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Ebay for a Living ?
 

Im just curious, how many ppl here use "only ebay" to make money as a large part of their online income?

With all the Chinese compeitiors on Ebay selling directly to the USA consumer...i was getting discouraged on making money do this.

I'm hearing a lot of ppl make barely or little to no money and don't want to get stuck in that boat. I was looking for something to subsidize my income...and eventually do Ebay (or something like it) full time.

1. Anyone making a decent amount of money using Ebay?

2. What about of time is "REALISTICALLY" needed to work an Ebay Business?

3. What resources and personality traits does one need to do it successfully?

thanks for your input.

PS.
if this has been raised before, please direct me to that thread. thanks

1. Anyone making a decent amount of money using Ebay?

Yes, many people are. You have to find a niche. Electronics has notoriously low profit margins, even Best Buy makes very little when they sell a large screen TV. That is why they push the extra warranties and $49 HDMI cables. It is difficult to be successful looking to serve the largest markets. Niches, in my opinion, are the way to go.

2. What about of time is "REALISTICALLY" needed to work an Ebay Business?

It depends on what you sell and how much money you want to make. If you are looking for a full time income, it will take full time hours. Research is key, selling and filling orders is only a PART of the process. As with anything else in life, the more you put into it, the more successful you will be.

3. What resources and personality traits does one need to do it successfully?

Being professional and having good customer service skills is more important than ever. All of the venues are trying to be customer service oriented. You also need some money for inventory and to operate. You have to be able to absorb a loss, because it WILL happen at some point. And you have to be self-motivating. It is too easy to put on a movie and forget about your work, especially when nobody else is around.

Selling online has some advantages. For example, you don't have to pay rent or worry about keeping a physical store open from 8am - 10pm. But you WILL have to pay commissions, postage and fees. You don't have to worry about someone coming into your store with a gun. But You DO have to watch out for scammers.

Just because it is online does not mean that it is easy, or that it is free. eBay is probably the most competitive marketplace in the world. There is always someone willing to sell something a little bit cheaper than you. And, in some niches, sellers will resort to underhanded tactics to try to get your account banned - and sometimes it works.

All in all, it is a business, just like any other business. It has an upside, a downside, and a million little tricks that you learn from experience.

Yes.

I do it for a living and have since I stopped working and was given the opportunity to do it full time.

Thanks to what I have learned here I have increased my income a ton from back in 2009 when I joined this board.

Got my original account back and a few hundred spares too.

It can be done but you really need to hustle like crazy.

Normal day for me is 14-16 hours doing various things.

I enjoy it, make great money and get to do and buy whatever I want.

Lucky yes, working hard yes and love to succeed at everything I do.

Takes effort.

Yes, I do it for a living. I quit my job when I started making my weekly income in a day at home.

As far as time, at least 8 hours a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but on average you must put into your business the hours you would normally be working. During the Holiday season's, I'll put in double the hours, close to 100 hours per week. I have no life during December, and you must be prepared for that.

As far as individual's, you have to be an entrepreneur who's constantly looking for new ideas. I'm a workaholic, I dream about ideas that can make me money, so for me, it's a 24 hour per day job. I imagine that most individuals who are very successful at what they do are similar in that regard.

+1 for you!!

Well said. Same for me. I do not like chances or opportunities going by me.
Many successful people have the same drive that you and I have. The person I followed was Mark Cuban, already extremely wealthy and still does not let time or a risk go by that he likes. That is something I like in a person.

Never been a couch potato and never will be.

Not many lazy people have become successful that I am aware of.

3hrs of work a day, make more than at any part time job, and I get to bug everyone on the board....especially Sandy :thumb:

I dont work crazy hours like Sandy but I still do hours of work. Come Jan. I will work even more with my own tow truck at a car auction. I already bought the tow truck just need the final paper work and bond insurance to finalize.

The best thing about that business is "you are in control". You are your own boss, thus, you decide the hours, products and strategies. Once you get a flavor of how much you can earn, you will get hooked .who doesn't love being successful :cheer:

well....

entirely depends on your margins & products i guess:-

i turned over £75k ($116k) last year in my spare time, with a minimum margin of 300% (but often much much higher!)...my spare time being a few hours in the evening, and a fair amount of the weekend

i do however retain a full-time job..both for the financial security aspect, and the fact that my stock is sometimes hard to find!

I would say to make a full time living on ebay you'd need to be organized, analyitcal and patient.
The thing about ebay is that it is always changing because what's popular and in demand is always changing so you can't get comfortable selling the same item over and over. You need to always be researching and observing what is going on in the marketplace, what is all the rage today will be dead and out of favor in 6 months in some cases.

Hence I would urge patience and caution when moving to ebay as a source of full time income, just because you have found a hot item that has sold great for a couple months and you have raked in the profits doesn't mean it's be a safe bet to give up a regular job and devote all your time to ebay.

That item might be totally dead 4 months from now then there you are. I would caution anyone from making the leap from regular employment to ebay with less than 2 years of proven consistent sales, but even then you will need to always be on the lookout to expand your mix of items.

I always treat ebay as the backup plan for myself since I have never found an item that sells consistently for a long time with a high profit margin but others do everyday so it can be done.

12-16 hours a day all ebay all day

2-5 hours doing grunt work, 6-8 doing research and finding new things On

Only income I have is ebay and pp

It is a scary thought until you know and have the security of backup accounts

thanks man...so you think it needs 2 yrs of PT work first. Ok i got that. I guess i will do lots of research

My two cents...
 

eBay was and will be a significant part of my income but I also have a B&M retail store. The store isn't that profitable, but in what I sell, I find that once people know that you're not some guy in pajamas sitting at home, they're more willing to send you money without fear of getting ripped off.

1. Anyone making a decent amount of money using Ebay?

Money's good. Can't complain.

2. What about of time is "REALISTICALLY" needed to work an Ebay Business?

You will have to work even harder than a 9 to 5 job to get established. Once you have a customer base who keeps coming back and reordering, you can slow down just a little.

3. What resources and personality traits does one need to do it successfully?

Don't ever procrastinate, be meticulous, and always be self motivated, because a bad day or two will get you creamed.

I probably do research 4-6 hours a day and another 4-6 hours a day of listing, shipping and customer service. Some days are longer, especially if sales are good. Forget about having a life in November/December.

I would also say to have someone who can step in and take your place in an emergency. That could be your spouse, a friend, or whomever. Because if you end up in the hospital for a week and neglect your accounts, you could easily lose them.

I used to own a banquet hall restaurant and lounge a 20,000 square ft facility but after the market went down in 2007 it was nothing but a struggle working long hours for sometimes losses , I got out of that in 2010 and just looking for different opportunities , and workin as a bartender , I just started ebay back in October and was doing great and bang the axe came down and that was it went through another heart break after just recovering from my other business.

Anyway I started learning stealth in January and just hit the ground running I always been self motivated and love working for myself, I'm used to working long grueling hours in the restaurant business but with online sale it's great because now I always a get paid for my hard work which is something that feels great because I. Restaurant you work long and hard but sometimes end up losing.

Now I really enjoy what I'm doing love working Lon hours an love more getting rewarded. I stil work part time but don't really need to I just do it for fun I always worked in restaurants and now with ebay can do it and not need to worry about the money

I just keep building accounts and the sales are rolling in , each month that goes by I have more sales and more accounts. I'm sure if I keep this pace up ill eventually just stop working and and sell online full time by this time next year

It's just great feeling knowing more work equals more sales and profits , and this is all thanks to this forum and a priceless ebay stealth guide

I agree. Not everyone can turn something like ebay into a full time living.
Some try it and do not succeed.

Operating a true business before and or having experience buying and selling of some type of items is a must before anyone leaps into this idea.

I work for about 3 hours a day, which includes both EBay and Amazon. Making more than I did with my full time job in London(plus some other small income sources)

I don't sell many different products, but the products I do sell are mostly niche.

I also live in Eastern Europe where my rent is about 250 Euros a month(the same as the average monthly salary here)

I could work 15 hours a day and make a lot more, but I don't see the point these days, life is very good right now, I would rather be thankful for this and enjoy, than working my ass off all day.

I own almost nothing, I can leave and go to another country to live tomorrow if I desire.

There may come a time when circumstances change and I need to re-adjust, but for now things are good

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/06/12/yqebyve7.jpg

Nightlife ain't bad either, it's terrible being a minority ;)

I dont sell on ebay much but amazon. I work probably 2-3 hours a day average. Make what anyone in my family makes for a year in a months time.

I only call "work" as shipping. Everything else I do from my phone

Thanks all...Now...i have to find that first product to sell on Ebay to my feet wet.

thanks.

one more thing I want to add
 

ALWAYS under promise and over deliver

A lot of people do the opposite and I guess it's okay if your business plan is to burn out accounts every year or so, but for long term success on the same account, this is probably the the way to go.

This is known as the Scotty from Star Trek principle. ;)

Full time eBayer/online seller more out of necessity. Found when I was going through College the only way I could pay for it was to quit my part time job and do eBay. Didn't have time for both at the time eBay was much more lucrative. After graduation, year went by and couldn't find employment on any level even a modest or part time to supplement my online income. So eBay and selling online is a necessity.

I admit it nice having flexible hours. I work much more during certain parts of the years than others. However, like everyone who is on eBay or owns any kind of business you never know if your accounts or you business is going to be there tomorrow. There are downsides as well. If you ever do look for employment having a long history of being self-employed most employers really look down upon you. Think you can't handle directions, think you ran your business in the ground etc, etc. Will never fit in the Corporate culture, I.E. too independent. Unless you are trying to get into a commission based sales job.

Anyways I have a love hate relationship with eBay and PayPal. Many aspects of their business model I disagree with. However, I have been able to make a modest living for quite some time now. So I take the good with the bad.

I use ebay to top up my income as I'm in full time employment.

I do Ebay full time...
Just finished Cosmo School, and hoping ebay will help me pay to open my own salon & I can do both :) Last few years where ruff, but I think I got the swing of things now.
&& Everythings going well.. Id say go for it!! I love bein able to work when
I have time, not the other way around... Like today, me & the kids went to the lake and now im at home on the comp.. :)

I started ebay because of medical condition, loss of job, and divorce all within months. I had to move in with my parents. I even lost my car to repo and was riding a bicycle. Lowest point in my life

However it has blossomed beyond my imagination. I will pass 1 million is sales in less then few years and all on steath...

I made a plan. I studied just creating and working stealth found my niche and just ran with it.

Now my medical bills are paid off, I own a Cadillac Escalade and Covertible BMW, A new house is paid off in full and I am engaged to be married.

Stealth and Law of Attraction!

Apply for a job using steal th LOL

Awesome good story, write it and sell it on Amazon! Congrats to you sounds like you are committed and have done a hell of a job! Success comes to those who give it hell!

AWESOME!!!

Congrats to you Max on all points.

@newjerseymax

Awesome post.

Well done

:thumb:

Awesome good for you!! Like any business owner you need to be self motivated and have that drive within you. Not. Everyone is cut out to run their own business and need to have that discipline coming from someone else. Most people just want to do the bear minimum to get by in their job and get that weekly paycheck which is great if that's what you want but having a business on ebay won't work with that attitude. In order to succeed you need to be self motivated love what your doing and have no concern for work hours. Having your own business is not just a job where u punch in and out and only care about your tasks, it is a way of life a passion, a business becomes your baby which you nurture and grow and u forget about work hours because as long as your awake your working on your business , that is if you want it to thrive and be profitable.

I was always my own boss and yes their are many downsides , sometimes you wish you can just have a set schedule work your hours get paid and not worry about work until your next scheduled day. But the reward for me out ways all the negatives, and with selling online I really think I found something that really pays off for all your hard work

The trick here is what to sell.....everybody talks about niche products and do lots of research, but more specifics would really help :-)

I don't think you can teach people how to find
 

"niche" products, because if there is a system that works on picking products, then it wouldn't be niche very long because everyone would be doing it. Generally I think it's a good idea that you become very knowledgeable on something, whether it be vintage clothing, comic books, whatever interests you.

I think the most important thing is don't get into anything where you have 800 people drop shipping the same thing made by the same three factories in China.

Here's a product for you to sell:

rainbow colored apples, there are currently no other sellers, it would be a niche market. the moment other sellers get the same product and there are 800 other people selling these apples, its no longer niche.

Noone is going to tell you what to sell, why would they?
If it's a good idea, they would do it themselves. You're here to make money as is everyone else.

Best advice is to look at things that interest you, and become knowledgeable on them. Example, you love tea, look into getting custom tea cups made for you.

Best of luck.

Sure, no one is going to tell me what to sell. But perhaps some light on how to do a good research? What tools can you use to make the research? Only looking at the items on ebay? Or do you use third party tools?

I dabble in eB and Az - my heavy days have long gone past me (hardcore seller during my school) but now, it's more recreational - brings in some extra and keeps my skills alive. I do have to work to survive and live

Figure out what it is that you have access to that others might not, anything that is being sold on ebay by chinese sellers or by tons of others is something I would steer clear of, If you can source something locally you have a much better chance of finding a product that works for you.

Just keep your eyes and ears open
 

If there is a 3rd party doing the research for you, what ever they're recommending has already been advertised to ten thousand other sellers. What US based sellers without a few hundred grand to throw around in china (so your account means anything to chinese factories) needs to do is keep your eyes and ears open locally to see what stuff you can acquire for less than what it sells on eBay.

Generally you want to stay away from things that Chinese producers are selling directly on eBay, because most of those people are selling on eBay direct and also has a drop ship department selling the exact same items to other sellers. It then basically becomes a battle between you and 800 other drop shippers to see who can survive with the least profit margin.

So Basically you are part time. That's kewl....as long as you are making some profit at the end of the month. Everything helps (these days).

Don't know bout all these Glory stories of ppl making 100k a month. I suppose that's possible....but probably a small percentage.

Bring it on MM------

Now get back to work. 3 hours is nothing.

Get that house cleaned up yet for the wife?