[AMA] Importing & wholesaling for resale on eBay.

[AntEmpire]

Found a product that looks decent to sell and asked for a quote on Alibaba. The item has a FOB of $5-10 and is no bigger than a small, decorative pillow. I asked for a sample of 5 and was quoted a price of $300 and $150 for shipping. Either I'm cheap or that's a bit high.

 

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[Tyman]

Found a product that looks decent to sell and asked for a quote on Alibaba. The item has a FOB of $5-10 and is no bigger than a small, decorative pillow. I asked for a sample of 5 and was quoted a price of $300 and $150 for shipping. Either I'm cheap or that's a bit high.

You check dhgate and aliexpress to see if they sell them? Shipping is usually free (they factor it into their price but still)

 

[aa610]

Found a product that looks decent to sell and asked for a quote on Alibaba. The item has a FOB of $5-10 and is no bigger than a small, decorative pillow. I asked for a sample of 5 and was quoted a price of $300 and $150 for shipping. Either I'm cheap or that's a bit high.

They will try to fleece you on their samples. Negotiate with them.


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[P3HSB]

. Ideally you want a product that sells 5-10 items a day with just a few competitors or none at all.

If there are competitors with buy it now listings just watch them for a day or two. Write down how many they have as "sold" on their listing and then check back in 24 hours. If there are no competitors you have to order a sample and see how they sell.

1) Would sellers from China or from Hong Kong be considered as competitors? (Selling at very low price to US buyers)

2) How much is consider a few competitors? (Example, 1 page of listing with 2-3 listing that have similar product your trying to import?)

3) Each time I type different variations of keywords more or less listing come up of that particular product, do other keywords for that item count as competitors too?

4) What if I can find a product with decent margins on Ebay, but on Amazon people can buy it for way cheaper? Does that play a factor on whether you've found a good product or not?

5) For reviews, If I see review of people saying this product is "cheaply built and it breaks easily" but its a hot seller with good margins, is it still worth pursuing?

6) When you spot a good product on ebay and track it and the product is doing good, do you try to find that exact product to resell, or would similar ones that look like it but not quite work too? Sometimes I find products that are doing well on ebay, but I can't seem to find them on Alibaba/AliExpress/Dhgate that look exactly similar.

 

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[aa610]

If there's a product selling on eBay that is cheaper on Amazon, you probably don't want to be a seller.


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[FlamingRemedy]

Hey Ecom man, I have a question regarding the ebay side after you've imported. Have you ever gotten a negative feedback for item not received while it was in transit and then a return request while it is still in transit only to have the buyer not understand how it works? Also, have you ever received a return request saying item not received despite having delivery confirmation and tracking? How do you deal with customers like this?

 

[mbj316]

How easy is it to get your selling limits raised from 100 items? I know it says to call them, but are they likely to increase it? I have an order of 200 units coming this week, however I just realized my selling limit is only at 100 items or $5,000, whichever I hit first.

Thank you in advanced for your help! I greatly appreciate it.

 

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[FlamingRemedy]

How easy is it to get your selling limits raised from 100 items? I know it says to call them, but are they likely to increase it? I have an order of 200 units coming this week, however I just realized my selling limit is only at 100 items or $5,000, whichever I hit first.

Thank you in advanced for your help! I greatly appreciate it.

Usually, when you reach one of these limits they'll increase them within a couple of days or so.

 

[mbj316]

Thanks for the reply! I actually had opened up a second account a few weeks ago in order to separate my main niche from other items and the selling limit for that account is 500 items or $25,000 per month, go figure. Clearly they have an odd formula for determining selling limits.

 

[Speedgor]

Hey mate, great thread on selling via amazonand ebay.

"ebay is tapped out now, everyone knows about it, everyone is doing it" has always been my mentality. I have 5 sample products to test out now, just wondering if you can PM me and advise whether I am pointing in the right direction. I cant seem to find the PM button on this page

Cheers

 

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[carburated]

Question for the people doing this:
What is your average order size in US dollars?

Doing this small time, if I do a $900-$1,100 order, I see the profits hovering at about 15%.

I would like to make bigger profit margins...
Something akin to 30% (or more).

I can increase my profits by shipping non USPS Priority Mail.
Yet I like shipping USPS Priority Mail because I believe it "adds value" to the purchase.
People get their order faster, with Tracking Number.

What are your guys' thoughts?

Thank you for the feedback!

 

[Walter Hay]

Question for the people doing this:
What is your average order size in US dollars?

Doing this small time, if I do a $900-$1,100 order, I see the profits hovering at about 15%.

I would like to make bigger profit margins...
Something akin to 30% (or more).

I can increase my profits by shipping non USPS Priority Mail.
Yet I like shipping USPS Priority Mail because I believe it "adds value" to the purchase.
People get their order faster, with Tracking Number.

What are your guys' thoughts?

Thank you for the feedback!

Profits begin with buying. If you buy right you can make excellent profits.

I regard 15% as a pathetic profit margin and 30% as still not good enough. If your margins are that low, you must be buying from wholesalers pretending to be manufacturers but they are not. A very common problem when you use the majority of the big B2B sites.

You might like to check out my post in which I quoted from someone about the margin they make: Sharing my lifetime experience in export/import. Product sourcing specialist.

The post was mainly about starting small, but success at that depends on getting a big margin. Success at continuing to be profitable also depends on getting the best possible margin, and that is certainly not 30%.

 

[carburated]

I regard 15% as a pathetic profit margin and 30% as still not good enough. If your margins are that low, you must be buying from wholesalers pretending to be manufacturers but they are not. A very common problem when you use the majority of the big B2B sites.

Walter,
Thank you very much for your reply.
Following your advice, and the advice of your awesome book, I went back into my search for the manufacturers.

The ratio of wholesalers/resellers to manufacturers is astonishing.
Yet, part of doing business.

I like it, as it is how MJ's book says:
Barriers to entry.

The more difficult it is to get into this, the better for those on the other side.

Will keep everyone updated with progress.

 

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[Ecom man]

Sorry for the delay in responding to your questions all. I am in the process of ramping up my website and it is blowing my mind how much there is to learn but also how quickly you can build! We have done 15k in sales in the last 7 days alone! If you have a decent number of products that are selling on eBay i would strongly urge you to get your own website set up! I wish I would have done one from the beginning!

 

[Ecom man]

Found a product that looks decent to sell and asked for a quote on Alibaba. The item has a FOB of $5-10 and is no bigger than a small, decorative pillow. I asked for a sample of 5 and was quoted a price of $300 and $150 for shipping. Either I'm cheap or that's a bit high.

Far to often sellers on Alibaba list a super cheap price and then gouge you something awful on shipping to make up the difference. I always ask for the all in price to my door for the products. That helps compare apples to apples from different people.

 

[Ecom man]

1) Would sellers from China or from Hong Kong be considered as competitors? (Selling at very low price to US buyers)

2) How much is consider a few competitors? (Example, 1 page of listing with 2-3 listing that have similar product your trying to import?)

3) Each time I type different variations of keywords more or less listing come up of that particular product, do other keywords for that item count count as competitors too?

4) What if I can find a product with decent margins on Ebay, but on Amazon people can buy it for way cheaper? Does that play a factor on whether you've found a good product or not?

5) For reviews, If I see review of people saying this product is "cheaply built and it breaks easily" but its a hot seller with good margins, is it still worth pursuing?

6) When you spot a good product on ebay and track it and the product is doing good, do you try to find that exact product to resell, or would similar ones that look like it but not quite work too? Sometimes I find products that are doing well on ebay, but I can't seem to find them on Alibaba/AliExpress/Dhgate that look exactly similar.

1. They are competitors technically but there are many US buyers on eBay that will not buy from China sellers. Those are the customers you want.

2. You want there to be a low enough number of competitors where your listings don't get buried in page after page of listings. Many people see the demand for iPhone chargers and jump right in. They list them and never get any views because of the many many pages of other listings. I prefer 15 or less competitors for a new item but if the margins are there I will go for it if being the cheapest seller still has high margins 50+% profit.

3. Just go with the most popular search title and go from there. You don't have to be super technical.

4. It is totally counterintuitive but some people will buy everything from eBay and never check a price on Amazon. The same goes for some buyers on Amazon. They will never check eBay for prices.

5. Go for it. Check a sample and see if the quality is horrible. If so try another person or manufacture. Selling crappy products will get you crappy feedback. Some sellers just don't care and sell thousands of low quality products and have 95% positive feedback. If you want to go that router hand go for it, otherwise see of you can find higher quality versions of the product.

6. Order samples and find out how they sell. The ultimate decider is how well your own samples sell. That is the only way to know.

 

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[Ecom man]

Hey Ecom man, I have a question regarding the ebay side after you've imported. Have you ever gotten a negative feedback for item not received while it was in transit and then a return request while it is still in transit only to have the buyer not understand how it works? Also, have you ever received a return request saying item not received despite having delivery confirmation and tracking? How do you deal with customers like this?

Unfortunately you have customers who simply don't understand how buying online works. eBay has a semi confusing setup too so many times people open cases without even knowing they are doing it. If the person left the negative before even receiving the item contact them and ask them what's up.
In regards to an item not received case as long as you have delivery confirmation eBay will normally side with you. I have had someone say they didn't get it and opened a case. eBay sided with me but gave the customer a refund out of their own pocket. That was an odd one.

 

[Ecom man]

How easy is it to get your selling limits raised from 100 items? I know it says to call them, but are they likely to increase it? I have an order of 200 units coming this week, however I just realized my selling limit is only at 100 items or $5,000, whichever I hit first.

Thank you in advanced for your help! I greatly appreciate it.

Call them up and ask. They will normally ask a few basic questions and if your account is in good standing they will raise it to the next level. Sometimes they will raise it automatically but there is no harm in calling and finding out.

 

[Ecom man]

Thanks for the reply! I actually had opened up a second account a few weeks ago in order to separate my main niche from other items and the selling limit for that account is 500 items or $25,000 per month, go figure. Clearly they have an odd formula for determining selling limits.

Just an FYI having multiple accounts is against eBays terms of service unless you get it cleared through them for two separate lines of products. (For example you sell clothing and electronics and want 2 separate user accounts for the separate lines) Yes they do have a weird formula for just about everything.

 

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[Ecom man]

Question for the people doing this:
What is your average order size in US dollars?

Doing this small time, if I do a $900-$1,100 order, I see the profits hovering at about 15%.

I would like to make bigger profit margins...
Something akin to 30% (or more).

I can increase my profits by shipping non USPS Priority Mail.
Yet I like shipping USPS Priority Mail because I believe it "adds value" to the purchase.
People get their order faster, with Tracking Number.

What are your guys' thoughts?

Thank you for the feedback!

I agree 15% would be a smaller profit margin that most people will scoff at. I look at it from more than just a simple %profit equation. I also want to know how quick I can turn that item. I will take a 15% profit that I can sell 1000's of over a 100% profit that I can sell 10 of. Obviously the winner is 100%+ profit and 1000's of sales but those can be much harder to find.

I personally don't import a product unless I can double my money on it at minimum but i value my time pretty high because there are so many places to put my money and I only a small amount of time.

 

[Omni]

Hi @Ecom man , When you find a product with low competition: what tips or resources would you recommend to distinguish on whether the manufacturer is infringing on copyrights (and you shouldn't continue with this product) or if your competitor is also importing for wholesale (and you should order samples)? Thank you for all the tips and advice, excellent thread!

 

[Ronak]

Sorry for the delay in responding to your questions all. I am in the process of ramping up my website and it is blowing my mind how much there is to learn but also how quickly you can build! We have done 15k in sales in the last 7 days alone! If you have a decent number of products that are selling on eBay i would strongly urge you to get your own website set up! I wish I would have done one from the beginning!

That's awesome! How are you getting traffic to your site?

 

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[albertut77]

Hey guys,

First of all, thank you @Ecom man for putting this together. As you may have read 100 times by now, I'm one of those that had had this kind of business in mind for some time but always put up excuses like "it's impossible, it's too crowded". Well, after finding this post three weeks ago, lurking like a madman and doing tons of research, I'm waiting now for my first 4 products' samples to arrive, which should be no later than next week, and I have fairly good expectations about them. I will keep updates of my progress, in case someone is interested in the future.

So far I'm at page 31 of this thread, so my doubts might have been answered already, but I ask for some mercy here. I can't research products, figure costs and margins, work full time (unpaid, MSc internship...) and read all this at the same time. Anyway, there are many things I have been wanting to give my own answers to, but since I'm quite outdated I'm afraid I might just repeat something I haven't read yet, so I will wait. But I promise I will give as much feedback as I can if there's anything I've come across with and figured out succesfully that others haven't.

So, for today I will only ask one question: Do you package things that already come in a box if these things are not overly delicate?
Say you buy mp3s (as an example, that market is overly crowded anyway) and, as you may have guessed, they come in their original packaging. What would you do before sending them? Would you put it in a small box with bubble wrap? Put it in an envelop? Just tape the eBay postage document on the original package and ready to go?

This is the very first time I will be selling something through eBay (yes, I will be having sales!) and would like to avoid any negative outcome out of it, but at the same time I don't want to spend money on boxes and tape if the original package is completely fine to ship.

Thanks in advance and, once again, thanks everyone for all the incredibly helpful input in this beautifully put thread! And special kudos to @Ecom man for sharing.

I'll catch up with you all soon!

 

[Darren]

Hey Ecom,
First I gotta say, this thread is full of gems, and I'm not even near done with reading it. It's a real inspiration and made me get off my a$$ for once.
I've been a lurker in the forums for awhile now, and I've finally pushed myself to take some action. i've searched and found a product that seems to sell around 5 a day, by only sellers from China. There is one US seller but he doesn't seem to be making any sales recently. I'm sure I can make some sales as there is low competition and high sales.

What I'm having problems with is suppliers. I've contacted them with a fake company name, and they are now requesting my company's website so they can see what other type of products I am selling. How do I go about this? I do not own a website at the moment and am no where near an established company. Should I make a fake website or should I just move on and work with other suppliers?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks again for this informative thread! Keep it moving.

 

[Ecom man]

That's awesome! How are you getting traffic to your site?

PPC with google Adwords at this point. We are advertising locally through posting on Facebook groups etc. We are also sending out coupons to all the people who buy from us.

 

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[Ecom man]

Hey guys,

First of all, thank you @Ecom man for putting this together. As you may have read 100 times by now, I'm one of those that had had this kind of business in mind for some time but always put up excuses like "it's impossible, it's too crowded". Well, after finding this post three weeks ago, lurking like a madman and doing tons of research, I'm waiting now for my first 4 products' samples to arrive, which should be no later than next week, and I have fairly good expectations about them. I will keep updates of my progress, in case someone is interested in the future.

So far I'm at page 31 of this thread, so my doubts might have been answered already, but I ask for some mercy here. I can't research products, figure costs and margins, work full time (unpaid, MSc internship...) and read all this at the same time. Anyway, there are many things I have been wanting to give my own answers to, but since I'm quite outdated I'm afraid I might just repeat something I haven't read yet, so I will wait. But I promise I will give as much feedback as I can if there's anything I've come across with and figured out succesfully that others haven't.

So, for today I will only ask one question: Do you package things that already come in a box if these things are not overly delicate?
Say you buy mp3s (as an example, that market is overly crowded anyway) and, as you may have guessed, they come in their original packaging. What would you do before sending them? Would you put it in a small box with bubble wrap? Put it in an envelop? Just tape the eBay postage document on the original package and ready to go?

This is the very first time I will be selling something through eBay (yes, I will be having sales!) and would like to avoid any negative outcome out of it, but at the same time I don't want to spend money on boxes and tape if the original package is completely fine to ship.

Thanks in advance and, once again, thanks everyone for all the incredibly helpful input in this beautifully put thread! And special kudos to @Ecom man for sharing.

I'll catch up with you all soon!

In the case of a smaller item in original box (your example of an mp3) I would use a Priority Mail padded flat rate envelope. Bubble wrap around the outside of the original box and slide it right into the padded envelope. A padded envelope costs 5.35 to ship anywhere in the US. You can get the supplies free on the USPS website.

 

[GuestUser113]

Thanks for answering my many questions via PM @Ecom man. I placed my sample order this week. Looking forward for them to come in.

 

[Ecom man]

Hey Ecom,
First I gotta say, this thread is full of gems, and I'm not even near done with reading it. It's a real inspiration and made me get off my a$$ for once.
I've been a lurker in the forums for awhile now, and I've finally pushed myself to take some action. i've searched and found a product that seems to sell around 5 a day, by only sellers from China. There is one US seller but he doesn't seem to be making any sales recently. I'm sure I can make some sales as there is low competition and high sales.

What I'm having problems with is suppliers. I've contacted them with a fake company name, and they are now requesting my company's website so they can see what other type of products I am selling. How do I go about this? I do not own a website at the moment and am no where near an established company. Should I make a fake website or should I just move on and work with other suppliers?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks again for this informative thread! Keep it moving.

I would set up an email address just for Suppliers. It can be yahoo, gmail, whatever. Tell the suppliers you are a purchaser for store x (make something up) tell them you are looking to add their product to your stores product line. That will avoid them asking for a website since you have a store rather than a website. When I email a supplier i tell them I am interested in product x and need x amount per month. What is the best price they can get me including shipping to my store in the US.

 

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[albertut77]

In the case of a smaller item in original box (your example of an mp3) I would use a Priority Mail padded flat rate envelope. Bubble wrap around the outside of the original box and slide it right into the padded envelope. A padded envelope costs 5.35 to ship anywhere in the US. You can get the supplies free on the USPS website.

Thanks. I just ordered some different size padded envelop samples as I'm not 100% sure what the size of my items is going to be yet, and some bubble wrap. All, of course, through eBay, see if I can get some positive feedback out of that. Plus I don't live in the US, and the eBay's preferred shipping company is not USPS here, so no free envelops for me. But slightly cheaper postage, and some eBay feedback!

I really can't wait for the samples to arrive. God, it's gonna be a long week. By the way, the samples you guys get and use yourself for quality test (which I'm guessing you only check 1 random out of the 5-20 samples you've ordered, but correct me if I'm wrong); if they are good, do you then sell them anyway? If so, do you lower the price and tag them as "New other" and specify that the package might have been opened "to ensure the best quality for each one of our customers" (I've seen some of these)? Or just trash/keep them?

 

[Darren]

I would set up an email address just for Suppliers. It can be yahoo, gmail, whatever. Tell the suppliers you are a purchaser for store x (make something up) tell them you are looking to add their product to your stores product line. That will avoid them asking for a website since you have a store rather than a website. When I email a supplier i tell them I am interested in product x and need x amount per month. What is the best price they can get me including shipping to my store in the US.

Thank you very much for your reply. It worked out exactly as planned! I'm going to be ordering samples this week, can't wait to get going. Thanks for the inspiration Ecom.