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This question was asked two years ago, and of course no one answered, so not sure the point of having a Q&A if no one will answer the basic question.
From my understanding, as I know it can be done for Amazon, go to Ali Baba. Find your niche, find what you think would sell, go there, get the stuff made in bulk. You can even get labels for your business done on the packaging.
Why was that so hard to answer?
Yes, I'm sure that there are other suppliers, and maybe Ali Baba isn't the best one, but why not help someone out with SOMETHING?
Some people sell their own stuff, some pick up things at garage sales or thrift stores. Some have arrangements to buy overstocks/discontinued items/returns from other companies. But I would guess now that most items on ebay are new items that are sold other places as well.
Set up a small business, contact manufacturers and see if you can sell their items online. Some have very stringent policies with high minimum orders, trade references, credit checks, online reseller policies, pricing minimums, etc. It's no different than obtaining products for your own website or brick and mortar store.
I've only dealt with a couple. One sold me some pirated MicroSoft software. Ebay gave me a refund and shut down this person's account.
Another won my auction, stalled, ignored my emails, then finally 4 days later responded and copped an attitude about how he was looking into gathering funds to pay me and how I needed to stop hassling him (!). As it turned out he screwed over a couple more people after me and finally got banned by Ebay.
I encountered a con-artist on ebay many years ago. We bought a shade-top-thing for my husbands boat (bimini top?) from a seller in Florida. Sent him a money order and never heard from him again. A $280.00 lesson.
eBay has weeded out many of the con artists according to their feedback, and complaints from customers. That guy that ripped us off is long gone.
But it still pisses me off.
Since then, I pay close attention to seller feedback, and the comments people leave, even if it is with a Pos feedback.
One more thing. I shipped a little $25 used Canon Power Shot camera to someone who won my auction. I shipped it US Postal Priority Mail with delivery confirmation. It never arrived. Just got lost in the mail. The US Postal Service does not insure for lost packages like UPS does. I think that because I wrote a little note on the side of the box that said "camera", some postal worker stole it. They were probably expecting a $500 camera and got much less.
The lesson learned is to use UPS if you have something expensive that you are shipping. Fortunately $25 was no big deal.
One more thing. I shipped a little $25 used Canon Power Shot camera to someone who won my auction. I shipped it US Postal Priority Mail with delivery confirmation. It never arrived. Just got lost in the mail. The US Postal Service does not insure for lost packages like UPS does. I think that because I wrote a little note on the side of the box that said "camera", some postal worker stole it. They were probably expecting a $500 camera and got much less.
The lesson learned is to use UPS if you have something expensive that you are shipping. Fortunately $25 was no big deal.
We notice it every time we use any of the regional boxes or priority boxes.
Actually it is $100 and here it is showing for a package that ships tomorrow.
As far as how long, not sure. As long as we have been printing our own labels through Ebay. We never buy or pay for priority at the post office. As you can see we got free tracking and a discount and we would have gotten that even if we used our own boxes. But with our own boxes, no free insurance.
Last edited by howard555; 11-05-2015 at 04:56 PM..
Some things I know from relatives who have made their living on ebay for over 10 years are, the buyer is protected, but the seller is not. If a buyer claims they did not receive something, the seller is SOL. Ebay does not protect its sellers.
Ebay wants to be Amazon, unlike the way it was when if first started. Most of the listings are commercial now.
It is very hard to make a living any more because of the fee structure.
To answer someone's question about where they get their stock, the relatives who sell on ebay make regular national buying trips to get enough stock, and work very long hours on listing, monitoring listings, packing and shipping. It is a full time job. Like anything else, you get out of it what you put into it.
These relatives have very comfortable lifestyles, but there are some very slow/lean times as well.
Some things I know from relatives who have made their living on ebay for over 10 years are, the buyer is protected, but the seller is not. If a buyer claims they did not receive something, the seller is SOL. Ebay does not protect its sellers.Ebay wants to be Amazon, unlike the way it was when if first started. Most of the listings are commercial now.
It is very hard to make a living any more because of the fee structure.
To answer someone's question about where they get their stock, the relatives who sell on ebay make regular national buying trips to get enough stock, and work very long hours on listing, monitoring listings, packing and shipping. It is a full time job. Like anything else, you get out of it what you put into it.
These relatives have very comfortable lifestyles, but there are some very slow/lean times as well.
Pay attention to what gentlearts posted and I bolded in red.
Buyer claims non-receipt (even with signature required), buyer claims what was received was not the item (rocks or newspaper), buyer claims condition unusable (even with detailed photos of item), buyer claims CC fraud - all resulting in seller loss.
I quit eBay selling when it became obvious eBay would accept ludicrous statements from buyers, even 0 feedback buyers as gospel and refuse to consider input from sellers with thousands of very high, near perfect feedback.
The only way I successfully fought and won an over $2k case was because it was an expensive item I had my attorney verify and ship. That was the final straw so I quit selling.
I remain convinced that some of the fraud is from inside eBay and PayPal.
If a buyer claims they did not receive something, the seller is SOL. Ebay does not protect its sellers.
The tracking number is the way out of the excuse that they did not get the item. If the tracking number says it got delivered, then no buyer can win a claim. We sent an item to an address in N.Y. and it was a forwarding service to Germany. The German said it never arrived. They had no claim since the tracking number said it was delivered. Same thing for their worldwide shipment program. You get it to their address in Kentucky and no matter where it goes after that or whether it arrives does not matter.
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