Working from home - anyone make a living fom Ebay?

[onefootinthegravy]

Hi everyone, what a great site, just joined a few days ago.
I'm a stay at home mum with one dd aged nearly 3.
Hubbys in the army and where we have moved to, decent jobs are very thin on the ground unless you are prepared to travel miles for a p/t job.
Have started thinking abot working from home and seen all the scams on the net!!( which I would touch with a bargepole!!)
I've recently started using ebay (only buying) but there seems to be a great interest in kids clothes.
Just wondered if there's anyone out there doing this, is it worthwhile, what do you sell? What are pitfalls? (if there are any) Where so you get your goods from? What sells well?
Do people make money on the postage costs - they seem to vary quite a lot.
Advice please!!!

i sell quite a few bits on ebay...and they help towards the bills...so i would recomend it for selling bits on......if you want to do it as a full time business then things can get very hectic and you will need to spend alot of time (and fair bit of money on listing fees) on it.....but on average i sell about 5-10 things a week..make around 30pounds...depending on items...and have to pay off ebay fees of about 5-10pounds............its not everyones cup of tea....but as a single full time mum i find it a big help towards bills!

Being nosey faeriemum. Do you sell the bargains you bought on ebay at a profit or do you buy stuff wholesale to resell?

im abit of a bargain hunter..so i'll find things that are in the sales....from super cheap websites..to car bootsales or markets.....there are many wholesalers outthere to choose from...but as i am living in a bedsit at mo i cant get into that right now......i also sell the bits my son grows out of...which seems to be every 2 minutes!

OK! I'm trying to think of ways to raise some cash to pay for dd's ballet lessons (just had to take a big pay cut) She's desperate to start ballet.

Faeriemum, How do the fees work and do you make anything from the postage? Do you sell mainly clothes?

i sell quite alot of clothes....i do them all seperatly...as doing it in bundles isnt as popular with postasge fees.
you dont really make alot from postage..your more likey to be a popular seller if you only charge for the actual postage cost...and not alot over...as it puts people off....i always charge an extra 25-40p ontop of postage price..for packaging/sello tape.
the fees are worked out for each item that you 'list' (put in auction) ....its about 15p for auction, then 12p per picture, 25p for a buy it now option, 25p for reserved price, and so on....the more you jazz up the auction the more the fee will be....then you have to pay a small percentage of the winning cost of the item......e.g: i sold a pair of boys next jeans 12-18 months for 3.00, i had to pay 75p in ebay fees.

hope this helps!

Thanks faeriemum, do you buy your packaging in bulk, do you use jiffy bags or something like that, is it best to make sure your auction ends on a weekend, do you get more bidders then?
Sorry so many questions!!

i try and get my listings to end in the evening, because less people are working at that time......which eveer time you list it, it will end the same time 1/3/5/7/10 days later. which ever you choose....
i buy my packaging from poundland/tescos......i get the packs of small / medium and large jiffy bags with inner bubble wrap....they are light and are safe for most items...especially clothing.
the best day to end a listing is a sunday....i find alot of my items get bought on sundays.....must be the best way to spend a lazy day!

Thanks very much, I'll give it a go, see if I can make a bit. To be honest I'm a real bargain hunter too, I have bought loads of new stuff in the past for my dd from car boots and markets, but you can also buy a lot of nearly new, does that go well if its in good nic?

to be honest, anything goes on ebay...theres alot off ppl out there that know exactly what they want...and if you have it...and its 2nd hand or not in perfect condition...they'll still have it! ...the majority of things on there are 2nd hand goods anyway....just explain if they are faulty in anyway....let me know how you get on..or c-a-t me if you need any more help!

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No, you don't have to use HTML, you can use the eBay editor which is a bit like a simple version of a word processing package like Word. I managed quite easily and I don't know HTML. The first one took me a while as I kept having to go back and change things to make it look better, but the subsequent ones got much faster.

nope, really easy to post a listing-takes you through it step by step when you click on sell..
no need for you to do html!

Thanks faeriemum, will give it a go and will get in touch if I get stuck!!
Don't think I will start for a few weeks though, I would imagine that there will be a lot of unwanted xmas presents for sale just now.
Might wait a bit.

i have been selling perfume and aftershave on ebay for over a year, i also sell kids clothes now and again.

i make a very good income, i sell around 25-30 bottles a week ,on auction, but if i have more than one, i send second chance offers to bidders, which quite a few take up.

i make £300- £500 a week - stock cost. my ebay costs are about £90 a month, it is a great second income, i spend one morning while kids are at school listing ,it does seem to take ages when you first start out but after time you can do it so much quicker, it's just getting used to it.

i spend probably about 8 hours a week on ebay in total maybe less, so i think that i earn excellant money for what i have to do.

there are lots of things to take into account when listing your item make sure you spell your item correctly and leave a gap between each word otherwise it won't come up when people type in the description.

look at the item you are selling and think what you would type in if you were looking to buy it and that would be the best thing to type in the description bar.

don't put listings on between 2.30 - 3.30 on weekdays because most mums are on the school run at that time.

i do a couple of weeks with auction ending at the weekend so to catch the workers, but i also find i sell a lot between 11.00am and 1pm which is all the stay at home mums.

kids clothes are def a good seller next, monsoon, mary kate and ashley etc. i have a friend that goes round all the charity shops to buy next m&s etc to resell on ebay.

dvd's are also popular if you can find a wholesaler they are low cost to buy and not to big to store.

also what ever is the latest craze in the playgroud is a good seller.

i buy all my p+p from viking direct i think the website is www.vikingdirect.co.uk

i charge £1.95 for p+p and no one has ever quibbled that includes posting cost,padded envelopes and ebay fee. i always put my starting price as the price i want to make so any thing on top is a bonus, but that is because with perfume and aftershave there is a higher buying price to cover.

Like fairiemum, I sell on Ebay. Mostly the girls' old clothes. Also sell on things I no longer want or need. After fees I can fetch anywhere from £30-£150/month. Last month I sold an old laptop, two graphing calculators, a Waterford clock and an old Palm Pilot. Made £209 after fees.

dps mate makes a fortune,but then he knows what he is buying and what its worth-doesnt sell kids stuff though! specialises in glass

Thanks for all your comments, sounds like you're doing really well with it perfume lady. I'm going to start when my dd starts preschool in feb/march and see how it goes. Going to start trawling round the carboots/markets now though see what I can find.

am also doing a bit of ebay selling again. gave it rest after I started about 18mths ago - I think my feedback was too low to receive confidence? Now back and listing a couple of bits each week. did well over christmas - made £1200 but most made up with a pro ventriloquist dummy that had sat in loft for many years.

the biggest lesson i have learnt is that get the correct description from the start, so as to avoid loads of questions. Also, i was shocked by contact from USA and canada - this panicked me a bit, so till I've got a bit more selling experience shall focus on UK only and make it clear in the description.

also have found popping into the forums within "community" has given me a clearer idea of scams etc .

lets us know how you do.

Haven't looked in the community bit - will do - I wasn't aware of scams! What sort of scams did u find?

the biggest one I've found - is people buying mobiles -, then ask you to send out to nigeria or ask for payment by western union transfer (think I've got the write words).

best advice - is sell what you know about. I recently sold a mobile and genuine thought it was unlocked only to find the buyer tell me it wasn't - its led to a full refund plus postage costs but I've still got to pay ebay and paypal costs. I'm not selling mobiles now. Thankfully, it finished on mutual grounds and we have both agreed to leave positive feedback to that affect.

beware - it does become addictive.

another bit of advice - as you know you want to sell, start looking at similar things that you want to sell and log them as "watched" then you can get an idea of what you might get for them.

set your paypal up now - if you haven't already and make sure you are a verified user - it makes a difference to some people.

perfume lady- do you buy your perfume wholesale? Im thinking of selling baby hampers and mother and baby hampers as gifts. do you or anybody think these would sell. they would contain soaps, massage oil, teddy, and be nicely packaged.

Thanks lexiemum, I'll probably stick to clothes to start with anyway. Will take you advice and start watching a few items - thought i'd probably start next month when hopefully all the unwanted xmas presents have finished.

Just be aware of the standard of service. I am an occasional buyer and have always been really impressed with how quickly sellers send items. It is alll about building up a reputation as a seller and getting positive feedback. Seems quite a lot of hassle to me but I know people make money.

Please also note that if you are buying stuff specifically to sell later on e-bay, then this is legally viewed as trading, and should be registered with the Inland Revenue.
There are notes on e-bay about this as the IR are concerned about people using e-bay to trade and avoid tax.
Sorry for being boring!!