Profitable Stuff to Sell on eBay?

Lbillbob123454 on 05/08/2020 - 14:55

Hey everyone. I've been wanting to start up an eBay business for a while, I was just wondering if anyone has any good ideas of things to sell that I can bring in for a decent amount per unit, and then sell for a relatively decent price as well. I'd be open to buying from China as that seems like one of the only ways to get a lot of stuff for quite a low price, but I'd be very interested in any other ways as well. And it doesn't matter if the stuff is seasonal, e.g. Father's day stuff, just looking forward to hearing any ideas/successes you have/have had. Cheers :).

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Comments

  • screensaver on 06/08/2020 - 08:52

    it was some time ago and I never tried it so I dont know if they work

  • OzHunterNSW on 06/08/2020 - 11:18

    Sounds like you have absolutely no idea what you are doing. You have this notion that magically you can sell things that will make you a millionaire.

    People research, they make a plan of action, and state clear aims and objectives.

    How can you expect to make a profit on other people's junk?

    You sound 15 or so, so could be an issue with eBay, or PayPal

    • billbob123454 on 06/08/2020 - 12:15
      +1

      Well I’m just starting out so I know very little, which is why I came here for some advice. I’ve been doing some casual sales recently and wanted to find something more sustainable. I don’t see anywhere where I said selling things will make me a millionaire. Not sure where you’re pulling that idea from. I can quote myself saying I am “looking for a bit of money on the side” and my aim is exactly that. I don’t see the problem in asking for other people’s experiences before I invest my money into something that I’m not hugely familiar with.

    • Zachary on 06/08/2020 - 13:52
      +2

      OOooh, shots fired….

      • Melb69 on 06/08/2020 - 14:41
        +2

        Popcorn. I will be kind this time. Get enough of my own negative comments.

  • PerfectShopper on 06/08/2020 - 21:56
    +2

    My sister used to buy Osh Kosh kiddy clothing at the exclusive suburbs op shops, wash and iron them and sell for a fortune. Finding the right area is crucial, too. I tried to sell some brand new tagged highly glittery pants and tops made of sequins in Sydney to no avail. Gave them to sister on Gold Coast and the consumers went absolutely mental begging her to get more. At the moment any pandemic-friendly gear or activity is going to be popular, so I'd go for that angle. Handmade is very popular right now.

  • Aerith-Waifu on 06/08/2020 - 23:10
    +2

    You can try to buy things from a business which is closing, I know someone who does it from time to time. Going there when the sale is on and they are close to closing, he picked up things with a 90% - 95% discount.

    Unfortunately, the store holders hated him but had no choice but to sell to him.

    So you need a really thick skin to go into the store as this is the time when the store owners are really feeling down, he almost got punched in the face a few times………………

    As I said, you need a very thick skin to do so………

    • billbob123454 on 06/08/2020 - 23:41

      Not sure if I could stomach that sort of thing unless they were benefiting from me swooping in and taking all their stock. But then again what use is it to them if they're closing.

      • TheBird on 06/08/2020 - 23:44
        +2

        If they're going out of business, it's better for them to get 10 cents in the dollar than nothing.

        I once bought a business where the owner was doing a pretty good job at driving it into the ground. I gave him an out. He got more than it was worth to him and I got it for way less than it was worth to me. That's a win-win right?

      • Aerith-Waifu on 07/08/2020 - 03:07
        +1

        Well they dont see it that way, they will see it as you are taking advantage of a terrible situation.

        Like I said, you need a thick skin to do it, but again, the rewards can be very lucrative.

  • TheBird on 06/08/2020 - 23:33
    +3

    Well I’m just starting out so I know very little

    Ebay is likely to be one of the best and worst ways to start. Personally, I can't think of something to avoid more than ebay. It's a huge marketplace. There's lots and lots of customers. Lots of people buying lots of what they want to buy. . Ebay takes their pound of flesh. Ebay sides with customers, so expect out of pocket refuds. Free postage is pretty much expected. Now for the bad news… The competition are experienced and have capital. Bigger players can have the buying power to sell at a price that is under your cost. Your competition will be using tools that'll allow them to find the good markets before you do.

    Just so you know what you're getting yourself into.

    Even if you insist on ebay, not all is lost. Your best bet will be finding a bunch of niches that you stumble upon that are either too small or too much effort for anyone else to care about… or you're only competing against small competitors.

    If you go ahead with this, just avoid the win a little, lose a lot.

    If I were you, I'd start by setting up a small website, build up clientelle and sell stuff from that. That being said, ignore everything I just said. Yep, that's right, don't listen to me, I'm stupid enough to try to get into one of the worst industries available, computer games.

    Good luck.

    • billbob123454 on 06/08/2020 - 23:39
      +1

      Haha thanks for that

    • F1ProjectOne on 23/09/2020 - 00:54

      What were you selling? Only computer game or did you try computer components …etc?

      • TheBird on 23/09/2020 - 21:19

        Selling wise? Hardware. Mostly often peripherals where there was little competition. Occasionally laptops but I found it a harder sell and lower margins. A bad combination but maybe I was doing it wrong or expecting too much.

  • Trying2SaveABuck on 06/08/2020 - 23:33
    +1

    I dont know about ebay i hear the illicit drugs industry is very profitable and its all cash money if not bitcoin

  • wau2 on 07/08/2020 - 00:47
    +1

    Careful about eBay as they hold all the cards. If you start selling a lot they will restrict your account an make you provide proof of authenticity. If they ban you for whatever reason you basically don’t get a say

  • Ciderfizz44 on 07/08/2020 - 01:37
    +1

    USB foot warmers I tell you, there's money to be had. Preferably with a swanky pink hello kitty design.

  • dr on 07/08/2020 - 02:04
    -1

    Kidneys, healthy kidneys. If you start MLM scheme recruiting family and friends for a kidney each you can millionaire in a six months or less. You do not even need eBay for that - cut the middle man and keep the commission

  • Jugganautx on 07/08/2020 - 05:27
    +1

    nothing, ebay fees are extortion.

  • timmy_tam on 07/08/2020 - 07:17
    +5

    ^ as above.

    try selling your things you have in your house and see how that goes.

    just as a rough guide,

    $100 - Item sell price
    $10 - postage
    $110

    minus ebay fees 11%
    minus paypal fees 3%
    minus GST 10%

    leaves $85.14
    minus postage $10

    leaves $75.14

    some of the other costs needed to be factors - Packaging costs, travel time to post office, dispute costs if the item goes missing or buyer demands a refund, etc etc

    again, i'd try selling some of what you already have in your house and see how it works for you

    • popsiee on 07/08/2020 - 11:26
      +1

      I'm sure OP not going to pay GST by simply staying below 75K !

      • timmy_tam on 07/08/2020 - 14:38
        +1

        i thought that too!

        but then i had a closer look at my monthly fees, and theres the ebay final fees, and at the end, another 10% GST fee

        so realistically, its 21%!

        • [Deactivated] on 07/08/2020 - 16:09
          +1

          Average running costs for my store, excluding the actual product cost run at 27.8%, which is with a featured store. That includes ebay fee, paypal, postage, GST so on a $100 sell price you need to be buying your product at pretty much 50% of the final sell to make any reasonable margin.

  • AddNinja on 07/08/2020 - 08:02
    +1

    Can you sell starter kits of things? There might be money to be made there. For example, during lock down we got into hydroponics. We bought all the bits off eBay from 5+ sellers, but if a seller had drawn them together, explained how they had curated their collection, offered Australian support, that would have been something I may have paid for.

    • billbob123454 on 07/08/2020 - 08:53

      Actually that sounds like a really cool idea. I think I'll research that sort of thing but like a starter pack for stationary or phone accessories or something like that maybe. Thanks so much!

      • Ughhh on 09/08/2020 - 14:47
        +1

        starter pack for stationary or phone accessories

        Why has no one ever thought about this, no shop sell these!!!
        You could be a billionaire soon!!!!!!!

  • MisterX on 07/08/2020 - 09:47

    I know a mate that buys stuff from Salvos for cheap and resells it for 10x the price on eBay. He's been attacked about ethics on that, wonder what people on OzBargain think?

    • billbob123454 on 07/08/2020 - 10:18
      +4

      As long as he's paying salvos for the price they are selling it at and isn't like bargaining or anything then I wouldn't really see a problem. Op shops can be gold mines sometimes.

    • ProlapsedHeinous on 07/08/2020 - 13:33
      +1

      Some of the op shop prices are criminal. The Op Shops are taking their cut. I see that as a win win

    • AddNinja on 07/08/2020 - 14:13
      +1

      I emailed the Salvos once about this. The official word was buy anything you want. They have no problem finding stuff to sell, their main problem was selling it.

    • timmy_tam on 07/08/2020 - 14:42
      +4

      what would salvos care? its all donations so it doesn't cost them anything

  • Abaddon on 07/08/2020 - 11:54
    +1

    You could try something you can buy in bulk and subdivide.

    I've been searching for optic fibre for modelmaking. Local model shops don't seem to sell anything.

    Can't find a good supplier in Australia (especially for the thinnest stuff). So I can either buy a tonne from the likes of ebay/aliexpress/etc with high shipping costs, or buy smaller amount from a place in Europe/US (from someone who sells by the metre) but again shipping costs kill it.

  • DemocracyManifest on 07/08/2020 - 12:45
    +1

    Refurb laptops - buy business lots and resell with fresh installs/small upgrades. I’ve sold laptops that should have otherwise gone in the bin

  • malich on 07/08/2020 - 13:08
    +2

    Sex toys. I use my own moulds and poor some jelly in. Sell on ebay or gumtree with great success

    • billbob123454 on 07/08/2020 - 13:47
      +1

      I'll pick some up 2nd hand for even better value!

      • malich on 07/08/2020 - 14:17
        +1

        the key is to put in the description that they are single use. Then buyers can't get upset when they find out it's jelly

  • iamhurtin on 07/08/2020 - 14:21
    +3

    I think so.. In 2004

  • Bid Sniper on 07/08/2020 - 15:48

    Should of bought oil when it was -$34 a barrel and waited for the bounce

    • CocaKoala on 07/08/2020 - 19:34

      Should of

      Should have

  • Kenny Powers on 07/08/2020 - 16:06

    Tenga eggs

  • Herbse on 07/08/2020 - 16:57

    I've made a lot of money selling

    • T1OOO on 07/08/2020 - 17:11

      Write a book with that title. Best seller.

  • T1OOO on 07/08/2020 - 17:11
    +1

    If there is it’ll be short lived with competition driving down margins.

    • ATangk on 07/08/2020 - 18:15

      Probably too late to start an OnlyFans too.

      • AustriaBargain on 07/08/2020 - 20:33

        It's never too late to build a fanbase on Onlyfans.

  • whichwhatwho on 07/08/2020 - 18:21

    Import a few hundred tons of Olympic Bumper plates. Prepurchase your Lambo now because you could literally put any price on them and they will move.

  • CocaKoala on 07/08/2020 - 19:36

    Portable particle accelerators.

  • AustriaBargain on 07/08/2020 - 20:32
    +2

    Chinese photography equipment. But you'll never compete with the ebay people who set their location as Sydney but actually just dropship from Hong Kong. In fact there's nothing you can do about anything, eBay is broken in that regard. You might be able to promise you're sending it from Australia, but you're competing against Chinese sellers who are lying about being in Australia and are just shipping it straight from wholesalers in China. If you're stocking something to sell then sell it everywhere, make your own website, put it on Amazon if the math works out.

    • billbob123454 on 07/08/2020 - 21:36

      Yeh cool thanks for that. Really difficult with Chinese sellers.

  • bmerigan on 07/08/2020 - 22:42

    I bought something on eBay recently which was drop-shipped from Amazon.
    If you could be bothered, and have Amazon Prime free delivery, that's one way to skim a couple of dollars.

    • billbob123454 on 07/08/2020 - 23:06

      That … could genuinely work with the right product. You’ve given me a million more ideas thank you so muchhh

      • IMBI3 on 08/08/2020 - 08:38
        +1

        Until you are banned from both Ebay and Amazon for breaching their T&C

        • bmerigan on 08/08/2020 - 12:39

          I was offended when I first received it, but then shrugged it off. Didn't hurt/cost me.

          • aerona on 09/08/2020 - 06:03

            @bmerigan: Sometimes its not someone scalping it though. They could own that amazon account also..

            90% of the time, Ebay is much cheaper than amazon by a far stretch, but do this enough times and the customer searches if the amazon price is higher. It only takes 1-2 bad feedback per sale to have a huge decline in sales.

  • popsiee on 08/08/2020 - 08:47
    +1

    I recently saw a BBC program on Celebrity Instagram BigWigs being approached by drop shippers to sell hot products such as lookalike Apple air pods . As simple as copying a 10 point approach contract and a supply line . Some drop shippers did get massive deals even though the product suxed and many of the BigWigs had to provide refunds :)
    Of course the monster Apple not too impressed as well !

  • magikz on 08/08/2020 - 22:22
    +1

    There's plenty of opportunities

  • capslock janitor on 08/08/2020 - 23:48

    sell money

  • F1ProjectOne on 23/09/2020 - 00:42

    How are you going with your start up business? Your post has actually inspired me to start one as well…

    • billbob123454 on 23/09/2020 - 09:04

      I gave up on the idea of importing and instead decided on exploring dropshipping instead. Last week I found a really good discount code on some gadgets and drop shipped from there. Made myself about 200 bucks from $700 in sales.

      But that was a one off, discounts are never as good as the 50% off I got and my selling price was lower than the regular RRP so it was a win for the customer too. At the moment though I'm trying to find more sustainable products from a decent supplier.

      Been really getting into it recently though, as it's school holidays for me so using my time wisely before school ramps up again. As of now I've just been researching the hell out of everything just absorbing information.

      Are you thinking of going the dropshipping or importing avenue?

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