[ack]

I sold some of my stuff on Ebay earlier this year. I didn’t find it to be particularly difficult. If you’re an experienced Ebay buyer, you’ll know what to look for.

If you’ve never used Ebay before, I would spend some time buying before jumping into selling. You’ll have a better idea of what your customers want, and you’ll start off with a better reputation (feedback points) through your buying.

Some tips:
1 - Come up with clear policies before the sale, and think through how you’ll handle various situations. What will you do if the buyer wants to pay through the mail? What will you do if the buyer claims to have never received the item? What if the buyer wants to return an item, and what if the return shipment gets lost in the mail? What if the buyer receives the item damaged?

2 - Make sure your handling of the payment and shipping process is “buy the book” so you don’t get scammed. Don’t get sloppy, and carefully confirm each payment before shipping. Try to set policies that discourage the use of stolen credit cards.

 

[aggiecatholic05]

i havent sold on ebay but i have bought, instruments a compound bow, decoys. i really think that with some planning before you start you can turn a small profit very easily, then just let that snowball grow.

 

[lifeisbeautiful]

I sell on ebay (not for a living) and one thing that has helped me was to buy a digital scale (off ebay) to weigh the packages at my home so I can calculate postage. One can lose money on ebay if one doesn’t figure out the shipping charges well (along with the selling fees, listing fees etc). If one is trying to make money one also has to factor in the materials and time needed to sell/take to the post office. You can mail some things from your own mailbox (using the click and ship or stamps, I usually have a variety of stamps from 1 cent to $1 and combine to mail). You might need to get familiar with the rates at the post office etc (for large packages, etc). I do love their flat rate boxes for heavy things.

 

[Shiann]

With DD#1 I paid for basically all her clothes with ebay money. I “recycled” the same $300-$400 per year on clothes that she’d grow out of that I sold on ebay, with the $300-$400 of clothes that I’d buy her on ebay for the next year (if that makes sense).

I sold lots of her toys and other things of mine.

It’s quite a bit more expensive than you’d think in the end. After ebay fees, paypal fees, shipping goofs, time, etc. it’s about 20-30% off the sellign price that goes into your pocket. So for a $10 item figure $7-8 dollars in your pocket. If you are buying these things to resell, figure your ‘profit’ somewhere from that amount. If you found a clothing item for $5 and sold it on ebay for the above $10 you’d pocket right around $2-3.

This is just my experience.

Unless one had a good ‘outlet’ for items that you know you could sell on ebay for a lot more, it’s tough to keep all the records and shipping information organized and together - then make lables, pack everything up and take it all to the post office (or whatever shipping method you use). $2-3 works out to probably minimum wage after all your time on that item is taken into consideration.

But as a way to recoup money you’ve spent on things for baby, or selling used items from an old hobby, or whatever - ebay is awesome!

Anyway just my :twocents:

 

[kevinsgirl]

I sold some sports equipment on ebay that I needed to get rid of. It can be a pain in the but if you haven’t done it before. Especially figuring out the shipping costs. I would take a class and maybe go to one of the ebay sellers groups to talk with people who have experience doing this before I would just jump into it.

I’ll have to look into the groups!

I sold some of my stuff on Ebay earlier this year. I didn’t find it to be particularly difficult. If you’re an experienced Ebay buyer, you’ll know what to look for.

If you’ve never used Ebay before, I would spend some time buying before jumping into selling. You’ll have a better idea of what your customers want, and you’ll start off with a better reputation (feedback points) through your buying.

Some tips:
1 - Come up with clear policies before the sale, and think through how you’ll handle various situations. What will you do if the buyer wants to pay through the mail? What will you do if the buyer claims to have never received the item? What if the buyer wants to return an item, and what if the return shipment gets lost in the mail? What if the buyer receives the item damaged?

2 - Make sure your handling of the payment and shipping process is “buy the book” so you don’t get scammed. Don’t get sloppy, and carefully confirm each payment before shipping. Try to set policies that discourage the use of stolen credit cards.

You’ve given me a lot to think about! I’ve bought on Ebay several times before and DH is definitely a regular!

i havent sold on ebay but i have bought, instruments a compound bow, decoys. i really think that with some planning before you start you can turn a small profit very easily, then just let that snowball grow.

I’m hoping to invest a little now and just not touch the profits and just keep reinvesting for a while. Then when I stop working I’ll have a decent size snowball to keep going!

I sell on ebay (not for a living) and one thing that has helped me was to buy a digital scale (off ebay) to weigh the packages at my home so I can calculate postage. One can lose money on ebay if one doesn’t figure out the shipping charges well (along with the selling fees, listing fees etc). If one is trying to make money one also has to factor in the materials and time needed to sell/take to the post office. You can mail some things from your own mailbox (using the click and ship or stamps, I usually have a variety of stamps from 1 cent to $1 and combine to mail). You might need to get familiar with the rates at the post office etc (for large packages, etc). I do love their flat rate boxes for heavy things.

I’ll have to look into a digital scale! One really good thing is that there is a post office pretty much down the road from where we live, so I figure that should help somewhat!

 

[kevinsgirl]

With DD#1 I paid for basically all her clothes with ebay money. I “recycled” the same $300-$400 per year on clothes that she’d grow out of that I sold on ebay, with the $300-$400 of clothes that I’d buy her on ebay for the next year (if that makes sense).

I sold lots of her toys and other things of mine.

It’s quite a bit more expensive than you’d think in the end. After ebay fees, paypal fees, shipping goofs, time, etc. it’s about 20-30% off the sellign price that goes into your pocket. So for a $10 item figure $7-8 dollars in your pocket. If you are buying these things to resell, figure your ‘profit’ somewhere from that amount. If you found a clothing item for $5 and sold it on ebay for the above $10 you’d pocket right around $2-3.

This is just my experience.

Unless one had a good ‘outlet’ for items that you know you could sell on ebay for a lot more, it’s tough to keep all the records and shipping information organized and together - then make lables, pack everything up and take it all to the post office (or whatever shipping method you use). $2-3 works out to probably minimum wage after all your time on that item is taken into consideration.

But as a way to recoup money you’ve spent on things for baby, or selling used items from an old hobby, or whatever - ebay is awesome!

Anyway just my :twocents:

That’s really awesome that you were able to keep recycling the same money to take care of your daughter, Shiann!

If I decide against doing this as a part-time business, I may look into it just for that…being able to “recycle” money from wardrobe to wardrobe when I have kids.

 

[JustAnotherThou]

It’s quite a bit more expensive than you’d think in the end. After ebay fees, paypal fees, shipping goofs, time, etc. it’s about 20-30% off the sellign price that goes into your pocket. So for a $10 item figure $7-8 dollars in your pocket. If you are buying these things to resell, figure your ‘profit’ somewhere from that amount. If you found a clothing item for $5 and sold it on ebay for the above $10 you’d pocket right around $2-3.

:yup: :yup: :yup:

I agree with what you said. People tend to not remember the fees and buyers don’t realize that we have to factor fees into the price

Check with your Post Office. Ours does free classes about ebay. Ours in REALLY good because they have people who know what they are talking about. It is just a few locals so they only do it here.

 

[SVP]

The only downside to eBay is that their final value (FVF) costs have gone up dramatically since August 2008. Some categories now have specified shipping costs regardless of whatever overhead you may incur. As a seller, be prepared to have ALL you purchasers payments go through PayPal (an eBay owned company) As of Oct 20, 2008 eBay’s official policy is no paper transactions allowed. Also, PayPal has it’s own fee structure for purchase payments that is seperate from Ebay which adds to the costs of business. Keep this in mind when factoring in your pricing so as not to lose too much profit margin to eBay/Paypal.

** Definitely, browse the community discussion boards BEFORE selling! here**

I used to sell (and buy) on eBay since 2002, but have found than for my small amount of sales 10-20% was going to eBay/Paypal.

eBay’s only real advantage currently is it’s market position and the number of accounts. There are other alternatives, each ith their own pros and cons.

I would strongly caution against quitting one’s regular job to make a living selling on eBay at this particular time. Even part time, the fees can make it a less lucrative income the expected.

 

[lifeisbeautiful]

The only downside to eBay is that their final value (FVF) costs have gone up dramatically since August 2008. Some categories now have specified shipping costs regardless of whatever overhead you may incur. As a seller, be prepared to have ALL you purchasers payments go through PayPal (an eBay owned company) As of Oct 20, 2008 eBay’s official policy is no paper transactions allowed. Also, PayPal has it’s own fee structure for purchase payments that is seperate from Ebay which adds to the costs of business. Keep this in mind when factoring in your pricing so as not to lose too much profit margin to eBay/Paypal.

** Definitely, browse the community discussion boards BEFORE selling! here**

I used to sell (and buy) on eBay since 2002, but have found than for my small amount of sales 10-20% was going to eBay/Paypal.

eBay’s only real advantage currently is it’s market position and the number of accounts. There are other alternatives, each ith their own pros and cons.

I would strongly caution against quitting one’s regular job to make a living selling on eBay at this particular time. Even part time, the fees can make it a less lucrative income the expected.

This is good advice. I didn’t even know about the policy change on Oct. 20, wow. Also, I have been dealt a bad hand a couple of times by Paypal, both as a seller and as a buyer. Anyways, I don’t want to discourage you, just want to caution you.
I really hope it works out for you, I think your idea of starting out with $25 to see how it goes is great! Just make sure you take into account all the fees!