How are new ebay sellers supposed to compete with chinese sellers/competitors?

[Estarossa]

Originally Posted by Pandoras_box

The days of being highly successful on eBay and Amazon without some serious research seems to be over.

Spend a month on Terapeak.com and Alibaba.com, and you'd be rewarded with years of profit.

Spend a month doing what? going through items and cross-checking them on ebay to see if they're worth selling and not too saturated? i can do that but i still don't think i will find anything, i'll give a try though. Alibaba and terapeak and other sites like this are where middlemen are selling the items right? how do i get items from the source/manufacturers for cheaper than these sites? Is there anyway to contact the Chinese source of these products to get better prices? I don't understand terapeak.

[dan_ebay]

Originally Posted by Estarossa

Spend a month doing what? going through items and cross-checking them on ebay to see if they're worth selling and not too saturated? i can do that but i still don't think i will find anything, i'll give a try though. Alibaba and terapeak and other sites like this are where middlemen are selling the items right? how do i get items from the source/manufacturers for cheaper than these sites? Is there anyway to contact the Chinese source of these products to get better prices? I don't understand terapeak.

Bit of a myth that finding a magical manufacturer leads to a great price. I buy most of my items from a middleman, they spend $1-5 mil per order with each brand, get a 20-30% discount on the standard wholesale price and then sell at a 2-5% markup so it's much cheaper to buy from the middleman than the manufacturer in my niche.

[Pandoras_box]

Originally Posted by dan_ebay

Bit of a myth that finding a magical manufacturer leads to a great price. I buy most of my items from a middleman, they spend $1-5 mil per order with each brand, get a 20-30% discount on the standard wholesale price and then sell at a 2-5% markup so it's much cheaper to buy from the middleman than the manufacturer in my niche.

As it should be, otherwise middlemen or distributors would not exist.

[agent006140]

Originally Posted by Estarossa

Most people on this forum are buying bulk from china and reselling, not many are buying from ebay to resell on ebay and i would think the profit margins would be higher if you sold chinese stuff since it's so cheap to acquire. If anyone has a list of sites i can take a look at to find some products that aren't extremely saturated and worth selling, let me know please!

this is the problem,buying from Alibaba,and sell them on Ebay,the ones who sold you on Ali are also selling on Ebay for 99 cents free shipping.

Buying on EBay to resell can be quite profitable if you know what you are doing,I am not talking about the common stuff on EBAY,I am talking the one of a kind stuff,hard to find and if you can find it,cost too much.
But on Ebay ,it shows up every day !
You have to know what you are looking for

[Estarossa]

Originally Posted by agent006140

this is the problem,buying from Alibaba,and sell them on Ebay,the ones who sold you on Ali are also selling on Ebay for 99 cents free shipping.

Buying on EBay to resell can be quite profitable if you know what you are doing,I am not talking about the common stuff on EBAY,I am talking the one of a kind stuff,hard to find and if you can find it,cost too much.
But on Ebay ,it shows up every day !
You have to know what you are looking for

Yes that is exactly the issue i am seeing. The same people selling on alibaba and similar sites are also selling on ebay and you can't beat their prices.

[Pandoras_box]

Originally Posted by Estarossa

Spend a month doing what? going through items and cross-checking them on ebay to see if they're worth selling and not too saturated?
i can do that but i still don't think i will find anything, i'll give a try though. Alibaba and terapeak and other sites like this are where middlemen are selling the items right? how do i get items from the source/manufacturers for cheaper than these sites? Is there anyway to contact the Chinese source of these products to get better prices? I don't understand terapeak.

Actually it would be the other way around. Let's say you see an item on eBay that you think you might like to sell. You check, and the item sells a good quantity daily.
You'd copy the title and paste it into search in Terapeak.com
Hit search and then click on "inventory ideas."
That should show you all items in the seller's shop, including the total amount and quantity sold for each item for a given time.
If you like the figures you see, go on to the steps below. Otherwise, go back to eBay and select another product and title.

You must have an excel file that works out all fees with minimal input. This is essential. Costs will include eBay, Paypal, shipping+, Agents(inspects samples and goods in china), taxes, INR + mail fraud (estimates), importation fees, packaging, branding (if any), storage, stock insurance and a few more.

When you've computed some of these, go on Alibaba and post a "Request for quotation"

Be very thorough and clear about what you want and ask not to be contacted if they cannot meet your stated requirements.
Ask for a final price and make it clear you'd be making your decision based the most affordable offer.

While you wait for responses, go back to eBay, pick another item and repeat the process over and over.
As you begin to get responses, enter the missing information into your excel file. Products and manufacturers that will make you money will quickly stand out.


Many other essential aspects are too numerous to print here. Still, you may already be aware of these - for example, you want to check that no patents, agreements or even local laws prevent you from selling your chosen item. If there's one in place, thrash the product and go on to the next item.


Repeat until you max out your budget.

[asmallredfox]

Originally Posted by Estarossa

I think it's unfair that chinese citizens are registered on UK Ebay and selling items when people who reside in this country have to take the long route and dropship or order bulk and even then it's near impossible to beat the chinese sellers prices since they're at the source of it, while we pay premium. I'm just starting out and i've got some knowledge on how to create accounts, but i just don't see how i can compete with these sellers, i know a lot of you are successful and been doing this for years and obviously not going to reveal the secret, but how do i find profitable items? Ali baba i compared prices and chinese sellers are selling belowbulk price, it's really not worth trying to compete with these guys, you'll just end up losing money. How do i get in touch with private suppliers instead of being forced to buy bulk on alibaba and sites like this? Very frustrating trying to do this in 2020, feels like if you aren't already experienced for many years and know the ins and outs, you got no chance.

Why don`t you ask me , a chinese guy here,haha

[agent006140]

I dont understand why everyone wants to sell Chinese made goods,look around,other countries make things too!!!!!!

[agent006140]

Home depot is limiting number of masks we can buy -ten per person

[Pandoras_box]

CNN says masks won't help.

Got to go full Hazmat suit or seclude yourself.

[james_112233]

Originally Posted by tmastermind

I’ve made a success by actually increasing the price but just packaging the same product differently and competed with Chinese sellers on the UK market and actually done more sales and more profit! Some people get the false economy sense and prefer to buy something that’s worth a little more for a sense of it will last or get better support.

As a couple posted have already alluded to your kinda selling yourself and the service your offering. Don’t just focus on the product solely

Yes, I pay more for items packaged in pretty packaging as it boosts up the price of what I sell when I bundle it up.

I can get the same items from chinese sellers without packaging for peanuts but I don't mind paying a 5x more for the same item in good packaging as it helps sell what I sell.

[james_112233]

Everybody wants to go to the source ... you can still make good profits buying from the middleman but then finding a unique way to present what you sell.

A lot of money is in the presentation.

[Estarossa]

Originally Posted by james_112233

Everybody wants to go to the source ... you can still make good profits buying from the middleman but then finding a unique way to present what you sell.

A lot of money is in the presentation.

I've checked about 20 items from alibaba to ebay, items that i think wouldn't be too popular/saturated and they're all being sold by chinese sellers for close to same price they're being sold on alibaba, these people are selling on alibaba and also selling on ebay so you can't beat them.

[Estarossa]

Originally Posted by Pandoras_box

Actually it would be the other way around. Let's say you see an item on eBay that you think you might like to sell. You check, and the item sells a good quantity daily.
You'd copy the title and paste it into search in Terapeak.com
Hit search and then click on "inventory ideas."
That should show you all items in the seller's shop, including the total amount and quantity sold for each item for a given time.
If you like the figures you see, go on to the steps below. Otherwise, go back to eBay and select another product and title.

You must have an excel file that works out all fees with minimal input. This is essential. Costs will include eBay, Paypal, shipping+, Agents(inspects samples and goods in china), taxes, INR + mail fraud (estimates), importation fees, packaging, branding (if any), storage, stock insurance and a few more.

When you've computed some of these, go on Alibaba and post a "Request for quotation"

Be very thorough and clear about what you want and ask not to be contacted if they cannot meet your stated requirements.
Ask for a final price and state it clearly that if you'd be making your decision based the most affordable offer.

While you wait for responses, go back to eBay, pick another item and repeat the process over and over.
As you begin to get responses, enter the missing information into your excel file. Products and manufacturers that will make you money will quickly stand out.


Many other essential aspects are too numerous to print here. Still, you may already be aware of these - for example, you want to check that no patents, agreements or even local laws prevent you from selling your chosen item. If there's one in place, thrash the product and go on to the next item.


Repeat until you max out your budget.

I'll try automate an excel spreadsheet to calculate costs after i put figures in but i guess i need to find products that the alibaba sellers are not also selling on ebay, that's the hard part that i've seen currently because nearly all items are in one way or another being sold on ebay for the same price so they're not doable at all. Also i don't have any experience about agents, how much do they charge? and what % of cases are INR/mail fraud usually? Also where do i calculate stock insurance? I'm struggling to find a product even after searching a lot from alibaba to ebay.

[Pandoras_box]

You need to find the products on eBay, NOT Alibaba.
It's as easy as pie for you to get 50 to 100 products selling £5000 each per month under 5 hours using the method posted above.

You do not check prices on Alibaba. Those prices are for show and not the real prices. You're there to post a request for quotation. The prices you get in PM will be lower than what's listed.

Google business insurance. Many offers in the UK for next to nothing.

[Doctor453]

Originally Posted by Pandoras_box

Actually it would be the other way around. Let's say you see an item on eBay that you think you might like to sell. You check, and the item sells a good quantity daily.
You'd copy the title and paste it into search in Terapeak.com
Hit search and then click on "inventory ideas."
That should show you all items in the seller's shop, including the total amount and quantity sold for each item for a given time.
If you like the figures you see, go on to the steps below. Otherwise, go back to eBay and select another product and title.

You must have an excel file that works out all fees with minimal input. This is essential. Costs will include eBay, Paypal, shipping+, Agents(inspects samples and goods in china), taxes, INR + mail fraud (estimates), importation fees, packaging, branding (if any), storage, stock insurance and a few more.

When you've computed some of these, go on Alibaba and post a "Request for quotation"

Be very thorough and clear about what you want and ask not to be contacted if they cannot meet your stated requirements.
Ask for a final price and make it clear you'd be making your decision based the most affordable offer.

While you wait for responses, go back to eBay, pick another item and repeat the process over and over.
As you begin to get responses, enter the missing information into your excel file. Products and manufacturers that will make you money will quickly stand out.


Many other essential aspects are too numerous to print here. Still, you may already be aware of these - for example, you want to check that no patents, agreements or even local laws prevent you from selling your chosen item. If there's one in place, thrash the product and go on to the next item.


Repeat until you max out your budget.

you said find products on ebay and not alibaba, so if i find products that are already being sold a lot by other sellers, how will i sell them? do i simply undercut them by 10% or a little and hope my listing sells more and in turn they undercut me and process repeat or what? Thanks again!

[agent006140]

race to the bottom is what you just described,BRAVO !

[prodigyace]

Originally Posted by Doctor453

you said find products on ebay and not alibaba, so if i find products that are already being sold a lot by other sellers, how will i sell them? do i simply undercut them by 10% or a little and hope my listing sells more and in turn they undercut me and process repeat or what? Thanks again!

You sell them by trial and error, I doubt the guy is going to hand you the keys to the castle for free. Learn as you go, its part of the game.

[degsey69]

Originally Posted by Doctor453

you said find products on ebay and not alibaba, so if i find products that are already being sold a lot by other sellers, how will i sell them? do i simply undercut them by 10% or a little and hope my listing sells more and in turn they undercut me and process repeat or what? Thanks again!

One good way to start on eBay is to buy and sell liquidated stock, hardware store pallets are good. I make a good living selling liquidated stock which supplements my other products that are consumables.

[agent006140]

you can go to Youtube and find how some buy returns,refurbished,overstocks by pellets,Ebay also have a wholesale category.
Many Ebay sellers go to storage auction and find brick and mortar stores /manufacturers/wholesalers who have gone under and have remaining inventory in storage,they are brand new and out of production.
Some go to WMT,Sears when they are closing their superstores,discount can be up to 65%,since WMT always have lower prices,35-65% off is really good price and you save on shipping,bring your car,rent a UHAUL,get the whole family involved.
Even regular retail stores would sell wholesale at20% off retail price,with this virus business,you can get them for less,they will be happy to meet your demand so they can keep the store afloat.

[rsot]

Originally Posted by Estarossa

Most people on this forum are buying bulk from china and reselling, not many are buying from ebay to resell on ebay and i would think the profit margins would be higher if you sold chinese stuff since it's so cheap to acquire. If anyone has a list of sites i can take a look at to find some products that aren't extremely saturated and worth selling, let me know please!

Careful on assuming "most"...

[Bigblackdog]

Originally Posted by tinsoldier

Should be plenty of liquidated stock up for grabs soon, the number of businesses going bust will skyrocket. One of the prices we've decide to pay to save a few lives.

I read this morning that 21 people had died of this virus in the UK. Since this storm broke 1500 have died from 'winter flu' and 1700 died in road accidents in the last year - perspective has been completely discarded and the baby is being thrown out with the bath water - we live in crazy times