[AMA] Importing & wholesaling for resale on eBay.

[aa610]

You can do it either way to be honest. Narrow eBay down to only buy it now listings under a certain price and sort by best match. Type in a random keyword and off you go.

I hopped on eBay and typed kitchen as the keyword. Narrowed it down to products over $20, new items, and only buy it now. I left it sorted by best match. The top 3 listings have 111 sold, 61 sold, and 1304 sold. Are they good products with workable margins? I don't know but it took me 30 seconds to set the parameters and find 3 possibilities.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro..._dcat=20651&rt=nc&_mPrRngCbx=1&_udlo=20&_udhi

I've done that too. The workable margins and amount of competition tend to take most out of the mix right away.


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[aa610]

It can be frustrating but keep grinding and find some products you can work with. 4 months ago I knew nothing about selling on eBay only buying. Selling a few grand a month now. Keep going you will breakthrough eventually!

I know plenty about selling on eBay. It's just the product finding that I'm still dealing with.


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[Azif]

I know plenty about selling on eBay. It's just the product finding that I'm still dealing with.


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Finding the product is the hardest part!

Also, recently I have been selling stuff internationally selling a locally sourced rare product only found in the United States. You got to think outside the box folks!

 

[Metabaron]

I feel the pain of the product search. It would be easy to ship in a "gold rush" type product and make a quick buck, however I'd rather build up a sustainable importing model. Also trying to avoid products that have negative press. I've had luck buying clearance products at retail and flipping on craigslist and ebay, but margins have been slim.

 

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[TTG SS]

How are people even making any money at all on items $5.00 or less. Seems almost pointless.

I don't know how they manage to walk away with anything after shipping it/fees.

I've been having a little more luck finding products. I haven't pulled the trigger yet though.

Looking for items $50.00 and up only. I don't really want to mess around with anything less.

Ecomman what type of gross profit margins do you shoot for?

 

[Ecom man]

How are people even making any money at all on items $5.00 or less. Seems almost pointless.

I don't know how they manage to walk away with anything after shipping it/fees.

I've been having a little more luck finding products. I haven't pulled the trigger yet though.

Looking for items $50.00 and up only. I don't really want to mess around with anything less.

Ecomman what type of gross profit margins do you shoot for?

I look to at least double my money after all fees and shipping is figured in. I won't turn my nose up on a product making 50% on my investment if it's a fast seller of course.

 

[aa610]

I look to at least double my money after all fees and shipping is figured in. I won't turn my nose up on a product making 50% on my investment if it's a fast seller of course.

See I've only been looking at products that double my money after fees based on what you said originally. Maybe that's why I'm having trouble.


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[RisingStars]

Hello,

I took some time yesterday and some time today and found a few profitable products. I dont even need certifications for those.
My problem now is that the existing sellers on ebay are real big ones. Like 500.000 feedback sometimes even over a million.

Do these big sellers really search alibaba to find products? I found the exact same products on alibaba.

Often I can find something to improve (free shipping, description etc.) but some sellers seem to be perfect.
No mistakes in the description, free shipping, large feedback AND a template/shop design. I dont have a template or shop design.
Will that be a problem when I try to compete against these sellers?

 

[RisingStars]

EDIT-Sorry double post

 

[xavi22]

Since many in here seem to have problems with researching and finding profitable items, has anyone mentioned the "hot item finder" software? I haven't gone through the entire thread so I"m not sure it has been mentioned before. Do a google search and you'll see what this software is capable of doing. In fact, I've used this software back about 4 years ago and found this one item that I continue to sell like clock work. I've been meaning to go back and use it to find more products but since it only runs on PC's, I don't get to use it that often based on the computers I currently use.

 

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[Ecom man]

Hello,

I took some time yesterday and some time today and found a few profitable products. I dont even need certifications for those.
My problem now is that the existing sellers on ebay are real big ones. Like 500.000 feedback sometimes even over a million.

Do these big sellers really search alibaba to find products? I found the exact same products on alibaba.

Often I can find something to improve (free shipping, description etc.) but some sellers seem to be perfect.
No mistakes in the description, free shipping, large feedback AND a template/shop design. I dont have a template or shop design.
Will that be a problem when I try to compete against these sellers?

If you have little to no feedback and can't find something to do better than them the only way you can compete is price. The problem you can get into with large sellers is they are normally getting better prices since they buy in larger quantities so you can get into a price war. If I was going to go head to head with a big seller I would go from the angle of they are "too big" and you will take time for every single customer etc. Make sure to back that up by answering questions as quickly as possible etc.

 

[Austin Sarwar]

So the manufacture i'm talking to asked me about consignee account. Is this something I should have? He says if I have it then I don't have to pay sample fee I just pay my own shipping.

 

[Austin Sarwar]

Well shipping per item through dhl is 19 dollars. The item only sells for 30-40 so it wouldn't make since. Do you know what the best shipping service is Like fedex? to set up a account with?

 

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[Austin Sarwar]

Since many in here seem to have problems with researching and finding profitable items, has anyone mentioned the "hot item finder" software? I haven't gone through the entire thread so I"m not sure it has been mentioned before. Do a google search and you'll see what this software is capable of doing. In fact, I've used this software back about 4 years ago and found this one item that I continue to sell like clock work. I've been meaning to go back and use it to find more products but since it only runs on PC's, I don't get to use it that often based on the computers I currently use.

I will have to check this out thankyou

 

[albertut77]

Since many in here seem to have problems with researching and finding profitable items, has anyone mentioned the "hot item finder" software? I haven't gone through the entire thread so I"m not sure it has been mentioned before. Do a google search and you'll see what this software is capable of doing. In fact, I've used this software back about 4 years ago and found this one item that I continue to sell like clock work. I've been meaning to go back and use it to find more products but since it only runs on PC's, I don't get to use it that often based on the computers I currently use.

Hey, that sounds interesting. However, it looks like it would work quite similar to Treapeak, doesn't it? I started getting into all this business by using Terapeak and I do recommend trying the trial version to anyone interested in getting some experience on product research (although be aware that unsubscribing is quite a nightmare, so do so at least 2 days before the trial expires, and not the night before as I did and almost had to pay for a yearly subscription...). As much as that was very useful for messing around with product research, making some calculations, contacting suppliers and such, I never got a good product out of it. The main issue is that these softwares look for items that sell a lot, which means that there's a ton of competition.

It is interesting, though, if, while messing around with the software, you get to find a product that sells good but not everyone is selling it. Then you can dig into the stats of that product or their sellers (are they selling regularly? how much gross income on that product per seller? do they ALL sell, or only the top seller? etc).

It's also a healthy habit to check what else is selling a user that makes good sales on one product. He might have other products that also sell good and that you can jump into aswell. Don't be a dick, though. If you found a good selling product thanks to them, the least you can do is respect a bit his pricing and not cut off 50% of your benefit just to offer a waaaaaaaaay better price (which is kinda happening to me right now, these F*ckers. I might even buy them off, as I would still make benefit with my price). I mean, do whatever you want, but it's kind of a dick move.

 

[The Grind]

Quick question for you guys.

I've had a listing on ebay for a while, the pics are good, decent description. I had a 100 in stock.

I wasnt getting any sales for a long time, weeks. I got one here and there, maybe 1 a week.

All of a sudden I started getting sales a few days ago. A lot. 5-10 a day. Makes no sense to me.

My ad now says 65 available 45 sold. That probably helps a lot. And 45 people are watching. The price is extremely cheap too Im making about 3-4 a sale.

But any ideas why I randomly started getting sales?

 

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[aa610]

Quick question for you guys.

I've had a listing on ebay for a while, the pics are good, decent description. I had a 100 in stock.

I wasnt getting any sales for a long time, weeks. I got one here and there, maybe 1 a week.

All of a sudden I started getting sales a few days ago. A lot. 5-10 a day. Makes no sense to me.

My ad now says 65 available 45 sold. That probably helps a lot. And 45 people are watching. The price is extremely cheap too Im making about 3-4 a sale.

But any ideas why I randomly started getting sales?

Great problem to have. Were you competing against a few other sellers who perhaps just went Out of stock?


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[The Grind]

Great problem to have. Were you competing against a few other sellers who perhaps just went Out of stock?


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Competing with a lot of people, people selling thousands of these things, nope they are still in stock.

 

[Ecom man]

Quick question for you guys.

I've had a listing on ebay for a while, the pics are good, decent description. I had a 100 in stock.

I wasnt getting any sales for a long time, weeks. I got one here and there, maybe 1 a week.

All of a sudden I started getting sales a few days ago. A lot. 5-10 a day. Makes no sense to me.

My ad now says 65 available 45 sold. That probably helps a lot. And 45 people are watching. The price is extremely cheap too Im making about 3-4 a sale.

But any ideas why I randomly started getting sales?

Most likely you got bumped up to either the top of best match or the top 3-4 of that. With your prices considerably lower than competitors they would buy from you since they now see you with the best match sort option. ( Best match is the sorting option that eBay defaults to on their site)

 

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[albertut77]

Quick question for you guys.

I've had a listing on ebay for a while, the pics are good, decent description. I had a 100 in stock.

I wasnt getting any sales for a long time, weeks. I got one here and there, maybe 1 a week.

All of a sudden I started getting sales a few days ago. A lot. 5-10 a day. Makes no sense to me.

My ad now says 65 available 45 sold. That probably helps a lot. And 45 people are watching. The price is extremely cheap too Im making about 3-4 a sale.

But any ideas why I randomly started getting sales?

It's like a snowball. It might take a while for people to find your product easily, but once you get some sales and get promoted to better positions in the searching pages, it just adds up like crazy. Once you start having "X watchers" or "X sold in 24h" in your ad, then it gets exciting. Sales start firing!

I reckon it was just a matter of "being found", as long as you were offering competitive prices and features (fast shipping, good pics, etc).

Congrats! Hope you can keep that up for a long time!

 

[The Grind]

Makes sense.

Now, If i run out of inventory of that item. And I have to re order stock and make a whole new listing, I'll lose the spot I've gained right? So is the key to order more stock before running out of inventory to keep your rank in the search options?

 

[Ecom man]

Makes sense.

Now, If i run out of inventory of that item. And I have to re order stock and make a whole new listing, I'll lose the spot I've gained right? So is the key to order more stock before running out of inventory to keep your rank in the search options?

Yes if your listing ends because you run out of inventory you lose your position. eBay has a newer out of stock feature. This feature and how to enable is fully explained on http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y14/m12/i04/s01

You can also raise your price a crazy amount when you inventory gets down to 2-3 items. If your normal lost price is $50 change it to $175. You will most likely stop selling them. Once you get more inventory change your inventory numbers then lower the price back to normal.

 

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[The Grind]

Yes if your listing ends because you run out of inventory you lose your position. eBay has a newer out of stock feature. This feature and how to enable is fully explained on http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y14/m12/i04/s01

You can also raise your price a crazy amount when you inventory gets down to 2-3 items. If your normal lost price is $50 change it to $175. You will most likely stop selling them. Once you get more inventory change your inventory numbers then lower the price back to normal.

Perfect thank you for the responses.

 

[GuestUser202]

First and foremost, thank you SO much not only for this thread, but also for answering pretty much every question!

My apologies if this had already been asked...I just started reading the thread and it's currently 66 pages long, and I got through like page 3 so far. I am curious how many hours a week you actually work? Everthing, including but not limited to, looking for new items, inspecting/testing, listing them, answering questions, selling, packaging, driving to/from the post office, picking up packaging supplies....everything.

Also,I am curious how many hours you spent doing all this in the beginning as compared to now?

Thanks again for ALL of this!!!

 

[Ecom man]

First and foremost, thank you SO much not only for this thread, but also for answering pretty much every question!

My apologies if this had already been asked...I just started reading the thread and it's currently 66 pages long, and I got through like page 3 so far. I am curious how many hours a week you actually work? Everthing, including but not limited to, looking for new items, inspecting/testing, listing them, answering questions, selling, packaging, driving to/from the post office, picking up packaging supplies....everything.

Also,I am curious how many hours you spent doing all this in the beginning as compared to now?

Thanks again for ALL of this!!!

When I first started doing this I probably only spent a couple hours a week. Packaging up 1-2 items a night, just sort of dabbling in it seeing if it would work. As I got more products and more sales started to come I gradually started spending more time on it. The more time I spent finding products the more time I would have to spend packaging them up etc.

Currently I spend 35-40 hours a week working or learning business related things. I resigned from my job about 3 weeks ago so I could have more time to spend on my websites so I now do this full time. I am expecting to be working 40-50 hours a week until at least January. My goal is to have 5 websites up and running fully before October. I currently have one site that is entirely running and another that I still need to finish tweaking/ adding all the products to.

 

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[albertut77]

Makes sense.

Now, If i run out of inventory of that item. And I have to re order stock and make a whole new listing, I'll lose the spot I've gained right? So is the key to order more stock before running out of inventory to keep your rank in the search options?

Yes if your listing ends because you run out of inventory you lose your position. eBay has a newer out of stock feature. This feature and how to enable is fully explained on http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y14/m12/i04/s01

You can also raise your price a crazy amount when you inventory gets down to 2-3 items. If your normal lost price is $50 change it to $175. You will most likely stop selling them. Once you get more inventory change your inventory numbers then lower the price back to normal.

Or people will assume that that's the regular price and since you've got so many sales, they'll buy it. I've seen a cometitor do this and he sold a $70 product for $180. He had to raise it to $300. I'm looking forward to this happening to me.

By the way, that feature is only for eBay Stores. I did that and happily finished my stock, and now I realized I'm starting from scratch because I didn't check that that feature was only for Stores (and only when selecting "Good 'Til Cancelled"). Raising the price like Ecom man says seems like the wisest thing to do if you're not into getting a Store yet.

 

[albertut77]

When I first started doing this I probably only spent a couple hours a week. Packaging up 1-2 items a night, just sort of dabbling in it seeing if it would work. As I got more products and more sales started to come I gradually started spending more time on it. The more time I spent finding products the more time I would have to spend packaging them up etc.

Currently I spend 35-40 hours a week working or learning business related things. I resigned from my job about 3 weeks ago so I could have more time to spend on my websites so I now do this full time. I am expecting to be working 40-50 hours a week until at least January. My goal is to have 5 websites up and running fully before October. I currently have one site that is entirely running and another that I still need to finish tweaking/ adding all the products to.

Jesus, that's insane. I'm genuinely happy to read how good things are going for you, man. You really don't know how you've turned my life around!

When are you going to start using FBA or similar (if you're planning on doing so, which I believe you said you were)? I mean, it sounds like you could benefit from that, at least for those products that do not requiere such a "personal touch", like the ones you get ordered as a gift for someone else.

Also, I believe you've answered this before, but I can't find it anymore. What software did you use to create your webpages? I started making one with Wix (yay!), but a computer engineer friend of mine recommended using wordpress + ecommerce plugin (which I still have to look into). What's your experience in webpage building? What problems have you found in the way and how have you solved them?

Every small detail will be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[GuestUser202]

When you quit your job to focus on your business, did you waiver back and forth on the decision? Or was it more instantaneous?

Again thank you for sharing and answering all of our questions!!

 

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[Ecom man]

Jesus, that's insane. I'm genuinely happy to read how good things are going for you, man. You really don't know how you've turned my life around!

When are you going to start using FBA or similar (if you're planning on doing so, which I believe you said you were)? I mean, it sounds like you could benefit from that, at least for those products that do not requiere such a "personal touch", like the ones you get ordered as a gift for someone else.

Also, I believe you've answered this before, but I can't find it anymore. What software did you use to create your webpages? I started making one with Wix (yay!), but a computer engineer friend of mine recommended using wordpress + ecommerce plugin (which I still have to look into). What's your experience in webpage building? What problems have you found in the way and how have you solved them?

Every small detail will be appreciated. Thanks!

I'm planning on starting using a fulfillment center before this holiday season. I have to see if FBA is best or if going with another fulfillment company is better.

I used shopify to set up my website. They charge a fee per month but I don't have a lot of HTML knowledge and their setup is pretty simple. Getting the site up and running properly is worth the monthly fee in my opinion. I don't have to worry about improperly coding something with my basic skills. Buy a domain, add products, pick a theme, and go live. Tweaking the site exactly how you want it obviously takes some time beyond that.

 

[Ecom man]

When you quit your job to focus on your business, did you waiver back and forth on the decision? Or was it more instantaneous?

Again thank you for sharing and answering all of our questions!!

I have been wanting to quit for the last year or so. Last Christmas was absolutely insane and quitting was a high thought on my mind. I have a wife, a daughter, and a baby on the way. I wanted to be completely sure that the business would support us before quitting my regular job. I am not the kind of person that makes a decision like that instantly. I waited until my business was providing my job's 2 week paycheck every day. To make sure it wasn't a fluke I waited 30 days to see what the numbers looked like. Every day for those 30 I made more in 1 day from my site then I did in 2 weeks from my job. It was time to quit.