Making A Profit Selling On eBay

Making A Profit Tips For Selling On eBay

It can be pretty tough going to find Wholesale websites that sell products cheap enough for you, the reseller, to actually earn a good enough profit to make the whole buy and resell process worth doing.

Buying and selling online is probably one of the most popular methods people use to make money online. Websites like eBay are a great tool for reselling products. The problem with eBay, the thing that has changed for the worst, is mainly the fees, they now sit at 10% for all sales made, with a maximum charge of £40, no matter how much your item sells for. This does Exclude a few items / categorys like property, cars etc.

Now 10% might not sound like a lot, but you must also remember, eBay also charge you a listing fee for any items you list, so you may as well say eBay take 11-12% of all sales you make. Don't forget the fees that PayPal also take! These rates do not apply if you are registered as a business seller, but still, if you are registered as a business you would have to do your taxes at the end of the year, so it will still get you in the end, in one way or another.

So lets say your not registered as a business seller, and want to sell an item on eBay.The fees will apply to you when you sell an item.

I sell a fair few pairs of trainers / footwear on eBay. The current price that these trainers are selling for on eBay is £14.99 from other sellers. The trainers are Womens Reebok Gym trainers. So because other sellers are charging £14.99 Including the delivery charge, i list mine for slightly less at £14.95 including delivery, but i offer free Recorded delivery other then the other sellers just sending theirs by standard delivery.

Let's say i bought the trainers for £6.00 Brand new, I sell them on eBay for £14.95. It costs me £3.40 to send the trainers by recorded delivery, then take off the 10%, which is another £1.50. Don't forget the listing fee, another £0.40 Pence. Then the last fee, the PayPal fee, that's another £0.70 Pence. After all the eBay and PayPal fees, also the delivery charge, im actually clearing £8.95. So, off each pair of Reebok trainers i sell, im only making £2.95 of actual profit from these particular trainers.

Now you would think that buying trainers for £6 would give you a good profit, but thats not always the case. Always remember to do your research when buying any products to resell on eBay. And always remember the fees involved when you sell an item, they will cut your profit down by quite a large amount. So even if you think a product on a wholesale website is cheap, first check the competition on eBay, what are they selling it for. Does the wholesale price, after you pay all the Ebay-PayPal fees, leave you with enough profit to make it worth your time and energy.

Anyone can get laptops, but why buy laptops to resell, which cost £100 - £200 each minimum for a decent spec, when your only going to make £20 - £30 because competition is high..They cost more to post, require more packaging materials, The fees are higher. So by the end of all the costs your probably only making around £10 -£20 per laptop. Unless you can get them dirt cheap, which is almost impossible if your buying them from a wholesale outlet, they want to make their money too. You could always buy this type of product from Ex-catalogue / clearance companys, but then you have to consider electronic faults..

Remember: It's not about what products you can get, but what price you can get it for.

You could, like i do, buy trainers, and make the same amount of profit as you would from selling the laptop, with less fees, less postage, less money outlay, etc etc. I do have many pairs of trainers, other then the Reebok that i make a good £10 - £20 profit on each pair.

Always take the fees payable, and also your competitions prices into consideration when looking at product prices if your selling the items on eBay.

Goodluck!

http://cashsearcher.blogspot.com/

9 Comments

G - Fonda said...

the way you have summed it up, it makes finacial sence to sell goods on your own website. it takes time to build a website so it gets visitors, thats the advantage of ebay - millions of visitors a day


good [post pal

sd said...

most wholesale outlets dont leave good enough profit margins.

tr7 triumph said...

ebay have made it close to impossible for the small sellers to make hardly any money at all

check your fees once youve made a few sales and be prepared to say wow wtf! fees mount up, before u know it you owe ebay 100 in fees

best way to make money on ebay is go to the charity shops buy stuff really cheap. some good stuff can be found in the shops if you hunt around.

limm said...

Auctions can turn a profit


items can be won cheap

carl jatoo said...

FEEBAY is what many wholesalers / people in the trade like to call it

Anonymous said...

Ebay is good as a sideline

london king said...

What about iOffer>?

Anonymous said...

iOffer is riddled with fake goods

SuzyQ said...

Yes ebays fees are ridiculous, now they have even changed the policy so sellers cant leave buyers negative feedback! How fair is that! eBay have made it an uphill struggle for sellers - not just with the fees, but as well with maintaining a respectable 100% feedback score. great work ebay! lol.

best option - - - build your website while still selling on ebay- send the buyers of your goods an nice email thanking them for their purchase and at the same time telling them about your site, and that there is a 10% discount for all 1st time buys.