my mate has challged me to go to a charity shop with a tenner and spend it then come home and try to make a profit on ebay what ya think is it possible
2006-10-04 04:55:28 · 19 answers · asked by Kev B 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Other - Business & Finance
I have been a full time e bayer for 14 months. I won't be retiring by 45 but it pays the bills and I enjoy a healthy social life. It is possible but not everyone is going to be able to do it, you will need at least half a brain and serious self motivation. ( I easily put more than 40 hours a week into it). That said its actually quite a boring job, I get very tiered of staring at a computer screen and packing boxes and I would say it is definatley getting harder with increasing competition and Ebay who seem determined to sink there own market place.
2006-10-04 05:16:32 · answer #1 · answered by joe r 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
imisidro summed it up quite nicely...
The other things you could sell on at a good profit are collectors items. Have a browse throught the pages and see what sells well. Star wars figures go well and you find these at charity shops and car boots for pennies. Some can fetch £50 upwards... some £5 but if you buy them at 20p each £5 is good.
BUT... unless you know your market place and what is selling you will never make a living out of it. Most people who profit from it do it as a sideline as you would need to sell quite a bit to pay all your bills and the mortguage. For extra spending money though it can be just the ticket.
If you work at a company that dispatches goods you could sell heavier items and send them at business rates (If the boss lets you) which will be a lot cheaper than most, and as you have the best postage deal many will give you preference.
Another thing to bear in mind is recorded delivery.... some people will lie saying nothing was received to get their money back and the item for free. Recorded delivery puts them off doing that. Charge it to the seller in postage price too as it protects you and the seller.
Good luck if you decide to dabble. Work at it and don't expect it to all work out at first. You can, if you take the effort, make some good 'extra' money... but think hard before giving up the dayjob.
Hope this helps some...
Graham
2006-10-04 05:04:19 · answer #2 · answered by the truth 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes it is possible. But while many are earning, many are also losing on eBay. It's not a guaranteed thing -- there is no assurance that you can sell items you put up for bids
The key to a successful eBay selling is simple -- Sell products that people actually want.
Selling on eBay is not as easy as some portray. In fact, go to eBay and check out the number of auctions that end without a single bid. Competition is getting tough, as more sellers go to eBay; even the big boys are joining in the eBay marketplace. Add to that the increasing listing and final value fees.
eBay has several ways for you to determine exactly what the hot items to sell on their marketplace:
Items In Demand = the most popular items currently within that particular category. To see the In Demand page, go to http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/sellbycategory.html
Hot Items by Category Report = a monthly report that lists the fastest growing categories on eBay for the previous month. Go to http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/whatshot.html and select "Hot Items by Category" from the menu on the left.
eBay Pulse = "a daily snapshot of current trends, hot picks, and cool stuff on eBay". Go to http://pulse.ebay.com/ to see eBay Pulse in action.
Merchandising Calendar = eBay promotes specific categories on its home page each month. Savvy eBayers know that this home page exposure results in more interest in such categories. Go to http://pages.ebay.com/sellercentral/calendar.html to view the current Merchandising Calendar.
When you go to a charity shop, research beforehand to see what items are selling on eBay. Then buy those items only. Examples would be clothing -- buy only the branded ones (the better the brand, the higher the probability of success)
2006-10-04 04:57:42 · answer #3 · answered by imisidro 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
it just might work. as long as you make the thing sound important. You also have to start the bidding maybe,$50 down from what you bought it at to make it appeal to more people. also, use lines like,
"I think youll like it,"
"It is one of the older ______"
"18 centrury. real beauty"
Another thing ebay voters go for are "great deal" "half price" "brand new" and "vintage"
Also, make sure you get a good picture of it. Dont put another person in the picture. The surroundings should be clean. if it can be polished, do so before you take the picture.
2006-10-04 05:06:31 · answer #4 · answered by ♥will♥skate♥4♥life♥ 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think it depends as to what you buy if you get something decent from the charity shop that people want you may make a profit. I have heard of people selling things like the Metro on e-bay.
2006-10-04 06:42:28 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ya it is possible to earn a living by selling things on ebay
2006-10-04 04:57:49 · answer #6 · answered by coulson 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, I doubt very much it would be possible to make a living on ebay legally but it could be a good way to supplement your income.
If you did it legally, i.e buy items and then sell them for a bit more you would have to sell hundreds of things every week to make a decent living. It would be easier to just have a normal 9-5 job!
The key word in my answer is 'legally'.
2006-10-04 05:07:11 · answer #7 · answered by abluebobcat 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i would use your money to buy dvds or popular books if your going to do it. i have made about £300 over the past few months selling my old dvds, cds, books etc. i was just going to bin them but thought i may aswell give it a go selling them on ebay, im glad i did now!
2006-10-04 05:11:55 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I hope so - I have decided to sell everything I can get my hands on in order to buy a laptop, which I then realised doesnt' work as need a laptop to sell the stuff in the first place. Let us know if it works.
2006-10-04 04:58:44 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Not a living ,the fees are to high, but a small profit as a hobby is possible
2006-10-04 05:08:39 · answer #10 · answered by bob 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋