New to selling on ebay

[heftzwecke123]

I sell plants at markets and want to sell them at ebay too. I know about gov. restrictions.

The aim is to make a living salary, not now but say in a year.

What is better: start with free listings or a shop?

Do I have to get an ABN number right away or later? What is better if both is necessary?

As I sell plants, not all are looking good all year round - that means I need at least a year to get my own photos. Is it legal to

use photos on the net as long as there is no copyright on them?

What about public liability?

[joethenuts]

thats $40  less ebay fees  less paypal fees  less tax,   and not least  death liability thats if you are meant to die.,

what do you mean by if you were meant to die anyway mmmmmmm

[digupatin]

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@joethenuts wrote:

what do you mean by if you were meant to die anyway mmmmmmm

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@LOL @ Joe.

I wondered that also.

But then I tend to be very cynical nowadays. 😉

[heftzwecke123]

That means that I even cannot sell 10 x the same plant and 10 different plants (this would add up to 100 plants a month).....

If you propagate plants you always do more than 10 at once, maybe a tray or so.

How long does this limit usually last?

BTW plants are sold online these days and I myself buy most of my plants online. So I saw a lot of different packaging styles.

But with 10 listings per month, I could only start a business if I could sell 10 items per listing. Do I understand that correctly, that even this is not possible??

[imastawka]

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@heftzwecke123 wrote:

Thanks for answering! I sell edible and medicinal herbs. Someone might ingest these herbs and die (simply because they were meant ot die anyway) but I could be held liable - I don't know....

Do you use the Aus Post offer for ebay sellers?

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This bit really worries me.

You're not selling purported cancer cures are you?

[heftzwecke123]

certainly not. What worries me really is the new seller limit that I can only list 10 items per month. How can I ever make a living with that limit?

[joethenuts]

i can see the news now ,, police break in to a home and find the house locked the windows intact no sign of forced entry all they see is a dead body and a plant, police cant work out how the person died, until the news shows a closer look at the plant , and ebay board posters zoom in on the plant and on 1 of the leaves you can see teeth marks.,mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

looks like the buyer of the plant did not read the discription on the ebay listing. 

[maranock]

Don't worry, that is just for a while util you establish a reputation. I sell plants so I can probably give you some advice.

• You will find it more costly in time as well as money than you think so start off slow.
• Make sure your packaging is good - I have recieved some plants in horrific packaging. It must not leak, should not be easily crushable. The plant must look good when the customer receives it. I like to pack rooted cuttings and tubestock in plastic then mailing tubes with a cane stake to stop it moving.
• Replace the soil with damp coir fibre to keep the weight down.
• The postage will be the killer.
• You should have a policy to replace plants that either arrive dead or die soon after. I know some people may not look after them well but it is good customer service as people who buy plants are often repeat buyers.

[heftzwecke123]

That is great having a response from an actual plant seller!

I find growing plants easier than selling....

What do you mean by a while until I have the reputation?

How many months?

Second: is it that I can list ten plants per month or can I list ten different plants per month but 10 of each which would be 100 plants - still not a whopping return but at least a point to start.

[chameleon54]

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@heftzwecke123 wrote:

Thanks for answering! I sell edible and medicinal herbs. Someone might ingest these herbs and die (simply because they were meant ot die anyway) but I could be held liable - I don't know....

Do you use the Aus Post offer for ebay sellers?

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We used to own a wholsale / retail nursery and landscaping business. We produced a wide range of herbs and edible plants. As far as I know no-one died eating them. We used the pictorial tie on labels and push in sticks. These give advice on what the plant is used for and descriptions would have been proffesionaly researched and written, limiting the plant sellers liability. They where available in bundles of 25 for tie ons and 100 for push in sticks. We used to buy them from Macbird industries and Norwood industries. Macbird may have closed down, but I think  Norwood are still in business. Try a google search.

The pictorial labels do make your plants look more proffesional.  We also used to get Norwood Industries to produce our own printed push in, non pictorial, desriptive labels for specialist plants that we produced that where  not commonly available. These had our nursery name and contact details printed on the back. Again it makes them look more proffesional and it was not very expensive.

[imastawka]

You can only list 10 single plants.

Not 10 X 10 plants.