Home eBay Buisness?

[Toms306]

Evening all,

Well I won't bore you with my life (makes a change I know ) but basically my problems aren't getting better (the opposite in fact) and I'm running out of the money I had saved now.

So the thing I need above anything else atm is money....but I don't know how to go about it.

I can't get JSA as I'm not looking for a proper job due to my situation. And I also don't qualify for any incapacity benefit due to reasons I cba to explain.

However I've been selling stuff on ebay for a while fairly successfully (before I started trying to sell 306 parts but we'll ignore those lol) and thought about setting up a business through ebay to get some money in. I know it wouldn't be loads but I'd be fine with ~£50 a week atm. I'd be able to do it from home, so not a problem for my anxiety and stuff, and would save on diesel.

But I know nothing about business or selling, or if I'd have to pay tax for something like that or anything really. I've tried googling about it but either I'm thick or its not written clearly but I just can't seem to anywhere with it.

So basically I'm wondering if anyone does it? If its worth it? How to go about it? And what sort of items would be good to sell like that?

Any other ideas of making a small amount of money without a 'proper' job would be good too.

Cheers
Tom

[Mattcheese31]

you can only receive so much money through paypal from ebay sales a year, after that you have to register for a business account, i wouldn't worry about anything until you get to that stage . .

[Niall]

If your serious about it, it would probably be beneficial for you to pay the monthly fee for a ebay shop and paypal business. Over a certain amount of sales, it will work out cheaper!

[Eeyore]

What happens when you run out of your nans things to sell though tom? D:

[Dum-Dum]

what you planning on selling mate?

[Toms306]

you can only receive so much money through paypal from ebay sales a year, after that you have to register for a business account, i wouldn't worry about anything until you get to that stage . .

Oh ok, I guess that's a bridge to cross at a later stage then.

If your serious about it, it would probably be beneficial for you to pay the monthly fee for a ebay shop and paypal business. Over a certain amount of sales, it will work out cheaper!

Might it be better to start off without those and see how it goes first?

What happens when you run out of your nans things to sell though tom? D:

what you planning on selling mate?

And what sort of items would be good to sell like that?

As said I don't know what would be good.

Any money I get from selling Nans things goes straight to Nan lol. I'm not getting anything from those.

I guessed something like car cleaning stuff/car service parts or small mods (like EGR blanks for example). Just using the EGR blanks as an example there as they're small, easy and cheap to produce, easy and cheap to post, and theres quite a demand for them tbh. So I need something similar, although not those as I can't make anything. Would have to bulk buy from a wholesaler or something and sell on to the public.

But that's one of the things I'm really unsure on tbh.

[Niall]

Tom you need to find a decent wholesalers near you and go and have a wander round. There is independant one near me. Right shit hole. Basically a derelict warehouse. Most of what they sell is of no appeal to me but they sell some pretty major brands of car stuff in the car section. Like castrol oils, Auto glym cleaning stuff, a lot of various 3 in 1 products. basically all garage consumables but they are all very very cheap. if you could find something like that, you could make up cleaning kits for example and sell them.

[Jonny b]

My missus made a fair amount. She was drop shipping! Basically she bought job lots from wholesalers. They stored and shipped stuff as and when she sold it, works out a bit more expensive but less hassle, that. Was makeup she was selling

[Just Sean]

did none of it work on your wrinkles then unc?

[Toms306]

Tom you need to find a decent wholesalers near you and go and have a wander round. There is independant one near me. Right shit hole. Basically a derelict warehouse. Most of what they sell is of no appeal to me but they sell some pretty major brands of car stuff in the car section. Like castrol oils, Auto glym cleaning stuff, a lot of various 3 in 1 products. basically all garage consumables but they are all very very cheap. if you could find something like that, you could make up cleaning kits for example and sell them.

Yeah that sounds like a good idea tbh.

I didn't realise public could go into wholesalers though. Don't you need like a business account or something to go in there? We have a Macro and Bookers in Ipswich. I'll have to search around and see if theres any more vehicle orientated ones though.

My missus made a fair amount. She was drop shipping! Basically she bought job lots from wholesalers. They stored and shipped stuff as and when she sold it, works out a bit more expensive but less hassle, that. Was makeup she was selling

Not into make up myself.

Hadn't heard of drop shopping before lol, although I'd want to reduce expenditure as much as I could so that may not be the best way to go.

[Jonny b]

Cheeky cnut! I'll have you know iam like a fine wine except for the maturity bit lol

[Niall]

Yes most you do have to be able to register an account but if you can find a independent one like the one near me, when you register, just tell them your business is ebay selling. Providing your buying in bulk, they wont care! Its only places like macro and costco where they insist on you being in a certain trade.

[Just Sean]

cmon jonny! that was quick for me lol!!

[Jonny b]

If you want to make money you will need to sell a lot as margins are low. Thing is then you end up with stuff everywhere! Trust me I know lol

---

cmon jonny! that was quick for me lol!!

Knob head lol!!!

[Toms306]

Yes most you do have to be able to register an account but if you can find a independent one like the one near me, when you register, just tell them your business is ebay selling. Providing your buying in bulk, they wont care! Its only places like macro and costco where they insist on you being in a certain trade.

Ah ok, cool.

If you want to make money you will need to sell a lot as margins are low. Thing is then you end up with stuff everywhere! Trust me I know lol

I'm not fussed by stuff everywhere lol, I have half a garage here, currently full of Pug parts but not for much longer, and my Nans garage is empty now....

I know it'd take a fair effort to sell enough to make good money, which is why I want to know what the best kinda thing would be to sell.

[lewisdmz]

It's a good idea, I keep meaning to do it on the side myself as I know how to sell stuff on there (manage many accounts selling thousands per month as part of my job). The hardest part is deciding what to sell and finding a reliable source of those products (surprise surprise). If I was doing it myself it would be something which is easy/cheap to post and around £50 value...

[Jonny b]

Don't tie yourself to one thing though. Otherwise it's going go have to be something that everyone wants, and if you find that!! Hell ill invest in ya

[Toms306]

Don't tie yourself to one thing though. Otherwise it's going go have to be something that everyone wants, and if you find that!! Hell ill invest in ya

Exactly what I was just thinking lol.

Just going through all the wholesale/bankrupt lots on ebay to see what kinda stuff is about on there...and thinking maybe its better to get a few cheaper things on the go rather than one or two more expensive/higher quality items....

[Jonny b]

Expect to make on some job lots and lose on others chap! Can be a pain but keeping going is the main thing,you'll get there in the end

[Toms306]

Its alright, I've got a suitcase and a pasting table so if it all goes tits up I can do a Del Boy....

Dunno why I haven't tried something like this before though...seems the ideal thing to do until I find some balls lol.

[Eeyore]

Its alright, I've got a suitcase and a pasting table so if it all goes tits up I can do a Del Boy....

Dunno why I haven't tried something like this before though...seems the ideal thing to do until I find some balls lol.

your gran has loads of stuff tom but i doubt she has some balls...

[Toms306]

Its alright, I've got a suitcase and a pasting table so if it all goes tits up I can do a Del Boy....

Dunno why I haven't tried something like this before though...seems the ideal thing to do until I find some balls lol.

your gran has loads of stuff tom but i doubt she has some balls...

Actually....you'd be surprised! Found some 1950's tennis balls...

[Eeyore]

Its alright, I've got a suitcase and a pasting table so if it all goes tits up I can do a Del Boy....

Dunno why I haven't tried something like this before though...seems the ideal thing to do until I find some balls lol.

your gran has loads of stuff tom but i doubt she has some balls...

Actually....you'd be surprised! Found some 1950's tennis balls...

old balls? i guess its better than none if youre desperate for balls....

[C.A.R.]

IMO eBay doesn't pay well enough nowadays. Even flogging stuff on there has become expensive for the casual seller.

I used to work in a model shop from age 15-19 on and off, and part of the business was on eBay, the other was on an eCommerce self-hosted website. The eBay shop generated about 15% of all internet sales, and the eBay / Paypal fees were phenominal especially at Christmas time. The fees have only ever gone up.

We're talking about a small shop which put thousands of pounds through eBay too, not just a small home business.

IMO the fees make it an unrealistic business model, your time would be better spent studying web design / programming at home, you spend enough time reading forums, put that time to better use?

There are other problems I can see with this too. Selling lots of small items? A franking machine is a must unless you have a good, quiet local post office. Selling lots of big items? A contract with a local courier for arranging pick-up every day is essential to save money. Also, if you carry any stock with high value you need to have relevant insurance for it (Home Business Insurance) or it won't be covered if it gets nicked from your house.

Aaaaaand another thing...

Becoming an eBay entrepeneur may sound like a wonderful idea (and I'm sure 15 years ago it would've been easier and more profitable) but it really isn't going to help with your reclusive nature, in fact it might serve to exacerbate your problems - locked away in front of a PC screen for hours on end with your only respite being a daily trip to the local postie. Bad move, IMO.

[Dum-Dum]

As with what Chris said there's no profit in eBay these days, so many sellers selling the same stuff and all trying to undercut each other by 1p to get the sales mean their profit margins are tiny.

[Mattcheese31]

it's not true there's no profit in it, we sell quite a bit of stuff from our family shop on the bay, they do take their cut it's true you just need to sell stuff with good margins . .

[lolsteve]

Ebay fees and paypal fees are ridiculous now, say you sold something for £20 , ebay would take £2 of that , then paypal would take another £1 off plus the 40p to list that so just for selling you only have £16.50 . Then postage which, parcel2go does help with against post office but if it's a fairly large item it's about £4-5 again to post and pack. so you're down to about £11.50, plus buying the item which could cost you ....£5? maybe more? so you're at ~£6 profit , then take into the time/money you've spent driving to places to get the product and listing it and then organizing the posting of said product for £6. And that's if it was a £5 item you were selling for £20 which seems like a heavy mark up.

Just my thoughts on the matter

[Mattcheese31]

Ebay fees and paypal fees are ridiculous now, say you sold something for £20 , ebay would take £2 of that , then paypal would take another £1 off plus the 40p to list that so just for selling you only have £16.50 . Then postage which, parcel2go does help with against post office but if it's a fairly large item it's about £4-5 again to post and pack. so you're down to about £11.50, plus buying the item which could cost you ....£5? maybe more? so you're at ~£6 profit , then take into the time/money you've spent driving to places to get the product and listing it and then organizing the posting of said product for £6. And that's if it was a £5 item you were selling for £20 which seems like a heavy mark up.

Just my thoughts on the matter

i don't think your figures are quite right mate tbh . .

[SandfordSigns]

why not make a page on Facebook gather interest then see if its going to be worth while do all payments via Paypal or cash on collection or something that doesnt involve any expenditure then once you have got enough interest to make a business out of it you already theoretically have a customer base. if that makes sense

[Poodle]

I started selling amateur mechanic starter/top up kits a year or so ago, but didnt have enough spare cash to keep it going though. Just stuff like lubes, sprays, assorted jubilees, electrical tape, bulbs, latex gloves and the like. Should be fairly easy to get going with.