This is nearly the end of the financial year and that marks nearly two years running an eBay store.
A basic eBay store allows you to list up to 600 items and I have learned a lot about business during the past two years by running an eBay store.
Started Listing Books
When I first started my store I started listing pre-owned books that I bought from the thrift stores. I bought books for $2.00 and sold them for $15 plus. I still sell mainly pre-owned book.
I have also sold pre-owned clothes with limited success. Pre-owned clothes have a low sell-through rate and there is a lot of competition on eBay.
Second-hand electrical goods are another category I have sold. The main problem with this category is electrical goods have a relatively high cost, they take up a lot of space and you might not make a profit.
LP Rock Albums In High Demand
Pre-owned LP records are another good category. If you have a collection of good rock music you will get good money for your records. The only problem is when you’ve sold all your records it is difficult to buy new stock at a cheap price. There is a high demand for certain titles of rock music so asking prices are always high.
DVDs can sell for good money but you have to be very choosy about what you buy. 80 % of DVDs are worth less than $10 and not worth your time. I always try and buy DVDs that will sell on eBay for more than $10.
I have tried importing new goods from China but the high cost of goods sold stops a lot of items from being profitable to sell on eBay. I recommend zik analytics as a good resource before you try buying on sites such as Alibaba or Aliexpress. I still prefer to sell second-hand goods as the markups are higher than new goods. I have yet to find a new product that sells regularly every week.
Still A Hobby
When I started my store two years ago it was a hobby and it remains a hobby today as I have yet to make a profit. Postage costs and EBay fees take up around 50% of your retail selling price. Less cost of goods sold, less transport and communication costs and this wipes out any of the profits if your turnover is less than $600.00 per month.
The only benefit of running a basic eBay store is that it helps you with transport and communication costs but you will still run at a loss. Another benefit of running an eBay store is you learn to have fun making money instead of spending money. It also gives you experience in running a business and makes you realise how difficult it is to make a profit.
I think every high school student in their senior year should run an eBay store for 12 months to give them an idea of practical business principles.
