Starting From The Bottom: My Ebay Journey

[MendeGames]

Some of you may know about me from my earlier intro, I'm a Freshman marketing student and my end goal is to become a successful entrepreneur. As a college student, you could say I'm starting from the bottom. Not that I was born into a poor family or that I have a small amount of entrepreneurial knowledge or experience. I'm starting from the bottom financially. I'm your typical college student, no money, do whatever I can to save money, tired of having no money. I have a little bit of money for living off of right now and a few hundred dollars in the bank, but that is being saved in case of emergency.

Now that you know my situation, I'll tell you my plan.

I have been reading up on importing and wholesaling from websites like dhgate and alibaba. My goal is to start an importing/wholesaling business without having to use any of the money set aside for emergency.

I'm sure you are wondering, "How on earth are you going to buy products without any money?" That is the first step of my plan. I am going to be liquidating all unnecessary assets in my possession, and "hustling" by selling products from thrift shops and other places. By the time most of my assets have been liquidated, I will have sufficient funds to start my wholesaling business. Current assets include:
Old ipods, tons of basketball/baseball/football cards, old computer from a thrift shop, couple of old laptops, various items I no longer use.

I will update this thread with my liquidation progress and the start of my wholesaling business, whenever that happens.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MendeGames]

So far I've identified 2 products with really good profit margins from good manufacturers. I have also done some work pulling up carpet so I have enough money to do a couple sample orders, they will be coming in in a few days.

 

[MyronGainz]

Now we here.

 

[MendeGames]

Now we here.

Haha yes, that was the song I was referencing.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MendeGames]

Already ordered a couple of products that have really good profit margin, one product has about 700% profit margins, very optimistic.

 

[MendeGames]

Ordered 4 different products so far. The hard part about this is having to wait for the items to ship from China, but once they are delivered I am excited to see if I get results.

 

[MendeGames]

First order came in (with multiple products). Listed all the products on Ebay, already got bids on a couple of the products (listed for 7 days), and have watchers on a few others.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MendeGames]

Hit a set back. For some reason my listings were deleted and my account was suspended for intellectual property infringement even though there are a large number of listings almost identical to mine. Currently working to find out what I did wrong and get everything worked out.

 

[Vigilante]

Did you copy someone else's photos?

Is the product branded?

Did you use anyone else's descriptions?

 

[MendeGames]

Did you copy someone else's photos?

Is the product branded?

Did you use anyone else's descriptions?

I contacted the company that had my listings removed, they claim they thought my items were counterfeit even though there was no evidence to prove so and my items are not counterfeit.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Vigilante]

Are the products BRANDED?

 

[Vigilante]

Is the company that you contacted the brand holder? Or just some other third party reseller?

 

[MendeGames]

Are the products BRANDED?

Yes, is that going to continue to be an issue?
It was by the brand holder.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Vigilante]

Don't import someone else's products. They are probably fraudulent.

Find something unique. You can't infringe on someone else's intellectual property.

 

[Tlcalis]

Find something unique. You can't infringe on someone else's intellectual property.

can you expand on that?

 

[Vigilante]

Tlcalis. When you have time, check out the Passive Income thread on the INSIDERS. It's a LONG read, but you have access to it.

I was in Hong Kong a few years ago. I bought a Rolex for $20. Only... it wasn't a Rolex. It looked like a Rolex. It said it was a Rolex. It wasn't a Rolex.

In the United States, brand holders have the right to shut down unauthorized distribution. If it didn't emanate from them, it's not legit. I could buy "Sony" headphones from Asia, but there's a better chance than not that they are not Sony headphones. So, in the United States, you can't market someone else's brand unless the products emanated from authorized distribution.

When you import products for resale in the United States, any brand holder has a right to get you shut down if you infringe on their brands. With eBay, all it takes is a single email to shut down an infringer. Same with Amazon. In fact, some brands you can't even list EVER on those marketplaces.

The bottom line is in order to succeed in the game the OP is trying to succeed in, you have to find a product that has never been imported into the United States and import it. That is the path of least resistance, and the best way to create value where none exists. If the factory owns a brand, it is possible with their approval to import products under their brand, but for your long term equity, you're better to find products that you can make your own.

That's as much time as I will spend on this here as I think the OP is 100% screwed on what he brought in, but I also bet the quantities are small enough that he can call it a good learning experience as he throws what he bought into the dumpster.

For further research, check out the Passive Income thread on the inside, where this concept is exhausted in detail. - Vigilante

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MendeGames]

Tlcalis. When you have time, check out the Passive Income thread on the INSIDERS. It's a LONG read, but you have access to it.

I was in Hong Kong a few years ago. I bought a Rolex for $20. Only... it wasn't a Rolex. It looked like a Rolex. It said it was a Rolex. It wasn't a Rolex.

In the United States, brand holders have the right to shut down unauthorized distribution. If it didn't emanate from them, it's not legit. I could buy "Sony" headphones from Asia, but there's a better chance than not that they are not Sony headphones. So, in the United States, you can't market someone else's brand unless the products emanated from authorized distribution.

When you import products for resale in the United States, any brand holder has a right to get you shut down if you infringe on their brands. With eBay, all it takes is a single email to shut down an infringer. Same with Amazon. In fact, some brands you can't even list EVER on those marketplaces.

The bottom line is in order to succeed in the game the OP is trying to succeed in, you have to find a product that has never been imported into the United States and import it. That is the path of least resistance, and the best way to create value where none exists. If the factory owns a brand, it is possible with their approval to import products under their brand, but for your long term equity, you're better to find products that you can make your own.

That's as much time as I will spend on this here as I think the OP is 100% screwed on what he brought in, but I also bet the quantities are small enough that he can call it a good learning experience as he throws what he bought into the dumpster.

For further research, check out the Passive Income thread on the inside, where this concept is exhausted in detail. - Vigilante

Thanks for the advice, ya it was just a sample order. I'll be more careful on importing other products.

 

[Vigilante]

Don't give up. Live and learn.

 

[MendeGames]

Don't give up. Live and learn.

I appreciate your advice, I'll start looking for new products today.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MendeGames]

I've identified a number of new products with demand and decent profit margins. I have ordered samples for each and will list on Ebay to get a better idea of how fast they will sell and what the equilibrium price is. I'll probably narrow my choices once I have more info.

 

[MendeGames]

Sold my first two products on Ebay which felt pretty good. I had never shipped an item before so I got to learn how to do that and also found a good place to get cheap shipping supplies. Still waiting for newer products to come in from China since the products with the best margins had slow shipping.