The million dollar question…what should I sell?
Wow…if I had a dollar for every time I was asked this question I would be rich. This question is probably the root of why people across the land are not all quitting their jobs at once to sell on ebay full time while lounging in their pjs. There are many factors to consider when deciding what to sell on ebay. The first, and I think this is true whether it is an item from your home or an item purchased for the purpose of resale, is margin. I can’t say enough about the importance of margin. You need to make something on what you list. Time and again I see sellers who have hundreds of items listed all starting at $1.00. When you go in and look at their completed items they may rack up $500 in monthly sales while having listed 1000 items, leaving 500 unsold. Well, I don’t know about you but that sounds like a whipping to me. Waaaay too much time spent on the computer. Get more bang for your buck. Why list twenty items that may sell for $1.00 each when you could list one item that will sell for $20? Consider also what you pay if you are purchasing something for resale-you can’t spend $15 on an item that will have an end bid of $20 and expect to stay in business long. Buy low and sell high…sounds like the stock market.
Second, think of supply. Can you get enough of what you are selling on a continual basis? This is probably the hardest part, and also the reason why some sellers sell a multitude of items. My personal feeling is to narrow your focus on the items sold. This will help you increase your knowledge of what you can buy something for and still have a good margin. Whenever I venture off of the designer handbag/accessories route it never fails that I tend to purchase poorly with little margin. Finding an outlet where you can get products on a consistent basis is, in my opinion, a learning experience. One alternative is to find someone to shop for you. This is someone who knows exactly what you want and will keep eyes open for you at all times. You will then in turn purchase items from them so that they too will make a little cash. While this is one of my favorite routes of purchase it is also one of the hardest to establish and maintain. Eventually the shopper realizes that there is more money to be made and you run the risk of losing them to do the same thing you are doing. Has happened to me.
Third, you need to love what you sell. Many of my friends ask me to sell their kid’s clothing. UGH! I just can’t bring myself to do it. Suffice it to say that I love handbags and anything designer. I also love nice clothing but have little motivation to list any for sale. If you are going to be typing text day in and day out on an item it helps to like what you are typing about. I could never sell auto parts, computer accessories, golf clubs…the list goes on and on. Just not my thing and I would quickly lose interest.
One last thing, at least for today, consider what it will take to ship an item. Do you have a cheap resource for boxes and packing material? I rarely sell anything glass, because people like to get their glassware in one piece. You needs lots and lots of packing material to ship glassware successfully. Think you can make a living on ebay selling tubas? You might could, you just gotta have lots of very big boxes. My purses go very nicely into the free postal Priority Mail boxes. Just a thought to ponder. Email me any topics you would like me to cover.
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I have always wanted to develop a niche eBay plan for selling specialized Volkwagen beetle auto parts and accessories. Do you think there might be an eBay market for those types of products?
Hey Recycled Bugs! Thanks for the comment. Absolutely! It is funny that you should inquire about vintage Volkswagen parts. I was just the other day having a discussion with a friend of mine who also sells on ebay. She said that she just sold seat covers from her high school car, which incidentally was a Bug. They were brand new in the package, so they were snapped up in a flash. This type of item is in hot demand, especially when you are dealing with something that is no longer made, but still readily used. My recommendation is jump in with both feet–you will be thrilled with the results. Good luck!