 Re: there's just nothing a small business can sell!
The problem is that too many people all want to sell the same items. They are all chasing those mythical sources of $100 iPhones (those sources do not exist).
You have to find niches. There are tons of profitable niches out there, but it takes a lot of research to find them. You will not be selling the most popular items, with 50 sales per day. A niche may mean selling 5 items per month. On the plus side, the sales will be more profitable. And most of us have found many, many niches.
You are correct that small businesses cannot compete with the Walmarts of the world. They can sell products cheaper than you can buy them for wholesale. Nothing is going to change that. So you have to concentrate on the stuff that they are not selling.
Some people buy closeouts of everyday items, like men's socks. They buy in huge quantities super cheap and make $1 or less on each sale, making their profits through volume.
Others find the more profitable niches where competition is limited. I NEVER stop looking for products to sell. I prefer niches, but have taken some closeout deals in my day.
Another way to approach it is to find something that is not selling well and market it in a different way. Many years ago, I bought hundreds of IBM Voice Pilots for $5 each. It was voice recognition software with a microphone in a cool looking box. It didn't work NEARLY as well as what we have today. But a lot of people were interested in it - just not at $99.
So, I came up with the headline "You Talk, It Types!" and wrote a nice little ad touting the benefits of voice recognition software and used pictures of the box HEAVILY to make the ad look cool. I had dutch auctions on these starting at $12.95 plus shipping and I listed 50 at a time. Within 7 days, I would have hundreds of bids and sold my 50 items for $20, $30 or even more. I did this as many times as I could. By the time all was said and done, I probably sold a couple thousand units. I bought up Voice Pilots from every closeout source I could find. When people tried to copy my ads, I would change the URL of my pictures to new ones and in place of the old pictures, I put up the most disgusting porn I could find! I know I caused a few people to lose their accounts (Back in the day, it was HARD to lose an account!) but I think they deserved it. Of course these days, I couldn't do that since eBay actually hosts the pictures.
The thing is, you have to think outside the box. You can buy all of the wholesale lists you want, but that will just lead to frustration. You have to out-think your competitors. Put a new spin on an old product. Find something that you only sell a few of each month but make some decent money on. That is the only way to be successful selling online at eBay.
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