If you are making money online.... (this includes eBay sellers) (sales, profit)

[Lowexpectations]

Originally Posted by doodlemagic

I have an ecommerce/ebay business. My friend and I started it with about $300. AFter making some beer money on ebay we "upgraded" to a very crappy "website" if you can even call it that, a free blogger platform with paypal buttons. We then upgraded to a godaddy template website. Then once we started making some money outsourced a website from some Indian designers. Over the course of a little less than two years that business we started with $300 is about to do 1.7 million in sales this month. We consistantly do between 15k and 30k a month profit. We are slowly making things more professional to reflect a company of our size and success however were both still working fulltime jobs which is kinda crazy, my buddy quit the other day, I'm quitting as soon as I get my insurance setup and some things settled. I'm stll running my business from a card table and chair in my tv room lol. There is definately money to be made online. I still do ebay but my focus is driving ebay customers off of ebay to my website, not continuing to keep ebay customers as the fees aren't worth it and ebay requires you to accept returns, and a lot of other rules I don't like.

As others have said, I'll be happy to share info like whats a good ecomerce platform however IMHO 90% of success is determined by the item you pick to sell the rest is customer service, how easy you make the process for customers, etc but 90% is just the niche so obviously myself nor anyone else will share that with you.

1.7 million in sales monthly vs 15-30k in profit? That's net margin of 0.8%-1.7% is that right?

[MB86]

No one is going to tell you specifics of what they sell as it would be cutting their own throats with competition.

For me, started selling on ebay in 1995, since I retired at an early age and took my 15% cut to get my retirement now in my 50's so I could enjoy my hobby and passion full time . I can tell you I am doing ebay, amazon etc full time and can make anywhere from 500.00 profit a week to over 1000.00 during November and December from ebay and amazon.

When I was working I had no problem making 200-300 a week part time attending auctions and re selling on ebay and amazon for a few hours of work.

If you find a niche product and can make money the fees are the last thing you should be worried about.

I can double and triple profits on products and pay them and paypal their fees and still make out well.

Heck, I buy items right off the shelf at wal mart and sell on ebay or amazon and make 2-3 times my money after fees.

Find a niche product or market, add some marketing skills and you will do just fine with some work.

I am also looking into my own websites because I have a huge customer base from ebay that I can send to my website once I am set up and now have time to devote to doing so.

[doodlemagic]

Originally Posted by MB86

No one is going to tell you specifics of what they sell as it would be cutting their own throats with competition.

For me, started selling on ebay in 1995, since I retired at an early age and took my 15% cut to get my retirement now in my 50's so I could enjoy my hobby and passion full time . I can tell you I am doing ebay, amazon etc full time and can make anywhere from 500.00 profit a week to over 1000.00 during November and December from ebay and amazon.

When I was working I had no problem making 200-300 a week part time attending auctions and re selling on ebay and amazon for a few hours of work.

If you find a niche product and can make money the fees are the last thing you should be worried about.

I can double and triple profits on products and pay them and paypal their fees and still make out well.

Heck, I buy items right off the shelf at wal mart and sell on ebay or amazon and make 2-3 times my money after fees.

Find a niche product or market, add some marketing skills and you will do just fine with some work.

I am also looking into my own websites because I have a huge customer base from ebay that I can send to my website once I am set up and now have time to devote to doing so.

I have the same strategy as you however its quite a hurdle turning ebay customer into website customers. Ebay dosn't allow you to share contact info with buyers that can lead them off ebay so you can't message people directly though you can put coupons or notes in packages. Problem is most ebay buyers stick to ebay and website buyers stick to website not sure why but with my business that seems to be the case. Also with many of my products I have to charge cheaper prices on ebay even though I'm paying fees on top of what I would on my website just becaue there's more competition on ebay and people can compare prices easier.

[MB86]

Originally Posted by doodlemagic

I have the same strategy as you however its quite a hurdle turning ebay customer into website customers. Ebay dosn't allow you to share contact info with buyers that can lead them off ebay so you can't message people directly though you can put coupons or notes in packages. Problem is most ebay buyers stick to ebay and website buyers stick to website not sure why but with my business that seems to be the case. Also with many of my products I have to charge cheaper prices on ebay even though I'm paying fees on top of what I would on my website just becaue there's more competition on ebay and people can compare prices easier.

I also put notes in my packages etc. But since I have been selling since ebay first started right away I started collecting email addresses. Only the last few years did they stop letting you have direct contact with them but! When they pay you you can see the email address and can contact them if you feel comfortable doing so. Only on a rare occasion will you get a hard core rude buyer who does not want to be contacted.

[doodlemagic]

Originally Posted by MB86

I also put notes in my packages etc. But since I have been selling since ebay first started right away I started collecting email addresses. Only the last few years did they stop letting you have direct contact with them but! When they pay you you can see the email address and can contact them if you feel comfortable doing so. Only on a rare occasion will you get a hard core rude buyer who does not want to be contacted.

If you have a store you actually have access to customers emails and phone numbers which is something I just recently discovered and was surprised by. I use a mass email service to email specials to my customers. ALso to my regular or big quantity buyers I'll often contact them and offer them savings for going direct. I basically tell them look we've done business I trust you I'm sure you trust me by now, were both essentially giving ebay an extra 6-10% of whatever were transacting lets cut them out and split the savings.

[CaliforniaGal1]

I sold on Ebay until a few months ago. I've sold on Ebay for about the last 5 years. They keep changing stuff, and I ended up with metrics which are still ok, but have a few things against me due to my not closing a case "properly" EBAYS EXCUSE TO STEAL.

Essentially a buyer just opened a case to say he thought he was missing part of an item but it was sent seperately. He notified me Ebay forced him to open a case TO JUST COMMUNICATE WITH ME!!! and I noticed that was true. I had bought something myself and tried to contact the Seller but was forced to open a case to have any communication with her so the customer was telling the truth.

Anyhow buyer got second part of item the following day and he closed the case by following the directions. Things flowed as expected BUT...That in combination with EBAY keeping final value fees on it made me angry. I was expected to fix their situation which should've not existed. They want to take away your top rated seller status so you pay more money to them. They convince you it's the buyers fault. They screw with ebay software for just one day hoping you will not notice and will fall for whatever you are told.

Buyers forced to open a case against me just to communicate is rediculous. Their audacity to send me emails telling me how they protected me from buyers was disingenous, and arrogant. They didn't protect me at all, it's their own policies which are designed to cost extra money and make you believe you error because you didn't hit this or that button upon cases which shouldn't be opened anyhow. The hoops you jump through change alot, which is the trick they use so you don't truly know what to do to get your money back. And hopefully you don't notice it was stolen all while you didn't get paid from the buyer or a refund was administered for whatever reason. Usually not your fault though.

It's EBAY you need protection from, not the buyers. They just follow Ebays software's lead in how to handle stuff.

Ebay is a dirty business. Theft is ranpid by them...Fees are much higher overall with this added in than selling on Amazon

They say they take a percentage out of the sale which is untrue. Even if the sale doesn't go through via it backtracking through a refund, they keep the final value fee uless you jump through hoops. Just one example of their dishonesty. Paypal also once, a few months after a sale, just decided to reverse the sale and keep the money. I phoned the buyer whom said she did not do a credit card reversal. She tried her hardest to get EBAY to pay me the money they stole but they wouldn't. They offered no explanation for the suddenly missing money. No case was opened, no email was sent to notify me of anything. Ijust happened to be examining my Paypal account

I got tired of their games which it took so much time to keep track of that I quit. And won't be going back

Until then, I made about $175 a month utilizing mainly, the Goodwill store near our home.

It takes years to learn what sells and I sold pretty much anyting that can go first class or in a flat rate priority envelope. but I'd write down items then go home and look up the completeds for what they sold for, if they sold at all.

Ebay's games made it not worth it to sell anymore. They try to get you to hate the buyer for THEIR THEFT.

Ebay doesn't follow their own rules. Amazon is much easier selling venue, and you generally make more money but many categories are restricted. So overall to just sell there, depending wasn't worth it for me. Amazon doesn't steal from you and you are paid $$ much quicker.

I noticed Ebay sent me two notices of incentives to refer other sellers to them, this is new. Maybe they are loosing alot of Sellers. Hopefully so. Good luck to you no matter what you choose

.

[midlifeman]

I am in the network marketing business. I sell informational services on how to drive traffic to your site. I'm not making a living yet, but it's good part-time supplemental income.

[MB86]

Originally Posted by doodlemagic

If you have a store you actually have access to customers emails and phone numbers which is something I just recently discovered and was surprised by. I use a mass email service to email specials to my customers. ALso to my regular or big quantity buyers I'll often contact them and offer them savings for going direct. I basically tell them look we've done business I trust you I'm sure you trust me by now, were both essentially giving ebay an extra 6-10% of whatever were transacting lets cut them out and split the savings.

I have been accessing emails forever, the poster above is the one who mentioned you cannot get that info any longer.

[doodlemagic]

Originally Posted by MB86

I have been accessing emails forever, the poster above is the one who mentioned you cannot get that info any longer.

Maybe you need to have a store because when I look under my sold items it has their email address right next to their username

[CaliforniaGal1]

Their email addresses are also accessable in your paypal account