Is Ebay dead?

[mrshowtime3]

I was recently considering buying the Salehoo and Worldwide Brands wholesaler directories. I wanted to find products to sell on ebay for extra income. However, I was able to find one of the sites thats in their directories. Most of the products on just that website are already being sold on ebay for hardly any profit at all. Has that market really just become to saturated with people trying to all sell the same things?

 

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[rocksolid]

I was looking to do the same thing a while back. I found some dropshippers but the products they offered were already being sold on Ebay and the profit margin was slim. You need to find a real nitch to sell on Ebay it takes some looking and they also offer a forum where people talk about selling stuff. I think you can make some extra cash selling on Ebay but I'm not sure you can generate enough to make it a full time job.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Are You Driving the Fastlane Or Sitting In The Passenger Seat? | theFastlaneToMillions.com

 

[LightHouse]

Why Pay Ebay to send you customers that what what you have for free and are never satisfied?

 

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[BryanC]

Are You Driving the Fastlane Or Sitting In The Passenger Seat?*|*theFastlaneToMillions.com

Good post, like the passenger/driver analogies.

 

[Kevn]

I was looking for a iphone. Thought i would check out ebay. Holy cow! The system seems broken.

1. Prices are high. More than just walking into a retail store.
2. The site is really loud. Way too much useless info.
3. I thought ebay was an auction site? Most of the listings start at high prices or buy now.


It doesn't seem effecient anymore. Feels like bumbling around someones garage and paying $500 for a Zak Morris Moto cell phone from 1991.

 

[BryanC]

BTW, as a reply to this thread... sell on forums and craig's list before ebay. Ebay is horrible.

 

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[BeingChewsie]

I have been selling on ebay since 2003. According to ebay their research tells them people want brand new suff, buy it now, free shipping and will pay top dollar for it, they don't want auctions or used stuff. They have been trying to wipe out auction sellers or sellers who sell used items for years. They discourage sellers from using auction style listings as much they can. They make more money on the fixed price, buy it now listings. All of this is fine and dandy if the economy is churning away doing great but now with things slowing and things getting tight I believe we will see Ebay's current "lets be the new amazon" CEO eventually replaced and someone brought in to bring ebay back to its auction "roots"...will it be too late for them to do so? Don't know but they have moved so far away from what they were and maybe they had to..adapt or die. I believe since America's "credit for everyone including the family labrador retriever" party is over for now people will be looking for that stuff on the cheap, maybe not brand new but still nice stuff. Maybe they won't be looking on ebay but they will be looking somewhere.

Sue

 

[TaxGuy]

thanks to eBay the collectibles market has dried up, but yea, it's definitely a better idea to get your own site than depend on eBay to make sales.

as far as iPhones costing more than at the store, remember that the ones on eBay are unlocked and as such you don't have to sign a 2yr contract and with the iPhone, I don't know how people get their hands on them unlocked when there isn't a "no commitment" price, in fact I think the only option aside from signing a new 2yr contract is early renewal where they cost $399 and $499 instead of $199(8gb) and $299(16gb).

next time you're looking at phone prices, check the "without a contract" price, it's usually MUCH higher.

 

[Kevn]

I thought I would be able to find a used one for $200 on ebay. It looks like way too much time to sift through the listings to find one. I'd rather pay the $400 and save the three hours.

 

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[biophase]

I think Ebay has gone way downhill. I don't even think to look there for a product anymore. It used to be the first place I'd go. Their new listing style and restrictions on the brand name has made it unfriendly. Thanks to this, my niche stores can list products at almost double the ebay listed prices and still sell.

 

[Jill]

Not dead. But they certainly have gone out of their way to put themselves on life-support, with the fee structure.

I can only really speak for what I personally know, used menswear. Final sales prices are definitely down from even one year ago, which is bad new for my protege, because he can only double or triple his cost of goods. But it's great news for my husband the clothes horse.

Re: drop-shippable commodities, I found the same thing to be true. Someone else is already selling it for less. Create your own product, and use a fulfillment house.

 

[Merkin Man]

Create your own product, and use a fulfillment house.

:iagree:

 

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[PL Dubber]

Is it really possible to make that great of an income when they charge you everytime you sell something? I'm guessing the profit is really small, so you have to sell and really large amount of products.

 

[hakrjak]

Yep to what Jill said... The fees are getting stupid-diculous on Ebay. The only reason I'm continuing to sell there is because I have $50k or so of inventory that I have already paid for in full, and every penny I make off of it is pure gravy at this point, but I won't be buying any more inventory, because the margins have gotten too thin.

They are really hurting the whole marketplace by charging people a fee even if their item doesn't sell -- That's what burns me most about Ebay! The system should be set up to where you pay a commission if something sells, but if it doesn't -- you owe zero. That would encourage a lot more people to list items, and the marketplace would grow larger and more open.

With that said -- companies like Ioffer.com are out there now doing EXACTLY what I said Ebay should do above, and they're growing their marketshare. Hopefully in the near future there will be more REAL competition out there for auction sites so we can get the fees down.

- Hakrjak

 

[Luke12321]

I just started selling on E-Bay. As far as from the customer end, I don't see how you can really complain taking too long to find something.

Just type in what you are looking for, then you can search by price, ect. It will even suggest similar brands for you.

I can't stand to go shopping in a retail setting anymore honestly....I would rather buy on E-Bay because you get more for the money and it is much more quick for me to click around on ebay rather than drive/walk store to store and pick through stuff. (I am speaking from buying clothes stand point)

 

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[hatterasguy]

I'm an ebay novice, but I did buy a Mercedes off ebay in 2004 and sold one a couple of years ago on it. Having said that I find the Mercedes and ebay motors in general to be full of slick used car dealers and scam artists. On the Mercedes forum's we actualy have threads devoted to tracking the worst offenders.

I just ordered a new DeWalt drill of ebay.

As a consumer Ebay must offer me two things:
1. It in my mind carries more risk than say Amazon.com or Home Depot. So the price must be low, IE I want a deal. I could have bought my drill on Amazon for $220, or HD for $250. But for me to take the risk it has to be cheaper, $180 in my case.
2. Free or reasonable shipping. I ain't paying $30 to ship a little thing. I know the margins are thin and some sellers seem to be making money on the shipping fee's insted.

When I sold a car on ebay I wasn't happy about the fee's. So since the seller was local I ended the auction early and we worked out a deal. I wasn't about to pay the fee's ebay can ban my account all they want, F them I don't care.

 

[I85]

They are really hurting the whole marketplace by charging people a fee even if their item doesn't sell -- That's what burns me most about Ebay! The system should be set up to where you pay a commission if something sells, but if it doesn't -- you owe zero. That would encourage a lot more people to list items, and the marketplace would grow larger and more open.

I can't say I agree with that. Ebay has enough overpriced junk as it is. Letting people list as much as they want for free would be a terrible idea imo.

OP: Is ebay dead?
Nope. It has slowed down, just like many other things. It is not dead, though.
Can you make money on ebay?
Sure can, just have to look a little harder. I have never really understood the whole WWB thing. You pay all this money to compete with the billion other people who bought the same sources?

 

[biophase]

I have never really understood the whole WWB thing. You pay all this money to compete with the billion other people who bought the same sources?

Just knowing the source does not indicate success. I think the WWB list is pretty good. Just as with all knowledge, you have to know what to do with it.

If someone gives you the source to a hot seller like Ipod nano 8gb for $100 and you can buy them in lots of 200. Can you make money on them?

I think most people would think they can and but in reality most would lose money purchasing 200 ipod nanos for $20,000.

 

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[Walley]

I had Salehoo and WWB. If you are looking for name brand merchandises I wouldn't even bother with them. The "wholesale" prices I've found from their lists are a few cents lower than retail. I've made more money selling liquidated items.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

So after examining this whole thread, I have to ask myself .... who is getting rich?

Here is the list:

Ebay
Salehoo
WWB
The manufacturers/inventors of the products you are dropshipping.

 

[LightHouse]

Sparked a question/thought.

http://www.thefastlanetomillions.co...pshipping-fulfillment-together.html#post71279

 

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[hakrjak]

So after examining this whole thread, I have to ask myself .... who is getting rich?

Here is the list:

Ebay
Salehoo
WWB
The manufacturers/inventors of the products you are dropshipping.

I've been saying for awhile now that there is a new opening for manufacturers in the USA to make a big splash. Shipping costs and delays from China combined with their rising costs over there just set the stage for a revival in American manufacturing.

- Hakrjak

 

[hatterasguy]

China is losing manufacturing to Vietnam and Eastern Europe and other countries... They are simply getting too expensive and people don't want to deal with the governments BS. Former Soviet block countries like Poland are a gold mine for a lot of manufactures because of the already trained labor force. Sikorsky for example set up a plant over their. If they can build Hind's and Havoc's they can build Blackhawks.

Not knowing much about Ebay I have to say from what I have heard and read I think the chances of making money by selling on Ebay are long gone. That boat sailed years ago.

Finding/inventing a new product is probably where the money is. Or you can pull a Nike and build a bran. Nike is more of an advertising company than anything else.

 

[marktwain 123]

Is E bay dead thats a horrible statment it's like saying is Walmart dead? You have to remember that personal opinion dictates what is valuable we are the market place we are the economy.You can get wholesale prices on e-bay walmart is sale price or just below retail. The quality of the item oftem determines the price of the item but not always quanity is still an option on ebay. Where else can you buy 50 nintendo games for 85 dollars or and i pod thats 2 years old for 75 dollars? The problem is people are spoiled they go into ebay with the attitude of I should get a 2 year old laptop computer for 40 dollars when in reality it's obvioulsy worth 185 to 250 dollars. E bay amazon all compete with retail chain stores you pay for a service you dont have to leave you house and item arrives at your doorstep 2 weeks later isn't that awesome? What do people want free? Thats the problem people want free stuff in their mind or super cheap stuff that 80% below retail cmon people wake up! You can by used stuff at or just above wholesale on ebay or buy new and pay for the service of shipping if you dont like it go to target or walmart and dont start a rumor ebay is dead or the economy is at fault no!!! You are at fualt for believing this rubbish use your head folks commons ense.

 

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[kurtyordy]

Is E bay dead thats a horrible statment it's like saying is Walmart dead? You have to remember that personal opinion dictates what is valuable we are the market place we are the economy.You can get wholesale prices on e-bay walmart is sale price or just below retail. The quality of the item oftem determines the price of the item but not always quanity is still an option on ebay. Where else can you buy 50 nintendo games for 85 dollars or and i pod thats 2 years old for 75 dollars? The problem is people are spoiled they go into ebay with the attitude of I should get a 2 year old laptop computer for 40 dollars when in reality it's obvioulsy worth 185 to 250 dollars. E bay amazon all compete with retail chain stores you pay for a service you dont have to leave you house and item arrives at your doorstep 2 weeks later isn't that awesome? What do people want free? Thats the problem people want free stuff in their mind or super cheap stuff that 80% below retail cmon people wake up! You can by used stuff at or just above wholesale on ebay or buy new and pay for the service of shipping if you dont like it go to target or walmart and dont start a rumor ebay is dead or the economy is at fault no!!! You are at fualt for believing this rubbish use your head folks commons ense.

ummmmmm. Mark who are you and why are you coming in here with such venom. Take a deep breath. Calm down. Introduce yourself. And then come back here a little more calm.

 

[Jill]

...I have to say from what I have heard and read I think the chances of making money by selling on Ebay are long gone. That boat sailed years ago

So not true. It might be a little harder and the margins might be a little thinner. But there's still good money to be made on ebay. Are the fees high? Yes. Works out to be around 10% for me. And when I figure out how to get 26 million customers to swing by my store everyday, I'll stop using them. But in the meantime, I'd rather have 90% of X than 0% of X.

 

[bflbob]

ThatiswithoutadoubtoneofthelongestrunonparagraphsIhaveeverseen. Ontopofreplyingtoathreadpostthatisoverayearold,yourrelyhasverylittletodowiththetopicbeingdiscussedintheoriginaltopic. Yousee,theproblemisthatyouarerantingonaboutbuyingstuffcheap,whilethisforumisaboutsellingstuffprofitably. Thanksforyouropinionthough.

 

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[Sparlin]

Marktwain123,

You are kind of like the guy who busts into a wedding ceremony and yells, "I OBJECT!", only to realize 5 seconds later that you are at the wrong wedding.

Please sit down and learn the forum rules. I learned something when I first got here, read the date on the post just before your post. It's an easy mistake to make. Old info can be brought up, no problem. Just make sure you are reacting to current sentiment and info.

Please start by posting an introduction. Welcome to the Fastlane! :fastlane:

Thank you.

 

[Luke12321]

Ebay is going in the wrong direction and I think you will see more smaller, niche auction sites coming up within the next few years. The new DSR/Top rated seller stuff they have, is a joke.

The problem with it, is who is more likely to give a detailed response, the person that is happy or the person who is unhappy and wants to get "revenge"? That is the problem, while the feedback may say you have had 250 happy customers and 5 unhappy, it is really probably more like 800 happy customers and 5 unhappy.

When I sell, I figure on paying back about 10% in fee's. The problem is, where else can I go that will draw in people looking exactly for what I have, get the money sent securely, for less than the 10%?

So right now, they have the sellers. Within a few years, I think sellers will have more choices and you will see margins go back up.