6 months of ebay reselling

My First 6 Months of eBay Reselling – Has It Been Worth it – My Experience So Far

READ LATER - DOWNLOAD THIS POST AS PDF >> CLICK HERE <<
Spread the love

So funny story – one of my good friends give me a t-shirt during the Christmas period.  He runs a South African-themed bar and restaurant (the Khoi Khoi) in my home town of Letchworth GC Hertfordshire. 

Now, I really hope he doesn’t get offended by this but this T-shirt I was given I wore out on New Year’s Eve and some of my other friends found it highly amusing.

I think they were laughing because they thought my t-shirt looked quite gay or maybe that is just what I thought but anyway.  Like it was a nylon leopard print t-shirt (I still have it lol) and my friend was actually making all his staff at the bar wear these ? I’m sure he was just going for the African theme but anyhow.

So I was a bit drunk still on New Year’s Day and was just sitting there by myself and thought “wouldn’t it be a laugh to just download the eBay app and list this T-Shirt for sale”.

So I listed this T-Shirt as “Incredibly Gay Leopard Print Men’s T-Shirt Khoi Khoi Letchworth”.  Like I know this is probably a bit disrespectful to my friend but I did this – just to send the link to a couple of my other friends as a joke but the craziest thing was I actually was sent an offer for £35.00 on that same day.  

I mean I listed it high at £50 I think it was and I really wasn’t expecting this but yes true story.

I never got paid for this by the way ? but jokes aside I’ve had a funny couple of nights out in this T-shirt since.

Although, maybe the best part about being given this T-Shirt was that it showed me how easy listing on the eBay app is. I think I used this app before on one of my older phones but yes this was a big part of what got me into this new hustle of eBay reselling.

It’s been quite a journey but please keep on reading and I will share my story.


My First Six Months of eBay Reselling


my first six months ebay reselling

Has It Been All Worth It

So I’ve actually used eBay for over 10 years already.  I properly got started around 2011 with just a single niche ‘PC Cooling’ although I’ve sold a couple of other bits here and there.

Although predominately it was just PC Cooling supplies and I still see these products now if you’re interested but back to my story.

So during the COVID-19 days of 2020, it started off OK sales were actually through the roof.  I had about 3 months straight that were amazing for sales. Like I’ve never seen sales like this before but I think towards the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021 then I started to have problems.

Like I had a couple of big shipments delayed – UPS held one of my shipments for like 3 months. I had an agreement with my supplier that I had one month to make payment from goods being received but this was it for him. His company was really feeling the brunt of it all. Others who also had credit agreements were not making their agreed payments on time and this was really a big kick in the teeth for me because he stopped giving me credit.

Which was bad but then right off the back of this eBay then introduced its eBay Managed Payments system.  [Read More about why I don’t like this HERE] I’ve kind of made my peace with this now but at the time MY GOD!…

Like what a pisstake ? their timing was terrible. 

Just going off on a bit of a rant here

So not only was I ending up in situations where I wasn’t receiving money when I needed it but what was even worse was I could no longer rely on PayPal Working Capital for business loans. 

I mean It’s true that I had become a bit too dependent on them. I would usually get a loan and spend about 90% of it on new stock and the other 10% I would treat myself with.

After that, I would spend the next xx months having 20% deducted from every sale. Which was kind of tough at times but talk about having the rug pulled out from underneath my feet.

So my stock levels were badly affected by this.  I didn’t have the room I had before to buy things that people weren’t buying so quickly from me.  I’d make new orders but as I couldn’t really keep up with the demand for certain products this really did begin to take its toll on my finances. 

I was no longer living it up like before.  Really like I started to struggle.

So I had already started blogging and affiliate marketing prior to this [R]. Really because I had a few cashflow problems even before COVID but actually I will say if it wasn’t for some of the money I made from this work I don’t know what I would have done. It was definitely a good choice to make and actually this is relevant.

Mostly because one of the blogs I wrote prior to starting my eBay reselling business I think definitely planted the seed. I mean the seed was kind of planted already but this certainly sprouted it along.

So I wrote this post ~ Try These 7 Side Hustles For Your New Blog or Website ~ basically, for anyone running a new website or blog that was struggling with covering their running costs for things like tools and hosting.

eBay was probably the first thing that came to mind. I think it’s quite an easy way to make money really even if it’s a few quid here and there but seriously this really got me thinking that I really should do this myself.

I think I remember a phone call with my brother saying about getting into eBay reselling before I made a new eBay and listed the Leopard Print T-Shirt, and I think it was because of this blog post 100%

But What Do I Mean By eBay Reselling


So I mentioned that I sold stuff on eBay already – and for over 10 years I have done this.  In fact, I’ve had over 100K sales and scored over 30K feedback from these activities GODS HONEST TRUTH 

but yes I would not consider this reselling.  This was done by buying from a factory and selling goods straight from the production line. I would say this is more straight-up selling but anyway –

Like what I mean by eBay reselling is you are selling things that have already been purchased at least once already and then you are reselling them again.  Basically, second-hand goods – if this makes any sense.

So didn’t come up with the term eBay reselling myself it was here already and has been for years but generally speaking, an average reseller is someone that will sell absolutely anything they can on eBay. Not like what I was doing with just my selling in my PC Cooling niche. In the eBay reselling niche anything is fair game.

And since I have been doing this I’ve sold all sorts;

Clothes, books, collectables, electronics, body care products, games, action figures, CDs, records, comic books, art supplies and really kinds of things. I just sold a box of hearing aid batteries which were quite funny because my mother said to me there was no way anyone would buy them lol

So, there really is no limit to what you can sell like there is but most things you can list for sale as long as they are LEGIT and perhaps if you ever start reselling you will see exactly what I mean.


So I Will Tell You About My First 6 Months


my ebay reselling story

So in January, I began setting up my eBay reselling account.  I relisted my Khoi Khoi T-shirt (don’t ask me why) and I asked my young teenage nephew if he also wanted to get involved with me.

Of course, he did, and we got to work listing whatever we could find to sell.  We got off to a good start selling some of his old toys, clothes and computer games.  It was great for a new account although we did have some trouble with listing too much at once.  

We raided his mum’s (my sister’s) loft for a load of old books and some other bits – games, toys etc. but eBay obviously didn’t like us listing so much at once.  It was very annoying as everything had to be listed again one by one but we got the account back after a phone call. 

This I felt was a bit wrong on eBay’s part for giving us so many listings but we sorted it in the end.

Although this only lasted I would say for maybe a month and a half before this account was restricted again.  The next thing that happened was a very harsh lesson for me and one mistake I will never make again.

So in case, you’re curious…

I sold my autographed Guns N Roses LP.  I listed it for £80 Buy IT NOW and it sold within hours.  I was feeling quite good at the time.  Everything seemed to be going well but before I could post out I got a message offering me £200 more.  This I refused as I was still going to send this out still but I kept on getting offered more and more money.

I never realized this was signed by the whole band you see and that it was worth easily over £1200 pounds – so I cancelled this order in the worst possible way because I relisted it again straight afterwards. 

It really sucks to do this to someone I know ☹ but at the time I was thinking that I was going away in a couple of weeks for my friend’s stag do in Prague. I guess I got a bit too greedy but then I think it was the right decision as I did end up selling this for a lot more than £80.

However, really I shouldn’t have done this as this customer reported me and eBay closed my new account ?

I probably deserved it really but what a horrible thing to happen.  All the enthusiasm I had – it really was soul-destroying. I had so many hopes for this account and also I really messed it up for my nephew.

 Like every day after that, I was getting drunk wallowing in my self-pity.  I hated that I had screwed things up and it really was a nightmare – I phoned eBay, I messaged them, I sent them documents and all they would say to me was my account posed a risk to the eBay community ?

It was difficult I will tell you but I found a solution luckily.

How I Managed To Carry On


So prior to all the above happening I used to spend a lot of time on Youtube watching other resellers.

One of them I will share a video below.  I still watch this guy now and he is brilliant.  Definitely has inspired me a lot.

So, I remember for a while, it felt too painful to keep watching videos like this one and others.  I just felt like, as I couldn’t continue selling on eBay when I had so much to list for sale that this was just like torture.

– LIKE I didn’t need the reminder of what I was missing out on #VeryDarkTimes

But I was very fortunate enough to get another eBay account sorted for reselling in the end.  I will spare the details because not sure what eBays viewpoint would be on this but Truly I thank god.  I am not really religious but hallelujah.   From here it has been a great experience I am making money again and definitely have got my optimism back.

Like I think the first pick-ups I got were from the Facebook Marketplace.  I got a drone cheap and a set of occult/witch books which were my first items to list for sale.  Those I combined with bits I had just laying around the house and this was followed by the first car boot sale of the season and it has been amazing ever since.

It might sound a bit corny saying this but every Saturday since the car boots started again this year in the UK they have been like Xmas mornings for me. Like I actually will wake up at the crack of dawn and no matter what I do I can’t get back to sleep. I have got some amazing deals so far this year – I’ve also bought some right crap but as I said in my blog about Side Hustles this is a great way to make money.


So Things I’ve Bought and Resold


So since I have been doing this I have bought and resold around 200 different bits and pieces so far. This list continues to grow and almost every day now I’m finding new bits that I have sourced for reselling have sold. 

I won’t share the full list here – I mean it is tempting to do so but no probably wise I don’t. Would actually love to show you everything but I will keep this short just to show you some of the things I’ve sold and how much for – I will include Amazon links to some of these bits just so you can see them.

Some of these will be affiliate links just to let you know;

Bought ForTotal Profit
Percy Jackson & the Olympians 5 Children Book Series Collection Set£2.00£4.33
Observers Book of Common Insects & Spiders 1962 Book£0£4.29
WWE JOHN CENA WRESTLING FIGURE BASIC SERIES MATTEL0£2.34
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Mug Cup – 2002 – Made In England0£2.33
The Modern Witchcraft Spellbook by Anna Riva Occult Books Paperback 1972£2.50£5.85
The Mighty Boosh – Series 1-3 Box Set [DVD], Very Good DVD£0.33£1.43
The Book of Bottle Collecting Doreen Beck Paperback 1984 Book Hobby£0.50£6.24
Reeves Soft Pastel 36 Artist Colours Used but complete set See Pictures£0.50£4.53
Faux Bone Handle Fish Knife And Scoop Spoon EPNS electroplate nickel steel£0.20£4.83
Vintage Tonka Mighty dump truck sturdy yellow steel, good condition£0.20£3.07
Star Wars (VHS/SUR, 1995) CBS Fox Video£1.00£4.86
Ibywind Screen Protector for POCO F3 5G/Xiaomi Mi 11i 5G,[Pack of 2] with Camera£1.00£6.02
The Definitive Ealing Studios Collection DVD Box Set 16 Discs, unplayed.£2.00£16.20
Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology Hanz Holzer Octopus Books Hardcover£2.50£7.79
Stepsons Of Terra: by Robert Silverberg£0.50£1.58
Aqualisa Fixed shower head kits Varispray-Chrome 99.50.01£3.00£58.29
The Wonderful World of Disney Vintage LP Vinyl Record Box Set 1977 Records 4-6 £2.00£1.69
Pressit A4 DVD Case Inserts Pack of 20 ~ suitable for inkjet and laser printers £1.00£12.91
Crash Tag Team Racing – Microsoft Xbox Original Game – VGC!!£0.50£3.16

So the top item I paid £2 for I think.  I made around £4 from this.  It was not much but happy days I sold less than a week after buying it and really I have to admit these sales I love because it’s all activity.

Of course, I would rather make more but I am not fussy I remember last year when I was really struggling, waiting for eBay sales and it was just hell as I was finishing the day with barely 15 orders no one was buying anything but this is the one great thing about reselling – more sales.

Like the “Reeves Soft Pastel set” I paid 50p for this.  There was a stall for selling everything for 50p an item – I love these stalls and that made around £4.50 after fees and shipping.  Almost as good as the 10p TV remote that made me £12 before fees and shipping ?   I could go on… 

So The Definitive Ealing Studios Collection DVD Box Set – £2.00 is what I paid for this and I made around £16 profit.

Then the Aqualisa Fixed shower head I paid £3.00 for this and sold for £80.00 minus £20.00 for fees and postage.

It has been a proper rollercoaster.  One amazing find after another.  

My favourite maybe has been a job lot of CDs I got from the Facebook marketplace for £45.00.  Over 1100 in total.

I’ve hardly been through most of them but already I am £200 up in profit.  They have been a lot of hard work to be fair and storage as well OMG but lot’s of quick movers it is just a case of getting everything listed up for sale.

I absolutely love it ♥


So My Tips and Tricks


my ebay reselling tips and tricks

1.) Download the eBay App – 

I think this is very important.  Anything with an ISBN can easily be scanned and eBay will give you an estimated sale price based on recent sales history.  

This and the fact you can easily list items quickly by taking photos with your mobile device means this makes the process very super quick and easy.

Also, another great thing is you can scan items when you are outsourcing new stock.  Assuming that you have roaming data you can scan in things like books and DVDs before you buy them so you know if you’re on to a winner or not. 

2.)  List regularly to keep the eBay Algorithm Happy – 

I don’t know if this is true or not but I have a feeling it is based on my own experience.

Also, in the video I shared above – this guy, Mountain Man Treasure says it works and honestly it does seem to boost my sales for some reason.  

So, I actually just list anything even if it doesn’t make me much money.  Just so I am making my account look active and helping eBay to boost my algorithm.  I mean maybe it is a load of nonsense but try this for yourself.  See what happens.

3.)  Send offers on the eBay app – 

Go to selling and look for “send offers to interested buyers”.  I find this works best at night but ultimately it is a great way to push through a few extra sales.  My method is just to offer something like a pound less.  This would differ depending on your currency but It works I find because these watchers get inbox notifications from eBay.  

I mean it can put off people as well but this is definitely a great tip I would say. 

But…

4.)  Be Careful with Promoted Listings – 

This has changed a lot over the past year.  Mostly for the worse but basically eBay used to let you know how much it would be to promote each individual listing before you listed your item. 

However, now they DO NOT + this can totally consume any profit that you make.  I always keep it at 2% – this is nothing really – a little boost, but it does create a duplicate listing at least.  It’s kind of a tricky one but I would say don’t go higher than 2% unless you know what you’re doing.

I’ve had a few sales recently where I have lost money.  You can’t really ask the customer to pay more if it’s your fault so the best thing doesn’t make this kind of mistake in the first place.

5.)  Get Inspired – 

I will make this my final tip.  You don’t need to do this really but all the Youtubers I watch are good inspiration. 

 Like Mountain Man Treasure I mentioned already,  Froggy Flips I love watching because he spends BIG like he doesn’t miss much and Homeschooling Picker I like her because she has an eye for high ticket items.  

Watch her videos she makes loads of money [HERE]

Then Commonwealth Picker is another.  I’ve not watched many of his videos but I like how he works.  I mean any of these guys when I watch them I say to myself I want to be like them and make money on eBay so I will always try to list a couple of bits whilst I’m watching their videos.

So – these are my tips but


What Else Should You Know


Honestly, for all the pros you can take from eBay reselling there are also plenty of cons to go with it.  

I think when you compare something like blogging and affiliate marketing you have a lot more freedom than you do with eCommerce ventures such as eBay and Amazon.  

Of course, you can do dropshipping that’s one way around it but generally speaking, you have to hold stock as a pre-requisite.  You can basically forget all about the laptop lifestyle.  

To work as an eBay reseller you must commit to storing your inventory – either in your own place or renting storage space.  You will get lumbered with things as well that you can not sell.  

I currently have 2 bags of stuff for the charity shop (or dump) and that is all I’ve gathered together.

The big lot of CDs I mentioned earlier in the article – I’m very happy to say that they are selling but I still have another 4 boxes to sort through which are basically just boxes taking up space.  

It is generally like some things can move through your hands quickly but then there are other bits that may not.

It helps if you have something like a garage or spare room but even this is just one thing.

Having means of transport for yourself is kind of important if you really mean business – 

Even what I have found from the last xx car boots sales I’ve gone to on my own – this has been a right nightmare for getting stuff home.  I like to bring £50 a time and always end up with more bags than I carry.  

It is all worth it in the end I guess but here is the thing…

.


Why Not Try This Instead?


Affiliate marketing really is where it is at – you don’t need to store things, have transport, or worry about sending orders out.  It is the one thing that if you can manage to crack the code you are sorted.  

Especially if you can really get to the point that it’s making you good money.

There are a lot of bullshitters out there no doubt but PASSIVE INCOME is real ~ in the last 3 or so months I’ve been making one surprise commission after another.  I actually made like an £800 sale in November and didn’t realise that I had a nice £250 commission sitting there waiting for me until April.

I mean it really is the nicest surprise like I had a weekend the other month where I really went overboard with my spending. I was really stressed but I checked my Clickbank and there was $200 in there from a blog post that I basically forgot all about.

It really is quite a feeling and the more content you publish and continue to develop the more this begins to become possible. Successful affiliate marketers get these surprises every day. These guys actually go on holiday and come back to more sales. It takes work but it’s a good business to explore most definitely for sure.

Like I do not plan to continue eBay reselling forever.  At one point it would be nice to just have a tidy house with no worries about money and where it’s coming from.  I love travelling as well so this is my dream but how about you?

Now, I’ve told you about eBay Reselling above but here is what you can do next if you are interested… 

in really living care-free>

  1. CHECK OUT MY LINK HERE
  2. SIGN UP FOR MY RECOMMENDED TRAINING PLATFORM
  3. SUBSCRIBE TO MY FREE EMAIL TRAINING TIPS  [You Can Also Sign Up HERE]
  4. CONTACT ME IF YOU NEED ANY GUIDANCE AT ALL
  5. ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK

I will gladly be of assistance just please follow these steps below and any questions whatsoever drop me a message in the comments section below…

Best regards;

And #ToYourFutureSuccess

Alex B. Chivers
iBusinessToday.com

affiliate marketing blogger content marketing Dogecoin Domains eBay Facebook facebook ads getresponse Get Response Email Marketing GoDaddy how to build an email list How to create your first website How To Do Copywriting how to increase traffic on website Increase Website Traffic and Sales Instagram Internet Marketing jaaxy Lead Generation Learn Affiliate Marketing Make Money Online MMO online business Pirate Chain Publishing online for beginners Safelists SEO SEO and SEM SEO and Website Traffic Share-a-sale shawn Josiah Simple Social Media Sales Social Media Marketing Solo Ads thrive themes TikTok Using TikTok for Business video marketing VideoTik wealthy affiliate Web Development Website and Ad Traffic WordPress Work from Home


Spread the love
READ LATER - DOWNLOAD THIS POST AS PDF >> CLICK HERE <<

2 thoughts on “My First 6 Months of eBay Reselling – Has It Been Worth it – My Experience So Far”

  1. Wow, your challenges with selling on E-bay are quite a story. It must have really been very disheartening when you found out that you could no longer rely on PayPal Working Capital for business loans, but look on the bright side, it made you explore other avenues although the road has been rough, but things are improving. However, I prefer your recommended platform for affiliate marketing as it looks like a really good program with all the required support for success.
    Ceci

    1. Hi Ceci, It has been a long road for me with eBay, most definitely. They have caused me a good number of problems over the years but I’m still making most of my money through there so I can’t complain really. But some things that have happened were very disheartening not going to lie although it’s a means to an end. Like Affiliate Marketing yes I do recommend this but for someone that is not yet making many whilst they develop their websites and funnels eBay can really help. Appen is another place to but literally like eBay reselling it really is not hard to find stuff to sell. I mean I would guess that the average person has plenty of things laying around they could sell – video games, CDs, DVDs, Clothes, Electronics, and all sorts really.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I accept the Privacy Policy

Subscribe To Receive Our FREE Daily Business and Marketing Tips

Subscribe To Receive Our FREE Daily Business and Marketing Tips

Join our mailing list and also receive our free eBook and 10-week action plan for starting a new blog to make money online with affiliate marketing in 2023 !!

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Scroll to Top