Selling on Amazon and/or Ebay - Tips for Newbs

[Marc]

Hi All,

I tried searching in the forum but did not find anything on point, so I hope this can become a popular and helpful thread.

I am interested in supplementing my income and have read a great deal about some who are making nice amounts of money by buying products and reselling them on Amazon or eBay. Aside from the obvious benefits of making additional money, there is also an element of manufacturing spend by buying and reselling the items...for us miles and points junkies.

With that being said...I thought it would be helpful to have a thread where people can pose their questions as well as provide tips to others on how to go about selling on Amazon and eBay with the hope of making some additional money on the side.

The hope is that this thread can be a collaborative effort where we can discuss strategies, tips, experiences, etc. in an effort to better understand the process of reselling.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Matt]

Hi All,

I tried searching in the forum but did not find anything on point, so I hope this can become a popular and helpful thread.

I am interested in supplementing my income and have read a great deal about some who are making nice amounts of money by buying products and reselling them on Amazon or eBay. Aside from the obvious benefits of making additional money, there is also an element of manufacturing spend by buying and reselling the items...for us miles and points junkies.

With that being said...I thought it would be helpful to have a thread where people can pose their questions as well as provide tips to others on how to go about selling on Amazon and eBay with the hope of making some additional money on the side.

The hope is that this thread can be a collaborative effort where we can discuss strategies, tips, experiences, etc. in an effort to better understand the process of reselling.

Thanks in advance!

Hi Marc,

We have a number of experienced resellers here, how experienced are you with reselling? Most of the people I speak with don't use eBay anymore due to fulfillment demands. Do you sell on both, and what have you learned from it?

Best,
Matt

 

[Thomash]

Hi I just joined this site hoping to learn about MS but this is something I think I am knowledgeable about.

I have been reselling goods online for a couple of years now, this year around 250 items.

My advice is to be an opportunist and only sell what you know. Something related to a hobby, sport, interest or something you collect. You will be able to intuitively identify price discrepancies to supply yourself with things to actually sell. That or resell shitty electronics in high volume and slim margins, two polar opposite approaches.

I sell on a combination of Ebay and forums specific to the products I am selling. I always try to route people I catch on Ebay to other places I have items listed. The Ebay+Paypal fees now average over 13%; something to consider but not killer as sale prices are higher than elsewhere on Ebay.

My supply from these same places or from a couple foreign websites Taobao(China) and Rakuten(Japan) then import them and list them.

I sell two things only; mens clothing and outdoor goods. these are VERY niche products from obscure brands with particular aesthetics and strong followings. This shit is not from Macys or Nordstrom. People buy brands.

Margins are anywhere from $20-$200 per item, my volume is low enough I have to seek higher margins. Most often I am buying one item at a time well knowing I can resell at a much higher price.

Other times I am buying a couple dozen of an item that was on super sale or that was mislabeled, I am importing pre-owned clothing to sell, although this is going away as they are starting to cut me out and just list it themselves.

Take good photos and have good descriptions. I have very many times bought something on Ebay taken new photos and relisted it sold it for 3x what I bought it for. Never ever ever group items together 'full climbing rack for sale' or 'five nice sweaters' . I will be the only bidder and I will break it up and make the money you should have.

Use Paypal ONLY they are very pro-seller it bothers me sometimes as a buyer but they have saved me a quite a few times.

Also, set up a Paypal account to collect payments that is not tied to anything and then gift the payment to your other account to liquidate. I do not really want to describe why I do this but not so honest people do similar things in a fraudulent manner. You have to protect yourself or you will get fleeced at some point.

USPS has free shipping supplies and their priority or first class mail is the best way to ship most things.

 

[Marc]

@Matt - I have a small amount of experience reselling on eBay, none on Amazon. Most of the items I have sold are things I got as gifts and didn't need or items that were used which I no longer wanted. I'd like to start reselling items that I specifically purchase solely to resell. Not looking to make it my full time job, just to sell on the weekends essentially to supplement my income. Looking to glean whatever I can from the forum to learn more, how to successfully do it, tips to find the "perfect" items to resell, etc.

@Thomash - thanks for the amazingly helpful post! So many helpful tips and starting points for me. I'm going to explore the various things mentioned in your post so that I can try and start putting it into practice. Thanks a million for the reply!

 

[Matt]

From what I have learned, eBay isn't the way forward - it is too labor intensive. FBA is a better option since you can start scaling up - selling more for less effort. The concept of selling things individually on eBay and shipping personally is what puts most people off reselling. I think that you guys might do well exploring that further.

 

[Thomash]

@Matt I have never really looked into Amazon. Mostly because I am of the thought that I do not have access to scalable products that is why I do what I currently do.

The shipping thing is definitely a hassle but USPS free shipping supplies and pickup can minimize that. Although I am comfortable leaving high dollar amount of goods on by back porch I am sure some people in other areas would not be.

Do you have any insight on how amazon fufillment works? I am purchasing goods shipping them to their warehouse and they package and ship to the buyer correct? I assume I am holding the inventory risk the whole time.