Starting small?

[vjrossi]

I'd like to ask if there's still room for small sellers and how small is too small? How about if I have 10 (yes 10) new items  (say for e.g. tech toys about $100 ea) bought directly from a distributor and want to just test the water. Is there any point, and would I need to open a store at that point?

Ultimately I'd like to expand to a supplement full time job more and more over 1-2 years.

I'm currently reading lots of similar posts, and will continue to research while awaiting your advice 🙂

[lyndal1838]

As  new seller you will have a limit of 10 items to sell.

Most sellers come here asking how to get an increase in their listing allowance as they want to run before they can walk.

To be honest, things are so quiet at the moment you are most unlikely to sell all your items every month.

If you have never sold anything on ebay I suggest you list a few things from around the house rather than invest money in buying stock.

You may hate ebay selling...it is not easy.

[vjrossi]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

As  new seller you will have a limit of 10 items to sell.

Most sellers come here asking how to get an increase in their listing allowance as they want to run before they can walk.

To be honest, things are so quiet at the moment you are most unlikely to sell all your items every month.

If you have never sold anything on ebay I suggest you list a few things from around the house rather than invest money in buying stock.

You may hate ebay selling...it is not easy.

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Hi thanks for the feedback. I have bought and sold a number of items since 2002. I definitely want to walk before I run, as per my query. I'm really surprised to hear things are quiet around Christmas time. I know I've bought a number of things from eBay recently and try to find Aussie sellers where possible. I literally thought, "I'll  try and sell these 10 new, popular items" and just see how it goes. No grand plans of retiring early or anything 🙂 Appreciate your honest comments.

[digupatin]

If you intend reselling items sourced from a distributer, especially then re-selling them for about $100 each I doubt if you would be able to compete on price with Chinese sellers and drop shippers who deal in hundreds if not thousands of the same items and can sell them with a profit margin of as little as a few cents each and also include free postage.

Treat it as a hobby and if you are lucky enough to find something new that no-one else sells but everyone wants to buy then consider opening a store.

[digital*ghost]

I personally think eBay is always worth a shot, as long as anyone who gives it a go knows, understands, and can accomodate some of the risks and requirements that are involved. This is especially true when starting out small, because while an established business seller might be able to absorb a $100 loss on a product (be it lost in transit, damaged, faulty or effectively stolen by a fradulent buyer), it can be a bit more devastating for a smaller seller. And I'm not saying this to scare you away, I'm saying it so that you can formulate a business plan, and other strategies, to cope with something like that if it ever happens - it may never happen, but knowing that it could is something that can help ensure you can more easily recover if it does. 

Re: opening a store, it's probably not worth it until the $19.95 monthly fee (for a basic store) will cost less than what you'd pay without a store, but that's reliant on quite a number of factors, some of which don't have any actual monetary value (eg Store categories, helpful when you have a variety of stock listed which can cross-promote one another), while others do (eg difference in FVF is usually minor, but you do get access to more features, including longer listing durations). 

[vjrossi]

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@digupatin wrote:

Treat it as a hobby and if you are lucky enough to find something new that no-one else sells but everyone wants to buy then consider opening a store.

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Thanks. The only 2 Oz sellers of this item have about $60 markup and offer free postage. The Asian sellers are about $20 above that again so I dunno. Maybe I should start with 5 but I guess my buy price would go up. I guess nothing ventured nothing gained, but maybe trialling this at Christmas time might be a bit of a baptism by fire. Kind of depressing though with some of these massive volume sellers from China etc. but I know as a buyer if I can find an Aussie seller for a bit more I'll take them.

[vjrossi]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

I personally think eBay is always worth a shot, as long as anyone who gives it a go knows, understands, and can accomodate some of the risks and requirements that are involved. 

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Yep understood and also about the store. I could definitely absorb the odd loss, I'm not relying on any income from this but thought I'd put my toe in the water, thinking perhaps I'd missed the boat after thinking about it for way too many years.

[amber-eyed-girl]

At this time of year, if you post fast, that could be a selling point over the same/similar product from a China-based seller. Highlight that point if you go ahead...something like, buy from an Australian seller and get delivery for Christmas (if you are sure you can do it).

[vjrossi]

hmm I haven't purchased any of the items yet so I'm not even sure when I'd get them myself. I might see if I can get 5 ($1000 for 10 would not go down well if I couldn't sell them). Don't want to rush it, having to set everything up, etc. but I'll see.

Would I just sell the items under my personal account or do people set up another?

[digital*ghost]

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@vjrossi wrote:

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@digital*ghost wrote:

I personally think eBay is always worth a shot, as long as anyone who gives it a go knows, understands, and can accomodate some of the risks and requirements that are involved. 

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Yep understood and also about the store. I could definitely absorb the odd loss, I'm not relying on any income from this but thought I'd put my toe in the water, thinking perhaps I'd missed the boat after thinking about it for way too many years.

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I think as long as your expectations are realistic and you are prepared to take it slow, it's never too late. It was definitely easier to build up a business a couple of years ago, but eBay have introduced a lot of policies that can thwart someone attempting to start big straight away.

Finding niche products is, as mentioned above, recommended above items in flooded categories, even if you can offer them at very competitive prices. And, just IMHO, I wouldn't just focus on products, I think it's just as important to build a brand, even if just looking for supplementary income - I don't necessarily mean your own branded products, I mean establishing an identity as a seller, because as time goes by, people will remember certain things about the items and service you provide, and it's better for them to connect that to you / your store, than a product others sellers can stock, and eventually you might find that you build up a regular customer base.