The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.
Anything considered a "hustle" and not necessarily a CENTS-based Fastlane

wyattnorton

Bronze Contributor
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
209%
Jan 15, 2019
190
398
Northern IL & Southeastern WI
Hey all,

Who here has used eBay as a side hustle or even a business?

I am curious what are the top 2-3 things you have learned from buying, selling, flipping, having a store, etc. on eBay?
What are the top 2-3 most annoying things you have dealt with?

I have been doing it for about a month now, selling stuff for my Pops to clear out the house and then been retail arbitraging (Love that term for just flipping items), and it has been good money.

The screenshot of my sales page is not to brag or boast, just showing I actually do it.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Attachments

  • Screenshot 2022-02-06 1.40.41 PM.png
    Screenshot 2022-02-06 1.40.41 PM.png
    59.4 KB · Views: 43

Costafarian

Contributor
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
118%
Nov 23, 2018
28
33
32
Cape Cod, MA
1) Cover your a$$
2) Get good at finding deals where nobody else does.
3) Have a system and stick to it.

I find whenever an auction doesn't go a particular way for an individual. They can pretty much bail out at any point, and you're back to square one. It's a bit of an annoying thing to see the price go up, only for someone to get mad and bail out at the last minute and screw the whole auction.
 

technobubble

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
100%
Sep 21, 2018
11
11
1. almost always sell what I list, even random / not working things
2. I don't do it a lot but dropshipping works quite easy on ebay

worse things
1. be ready for auction cancels, not paying for items, bailing out as mentioned above etc, this doesn't happen often though
2. big ebay fee which is understandable for the platform they offer
3. need to wait for the payout, it isn't instant, at least for me... strange because my acc is super old and I have sold hundreds of items

If I have some items to sell I always first put them in local ad sites which have free listings, if it doesn't sell, I use ebay.
 

Vinz

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
169%
Jun 12, 2021
213
360
Love eBay so far.
It's been nearly a month and already made like 400 euros.

I just don't encounter scammers like other platforms. And the system helps both buyer and seller, with blocked payments until the product is delivered.

Filling out as much as I can of the product specifics seem to have helped.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

AppMan

Bronze Contributor
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
68%
May 25, 2019
280
189
And the system helps both buyer and seller, with blocked payments until the product is delivered.
Not sure from this point , eBay is known to be on buyer side, and that was the main reason I stopped selling on eBay.
 

wyattnorton

Bronze Contributor
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
209%
Jan 15, 2019
190
398
Northern IL & Southeastern WI
Not sure from this point , eBay is known to be on buyer side, and that was the main reason I stopped selling on eBay.
Yes, it does appear they are for the most part in terms of money. However, eBay's reasoning for holding items sold over $800 is a decent argument. They hold it for 30 days in case there are any defects or the buyer has buyer's remorse and that way the seller's "feedback" cannot be reduced heavily.

This is a "decent" argument like I said, but this is just bs to me. People having buyer's remorse does not justify a reason for holding a seller's money for 30 days.
 

Vinz

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
169%
Jun 12, 2021
213
360
Not sure from this point , eBay is known to be on buyer side, and that was the main reason I stopped selling on eBay.
Again, I just started recently, so I don't have great experience.
So far the experience has been good
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Silverfox148

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
319%
Apr 17, 2017
179
571
Been doing this as a side hustle for the last year, biggest things:

- Watch your margins , Ebay takes their not insignificant cut.
- Don't offer free shipping , have the buyer pay, been burned too many times on this one.
- Just be honest and describe your items properly, don't play games with people.
- Pick a niche/area of focus and stick with that, develop a sourcing pipeline that allows for proper margins.
- If you pick a good niche/area then your buyers will be more committed and you will have fewer returns/disputes.
- It's better if the niche/area you specialize in is something you enjoy, then it doesn't really feel like work and is more of a hobby.

Some of the biggies, but there are more.
 

Vinz

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
169%
Jun 12, 2021
213
360
Been doing this as a side hustle for the last year, biggest things:

- Watch your margins , Ebay takes their not insignificant cut.
- Don't offer free shipping , have the buyer pay, been burned too many times on this one.
- Just be honest and describe your items properly, don't play games with people.
- Pick a niche/area of focus and stick with that, develop a sourcing pipeline that allows for proper margins.
- If you pick a good niche/area then your buyers will be more committed and you will have fewer returns/disputes.
- It's better if the niche/area you specialize in is something you enjoy, then it doesn't really feel like work and is more of a hobby.

Some of the biggies, but there are more.
Are flipping entirely on ebay ? Buying and selling there ?
I'm also always putting shipping in. Right now I'm selling my video games, I'm thinking of remaining in that nice and maybe also flip computers since they can have potential.

You know, 80% of the time a computer is slow because of the hard disk. Buy it, put an ssd in (10x more speed) and sell. I will test it out with the games budget.

What niche are you specializing in ?
 

Silverfox148

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
319%
Apr 17, 2017
179
571
Are flipping entirely on ebay ? Buying and selling there ?
I'm also always putting shipping in. Right now I'm selling my video games, I'm thinking of remaining in that nice and maybe also flip computers since they can have potential.

You know, 80% of the time a computer is slow because of the hard disk. Buy it, put an ssd in (10x more speed) and sell. I will test it out with the games budget.

What niche are you specializing in ?
I sell on Ebay, I source from multiple sources, in person/online/etc. I do not buy from Ebay, sourcing is extremely important as that's really were you make your money, the money is not made in the selling of the product as the price for the most part is predetermined by the market.

On shipping, I tried to offer free shipping at the beginning but with shipping and the Ebay cut the margins just were not there in my niche. Switched to non free shipping and the sales did not go down, my niche however is committed buyers.

I specialize in die cast collectibles(metal) cars, trucks, tractors, machinery, etc. I also enjoy collecting them, I have dabbled in other areas with mixed results, the die cast collectibles has been the best, I do both new and used.

I have sold some used home stereo receivers and have made big margins but the risk is much higher as I have had returns there. People claiming stuff was damaged during shipping or didn't work , etc. This is just a hobby for the most part so I don't want the drama.

Video games are good and I have considered getting into it as I have a good sourcing pipeline , have sold a couple of consoles and I notice the buyers are committed and not flaky, it's pretty competitive but if you develop a good process you may be able to get decent margins.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Vinz

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
169%
Jun 12, 2021
213
360
I sell on Ebay, I source from multiple sources, in person/online/etc. I do not buy from Ebay, sourcing is extremely important as that's really were you make your money, the money is not made in the selling of the product as the price for the most part is predetermined by the market.

On shipping, I tried to offer free shipping at the beginning but with shipping and the Ebay cut the margins just were not there in my niche. Switched to non free shipping and the sales did not go down, my niche however is committed buyers.

I specialize in die cast collectibles(metal) cars, trucks, tractors, machinery, etc. I also enjoy collecting them, I have dabbled in other areas with mixed results, the die cast collectibles has been the best, I do both new and used.

I have sold some used home stereo receivers and have made big margins but the risk is much higher as I have had returns there. People claiming stuff was damaged during shipping or didn't work , etc. This is just a hobby for the most part so I don't want the drama.

Video games are good and I have considered getting into it as I have a good sourcing pipeline , have sold a couple of consoles and I notice the buyers are committed and not flaky, it's pretty competitive but if you develop a good process you may be able to get decent margins.
I've noticed in video games most sellers do seem to know the value of the product.
What exactly do you mean by "sourcing" ? Just obtaining stuff from various sources, or having an agreement with someone who will provide the material ?
 

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

Latest Posts

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top