I am trying to make some money on ebay for University funds but am running out of ideas.?

Question

I used to design jewellery and have put together some jewellery design packs on ebay from my left over beads, tigerwire, headpins, semi precious beads etc in an organza bag, so you have everything to start designing and making your own jewellery. I have sold 4 (£2.50 each) so far but would like some inspiration, any ideas? I also have 85 Ty Beanie Baby Bears but they don't seem to be very popular anymore so have listed 2 to see if anyone buys them before I list all of them. I am also quite good at drawing life like figures (females particularly) what style do people enjoy most? e.g. expressionism, pop art, still life, abstract etc...? Maybe I could sell some drawings. If anyone has any ideas let me know. Thanks :) Oh and the link for my ebay listing for the jewellery is http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=002&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=120125172996&rd=1&rd=1 so you can have a look at let me know what you think as this is the kind of thing I had in mind.

Answer 1

Hi,
You can find hundreds of products that sell easily on ebay and really good profits , use salehoo, http://www.salehoowholesalers.com , its a very big wholesalers list you will find cheap brand name products that you can sell very well on ebay and a prefect guides on what to sell and how to sell
Good luck

Answer 2

I think you have lots of possibilities since you're already understand a lot about making jewelry and drawing, etc. If you're really good at them, even better.

There are lots of ways to make jewelry with polymer clay (some of which can be done with air-dry clays too) since you can make your own beads/pendants/spacer beads, etc.... if you can make your own findings from wire, etc., you can make even more profit.

There are lots of people already selling polymer clay on eBay, but the ones who have been the most successful usually sell completed pieces, or kits, or raw materials (very raw, like uncut canes... not like individual beads--unless they're simple ones that can be made easily). The ones who are most successful also have learned about business, marketing, web presentation, etc. It's a definitely possibility though if you're not trying to actually make a whole living from it.

Here are some pages to check out at my polymer clay encyclopedia website about the doing polymer clay as a "business" (including on eBay), and about making beads, jewelry, wire findings, etc., from clay and/or wire:

http://glassattic.com/polymer/beads.htm
http://glassattic.com/polymer/jewelry.htm
http://glassattic.com/polymer/pendants_cording.htm
http://glassattic.com/polymer/buttons.htm

http://glassattic.com/polymer/wire.htm

http://glassattic.com/polymer/business.htm
http://glassattic.com/polymer/shows.htm
http://glassattic.com/polymer/teaching.htm

http://glassattic.com/polymer/photography.htm
(for taking good shots to use at eBay, etc.)

(other pages at the site though have to do with actually making the specific patterns and surface treatments that are possible with polymer clay... check the Table of Contents page for those, then use the alphabetical navigation bar on the left side of the page to go to any you're interested in:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/contents.htm)


As for drawing "lifelike female figures," if you can do them quickly so it's worth your time, you might be able to offer custom drawings of girlfriends/wives/daughters/etc. for gifts or other reasons. If you can truly do them in various styles (expressionism, pop art, abstract), you should definitely say that, and perhaps give a sample of what each of those means to you. That, and putting the right keywords into eBay, could increase your prospective customers even more.
You could also make "transfers" from any of your drawings to use on polymer clay or other items you might sell.

Hope some of that helps, and best of luck at school!

Diane B.

P.S. How in the world did "Shoeburyness" get its name???



.
Shoeburyness??

Answer 3

EBay sucks for handmade goods. Check out this site:http://www.etsy.com/index.php

It's free to sign up, 20 cents to list an item for 6 months, and they only get a small percent of what sells WHEN it sells.
MUCH better than eBay's rates, plus it's a worldwide community of artists. I think you'll like it, plus you'll get the opportunity to design custom pieces for customers.
EBay is good for collectables, but etsy is the best for handmade goods!
Hope you enjoy it! Good luck with your art!
My shop is:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=18037

Answer 4

If you are trying to sell your items, you could always try car boot sales, and put posters in the university notice boards (posters advertising your jewellery).

Answer 5

if you ask me, i think most people buy things of ebay that are rare, poular at the moment or cheap. Try looking in your house or room and im sure you can find something

Answer 6

its not the sort of thing i would even think to look up on eBay.
i buy and sell on there
I buy clothes and things for the kids,DVDs and things for the home
i sell bedding and lingerie