Flipping on Ebay?

[Wandering MGHOWParticipant 551]

I’m currently trying to learn some coding stuff, as well as trying to get an e-book up on the amazon kindle store. These are both endeavors that may pay off in the future, but in the meantime I figured I’d like to make some actual money now.

Does anyone have any experience with buying stuff from overseas (using alibaba) and then selling on Ebay? I’ve heard of a program called Terapeak which tells you what is trending and what’s a hot-seller versus what isn’t. Does anyone have any suggestions, advice, or tips on what to sell and how to sell it?

[Chaff/FlareParticipant 3235]

I got nothing, but you looked lonely. My best business was when I was a kid. On the morning after holloween, I’d ask all the housewives for the leftovers, which they gave me by the tons because they didn’t want to be tempted. Had to wait a couple of moths for profit since kids at school were fat on candy.

When you find yourself in the majority, it's time to reflect.

[ResidentEvil7Participant 9544]

Don’t flip or build computers and sell them on eBay; you’ll be wasting your time and money, and I know that from experience.

I tend to not believe in buying from Alibaba because it’s from China, and the Chinese usually make cheap s~~~ that doesn’t work. That’s another one I know from experience. Plus with Alibaba, you need to buy in large bulk, and you have to make sure it does sell and it’s hard to sell stuff that is poorly made; like MADE IN CHINA products.

https://themanszone.webs.com/

[Honorable_Juice_BoxParticipant 591]

Don’e know anything about alibaba but I can tell you the eBay fees are quite steep.

[GeraldParticipant 3620]

I had some success a few years back when EBay was the new hot ticket, with buying shelf pulls from retail department stores and reselling them. There are companies out there who sell cases/boxes of apparel, etc. that is pulled from the store shelves because it didn’t sell in that area, and they sell it for pennies on the dollar. Bought two boxes of 200 items each for under $400 and then resold piece by piece on Ebay. Took months and I didn’t make a lot of profit, but it can be done. It takes a ton of time though.

No longer can we walk away, we must run. Remove the motive power.

[Wandering MGHOWParticipant 551]

It’s true that there are negatives to using Ebay and Alibaba, but I’ve seen certain people who find the perfect niche of products:

-Cheap to buy and can sell for twice the purchase price or better.
-Universal/one-size-fits-all which means less returns/less liability/less stress from overly critical females who have nothing better to do with their fat selves but surf Ebay and spend their husbands money since they are bored while hes at work all day.
-Unlikely to break: see above.
-A market that is relatively untapped.
-A product that is on the smaller for easier shipping.
-In season/trending.

I knew 1 guy who makes over 6 figures selling on Ebay, and have read a few other success stories around other forums. The people are all the same though – nobody ever wants to spill the beans and give their secret away. Understandable I guess.

I actually attempted all of this a while back by ordering a free sample of a survival flashlight from Alibaba. The flashlight is actually pretty good quality. I was going to buy bulk and then sell them on Ebay. I never went through with it though because I realized the survival/hunting market is too saturated and that I wouldn’t actually make much money. I’ve never been able to find a worthwhile product since so I kind of just left the idea alone. If you can find a good product though I feel it can be a worthwhile side hustle. All of us here should be aiming to “FIRE” (financially independent/retire early).

[narwhalParticipant]

From what I’ve seen, the best way I’ve see to make flipping money off ebay is to understand how the particular market works, then see if you can fill in a gap as a middle man.

I used to be somewhat of a collector of a particular toy brand. For minor releases of toys, the new toys will come in off the boat on the West coast, then make it’s way to the east coast in a matter of a week or so. Therefore, the toy may be in stores in California first. If it’s a hot toy, you could buy a bunch of them retail, then ship to customers on the East Coast at a profit, if the East Coast customer isn’t will to wait and isn’t concerned about lowest price.

The same goes for hard to find items. Manufacturers will not always get enough supply for the market, yet retails don’t/can’t raise prices to meet demand…but you can. If an item is in short supply, or will be, you can buy out the stock and then sell it at true market value.

Same goes for deep sales. If you see an item at half price, maybe some sort of doorbuster, that customers are willing to pay at full price, buy it up, wait till the sale is over and sell at full price.

Then there is the customer that just doesn’t care about price. They will buy from ebay because it’s easy, and won’t be bothered to look for a better price.

Essentially, know your niche market. It’s similar to stocks. You can buy low and sell high if you can accurately predict where the market’s going.

FYI, I’ve been a customer for rare goods mostly, and have dabbled in a little selling. I just don’t enjoy the selling enough to make a side job of it.

Ok. Then do it.

[uchibenkeiParticipant 7965]

I know a guy who goes to thrift shops, antique shops and other used goods stores, finds sports memorabilia and sells it on ebay for extra spending money.

pet breeding is another good one. I know a guy who made himself a millionaire breeding snakes.

I bathe in the tears of single moms.

[Faith+1Participant 866]

I used to love selling on ebay but with their crazy fees and douchbags opening up paypal disputes to scam you it just isn’t worth it.

[ResidentEvil7Participant 9544]

EBay is a site where cheap people go to get things for nothing. They’re cheap socialists. They want things but won’t pay for what it’s worth.

https://themanszone.webs.com/

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