Info about Ebay (Vanity)

Betty Jane

[Betty Jane]

I know some of you here are Ebay sellers. I need your help.

My brother has been out of work for about 8 months now. He's interested in knowing if it is possible to make a living on Ebay? What types of things are easiest to sell? What should he avoid? Any other tips would be aprreciated.

He can go to many estate sales, farm auctions, etc. Is there any where else he should look for products to start inexpensively?

Thanks for all your help.

[umgud]

bump for later read.........

[Positive]

There is a book titled "Starting and eBay business for dummies." Perhaps he should start there.

[Arkinsaw]

I sell books. Mostly history books. They must not be generic history books, but books about specifics. For instance....History of US Since 1865 would not sell. But History of Jeff Davis County, Texas would sell.

Inside the US Civil War would not sell, but Cannoneers in the Army of Tennessee would sell. I actually buy books for $3.99 off the Hastings bargain rack and resell them. I bought a History of the US Marine Corps in the Civil War Volume I, which was a small run book off of a university press, for $3.99 and sold it the next night for $28.00. I bought a set of Persian Language Tapes for $3.99 and sold them for $26.00. However Japanese and German language tapes would not sell. It has to be sort of unique to sell well.

You could not make a living off of selling books unless you had a really good supply and steady stream. But, selling a few books here and there could help a bottom line.

Genealogy related books also sell well.

[Betty Jane]

Thanks, I'll try to find that.

[Betty Jane]

Thank you for that tip. At all the estate sales there are boxes of books to look through. I'll let him know specificity is important.

[Maigret]

Yes ma'm, it is possible for him to make a good living on ebay, I know a few people who are doing quite well. And don't forget half.com, an ebay company. While I don't make a living on these two, I make some nice 'mad money' for the extras I then usually turn around and find at great prices on ebay.

I haven't attended any of the ebay conferences, but I've heard that they are very good. ebay itself is happy to answer some of the questions he might have. Not only should he look at estate sales, etc., but wholesale items that he can then turn around and sell at a small mark up that keeps it a good ebay buy vs. retail.

One of the best things he can do to begin is just spend time looking on ebay to learn what people are looking for and if he is near any kind of outlet stores - say Pottery Barn, Le Creuset cookware, Linens & Things, any type of outlet store where he can pick up quality items with a slight irregularity, he can easily make a profit by selling them again. Hope that helps!

[Betty Jane]

Thanks. I hadn't thought of that. At this point extra money is what they really need.

He and his wife have two small boys. When he got laid off, his wife went to work and he's been staying home. But she doesn't make as much as he did.

If he could make up the difference between the two, that would definately help. They're extremely frugal, but the savings are being eaten up.

[Polybius]

The bottom line is that you have to be able to know what is valuable and what is junk.

Also, your items have to be small enough to mail cheaply. A piece of furniture, for example, will not sell well if the buyer will have to pay half it's cost for shipping.

I would suggest that your brother make a list of the items he usually finds at estate sales and then do eBay searches on such items. He can then see what sells and what does not.

However, again, you have to be knowledgeable about what you are selling. A friend of mine makes a good bit of money buying old paperback novels for five cents apiece at junk sales and selling some of them on eBay for over $50. When I asked her why anyone would pay $55 for the item she was showing me on her computer screen, she explained that that particular paperback novel was the first novel by a now famous romance writer and that only a small number of copies were printed.

The lesson is that my friend can make money selling paperback novels on eBay because she knows the paperback novel market. However, I would lose my shirt on posting fees since I don't know the first thing about that particular market.

[Betty Jane]

Thank you. Yes, he is doing some research now. He runs across Hummels and knick knacks often. He sees dishes, bowls, books, post cards, magazines, silverware, and other household items. I don't think he is looking at furnture, although small tables might not be too in shipping costs. At many of these estate sales, the people who lived there were in their 70's and 80's and have much old stuff. AT the farm sales there are often old hand tools as well as tractors and such.

My idea is to see if there are things that are definitely worth buying and things to always stay away from.

[Servant of the Nine]

He has to pick something he knows something about.

I don't think you can learn enough aout anything in a short time to get the buying and selling prices right.

So9

[daviddennis]

The best way to learn is to search for common estate items under "Completed Items". Those are the final prices post-auction.

The very existance of eBay has increased prices of collectable items overall, so make sure you can still buy and sell profitably.

It would help if you're an expert, but I don't think you have to be if you can buy things cheap enough compared to their final prices.

It might be useful to bring a portable Internet device like a T-Mobile Sidekick along when you shop. Then you can go to eBay on the spot, type in search terms for the item and get a rough value for it before you negotiate a price with the seller.

Finally, word your title carefully and avoid misspellings. People place listings for things like "Cannon" cameras that never get found, even though plenty of people search for "Canon".

Hope that helps.

D

[Betty Jane]

Thank you for the info. I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions.

[ChadsDad]

Check out the community section on eBay.

[ChadsDad]

The first thing we did was start selling stuff the kids had quit using. Or useful junk. We've just used it for madmoney. But it's fun. And you basically get free stuff. Have him open a paypal account asap, a lot of auctions won't recieve a bid just beacuse they don't take paypal. Folks are looking to spend from that account. Here is our recent experiences...

http://cgi1.ebay.com/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll?MyeBayFeedback&userid=villagemotors&pass=qYedhy1lyLATpmG3mtJty.2&first=N&sellerSort=3&bidderSort=3&watchSort=3&dayssince=30&all=1