[AMA] Importing & wholesaling for resale on eBay.

[SeanyHang]

I figured I'd get my feet wet on eBay's platform by just selling some random stuff lying around. I threw a first generation kindle case up on there for 5 bucks and ebay estimated that priority shipping was going to be 3.40. Awesome. Well someone bought it and today I went to the Post Office to ship them the case, but when I was paying - shipping turned out to be 5.60. Not a huge deal but I thought I'd make 5 and ended up with 2.84.... How do I prevent this from happening again? Do you find that eBay's shipping estimates are usually wrong?

 

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[SeanyHang]

I figured I'd get my feet wet on eBay's platform by just selling some random stuff lying around. I threw a first generation kindle case up on there for 5 bucks and ebay estimated that priority shipping was going to be 3.40. Awesome. Well someone bought it and today I went to the Post Office to ship them the case, but when I was paying - shipping turned out to be 5.60. Not a huge deal but I thought I'd make 5 and ended up with 2.84.... How do I prevent this from happening again? Do you find that eBay's shipping estimates are usually wrong?

EDIT: I just looked at the transaction on eBay and my receipt.. turns out that I was supposed to send it via Standard Shipping (USPS First Class Package®).... I moseyed right into the post office and confidently said " Hey There! I need an envelop for priority shipping!"

Lmao - DOH!

 

[Ecom man]

EDIT: I just looked at the transaction on eBay and my receipt.. turns out that I was supposed to send it via Standard Shipping (USPS First Class Package®).... I moseyed right into the post office and confidently said " Hey There! I need an envelop for priority shipping!"

Lmao - DOH!

Well at least you figured it out. I'm sure the buyer will be pleasantly surprised to receive it faster than expected as well.

 

[eSparks]

@SeanyHang Good you figured it out now instead of later! Also, you can save about 10% by printing postage off eBay instead of going to the post office. It may only amount to a buck or two but at least it's extra cash in your pocket.

 

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[SeanyHang]

Good you figured it out now instead of later! Also, you can save about 10% by printing postage off eBay instead of going to the post office. It may only amount to a buck or two but at least it's extra cash in your pocket.

Awesome tip! I'll try that on the next order, thanks!

 

[NaPal]

Great thread @Ecom man ! Thank you for your willingness to share your insite and help educate all of us.

I need some advice on the product end.
A few months a go I sourced an 'Iphone Battery Case' from Alibaba. After 1 day of testing it turned out to be complete junk and even falsely advertised (case has 2000mAH battery and should of been 2200mAH). Anyways it was a great educational experience and I learned a lot.
I feel like I've searched for countless hours and cannot find a product with good margins. I've found a few products that look like they have some positive margins, but not near 50%.

For example; PRODUCT
Alibaba - $2.50-$4 EDITED
Ebay - lowest price $12.99 from China EDITED

I'm trying to think of things my family needs. I am looking at stuff laying around the house, work, etc that I can put a spin on. Nothings coming to mind. I'm trying to enter random key words and thoughts into the search engines but not having too much luck.

Am i aiming in the right direction or am i completely off?

 

[Ecom man]

Great thread @Ecom man ! Thank you for your willingness to share your insite and help educate all of us.

I need some advice on the product end.
A few months a go I sourced an 'Iphone Battery Case' from Alibaba. After 1 day of testing it turned out to be complete junk and even falsely advertised (case has 2000mAH battery and should of been 2200mAH). Anyways it was a great educational experience and I learned a lot.
I feel like I've searched for countless hours and cannot find a product with good margins. I've found a few products that look like they have some positive margins, but not near 50%.

For example; EZ jet water cannon
Alibaba - $2.50-$4 http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Soap-Dispenser-Water-Cannon_1987825440.html
Ebay - lowest price $12.99 from China http://www.ebay.com/itm/EZ-Jet-Wate...068?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f381ef324

I'm trying to think of things my family needs. I am looking at stuff laying around the house, work, etc that I can put a spin on. Nothings coming to mind. I'm trying to enter random key words and thoughts into the search engines but not having too much luck.

Am i aiming in the right direction or am i completely off?

Actually that looks like a decent product. The cheapest US seller is selling it at 15.99 and he has sold 45 of them. Even if you decide to go 12.98 to be the cheapest over even China it works out to you paying about $1.50 in fees and i'll estimate $5 in shipping so $13 - $6.50= $6.50 total to you after fees and shipping. If you can get it for $2.50 each then you are more than doubling your money on every sale. Yes it's $2.50 doubling and only $4 profit a sale but it looks like there is a decent demand for the item. If you sell 100 a month thats $400 a month profit. No it isn't a huge money maker but its a start.

 

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[PopEmersen]

That's definitely a start BUT you should probably edit it out because now anyone can be your competitor if you sell this product.

 

[Cicc]

Ecomm thanks for providing great info. Thanks to s186 and z6Evolved as well.

I have been selling apparel on ebay for almost 10 years now. What started as pocket money turned into vacation money and now looking towards investments. I've really ramped up my ebay sales over the last 2 years but my problem has been the slim profit margins I encounter with apparel.

Thanks to threads like this one and the Fastlane Forum in general, I have started contacting Alibaba merchants to expand my business. I'm still in the early stages of developing my product but this thread has been a great guide to the process. Cheers.

 

[NaPal]

Actually that looks like a decent product. The cheapest US seller is selling it at 15.99 and he has sold 45 of them. Even if you decide to go 12.98 to be the cheapest over even China it works out to you paying about $1.50 in fees and i'll estimate $5 in shipping so $13 - $6.50= $6.50 total to you after fees and shipping. If you can get it for $2.50 each then you are more than doubling your money on every sale. Yes it's $2.50 doubling and only $4 profit a sale but it looks like there is a decent demand for the item. If you sell 100 a month thats $400 a month profit. No it isn't a huge money maker but its a start.

Thanks @Ecom man and @PopEmersen for your advice.I edited it out, so I may try it. One thing that scarred me is the 'As seen on Tv'. So i hope I wouldn't run into license, patent issues with this?

Just saw a US seller that sold 140 @ $20 a pop with SLOWWW shipping and 3 days handling time. If i offered priority same day shipping I would squash him!

@Ecom man is it ok if I PM and bounce some ideas off of you? Do you think I should jump on the above product?

EDIT: I just found a seller on Ebay and am looking at his feedback. I can see all the items he's selling and PROFITING FROM. As easy as checking Alibaba vs. Ebay. I'm trying to follow the golden flakes.
EDIT2: Just found an item that has one ebay competitor that is shipping from China. Imported 50 cents, on ebay for $20! This is starting to get my hopes up and turn addicting

 

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[SeanyHang]

That's definitely a start BUT you should probably edit it out because now anyone can be your competitor if you sell this product.

Totally agree! Careful with that @NaPal (and anyone else who reads this)! For the most part everybody on this forum is a standup person.. but there was an instance a few months ago when vigilante(?) I believe had his soap product completely ripped off by someone on the forum. When it's your own branded product that's one thing.. But when your importing generic goods that anyone can import it's best to be moderately discreet!

With that being said, I did see the product that you were thinking about trying and I say you go for it! It's pretty cool, looks fairly light and you have the chance to make some cheddar on it!

 

[Ecom man]

Thanks @Ecom man and @PopEmersen for your advice.I edited it out, so I may try it. One thing that scarred me is the 'As seen on Tv'. So i hope I wouldn't run into license, patent issues with this?

Just saw a US seller that sold 140 @ $20 a pop with SLOWWW shipping and 3 days handling time. If i offered priority same day shipping I would squash him!

@Ecom man is it ok if I PM and bounce some ideas off of you? Do you think I should jump on the above product?

EDIT: I just found a seller on Ebay and am looking at his feedback. I can see all the items he's selling and PROFITING FROM. As easy as checking Alibaba vs. Ebay. I'm trying to follow the golden flakes.
EDIT2: Just found an item that has one ebay competitor that is shipping from China. Imported 50 cents, on ebay for $20! This is starting to get my hopes up and turn addicting

Awesome way to find ideas. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. Find what someone is doing wrong and do it better!
You are welcome to pm me with any questions or ideas. I would be happy to help in any way I can.

 

[Davor]

Hey Ecom thanks for doing this awesome thread.
I have a Q: I found a product in a fashion niche & there still isnt the same type of product even tho the niche itself isnt that small. Product is from Aliexpress (not branded) it costs 20$ and I could sell it for 40$. I would like to know what can I do so that people see my product among first when they search for it or how does that work? I know on amazon you can get 50$ to spend on ads but what about Ebay? Hopefully you can answer this.
Thanks

edit: and the product is 50% off atm

 

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[Ecom man]

Hey Ecom thanks for doing this awesome thread.
I have a Q: I found a product in a fashion niche & there still isnt the same type of product even tho the niche itself isnt that small. Product is from Aliexpress (not branded) it costs 20$ and I could sell it for 40$. I would like to know what can I do so that people see my product among first when they search for it or how does that work? I know on amazon you can get 50$ to spend on ads but what about Ebay? Hopefully you can answer this.
Thanks

edit: and the product is 50% off atm

The first way to make sure people see your product is keywords. If there are no competitors yet then you have to be the one to make up a great title using as many keywords as possible. Let's say the item you are selling is a wallet. You want to try and think of as many words as possible that relate to the wallet that people would look up. So "brown wallet" becomes "Men's bi-fold leather wallet" etc.

If there are competitors you can be listed ahead of them by being cheaper. Some people search for items prices low to high so if you are a penny cheaper you show up first. Faster shipping times will also get you sales over you competitors for those people that just can't wait.

Once you get enough feedback and sell a decent amount of product you will also start being the top on when people search by "best match". For some reason people just leave the search on "best match" and buy the top one even if it is far more expensive slower shipping etc. It makes no sense but that's people for you I guess.

 

[Davor]

The first way to make sure people see your product is keywords. If there are no competitors yet then you have to be the one to make up a great title using as many keywords as possible. Let's say the item you are selling is a wallet. You want to try and think of as many words as possible that relate to the wallet that people would look up. So "brown wallet" becomes "Men's bi-fold leather wallet" etc.

If there are competitors you can be listed ahead of them by being cheaper. Some people search for items prices low to high so if you are a penny cheaper you show up first. Faster shipping times will also get you sales over you competitors for those people that just can't wait.

Once you get enough feedback and sell a decent amount of product you will also start being the top on when people search by "best match". For some reason people just leave the search on "best match" and buy the top one even if it is far more expensive slower shipping etc. It makes no sense but that's people for you I guess.

Thanks for response.
I am from Europe so I will be able to deliver product in 1-2 weeks (I will not charge for shipping) across the Europe. Would it be better for me to go with ebay.com or ebay.co.uk if I am only going to focus on Europe?
Could I PM you the product and if that is something you would do at begining?
Thanks

 

[Ecom man]

Thanks for response.
I am from Europe so I will be able to deliver product in 1-2 weeks (I will not charge for shipping) across the Europe. Would it be better for me to go with ebay.com or ebay.co.uk if I am only going to focus on Europe?
Could I PM you the product and if that is something you would do at begining?
Thanks

Please feel free to pm me with any questions.

To US buyers buying from China or Europe wouldn't make much difference so only list on Ebay.com if you can beat the Chinese sellers prices (if there are any). Unfortunately most US consumers view overseas as overseas and it wouldn't matter where overseas it comes from. I don't know about which site would be better but if your product is truly unique I would test it on both sites and maybe you will sell well on both.

 

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[Serito]

31 pages, lots of info and actionable advice for newbies and not, @Vigilante 's blessing from page 4...

This thread shines like gold. Please, give it the status it deserves.

Rep to you, ecom.

 

[Vigilante]

@MJ DeMarco see above

 

[FastlaneTiger]

Expensive shipping/delivering

I was searching Hungarian forums about shipping and what I've found is that it ranges between 10$ - 550$.
How do you guys do the shipping without loosing profits?

EDIT: I might read bad forums but those prices seem horrifying for me.

 

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[CarrieW]

Expensive shipping/delivering

I was searching Hungarian forums about shipping and what I've found is that it ranges between 10$ - 550$.
How do you guys do the shipping without loosing profits?

EDIT: I might read bad forums but those prices seem horrifying for me.

how can you go by estimated shipping without a product? look up some sizes and weights and get a quote yourself!

 

[FastlaneTiger]

If I want to ship from Hungary to China a 10cm x 10cm x 10cm 0.5 kg something I have to pay:

DHL EXPRESS WORLDWIDE documentum package 70$
DHL EXPRESS 12:00 documentum package 80$
DHL EXPRESS WORLDWIDE non documentum package 120$

At least that's what a DHL calculator is saying for me.

 

[CarrieW]

wth are you going to ship to china? do commerce in the country you are in. not every plan works for every country. you have to do your own due diligence and find a way to make it viable or not. its called barrier of entry

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Marked GOLD, thx for the head-up!

 

[Ecom man]

Expensive shipping/delivering

I was searching Hungarian forums about shipping and what I've found is that it ranges between 10$ - 550$.
How do you guys do the shipping without loosing profits?

EDIT: I might read bad forums but those prices seem horrifying for me.

I import from China/ wherever into the USA. Shipping costs will vary from country to country and you really have to do your own homework as to what products/ shipping will work to your country and in it. Every country has it's added issues (high shipping, added import taxes and on and on) but all your competitors in that country have to deal with that specific issue as well.

The question is are you going to let problems stop you or even keep you from starting? Are they going to make you sit on the couch and give up because it's too hard? Every problem you encounter, someone before you has overcome it. The amount of profit many times directly correlates to the amount of problems. Lots of problems? Lots of profits!

 

[FastlaneTiger]

I import from China/ wherever into the USA. Shipping costs will vary from country to country and you really have to do your own homework as to what products/ shipping will work to your country and in it. Every country has it's added issues (high shipping, added import taxes and on and on) but all your competitors in that country have to deal with that specific issue as well.

The question is are you going to let problems stop you or even keep you from starting? Are they going to make you sit on the couch and give up because it's too hard? Every problem you encounter, someone before you has overcome it. The amount of profit many times directly correlates to the amount of problems. Lots of problems? Lots of profits!

You are right, I'll keep on fighting! Thanks for the reply.

 

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[Ecom man]

Gotta love it when people use you as their source of merchandise. Had someone (who found me on eBay originally) just make a purchase of over $2,000 for products that I paid $1,025. Now to find a box to ship them all in!!!

 

[Justin.p]

Gotta love it when people use you as their source of merchandise. Had someone (who found me on eBay originally) just make a purchase of over $2,000 for products that I paid $1,025. Now to find a box to ship them all in!!!

You mean - you are acting as a wholesaler? You sold at the normal eBay rates you expect, or gave them a wholesale rate?

awesome )

 

[Luke1213]

I put some of my products up on ebay and BAM! Sold one after only 4 days of listing.

 

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[Ecom man]

You mean - you are acting as a wholesaler? You sold at the normal eBay rates you expect, or gave them a wholesale rate?

awesome )

Sold at normal eBay rates just in super bulk! Saves me tons on shipping so actually will make more than by selling them individually!

 

[Ecom man]

I put some of my products up on ebay and BAM! Sold one after only 4 days of listing.

Awesome! What a great feeling to get your first sale! Just be careful, making money can be addicting lol.