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Old 05-24-2012
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Default no margins barely

I have been browsing ebay for ideas, then using dhgate and aliexpress to find the items. I then use a ebay calculator to work out the margins.

I even chat to the suppliers and try and get smaller prices.

I've come to the conclusion that ebay is almost impossible to make money on legitimately. The ebay sellers must be buying the items in the thousands or they have found the most amazing suppliers that undercut all the other asian suppliers.

Ive been doing this for over a week and its frustrating as hell!

Am i doing something wrong here guys? Or is a 1usd profit on somethin thats costing 17 usd the norm?
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Old 05-24-2012
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A week?

Barely scratching the surface.

What's your end plan?

Instant millionaire or comfortable living.

Adjust your expectations. Your mind set is off

There's a recession especially in the UK.

There's the Olympic Games over inflating prices.


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Old 05-24-2012
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Comfortable living of course. I just wanna be able to pay my bills in the near future.
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Old 05-24-2012
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There is money to be made. It is a matter of research (sorry, but more than a week. Try constantly)

You never stop working, thats the main thing.

Item prices and suppliers change like the weather. Not one is a constant.

Yes, the sellers are buying in the thousands, but guess what? They started right where you are right now at one time or another and they worked their way up.

Build a reputation and the profits will follow
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Old 05-24-2012
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I like the millionaire option.
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Old 05-24-2012
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A week is nothing my friend,i finally find my niche,you now how long i've been looking for???????More then 6 months.....Wish you good luck
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Keep at it! Took me an initial 4 or 5 months of tireless research to find potential items. I found some things that I now sell. Still after over a year at doing it I spend 10s of hours per week looking for new stuff.

Even when you find your niche someone (probably one of my neighbours) will come and undercut you.

Research never ends!

Profit = 1$ if you have the work force to sell thousands of items a day then yes, that's great!

I don't think most folks on here are selling at that profit margin (I am speculating based on what I make).

I am not gonna become a millionaire any time soon - but life is easier now, well apart from the 18+ hour days
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Typical for people do this when it comes to school, work, and jobs...........Did't find the ultimate perfect answer in a day, or week, or month....I quit.

Your comments make me feel like I am the smartest person selling online if thats the case.

I could go on for hours, but not really worth my time. This thread is a disaster.
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Old 05-24-2012
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But I do feel better knowing it takes months to find your niche and items. I'll keep cracking.
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Old 05-24-2012
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Quote:
Originally Posted by arshavin View Post
But I do feel better knowing it takes months to find your niche and items. I'll keep cracking.
Won't take months man. Just keep finding and you'll get the right suppliers.
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Old 05-24-2012
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Keep up the hard work arshavin, sooner than later you will find some good products.
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Old 05-24-2012
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actually, good honest thread.

i use to have the same problem with finding product to resell

but finally,after researching 8hours or more a day (still researching every day) i managed to find a few products that i make good profit on them.

best way is to look for product that you actually like,know about ,this way you enjoy researching and your work.
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Old 05-24-2012
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Yup, can't stress it enough research is key to this biz. I remember doing the same thing as you only I went to the dark side and had the same problem. Took me a good few months before I found my golden product.

You also just have to take the plunge and try stuff out, I still have a grip of useless inventory that I'm no longer able to sell or nobody wants to buy. To be honest though, going straight legit starting out with minimal starting money is gonna be tough, real tough.

Here's a freebie wholesale product that I still to this day sell, not really worried about competition because selling this takes lots and lots of work and there is so many different things to sell: hollywoodbodyjewelry.com

You don't have to use that site there plenty of others like it, probably some based in the UK too. That's the site I use anyway for jewelry, takes work but there's profit in it.

Last thing, you've been on these forums over a year now and you're just now figuring all this out? Get a grip, this is one thing you will not be able to do half assed, especially if you're going legit.
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Old 05-24-2012
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Some of the items to look into are Cargo shorts. Some people have made a lot of money selling these shorts, you can buy them from China for $10 and sell them for $30+

You can also find original quicksilver shorts, wallets and sell them. I have traded in this niche, but soon it became a little small for me.

You could also deal with little accessories related to Oral-B toothbrushes, all are manufactured in China.

You should look for products that are mainly Made in China and search genuine suppliers in China.

Niches should be targetted, these are usually left open by large sellers. You can then sign a virtual contract with a supplier and start trading the products. Maybe approach companies which are trading offline and take them online.

Another product range which I feel is profitable is skin/hair care products, also the natural herbal medicines. These all can do amazingly well if you sell on eBay or have your own store which is even better.

The key is to look for opportunities in those products which other sellers overlook. Just don't give up! Success doesn't come easy, you have costs to pay. Major cost is TIME.

P.S
eBay is not impossible to make money off. I know someone who makes $1000 a day from eBay in profits. There are many under 18s who are millionaires just because of eBay. They have more determination and commitment and are happy with little gains which converts into big buks later.

If making money was so easy, no one would be poor today - It is difficult but not impossible. Many people give up, not realising they might have been very close to success.

You must be greatful, you are part of this forum and are learning constantly about how to make money. There are people who have no wise material to follow and still pull it off.

Regards, hopefully you'll find the courage some day.

Last edited by audiosoft; 05-24-2012 at 02:19 PM.
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Old 05-24-2012
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I've come to the conclusion that ebay is almost impossible to make money on legitimately. The ebay sellers must be buying the items in the thousands or they have found the most amazing suppliers that undercut all the other asian suppliers.

Your assumptions are false, I am undercutting everyone in my niche because of the business relationships which I have established. My supplier sends me 100s of items, those which do not sell, i send them back and which sell. We settle the dues All at wholesale prices.
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Old 05-24-2012
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a week,,,I have been researching products for the last 10 years,,,Here is some free advice: the way to get the BEST Prices is to Go to the SOURCE!!!,,,,no matter what Product,,,,

Want to sell XBOX Connect?,,,Contact MICROSOFT,,,Ask them for the Requirements to buy Direct from them,,,,If you Cannot meet them, then ask MICROSOFT for a List of Distributors and do your Price comparisons amongst that List,,,BELIEVE Me Microsoft will Help you,,,They WANT to sell XBOX's,,

This holds True for ALL Products,,Yes from Time to Time you can find Distributors that are Liquidating a Product to Either Raise Capitol, Meet the Minimum Manufactures Purchase Requirement, Closing out the Item, ect, ect, so they will sell it at a loss,,but these are temporary arrangements

The Notion of finding the Best prices on DHGate, or Alibaba is a MYTH,,,Those sites are simply ebay/Amazon type sites,under the gise of being Wholesale sites, TRUE Wholesalers NEVER bother with websites like that,,,Synex is the Largest Consumer Electronics Wholesaler on the PLANET,,CECT one of the Largest in China,,,you cannot find them (or any other TRUE Wholesaler) on DHGate or Ebay,,,So what makes you think that the sellers on those sites are TRUE Wholesalers?

Go to the source,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
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Old 05-24-2012
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slapped View Post
a week,,,I have been researching products for the last 10 years,,,Here is some free advice: the way to get the BEST Prices is to Go to the SOURCE!!!,,,,no matter what Product,,,,

Want to sell XBOX Connect?,,,Contact MICROSOFT,,,Ask them for the Requirements to buy Direct from them,,,,If you Cannot meet them, then ask MICROSOFT for a List of Distributors and do your Price comparisons amongst that List,,,BELIEVE Me Microsoft will Help you,,,They WANT to sell XBOX's,,

This holds True for ALL Products,,Yes from Time to Time you can find Distributors that are Liquidating a Product to Either Raise Capitol, Meet the Minimum Manufactures Purchase Requirement, Closing out the Item, ect, ect, so they will sell it at a loss,,but these are temporary arrangements

The Notion of finding the Best prices on DHGate, or Alibaba is a MYTH,,,Those sites are simply ebay/Amazon type sites,under the gise of being Wholesale sites, TRUE Wholesalers NEVER bother with websites like that,,,Synex is the Largest Consumer Electronics Wholesaler on the PLANET,,CECT one of the Largest in China,,,you cannot find them (or any other TRUE Wholesaler) on DHGate or Ebay,,,So what makes you think that the sellers on those sites are TRUE Wholesalers?

Go to the source,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Is good credit relevant when purchasing from Synnex? If you make payment in full beforehand.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by audiosoft View Post
Some of the items to look into are Cargo shorts. Some people have made a lot of money selling these shorts, you can buy them from China for $10 and sell them for $30+

You can also find original quicksilver shorts, wallets and sell them. I have traded in this niche, but soon it became a little small for me.

You could also deal with little accessories related to Oral-B toothbrushes, all are manufactured in China.

You should look for products that are mainly Made in China and search genuine suppliers in China.

Niches should be targetted, these are usually left open by large sellers. You can then sign a virtual contract with a supplier and start trading the products. Maybe approach companies which are trading offline and take them online.

Another product range which I feel is profitable is skin/hair care products, also the natural herbal medicines. These all can do amazingly well if you sell on eBay or have your own store which is even better.

The key is to look for opportunities in those products which other sellers overlook. Just don't give up! Success doesn't come easy, you have costs to pay. Major cost is TIME.

P.S
eBay is not impossible to make money off. I know someone who makes $1000 a day from eBay in profits. There are many under 18s who are millionaires just because of eBay. They have more determination and commitment and are happy with little gains which converts into big buks later.

If making money was so easy, no one would be poor today - It is difficult but not impossible. Many people give up, not realising they might have been very close to success.

You must be greatful, you are part of this forum and are learning constantly about how to make money. There are people who have no wise material to follow and still pull it off.

Regards, hopefully you'll find the courage some day.
For your cargo shorts comment. If you are paying $10 for them you are getting ripped off. And if you are only making $30 on them, you arent maximizing your profits.
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Old 05-24-2012
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I agree with Slapped. Also, in my experience, there are 2 ways to make money on eBay legitimately:

1) Find a niche product and sell it. The downside is, there are not a lot of sales to be had, so you need quite a few of them to make a living.

2) Buy a TON of whatever and sell a ton, but at a low profit margn. There are sellers making $1 per item when all is said and done, but they sell thousands of items per month.

The MYTH that seems to predominate is there are secret sources of iPad's and other popular electronics items at 50% off the going market price. So, people spend lots of time searching for those sources. They buy silly supplier lists and join clubs that supposedly have the information available to members only. They end up disappointed.

Margins on popular electronics are NOTORIOUSLY thin. The manufacturers make money, but it is difficult at the retail level. Why do you think Circuit City went bankrupt and Best Buy is having problems? This holds true for all quick selling, popular items. Competition quickly drives the prices down and the profit margins along with them.

Slapped's tagline is "The Keys to Success are Research, Research and More Research". That is absolutely true. You won't find the lowest cost suppliers on the first page of Google, or on those ridiculous wholesaler lists. Many are not even on the internet. Or if they are, they are not advertising their pricing.

I make a decent amount of money buying and selling books. But they are not quick sellers. I might have to wait 6 months or even more before I can re-sell a title at the price I want. If you want to make a living doing that, you need volume. I have 30,000 books listed and a few thousand more I have not cataloged and listed yet. It is a lot of work and it will never make me rich. But you can make a good living doing that.

Another way to make money is to buy closeouts. REAL ONES, from REAL DEALERS, not the closeout ⊗⊗⊗⊗rs all over the web. And to get the best deals, you need to have a business relationship with them. When they get a great deal in, they DON'T simply catalog it and put it up on their website. They usually email or call a few buyers they know of who they think will be interested in that particular deal. The merchandise never shows up on a website. What you find on the websites is what their usual buyers have passed on, usually items that won't sell very well. When a REAL liquidator buys a ton of whatever, they usually already have a good idea their usual buyers will be interested - otherwise, they would pass on the deal.

The idea of doing business by:

1) Go to wholesale website and click buy.
2) Sell on eBay for BIG $$$.
3) Retire rich in a couple of months.

is a nice FANTASY, but it does not exist in the real world.

Last edited by jeffweico; 05-24-2012 at 04:54 PM.
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Old 05-25-2012
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Quote:
But they are not quick sellers.
This is the conundrum.

When I started doing this more seriously I wanted stuff leaving my house as soon as it arrived. Sure, that s the holy grail. But it's hard to find.

It doesn't (normally/in my case) work like that.

I now think more like a shop/store and keep a large amount of stock.

I have a room in my place that is now basically a mini warehouse.

I realised this was appropriate when stuff I had lying around and wasn't selling fast had run out - I realised I was making money on all of it. Sure it was sitting around - but it wasn't losing money. Yeh there are some fast movers...but hey until you find them you gotta make some money somewhere.

New eb acts restrict you by the amt you can list. But if you have a limit of 100 - potentially you can have 4 of 25 products...or 2 of 50... that gives you a lot of opportunity to experiment!

As has been said no one becomes a millionaire over night (do they?) work at it...it will happen. Hard work DOES pay off in the long run. That's what you are in it for, right?

Quote:
best way is to look for product that you actually like,know about ,this way you enjoy researching and your work.
Can't agree more. You never get bored looking at stuff you like!

Oh and listen to what people have said-avoid electronics...like the plague. No/minimal profit + too much potential for things breaking in the post" = losing money hand over fist.

Oh yeh and ignore the people who tell you they do it better than you - and they make x of y. Do your own thing. No one is really gonna tell you what they make and what they do. Unless they really are an idiot.

Oops, rant over.
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Old 05-25-2012
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A good thing I do is look at my spend happy buyers feedback to find what they like to buy and more importantly the sellers they frequent to see what they are selling...

If they are Powersellers then I try to find ways to sell what they sell.
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Old 05-25-2012
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hercules View Post
A good thing I do is look at my spend happy buyers feedback to find what they like to buy and more importantly the sellers they frequent to see what they are selling...

If they are Powersellers then I try to find ways to sell what they sell.
This is why I keep my feedback private.... I have done this before too...

Start-up capital is huge when it comes to selling in quantity... You need to be able to purchase in large numbers and sell then vigorously...

Also, you need to consider seasons and time of year... Holidays are golden and can make-up for 90% of the rest of year. Some things I sell just to keep flow going until real profits can be reaped during holidays... By then my rep is good to go...
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