Could I Make a Partial Living Flipping Items on E-bay

[Rot 911]

Dueller's post regarding a client whose daughter flips stuff on ebay has given me pause to think.

As many of you know, due to the vagaries of politics, I lost my job. I am now working part time and have lots of time on my hands.

I have sold a number of things on ebay, including my Bugeye Sprite, so I know now to sell. But, the things I have sold are things I already own.

So, with all of that in mind, what do you guys think, seriously, would be easy items to buy and then flip? Not really thinking Porsche stuff, but things the masses on ebay are looking for. cheap jewelry seems like one thing.

[Dueller]

I know of a few folks who are acting as cosignors to sell other folks stuff on ebay. They get a fee whether it sells or not and a percentage of the sales price.

That might be a way to get in without too much overhead or having to sell all your own chit.

[the]

I really think you can, it's just a matter of finding something popular, and that you can buy in quantity for cheap.

It's all in findng the right item, though. I think if you hit on the right thing or things, there's a lot to be made.

[bigchillcar]

can't count the number of times i've wondered about this. would you warehouse the items or try to work as a 'middle man' who simply handles the financial transaction while the manufacturer handles the actual shipping? wonder how much volume you'd have to sell on an a particular 'average priced' item to gross, say a grand or 2k or 3k, etc. per month. i'll bet a number of folks on the board are doing this. my job actually just went from full to part-time, so i hear your pain, kurt..

[Joeaksa]

Find the storage rooms around Jeff City. Find out when they are doing their sales of people who have not paid and are being evicted.

I have done a few and made some descent money while doing so. Just takes some luck and a bit of storage space.

[RickM]

IMO, one could do well selling close outs, overstock, contents of failed businesses...etc. You could advertise in local rags and Craigslist to source the items.

Other interesting money makers are instructional "pamphlets". This comes in the form of paper booklets, CD or downloadable PDFs. For instance, one gentleman sells his advice on what to look for when buying a metal lathe. He sells the info for around $10. Another sells instructions on how to build phase converters...either rotary or static. The beauty is that you have an easily replenishable item to sell. Build once sell many times.

Some items like cheap jewelry seems to have way too much competition.

[notfarnow]

I think you'd enjoy it a lot more if you bought/sold something you were interested in.

Look at what someone like Jason Cullen is doing; making some money, supporting his hobby and provinding a service to others in his hobby. Sometimes the classifieds in BBS boards is better (read: less hassle) than ebay.

I've found a nice little niche I'm taking advantage of for "fun" money, mind you ona smaller scale. I buy used VW diesel engines locally for $50-$400, and part them out. Takes me 2-3 hours to tear an engine down and photograph it, and I get minimum $500 for core parts, and much more if I get good turbos, pistons, cranks & heads. I make 300-600 off each engine, plus I get lots of spare parts for me. I usually do an engine every month or so; I'm picking up two this weekend. Good timing, the turbo on my samurai is sucking oil.

You have any hobbies that you could buy/sell in?

[berettafan]

i would guess that MOST large vendors on ebay aren't warehousing anything. drop shipping can make a one man operation appear to be a monster store.

[Rot 911]

Lots of good ideas so far.

I really don't have a hobby that would translate well to ebay sales. I also live in a city that doesn't have a lot of storage sales to find things to flip.

I also don't really want to do drop shipments or that kind of stuff. At least not yet. Thought I would start off small and try to grow. I'm good at putting thoughts into action, just limited on ideas is all.

[berettafan]

The drop shipping gig is probably no more than you sending an email to the distributor when you receive an order. Probably EASIER than packing and shipping yourself.

[RickM]

Whatever you do don't go into used trailer sales http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070307/ap_on_re_us/fema_trailer_sale

[on-ramp]

Could I Make a Partial Living Flipping Items on E-bay?

You most certainly can. I have been doing this for 2+ years , it takes experience/knowlede and alot of hard work.

I would recommend starting here:
www.whatdoisell.com

download the audios and worksheet, spend 1/2 a day and learn the basic material.

My only other suggestion is don't have your business solely on Ebay. start your own dot com and market your products to existing customers. Ebay is an excellent customer acquisition tool. Don't think of every sale as a way to make profit. think of it as gaining a customer. Use a customer list and send out newsletters. I prefer and use ymlp.com . let me know if you need specific help and I can assist you in some of the problem areas with Ebay and ways around them.
best of luck...and get ready to pay some SERIOUS FEES

[bigchillcar]

"used trailer sales"...boy is that ever the truth! i'll bet trailer sales guys are fuming!

[Drago]

My wife makes great money on the Bay. When she started out it was just for some extra spending money for vacations and the like.

Now, it's grown so much that it's become a full time. She's pulling in anywhere from $300-4 per day, sometimes a lot more.

[jkarolyi]

Yep, my sister does it about 30 hours a week (that's full time in France ) and makes decent money...maybe $40K per year. She gets to work at home, set her own hours, and take care of the kids while she does it.

[RickM]

FWIU, clothing (Both new and used) sell very well....especially for kids and women.


Related question: I have tons of things I want to list on Ebay. Are any of the "turbo" listers good? I find the process of listing multiple items quite tedious.

[tabs]

Originally posted by Drago
She's pulling in anywhere from $300-4 per day, sometimes a lot more.

Net or Gross...

I've done 8K Gross in a month on the Bay before with no problem.

Joe has it right buying the contents of Storage Rentals. But don't stop there...Yard Sales, Estate Sales, Thrift Stores, Consignment shops, local auctions, even Antique Stores. U can even buy stuff on the Bay and resell it...but that is for something 3 million pair of enquiring eyes have missed.

Let me clue U, Missouri is a good place to look for stuff. I found a Carlos Gove -Denver City- Plains Rifle in a little auction down in So Missouri, turned out I was the only bidder..bought it for $500 and sold it through a Large Auction house and cleared $1500 on it. For a profit of $1000, and it was a piece of junk. How hard was that.

This last weekend I picked up 3 items for $3700 with a value of between $6000 and $7500. This coming weekend I have 4 more items to go after.

The area where absolutely the most money is left laying around is Art...it only takes one piece to make U well for a long time. I have been able to buy pieces for $500 that are worth 10K no problem. Now what is really easy are the $200 or $300 pieces you can turn for $1500, thats all over the place.

All U have to do is look on the free web site www.findartinfo.com to check if the artist is listed, is the paintings style roughly the same as whats pictured on the site and what his values are. Jeff Moran of Morans in Pasadena showed me a little painting that was bought for $10 at a yard sale, it was so dirty you could hardly make out what it was, turned out it sold for $9800. What do U have to know..have a brain, be willing to look things up and think well does this thing look interesting, does it seem to have life to it..

You can literally make money on Cast Iron Pots and Pans...or how about Womens Designer Purses, Belts and Shoes...I was standing in lie at Fed-ex one day and a gal told me that she MADE $500 a week selling Designer Womens stuff on the bay.

So its there if you wana look.

BTW: When I was living in LA and going down to Abels off Garfield every week... if U think only people with limited means do this your a retard... there were people with 8 and 9 figure net worths going through there every week looking for a bargain. None of these guys ever pays retail for anything.

[Rot 911]

Tabs you are a veritable treasure trove of information!

[tabs]

Here is a painting that I bought for $330 out the door and was immediatily appraised with an auction estimate of $2500 to $4500 with an offer to buy from Treadway Gallerys. This is a painting done as a WPA piece in 1938 in Chicago by Norman MacLeish. People would kill today to get this painting the genre has become HOT...

[berettafan]

Tabs i'm guessing your mental inventory of artist names and styles is relatively massive to manage to spot deals like this?