I am thinking of eventually starting a business. I know that one should do their homwork beforehand and work in the same industry beforehand. I was wondering if an eBay business would be a good idea. There are however some posts on websites that clain eBay is a ripoff. On the other hand, I believe Simon482 has had some success with eBay. Has anyone else tried eBay and what was the result?
Is eBay a ripoff?
- Thread starter probyn
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I've never tried it as a seller, but as a buyer I like eBay. The photos and descriptions of items tend to be accurate. You can get some good deals and find some rare items.
As with any business, can you get supply of enough in-demand products and market them successfully enough to be profitable?
I mean, I sold a bunch of 'junk' from my basement from when I moved.. I made a few hundred bucks, but.. I soon ran out of inventory and it would have cost me more money to go out and buy new crock pots and dogs playing poker paintings than I made selling the spares I had in my basement.
I know what you're thinking.. yes, I had spare dogs playing poker paintings. No, don't PM me, they're all sold. Shoo.
If you have a line on products that you can then market on e-bay and still be profitable.. go for it. Can you make money, absolutely. Is it a rip off.. well.. be prepared to deal with customer service inquiries up the wazoo. It is the internet remember, people like to demand and yell when they're behind their computer screen.
The hardest thing I've yet to answer is how to reduce the amount of capital I need to invest in inventory that just sits around and which I also have to pay to store it somewhere. If I could get to something like just in time inventory like how Dell, Lenovo or HP make computers that it would be fine. All of those PC makers basically builds each system the day it is ordered therefore they never have to store that much inventory beside the raw materials and if even that a lot of components come elsewhere and only in when they need it. So basically the biggest issues is supply chain and how to reduce the costs associated with stranded inventory.
I enjoy using ebay when I can't find what I am looking for in a retail store. I have thought about selling some items on there that I am no longer using but I don't see myself making it a regular habit.
9% of the Ebay fee + 5-9 % the paypal fee and their money exchange rate is a joke. Mean if you sell stg. for 100 U$ you'll get around 82 CAD net to your bank account.The paypal holding your money a month maybe two if you have business account, or if you are a new member. Some pro hunting for the amateurs to take something for free and they know a lot of tricks.
If you have low feedback score noone will buy from you in the first few months or if they buy the price will be very low.
The canadapost prices are crazy high (buyers will complain about it)+ the Ebay MUST to send all data for the canada revenue agency if you hit the 20 thousands sale limit. Lots of headache BUT you can make money after the first year when you pay for the lessons and you became a reputant seller. Good luck and be patient!
If you have low feedback score noone will buy from you in the first few months or if they buy the price will be very low.
The canadapost prices are crazy high (buyers will complain about it)+ the Ebay MUST to send all data for the canada revenue agency if you hit the 20 thousands sale limit. Lots of headache BUT you can make money after the first year when you pay for the lessons and you became a reputant seller. Good luck and be patient!
The biggest thing I don't like about EBAY is its poor search facility. I like to buy things from a Canadian source, so I specify that in my search. But back come all the suppliers from USA, Britain, HongKong, etc, etc, and I have to sift through them all to find the Canadian ones. I stopped using it for that reason.
No-one else finds that irritating? Or am I doing it wrong?
No-one else finds that irritating? Or am I doing it wrong?
You are doing it wrong. If you go through ebay.ca, you can filter by Canadian sellers (and also international sellers willing to ship to Canada).
I have sold and bought on EBay.
Selling is easy but sometimes you don't get what you want.
There are scammers on it who will create fake names and bump up the price of their own items.
Careful buying when someone repeatedly bumps your highest bid a few cents each time.
Selling is easy but sometimes you don't get what you want.
There are scammers on it who will create fake names and bump up the price of their own items.
Careful buying when someone repeatedly bumps your highest bid a few cents each time.
Does anyone bother to read the original post before answering?
The OP is talking about becoming an ebay store. Selling on ebay. Why are half the subsequent posts related to your experience buying things from ebay?
Just my observations..
The OP is talking about becoming an ebay store. Selling on ebay. Why are half the subsequent posts related to your experience buying things from ebay?
Just my observations..
well, ebay isn't helping you out of the goodness of their heart
you're using their website, and they're brokering the deal, and they offer some protection/resolution services ... they're gonna want their cut
if you feel their cut is too much, you can try other sites like amazon, but they're the king of the hill, and there's a premium to pay for that
you're using their website, and they're brokering the deal, and they offer some protection/resolution services ... they're gonna want their cut
if you feel their cut is too much, you can try other sites like amazon, but they're the king of the hill, and there's a premium to pay for that
Take your own advice.
Read the posts.
Almost all the posts are about selling and dealing with EBay.
I've used eBay with no problems. The only thing I don't like is the reserve part, why not just start your opening bid at the lowest you would take. And the buy it now part. It's supposed to be an auction.
