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 🙂

[stationmasterhobbies]

after listing over 200 items I have sold 2 in the past week/ i usually find to list just after christmas. If you have the 3 free auto relists i found that works the best. look out in the forums or additional 3 listing. once you extablished your selling move bigger open a shop if you like.

Enjoy your sales and accomplishments

Provide excellent customer service.

and have grae listings and photos.

good Luck Anthony

[vjrossi]

Thanks for all the info, great community and information. I've asked the distributor (in Oz) for a minimum number and price so I'll see what they say.

[chameleon54]

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@vjrossi wrote:

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 🙂

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If I read your posts correctly, you mention there are only a couple of Australian sellers and not many OS sellers of your product. it sounds like you have found a nice little market niche. This always works much better than trying to compete with hundreds of other sellers in the bulk products market. Sales are very slow for many ebay sellers at the moment, ( myself included ) but some things are still selling consistently.

The forums are a place where people come to seek answers to problems, so they can tend to offer a bit of a one sided, gloomy picture. It is still possible to sell stuff on ebay, its just not as good as it was two years ago. Our private account which just uses feeebie listings to sell collectables and "old stuff" is still doing a quite a reasonable trade. Unfortunately our stores are fairly flat, but still making consistent sales.

 If you want to try a few products and see if they sell with a view to building a business, go for it. Just be carefull not to invest too much money in stock for a start. Your idea of buying the minimum number from your supplier sounds like a plan. If they cost you more per item than a larger purchase, just cut your profit margin so that the selling price will still be the same as you would offer buyers if you purchased a larger number. At least this way you will get an idea if people will buy them, even if you dont make much profit initially.

[*tippy*toes*]

The only thing I have to add onto the other excellent advice is, when the time comes to start listing and selling, venture back in here. There are a lot of very experienced sellers who are more than happy to help you out with anything you want to know. Even if it's something like "I've just listed my first item, can people go and have a look and tell me what you think?".

A lot of new sellers have been helped out immensely with getting their listings right. We've all made mistakes when we were starting out, getting advice in here might help you not have to find out the hard way too! Some people might be very critical, but if that's what it takes to have an effective listing,accept the criticism.

Decide on whether you want to run auctions or straight out buy it now. If you decide to start with auctions, always start with the lowest amount you are willing to accept. When creating your listings, use the advanced listing tool, there are so many more option available. You will probably go into the quick lister by default when you go to list your first item, if that happens, up the top right corner is a link to switch to advanced.

After that listing is submitted, go to it on your selling page, use the dropdown on the right and select sell similar. That was you only need to adjust details for your next listing, all the other stuff will remain that you'd want in every listing.

[phorum_junkie*]

You say there are only a couple of domstic sellers, could that be because it is not an item in high demand? Have you done a completed items search to see just what percentage of this item sells and how much they sell for.

[vjrossi]

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@*tippy*toes* wrote:

The only thing I have to add onto the other excellent advice is, when the time comes to start listing and selling, venture back in here. There are a lot of very experienced sellers who are more than happy to help you out with anything you want to know.

...

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Thanks for the practical advice. I was thinking Buy it Now just looking at how similar products are currently being sold. Will definitely be back, still not sure if I'll do anything before Christmas. Don't want to get a bad rep by stuffing up people's gifts even it might be AP's doing.

[vjrossi]

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@phorum_junkie* wrote:

You say there are only a couple of domstic sellers, could that be because it is not an item in high demand? Have you done a completed items search to see just what percentage of this item sells and how much they sell for.

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Thanks I'll do that. I think I already did but it's hard to find a certain product amongst lots of different ones, over a period of time, unless there's a better way of doing it. But I'll do that now.

[vjrossi]

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@phorum_junkie* wrote:

Have you done a completed items search to see just what percentage of this item sells and how much they sell for.

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Looks like November was the month, 19 sold by 1 seller, I guess Christmas lead-up? They all sold at the same price as they are listed as BIN. Oct was 2, December 2, as of 01/12. The other seller has only 1 sold (yesterday).

PS: is there any reading material worth a look at to get started, or is it just a matter of doing due diligence and learning it the hard way, reading blog posts, forums, etc.

PPS: does one create a new 'seller' eBay account for the 'business', at least initially? I'd rather not use this one (even in the forums TBH).

[lyndal1838]

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@vjrossi wrote:

Thanks for the practical advice. I was thinking Buy it Now just looking at how similar products are currently being sold. Will definitely be back, still not sure if I'll do anything before Christmas. Don't want to get a bad rep by stuffing up people's gifts even it might be AP's doing.

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You ony have 14 days till Christmas Eve.  If the items are not yet in your possession I would think it is far too late to start selling before Christmas.   It is a disaster waiting to happen and your feedback will probably suffer big time.

[pennyforum14]

If you start a new ID be aware that it will probably have both listing limits and a 21 day hold on funds, until you "prove yourself" to eBay.  If your current ID has a good track record for recent selling, you may be able to successfully apply for an increased selling limit, but it will be harder to convince Paypal to lift the funds hold, especially if the items are of a different nature or a higher price bracket than you normally sell (sometimes if they are uncooperative, mentioning the FOS can elicit a swift and positive result).

I agree it is probably to late for this Christmas, unless the items are in your hands for quick despatch.