I'm toying with the idea of setting up an Ebay business, starting part-time with limited capital and seeing where it takes me.
Has anyone tried this, and if so what have your experiences been?
Thanks
Jeff
Starting an Ebay business
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Online Trader
- Posts: 211
- Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 7:13 am
Depends on what you are selling, if it is something that a lot of people are already selling on there then don't bother as it will just be a price war.
eBay can be a very good market for the right product at the right price but you have to think outside of the box.
Nothing stays unique for long on eBay.
Also don't forget to register as self employed and declare your income to the TAX man
eBay can be a very good market for the right product at the right price but you have to think outside of the box.
Nothing stays unique for long on eBay.
Also don't forget to register as self employed and declare your income to the TAX man
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superfrank
- Posts: 2762
- Joined: Fri Aug 14, 2009 8:28 pm
i agree with everything Online Trader said.
ebay's final selling fees are a complete rip-off too, and they can close you down at a moment's notice with no explanation and your business is dead (it's happened to many). also the site is sh1t and looks truly horrible.
a few months ago i started a small online business as a sideline to trading - i developed it myself and use Adobe Business Catalyst (http://www.adobe.com/products/business-catalyst.html) which handles all the back-end stuff an online shop needs, while you still have full creative control over the design.
it's taken a lot of hard work, but only a small financial investment, and now i'm getting some traffic and orders.
ebay's final selling fees are a complete rip-off too, and they can close you down at a moment's notice with no explanation and your business is dead (it's happened to many). also the site is sh1t and looks truly horrible.
a few months ago i started a small online business as a sideline to trading - i developed it myself and use Adobe Business Catalyst (http://www.adobe.com/products/business-catalyst.html) which handles all the back-end stuff an online shop needs, while you still have full creative control over the design.
it's taken a lot of hard work, but only a small financial investment, and now i'm getting some traffic and orders.
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Online Trader
- Posts: 211
- Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 7:13 am
A lot of the sellers on eBay are not registered business's and are just people selling stuff working from home, they pay no rates, taxes etc and these people are ruining it for the business's as it is not a level playing field.
You need to find products that these people cannot easily get hold of and that will reduce your competition. If you are competing with these people and you are doing things by the book it is very hard.
Also remember to factor in all of your costs as a lot of people sell stuff on eBay but are not making any money if they were to calculate out all of their true costs, I know this is the case because I know how much certain things cost
You need to find products that these people cannot easily get hold of and that will reduce your competition. If you are competing with these people and you are doing things by the book it is very hard.
Also remember to factor in all of your costs as a lot of people sell stuff on eBay but are not making any money if they were to calculate out all of their true costs, I know this is the case because I know how much certain things cost
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andyfuller
- Posts: 4619
- Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:23 pm
A couple of useful links re. the tax situation:
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news ... kdown.html
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/campaigns/emarket.htm
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news ... kdown.html
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/campaigns/emarket.htm
One legal approach would be to sell people manuals telling them how, if they follow my betting system, they could make thousands of pounds a week on Betfair! 
I probably could make decent money with that approach, but I wouldn't sleep soundly at night...
How about this for some enticing copy?
'I have a system that has been shown, over thousands of bets and lays, to yield a substantial profit. I can provide you with proof of those statistics. At £200, this really is a giveaway'.
I once saw a very similar advert to the above. It was a reference to Jack Houghton's stats that showed that you'd make a good profit from laying steamers and backing drifters over a sample of thousands of bets(according to the way he defined drifters and steamers).
Jeff
I probably could make decent money with that approach, but I wouldn't sleep soundly at night...
How about this for some enticing copy?
'I have a system that has been shown, over thousands of bets and lays, to yield a substantial profit. I can provide you with proof of those statistics. At £200, this really is a giveaway'.
I once saw a very similar advert to the above. It was a reference to Jack Houghton's stats that showed that you'd make a good profit from laying steamers and backing drifters over a sample of thousands of bets(according to the way he defined drifters and steamers).
Jeff
It appears you can:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sacat ... air&_sop=3
WARNING TO NEWBIES: Watch your wallet! Don't make the mistake I made when starting out, and buy Betfair manuals which promise the earth, as they rarely deliver! At very least, before buying a system ask the seller some very probing questions (such as 'do you have a results spreadsheet?'). You'll find the odd gem out there, but I'd estimate that 99% of the Betfair-related stuff on Ebay is pure garbage!
Jeff
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sacat ... air&_sop=3
WARNING TO NEWBIES: Watch your wallet! Don't make the mistake I made when starting out, and buy Betfair manuals which promise the earth, as they rarely deliver! At very least, before buying a system ask the seller some very probing questions (such as 'do you have a results spreadsheet?'). You'll find the odd gem out there, but I'd estimate that 99% of the Betfair-related stuff on Ebay is pure garbage!
Jeff
Frogmella wrote:I don't think you can sell information products on Ebay any more.
When I worked for consumer technology firms, we would often find exclusive unreleased products for sale on Ebay before the shops had even put them on sale.
Ebay were not that interested and would not release details of the seller, despite us telling them it was impossible for the goods to be on sale, and referred us to the police. Who said that they had too many to deal with and we should contact the seller ourselves to establish if they were stolen, which of course they had to be. So we had to buy the bloody goods, get their address that way, track the serial number and then notify the police. Sheesh.
Ebay were not that interested and would not release details of the seller, despite us telling them it was impossible for the goods to be on sale, and referred us to the police. Who said that they had too many to deal with and we should contact the seller ourselves to establish if they were stolen, which of course they had to be. So we had to buy the bloody goods, get their address that way, track the serial number and then notify the police. Sheesh.
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steven1976
- Posts: 1744
- Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2010 6:28 am
jeff, ill try and remember to pm you tomorrow, but if I forget send me a reminder. its not ebay but something else. Not sure it will be up your street but you never know.
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convoysur-2
- Posts: 1110
- Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2012 10:00 am
Hi jeff .
ive been meaning to reply to this post for some time .but between work and trying to make a fiew quid on the markets ive been slacking so here goes.
i did sell on ebay and did qute well, but with the financial pressure of losing my house etc ,i couldent concentrate 100% on it,illjust mention the most important things that stillstand out in my head it was 3 years ago so here goes.
1 dropshipping ,never have to handle merchandise or go to post office .all is done for u .profit is lower but convenience is high,
2.there is a soft ware called treapack or tetra pack some thing like that worth its weight in gold.
3. you must have references ,have friends and familly buy from you ,just pretend ,have then post things about great communication ,fast delivery etc,u cant sell without that,
4 i found the greatest proffits were from listing goods in the wrong cattagery .example .one christams the wii was all the rage i listed them in tvs. and found people would stumble across them ,where as if they serched wii the results are too competative in price.but when they stumbled across them they bought them ,couldent believe the mad prices i was getting from them.ebay is an education its never a destination.hope it helps u ,
Marc
ive been meaning to reply to this post for some time .but between work and trying to make a fiew quid on the markets ive been slacking so here goes.
i did sell on ebay and did qute well, but with the financial pressure of losing my house etc ,i couldent concentrate 100% on it,illjust mention the most important things that stillstand out in my head it was 3 years ago so here goes.
1 dropshipping ,never have to handle merchandise or go to post office .all is done for u .profit is lower but convenience is high,
2.there is a soft ware called treapack or tetra pack some thing like that worth its weight in gold.
3. you must have references ,have friends and familly buy from you ,just pretend ,have then post things about great communication ,fast delivery etc,u cant sell without that,
4 i found the greatest proffits were from listing goods in the wrong cattagery .example .one christams the wii was all the rage i listed them in tvs. and found people would stumble across them ,where as if they serched wii the results are too competative in price.but when they stumbled across them they bought them ,couldent believe the mad prices i was getting from them.ebay is an education its never a destination.hope it helps u ,
Marc
Thanks Marc.
BTW, a mate of mine has recently bought this book, which looks good judging by the preview: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Choosing-Life-W ... HS31Z7Q63L
Jeff
BTW, a mate of mine has recently bought this book, which looks good judging by the preview: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Choosing-Life-W ... HS31Z7Q63L
Jeff
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convoysur-2
- Posts: 1110
- Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2012 10:00 am
thanks ,
the master of this is brin tracy listening to his audio cds etc ,attending his siminars has brought more to my life than almost any thing,he is the master ,
briantracy.com.
http://www.briantracy.com/?cmpid=2161&A ... ID=2767928
Marc
the master of this is brin tracy listening to his audio cds etc ,attending his siminars has brought more to my life than almost any thing,he is the master ,
briantracy.com.
http://www.briantracy.com/?cmpid=2161&A ... ID=2767928
Marc
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Online Trader
- Posts: 211
- Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2010 7:13 am
You will never make any money on eBay by dropshipping, everybody and his dog has access to these dropshippers and the margins are non existent.1 dropshipping ,never have to handle merchandise or go to post office .all is done for u .profit is lower but convenience is high,
The dropshipping market is saturated beyond belief.
Do not get hung up about feedback, once you have a few positives you will be fine, the feedback system on eBay is a joke to be honest, buyers can leave you negative feedback but you can only leave them positive feedback even if they are a complete nightmare and trust me some of them are
Right product at the right price is all you need to remember.