Has anyone really studied ebay?

My experience with Ebay as a buyer and as a limited seller has actually been good.

Here’s what I know:

As a buyer: I have been able to get rare, vintage things I never would have been able to get before, for really, really inexpensive prices. IIt’s also an outlet for me to get things used that I want, but don’t necessarily need to have ‘new’ like household things. It’s also a way for me to find cut-rate prices or make deals on brand new things. I can often get new beauty supplies or out-of-stock items for less than half of the retail price – which makes luxury items a lot more within my grasp. So far all of my buying experiences, save some late shipments have been positive and the item has been as represented accurately.

Sure, it can be a good junk exchange but it also hold amazing treasures like antiques, vintage watches, rarities, long-lost board games and tons of other things you may enjoy if you’re into that kind of thing. It all depends on what you like and what your hobbies are.

As a seller: I have been able to connect people with items they never would have found before- like vintage home goods, watches, accessories etc. I love finding this stuff and can actually make a huge profit if I put time and effort into it. Sometimes, you can make a few hundred dollars on an item with a very small monetary investment. Where you can sometimes lose some value is in the time it takes to find, post and ship these items, but if you have a natural talent for it, and can do it quickly – it could wind up being really profitable.

All around, it’s been a great and fun experience on both ends.

I’d also defer to Peedub’s expertise on this, so I hope he weighs in. He has a thriving vintage business and a lot of experience with buying, selling and Ebay ops.

(Those are anecdotal, though. I’m sure there are a lot of books out there on Ebay…it was kind of heralded as a phenomenon years ago and I’m sure someone’s studied it)

I’m an avid eBay user. I buy new and used.

I collect specific vintage items, rare toys for my son, and like to buy specific books not usually found on Amazon-etc. On eBay, I’m able to keep a permanent search link for each thing I want to buy. And, am able to figure out exactly what dollar amount I am willing to spend.

I do sell stuff ONLY before x-mas time (that’s when you’ll get TOP dollar). And, I try to buy “expensive” high-ticket items only during summer when less people are buying on eBay.

On eBay, new toys often can be had for 20–50% less than retail. That’s a HUGE savings for me as a mom. My son prefers specifically themed toys that I’d be hard pressed to find at an ordinary toy store, so it also saves me the time/energy of driving around to look for things.

For example: Brand new Thomas the Train items are at least 25–30% off retail, plus I buy them without paying tax and with free shipping.

Also, when I do DIY or art projects I can find things 50% off. Last year I needed a bunch of blank art canvasses…well, with the bad economy many art supply stores are going out of business. I bought the canvasses about 75% off of retail due to a supply stores misfortune.

Last x-mas a doll store I’d bought from in the past for my sis that collects specific items went out of biz…I bought up a bunch of their items for next to nil and stocked up on her presents for the year.

Do you ever question where the deeply discounted, sought-after new items come from? I would be afraid the merchandise “fell off the truck” It would be against my personal values to deal with anything with clouded ownership. Is it bad manners to make sure the goods are legal?

@galileogirl No. I only shop at reputable sellers with 99–100% feedback.

Most of them are actual, “real” life storefronts that do eBay as a side to keep the income flow.

Well doesn’t that mean they supply what they promise? It doesn’t say anything about where it came from, does it?

@galileogirl I think you’re looking for the negative here. All I can answer to that is I utilize common-sense. If a person is brand new on eBay & is selling a high-ticket item for 50% off they could’ve stolen it. I wouldn’t buy from them anyway, because they don’t have enough feedback, and they most likely have NO return policy.

I’ve been in retail. And am a business owner. I know what to spot.

I used to spend hours and hours on eBay. It’s not true anymore, but there was a time when eBay had the cheapest prices for certain items, like toys, minidisc players and digital cameras. It also used to be a great place for hard-to-find items (where else could you find a replacement battery for a Palm Tungsten, or a screen replacement kit for an iPod?). In recent years, many websites have popped up offering the same items, and you don’t have to bid on them.

My real love for eBay was as a seller. I used to sell so much junk that I would have thrown out in the garbage. eBay is not the same place it used to be, what with the listing and final value fees being so high now; you can’t clean out your garage and make a few bucks like in the old days (which was only about 5–7 years ago). I remember several instances were I cleaned up pretty nicely. Once was selling some brand new computers I purchased cheaply on Dell.com and sold for a tidy profit. Another time was selling an old digital camera. I had that camera for at least a year or two (original purchase price around $300). It was dented and scratched, but worked great. I got $150 for it on eBay, then bought the exact same model from Circuit City for $200. It worked out better than a warranty. On one occasion, I needed to sell some dental office equipment. Where else but on eBay would a person consider selling this type of thing?

The biggest killing I ever made was around the time of the release of the first Lord of the Rings movie. Lots of people were selling replica “The One” rings, and I noticed that one eBay seller was selling bookmarks that had rings attached to them. I ordered a set of 6 (only about $10), examined the rings and realized they were identical to the ones others were selling. So I listed each ring individually, selling them for an average of $35 each, with one selling for around $55! Considering that my investment was $1.50 a ring, I felt like I was robbing people.

Unfortunately, eBay isn’t profitable anymore for a once-in-a-while seller like myself. I have a couple of boxes of action figures and more than a few boxes of comics I’d like to sell, but it isn’t worth my time. I’d rather keep them than settle for what eBayers will give me for them. I’ve tried Craigslist for similar deals, but the number of people you can reach is so much lower that you have to settle for lower prices there as well.

Thinking back, I wish I had done more on eBay while the getting was good…

If you have an account there, you can join their chat groups.

@drdoombot See. the Dell story seems a little iffy. I know someone who bought rebuilt computers from Dell as “like new” because at one point, when a computer under warrenty failed, they just exchanged them for new and refurbished and resold the broken one without a complete warranty-no coverage for prior condition. If everything works OK but if it crashes in 91 days-oh well.

It may seem a negative viewpoint but the get rich on your trash attitude seems so unrealistic. It felt like the excitement of the next new thing and just as unsustainable as any other balloon issue.

@galileogirl: I never buy tech at all, like computers but I have to say that I look at it much differently than this.

I see it more as an exchange of goods that optimizes the supply and demand of world-wide exposure, rather than getting rich on trash. I don’t see antiques, vintage items or anything else I’m interested in as trash, per se but more like a big, electronic estate sale. I guess that all depends on your personal definition of trash, though.

I guess I consider myself a little bit of a cultural anthropologist and love elements of physical culture so I’ve been fascinated and thrilled with the things I’ve found – particularly if I’ve been able to give them as gifts.

I do sometimes wonder where supply comes from but I also only buy from reputable sources. I think many sellers with new items are offloading someone’s overstock or getting last season’s goods cheaply.

It just sounds like estate sales, thrifting or shopping for the thrill of it aren’t your thing – which may be why the magic that can often be buying or selling on Ebay seems so elusive…

@galileogirl But I did make a bunch of money off my “trash!” What killed eBay was the appearance of a number of sites offering the same items at the same or better prices (Amazon included). Even more importantly, eBay drove away casual sellers by making their final value fees too high to be profitable.

BTW, the computers I sold had full, one-year warranties from Dell. One of the computers, which I checked before I sent out, did not work for one buyer and when I referred her to Dell for service, she gave me a negative feedback and reported me to eBay for it. My listings stated that I offered no service for the computers. I was off the hook because I was honest in my listings. That’s one thing that was good about eBay: you couldn’t get away with dishonesty, at least not for long. 99% of the time, buyers knew exactly what they were getting (if they bothered to read the entire listing).

Again Dr, I don’t go into a sales situation expecting the vendor to consider himself to be “off the hook” as soon as the merchandise is out the door.

I still wonder about the proven profitability vs the hype. Are people who are claiming profits taking into account opportunity costs or overhead. Or are they just saying “I had an extra mixer and now I have $5 so I made a $5 profit”

@galileogirl But if, for example, you sell a car and you tell the person who wants to buy it, right up front, that it needs a new transmission, and they buy it knowing it needs a new transmission, then come back bitching at you because it needs a new transmission. Should you be “off the hook”? Or should you be responsible for the fact that the car needs a new transmission.

As far as profitability: I owned my own business ( mower shop) for 4 years, so I was all about that. I was always able to sell my stuff for more than I paid for it, plus you can make a buck on shipping. As far as overhead, well, since you work out of your house you have that overhead whether you’re selling or not. The downfall for me was I only sold smaller end stuff, and it really didn’t pay for the time I put into it, researching, posting pics, etc. So I let it go. But for the most part, if you’re just getting rid of “junk” overhead, time involved etc. really isn’t an issue.

The topic was things advertised as new not as is. Your time IS part of the overhead and an opportunity cost. That’s why most businesses fail and why I don’t think ebay can really be profitable. It can be enjoyed as a pasttime or hobby but not as a dependable source of income to the vast majority of participants.

@galileogirl I think the topic dealt with both, as she referred, for example to “used vehicles” I’d agree that in 95% of the cases people aren’t going to be able to make a living and for most it’s more of a hobby, or just getting rid of stuff that you aren’t going to use any more (in which case it could be considered 100% profit since your cost of goods isn’t really relevant.)
But if you can find your niche, and use your head, it can be profitable. Just like anything else, much of it is you get out of it what you put into it….if you work hard, stay focused, once you learn the ropes and use your smarts you can make it work. Most importantly, you’d need operating capital up front. If you want to make a $2000 sale in one day, you have to have $1000 to buy whatever it is you want to sell for $2000. If you could do that everyday, then it would definitely be profitable. But buying something for $2.50 and selling it for $5.00 isn’t profitable.

@galileogirl It is certainly profitable for stay-at-home mom’s that can sew or craft. I buy almost all “new baby” gifts off from eBay from mom’s…they sell adorable personalized outfits, blankets, bracelets-etc that you cannot find in any store. If these mom’s had to start up a store or a web store, they’d need capital. On eBay, they just need a computer.

Here are some examples of things I buy for new babe’s:
Bracelet
Baby Outfit
Shoes
Blanket

I have bought an adorable pair of scarecrow overalls that were custom made for my son, as well as custom made jewelry.

@SpatzieLover But they probably aren’t making a living, just pocket change. Like I did!

@Val123 Depends. Some do it for pocket change, others do shows too which brings in more money. There are a bunch of homeschoolers I buy from on eBay. Most of them claim it pays enough for them to be able to remain at home without an out of the house job.

My mom had a friend that did one huge show each year out of her house at the holidays. She made around $100K…which paid for their home and all of their luxuries. It took her the entire year to plan, sew, create-etc…but it was a “real” income

@SpatzieLover Hail yes that’s a real income! Certainly worth the effort!

@Val123 When I found out what she made, I was trying to figure out how. Handmade takes lots of dedicated time, and not so much money.

@spatzie Do you have any pics of her stuff?

@Val123 No I don’t think I do…All of my actual photos are on our desktop. I’ll have to look later. When her husband realized how much she could make, he started making wood items in his spare time to add to the mix.

At one point I was a stay at home mom with those skills but a study of the market proved it to be ultimately unprofitable. It was a very limited market. A nice baby’s outfit would take about $5 in material and 6–8 hours in labor and last for years. Meanwhile a Target outfit with Sesame Street or Disney characters would cost $15 and last long enough for the baby to outgrow it. Besides the characters being more popular and many young mothers not wishing to invest in baby clothes, you aren’t making a profit when you earn $1/hr for your work. Think opportunity costs!

@galileogirl That’s one way to look at it. However, if a mom can sew 5–10 outfits per day and use here embroidery machine to customize each one she’s still making more than if she left the home. She can do the sewing in her jammies, without having to hire a sitter.

It doesn’t take that much in materials or time to make this bow but one at a time doesn’t create a huge income. Most of these sellers do boutique selling locally besides shows and/or have set up a web store after they’ve raised capital.

Back to your original question: I have used eBay for years. It’s saved me time and money. I know people that have made lots of money through wise selling tactics on eBay, too (my brother sold Ty Beanie Babies during that phase for OOODLES and used the money to finish his basement).

@SpatzieLover What kind of stuff does she make? Or did you tell us that already…I suppose I could go look!

I bow to your superior capabilities! 5–10 outfits a day and taking care of a home and children. I have to admit I seldom could manage more than 3–4 hours a day beyond caring for 2 small children, cleaning, cooking, laundry and squeezing in the occasional rendevous with my husband. I did enjoy the sewing, knitting and crochet so instead of having a personal sweat shop, I gave my handiwork as gifts instead of mass produced items. My profit arose from the opportunity costs.