Does anyone here run a successful eBay business?

[fredhe12]

I'm doing some research into various eBay business models. Anyone here run a successful (read: profitable) eBay business?

thanks.

 

[effowe]

I assume that you have to sell tons of stuff to get any sort of profit. The ebay / paypal fees will kill your profit if you aren't doing big business.

 

[Ns1]

Find something you can earn at least a 30-40% gross margin now or it's not worth your time after fees. Unless you're going for the volume model...

 

[fredhe12]

Yeah, that seems to be the general consensus; either you have high margin items or you're playing the volume game.

One model I'm interested in is those folks who run an e-commerce website and also sell on e-bay. I've seen this more and more lately. I'm assuming that it simply opens up another "channel" for them, but I'm curious if there are other benefits to it.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

A good friend of mine does - won't say what he sells, but there are 3-4 sellers of this item in all. He contacted people to manufacture the parts needed for this item in other countries, and then assembles them here, and is able to sell them at a lower price. He keeps a small inventory and so he can just run it out of his house and the small office he rents.

Aside from what he sells, I can probably get you whatever answers you need.

 

[bonkers325]

bamacre is a power seller on e-bay. you may want to talk to him about running an ebay business