Do you prefer to stick with one niche or sell whatever is hot at the moment?

[kittylove]

i cant figure out which one to do..

[dealagreeproceed]

a hot niche

[glacier922]

Anything I can get my hands on.

[flowclothingco]

i love selling certain things that i like to collect and such but the real money is in the heat if you can in before something goes viral you could retire off of it

[CustomerServiceProTip]

I basically sell anything that can make me a profit haha

[vogeltron]

I sell whatever I know will make a profit and not get my account shut down. There is a learning curve for all items being sold.

[Haidukken]

Currently I'm selling in one category only with various different products- I hardly sell one items twice, but my category is always the same.
Lately I've been thinking about perhaps investing into other categories just to see where my profit % would be and how fast I can turn over certain stock, but as I still feel I've got a bit to learn and practice in curent category I'll most likely stick with it till the end of the year.

I just feel that I should be selling what ever makes me money, not work with products that I like myself. This all started from a hobby, so I'm not so surprised that I'm passionate about my category. The same way you shouldn't keep all your eggs in one basket when it comes to stealth accounts, I feel that I shouldn't keep all my eggs in one category either- The more you can diversify your business with keeping the profit % up, the more stable the income will get.

BUT, on the same token- I feel that because of my passion, I'm much more productive and efficient when it comes to actual work.

[RosieTosie]

Originally Posted by kittylove

i cant figure out which one to do..

Hi kitty, I have found I have kind of stumbled almost into add on type areas, especially if I have found something that sells quite well, then can pick up on ebay's suggestions for other items that people have been looking at and buying and the amount of feedback been left for those items. It all a learning curve as has been said.

[notsosureaboutit]

I do this as a hobby and initially was set up for my wife to make some extra money therefore I keep it simple. One nice with a hand full of items and suppliers I know well.

If I would do it full-time, I would diversify, sell in different niche and more items.

[jeffweico]

There is nothing wrong with doing both. I have many niches, but I am always looking at new products coming out. If you can write a great listing for a new product and you get it before 22,197 other people are listing it, you can make an EXCELLENT PROFIT!

I try to stay away from the overly "hot" categories. But I did very well a couple of years ago selling 24k gold plated playing cards. They really ARE plated in 24k gold, but it is a microscopically thin layer. However, they LOOK GREAT! So, I took some very large, detailed pictures and put them in my listing along with a couple of paragraphs about it being a great gift for people who are difficult to buy for. Even if people do not use them as playing cards, they are a great novelty item and not too expensive. This fits into the $10 - $20 gift category making it suitable for a wide audience of purchasers.

I always ask myself 3 questions...

1) What is the profit margin?
2) What is the demand? If new, you may have to guess based on the product characteristics.
3) What is the competition like?

Those 3 factors are VERY IMPORTANT! Especially that last one. While you cannot prevent competition, you don't want to invest a couple thousand dollars into a product that 400 other sellers are listing.

[RosieTosie]

Originally Posted by jeffweico

There is nothing wrong with doing both. I have many niches, but I am always looking at new products coming out. If you can write a great listing for a new product and you get it before 22,197 other people are listing it, you can make an EXCELLENT PROFIT!

I try to stay away from the overly "hot" categories. But I did very well a couple of years ago selling 24k gold plated playing cards. They really ARE plated in 24k gold, but it is a microscopically thin layer. However, they LOOK GREAT! So, I took some very large, detailed pictures and put them in my listing along with a couple of paragraphs about it being a great gift for people who are difficult to buy for. Even if people do not use them as playing cards, they are a great novelty item and not too expensive. This fits into the $10 - $20 gift category making it suitable for a wide audience of purchasers.

I always ask myself 3 questions...

1) What is the profit margin?
2) What is the demand? If new, you may have to guess based on the product characteristics.
3) What is the competition like?

Those 3 factors are VERY IMPORTANT! Especially that last one. While you cannot prevent competition, you don't want to invest a couple thousand dollars into a product that 400 other sellers are listing.

Great bit of info there Jeff, how on earth did you discover those gold plated playing cards, guess you were just in the right place at the right time.

[Trustfund]

i just find other sellers who are dropshippers, go through their product lists find their best selling item and copy and paste the title in aliexpress. boom 9/10 times it comes up.

copy their listing ofc altering multiple things, undercut them and hey presto instant profit.

but then you will get the scourges on here who will tell you how bad an idea it is in a second

[Shekibi]

IT really depends on the person; if you're someone who is hard working and doesn't mind working a little more then you should go for whatever that's hot selling, goodluck though