Making money by selling things on Ebay.
By owatagoosiam
@owatagoosiam (751)
United States
January 6, 2008 9:07am CST
The internet has many purposes, but one seems to be making extra money. I have a friend who buys things he wants and then resells them on ebay to buy other things he wants. I don't think he comes ahead on the deal, but he insists on telling me he breaks even. (Seems the Post Office must love him.)
Do any of you good folks succeed in actually making extra money by selling things on Ebay? Not just reselling something you bought and don't need any more, but actually buying something to sell for a profit on Ebay.
Like, getting something with a good rebate offer -- knowing that you will send in the rebate. Then, you sell it on Ebay for something closer to the original price, perhaps making half the rebate as profit. (For example, a $200.00 rebate on a computer would earn you $100.00 in this way.)
Or, perhaps, hand crafting something or quilting something and selling the results?
Or, perhaps baking something ... I dunno, like fruitcake... and selling it on Ebay for more than what you paid in materials (of course)?
I've never sold anything on Ebay, but I fear that there may be pitfalls or people who don't pay or fees for selling items that mean this doesn't work to make a profit. Perhaps some of you have experience to support this idea, or can nay-say it from your own attempts.
3 people like this
10 responses
@youless (112496)
• Guangzhou, China
7 Jan 08
I tried to sell things via the Ebay but I found that it is complicated. Besides, it will charge me some fees even if I haven't sold anything yet. So later I sell from another website which is similar with Ebay. Right now I sell from Taobao.
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
6 Jan 08
i never have any experience selling or buying on ebay before... i don't really have the skills to do online business and i personally don't like it... but i heard that people can make lots of money selling stuffs on ebay...
1 person likes this
@jillbeth (2705)
• United States
6 Jan 08
I've been selling on ebay for about three years now, although I haven't done as much lately. The fees are getting ridiculous, and if you can't get $15-20 for your item, you may as well not bother. It's not worth the time it takes to make listings and wrap up the package. I know some people do make their living on ebay, but they are powersellers and usually have a corner on their niche! If your friend is having fun buying and selling, and at least breaking even, then I guess he could call it a hobby! There are worse things he could do with his spare time!
I was selling some of my hand crocheted items on ebay, then I ran across Etsy.com. It is a site for crafters to market their items, straight sales, no auctions. They give you a free storefront and the listing fees are comparable to ebay, plus they take a much lower fee when you sell something. I would highly recommend that anyone who wants to sell crafts online check out Etsy.com. My user ID on Etsy is the same as here, if you want to check out my storefront.
@mitchreid2000 (154)
• United States
6 Jan 08
I make over $100 a month on ebay by dropshipping check out my website in my profile that is where i get my products if the ebay fee's were not so high i could make so much mor though.
1 person likes this
@4000pm (25)
• Morocco
7 Jan 08
listen man , if yo wanna get rich on ebay , you can ! but you have to follow some rules and the most important is NO CHEATING ! the product that you want buy it in ebay must be the same in the description that you give , if not the buyer will give bad mark wich means that yo aren't a good seller and ebay will delete you or simply other buyers won't make transactions with you in the future , and a last word , good luck !
@Amanda_NZ (125)
• Lexington, North Carolina
6 Jan 08
My husband (ebay handle: Elkhunter1313) does very well buying and selling on Ebay as a hobby and earning extra on the side.
His main focus is taxidermy items like skins, antlers etc and he is an avid
Xbox player so he buys and sells his games.
He seems to be able to buy in a cheap game of the latest fad and sell it back for a profit.
As his line of buying and selling is his interest and not purely set his sights
on trying to make a living on Ebay I reckon this has helped with some of the
sales that have been lower than he anticipated. These times he always comes out even because the postage is covered (he does not try and make a profit on postage, that other buyers do)
1 person likes this
@twoey68 (13627)
• United States
29 Apr 08
I sold on Ebay for several years and my Mom still does. Mostly it was kids items, estate items and collectables. It was allright and you do make a little from it but once you factor in shipping supplies, gas to go back and forth to the post office and such it can eat up your profits. The reason I finally got out of it was b/c the market has become really saturated...ppl sell Brand New DVD's for $4-5 which is too great of a deal to pass up. So unless your willing to pretty much give it away your farther ahead to have yardsales. You might not be able to charge as much but at the same time your overhead is pretty much Nil. Good luck with yours. BTW, customer service is an all time importance with online selling.
**AT PEACE WITHIN**
~~STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS~~
@AzraelValley (677)
• Philippines
6 Jan 08
I'm actually thinking of selling on eBay myself. I will only do this if my paypal is verified. That way I can put up my own business. Perhaps I should some comic collection of mine, and see if they will bite it. Testing the water first can save you lots of time and money on the future.
@bluemoon4ever (288)
• South Africa
7 May 08
i really would like to try it out, i have a sister and she really loves handmade crafts and she is really really talented in it.
i would like to open an online shop for her but here in South Africa the online community is not as bulge as USA so this poses a problem. If i am selling on ebay then the postage to wherever outside SA would have to be added into the selling price which can make me less competitative
