Is it better to go out and make money for a company or would I make more selling on ebay?

Question

Can anybody tell me their own ebay experiences and what I might need to know before trying this.

Answer 1

Do both.

Answer 2

In addition to the great comments you've already gotten, I'll throw out another thing that most people don't realize about eBay. eBay charges a certain amount to list every item you sell, and then they charge an additional rate based on how much you get for the item. The most common way to exchange money is by using Paypal, which is not suprisingly owned by eBay. Paypal charges another percentage based on how much money is paid. This charge is paid by you, the seller. In the end, you might wind up only making about 80% of what your item sold for. To recoup this cost, you can increase your shipping and handling fees to a few bucks higher than the actual shipping cost. Remember that you're also responsible for packaging and shipping, which adds costs as well. Buying shipping boxes in bulk can be expensive, and selling and shipping numerous items at once can also be very time consuming.

I've found selling on eBay to be a great way to get rid of things that you have around the house such as clothes, sports memorabilia, etc. I'm not sure that I would ever be comfortable relying on eBay for all of my income, the market for some things is so unpredictable. Some things that I think won't sell for much end up getting a lot, where as things that I think are valuable only go for a few bucks. I'd recommend trying out the selling, and see how you do and how you like it before you commit to relying on it.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

It takes a lot of work to start selling on eBay. You have to gain peoples trust. The way I gained trust was to buy from people first. I will be selling things by February. You can also get eBay for Dummies and other eBay tools to learn about eBay. You do have to worry about people not paying you, but do not send any items until you get your money.

I also have to agree with Joe. Get a job as well as sell things on eBay, because you may get a good amount of money, but you are not going to be making too much. If you do get lucky or skilled, you can end up making good money. I just agree that you should have a job.

Answer 4

One thing you have to realize about ebay is that trying to sell something takes time. So therefore you could very easily do both. Get a steady job with a decent pay and benefits, then during the weekends do your whole ebay thing and wait during the week for all the sales and such...

Good luck!

Answer 5

I hope this article helps you.

There is an art to picking profitable products. It's not just what you want to sell but rather what will sell. Unless you pick a product in demand in the marketplace, you will fail. A fundamental principle of the capitalist system is "supply and demand". It represents a delicate balancing act between "what people want" and how much of "it" is available.

Every Christmas, we see one toy that everyone wants. One year is "talking Elmo" and the next year it's something else. But, it never fails to occur. Because everyone wants "it", so "it" is in high demand. If the supply of the product isn't sufficient to meet the customer demand, prices soar, as do profits for the people selling them.

You could hope you pick one of those products and make a lot of money in one season, or you can be smart and have a profitable business all year round. How? Understand trends in our society and how they help you predict the products which are or will be in demand, now and in the future.

Current Trends In American Society

By reading and watching current news, we should be able to spot trends. These trends will have an impact upon people and therefore, the products they need or want. For instance, some current trends in the United States are as follows:

· Americans are fatter than prior generations (particularly children)

· Baby Boomers (a very large potential market) are getting older. Many are in the 50s or 60s.

· More and more people purchase online from the security and comfort of their own home

· Americans are more security conscious since 9/11

· Travel by car or recreational vehicle is up over previous years

· Diabetes is making major inroads into the general population

These are just some of the trends impacting our culture now. We need to take those identified trends and make some assumptions about them. With these assumptions come product decisions, profitable product decisions.

Using a Trend to Pick Profitable Products

Let's choose the Baby Boomer trends upon which to focus. We know that the Baby Boomer Generation represents a large, and very wealth, segment of the current American society. If we choose to focus upon this group of consumers, we know we have a large potential audience. More importantly, we know we have an audience who can pay.

Determining the products we will offer starts with making some assumptions about our targeted market. What does that mean for the Baby Boomers? We need to take what we know about that market segment and then make some assumption based upon that knowledge. Let's try.

What We Know: What We Can Assume:

We know they are getting older. We can assume they don't like that. We know they are fatter than prior We can assume they don't like that generations. and want to do something about it.

Let's just look at those two trends and how they help us choose products. If this generation is fatter than the last generation, we can assume larger size clothes are needed right now. Is that true? At eBay, plus size women's clothing sold for a total of $90,903.37 in the last 30 days! There's a profitable product selection for the present.

If we assume they are fatter and don't like it, they must want to do something about it. What might they do? Exercise or diet. What does this mean for possible products? Exercise equipment or diet pills. Is this true? At eBay, exercise equipment sold for a total of $1,125,144.50 in the last 30 days and weight loss pills sold a total of $130,795.34 in the last 30 days! Two more profitable, "in-demand", products at eBay, right now.

Choosing the right product for a profitable business does not have to be difficult. Just follow the four easy steps; analyze, assume, test, and choose. You simply have to read and watch the world. Look at leading news articles and magazine stories. What appears to be uppermost in the minds of potential consumers? What assumptions can you make about the trend? What product(s) does that translate to? Sell that product and you will earn money. Continue to follow those four steps and you will be profitable for a long time.

Answer 6

if u own the company it is better but if not better to sell on ebay. it is better because crazy people out there will buy used toothpaste for 50 bucks. you will be able to get more money sellin on ebay.

Answer 7

It takes a while to learn how to do it. In the end, your success depends on how effective you are at finding mechandize and writing ads and how persistently hard you are willing to work. You do have to pay to place the ads. You also have to watch out for cheats who take your money and do not ship your product.

Answer 8

It all depends on what your selling on ebay. Gadgets, Cars, TV's, Laptops, usually go for big bucks.

Answer 9

it all depends on what you r sellin

if you have some jello molds shaped like brains, you are set for life I think