09-17-2015 05:05 PM
09-17-2015 05:43 PM - edited 09-17-2015 05:45 PM
Start?
I have been in the mail order business since 1987.
Yes, I had a business plan, a budget and sufficient funding to establish the business. Online selling only started about eighteen years ago for me.
The first thing I did back in 1987 was to spend slightly more than $1,000 purchasing "stuff" from my competitors. It quickly told me what to do and what not to do. Best $1,000 ever spent.
I am now retired (but still selling excess inventory on eBay).
09-17-2015 06:23 PM
09-17-2015 06:47 PM
First ...
You start buying antique furniture, at auction sales..... fill up a house
and learn about auctions...
Furniture, artwork and collectables..... and beginning a search on garage sales... for personal collection and use
Then as the house filled up you sell that which you do not want...
Second ...
Garage sales..... estate sales, church sales and more ....buy and sell at country auctions first, and then local auctions...
The internet expanded....
and finally the time came to sell on-line.
Start small...
Selling that which was found at garage sales.... followed by thrift stores..
It was relatively easy in 2003 to sell on eBay... adjusting as the years passed.
At first it was just about anything ... antiques collectables, artwork, and a few books....
Eventually it became everything Canada, and Canadian... books, art glass, pottery
Then came the day it was books.... and only books.... Canadian history, as the primary category as well as other complementary categories of books....
Old non-book inventory was sold through local auctions..... many years after this inventory was found.
Selling became a "real" business when eBay became the primary selling venue...January 2003
09-17-2015 06:48 PM
Buy high and sell low!
Are you sure????
How about ... Buy Low and sell... High and higher than high....
09-17-2015 06:49 PM
Go with the flow.....
09-19-2015 04:37 PM
I got into selling books because my brother owns a bookstore. It used to be one of the largest and most successful bookstores in Canada.
A successful guy with good business sense, he had the foresight to see how the internet was eventually going to kill him. He wanted to see if it was viable to sell books online himself. I told him about Ebay (way back in the late 1990's). He was curious to try it. He wasn't a computer guy so he told me to sell his best selling books online and we could split the profit 50/50. It was a great deal for me as I was fairly fresh out of school and making near minimum wage.
The book sales were mediocre. But a bigger problem was the packaging and shipping of individual books to the USA. No media mail in Canada. So shipping was crazy expensive and you had to eat some shipping costs to stay competitive.. Also, if there is even the tiniest sliver of damage on a book's dust cover, you WILL hear about it. I quickly concluded that it wasn't worth my time.
I did however stumble on to a wider range of media selling. Quite by accident. I was searching for the completed sale price of one of my books and noticed it had been made into a movie. The VHS was selling for 30-50 dollars. I had an inventory of a few dozen tapes. I quickly learned a simple truth. Americans hate to read and they love their movies. VHS tapes, DVD, Video games (late Blu rays). Now these always sold and sold well. Also people didn't care too much about condition as long as the media inside worked fine. The markups were huge and the shipping was much easier.
I now rarely ever sell books despite my Ebay user name.
09-19-2015 06:19 PM
@bargainbookscanada wrote:I got into selling books because my brother owns a bookstore. It used to be one of the largest and most successful bookstores in Canada.
A successful guy with good business sense, he had the foresight to see how the internet was eventually going to kill him. He wanted to see if it was viable to sell books online himself. I told him about Ebay (way back in the late 1990's). He was curious to try it. He wasn't a computer guy so he told me to sell his best selling books online and we could split the profit 50/50. It was a great deal for me as I was fairly fresh out of school and making near minimum wage.
The book sales were mediocre. But a bigger problem was the packaging and shipping of individual books to the USA. No media mail in Canada. So shipping was crazy expensive and you had to eat some shipping costs to stay competitive.. Also, if there is even the tiniest sliver of damage on a book's dust cover, you WILL hear about it. I quickly concluded that it wasn't worth my time.
I did however stumble on to a wider range of media selling. Quite by accident. I was searching for the completed sale price of one of my books and noticed it had been made into a movie. The VHS was selling for 30-50 dollars. I had an inventory of a few dozen tapes. I quickly learned a simple truth. Americans hate to read and they love their movies. VHS tapes, DVD, Video games (late Blu rays). Now these always sold and sold well. Also people didn't care too much about condition as long as the media inside worked fine. The markups were huge and the shipping was much easier.
I now rarely ever sell books despite my Ebay user name.
Pretty much me and: glove box handle, dome lights, and trunk latches. Under a minute to remove, darnnear free, super simple and cheap to package, no damage in transit.
09-19-2015 07:05 PM
I started out with a clear, step-by-step plan, a concept of how I'd sell, and a pre-conceived range of products. I actually prepared a typewritten business plan and a page or two of development ideas, and put them into a "product development" file, to which I've referred and to which I've added over the years. I literally built my business out of virtually nothing, with a very, very small initial investment.
But then I spent several years in the outside world in product development and marketing (in a totally different area) before even considering online sales, so I started with a good understanding of the underlying concepts.
My best advice to someone like the OP who is considering online selling: Sell products you know well, understand your costs and profit margins before you start, do your homework, analyze what your competitors are doing, and buy from the people who will be your competitors before selling. You'll learn a lot of what to do and what not to do from being on the purchasing end. Consider those purchases not as wasted money but as investments in your future understanding of online business.
Also, I would say that these days, sadly, you really can't rely on eBay alone for your business. There is too much radical change that happens too often here to make for a stable and reliable selling venue for more than a few months at a time. One decision by eBay can suddenly spell the end of the viability of a whole sector of your products or indeed, your ability to sell effectively. Spread your selling activities around -- not too widely, but enough to have a couple of alternates to provide additional income. I'm always surprised at how well some items sell on other venues that don't do as well here.
09-19-2015 09:38 PM
Where did I start?...
with a garage sale of nothing too valuable... the old nondescript items one accumulates early in life
then local auctions within the city..... beginning with special finds that were to be sold
Then country auctions.... quality antiques.... refinished by me... some collectables...always quality that sold well
and then eBay...
Start simple... very easy .... then advance step by step... and develop a model for selling.
Much of what was sold was dependent on what one found...
09-19-2015 10:09 PM
@cumos55 wrote:Where did I start?...
with a garage sale of nothing too valuable... the old nondescript items one accumulates early in life
then local auctions within the city..... beginning with special finds that were to be sold
Then country auctions.... quality antiques.... refinished by me... some collectables...always quality that sold well
and then eBay...
Start simple... very easy .... then advance step by step... and develop a model for selling.
Much of what was sold was dependent on what one found...
And develop a model for buying. The word "no" is you best friend.
09-19-2015 10:59 PM
The word "no" is you best friend.
Some explanation is required....
The key to success... important on eBay... is knowing what NOT to do
09-19-2015 11:01 PM
a model for buying
A wee bit confused...
Missed the change from selling to buying.
09-20-2015 10:24 AM
@cumos55 wrote:a model for buying
A wee bit confused...
Missed the change from selling to buying.
What I said is not what I meant. Go by what I mean, not by what I say.
I meant, "buying" for the purpose of selling.
There is a lot of "low hanging fruit" just begging to be picked. Doesn't make the fruit any tastier. Much of it languishes and ends up being tossed into the composter.
Knowing the W5 of buying determines the selling.
09-20-2015 10:30 AM
In other words: "He who buys right... sells right."
Business 101: Since the marketplace generally determines the price of a product or service, profit is made by reducing costs.
09-20-2015 10:50 AM
Precisely, Pierre.
I have expanded that to supplanting the word "buy" with "acquire". I do not buy a widget to re-sell, I acquire a large quantity, of what is worthless to another, and sell that which has value.
That leads to the 80-20 rule. 20% of the sellers do 80% of the profit. I used to know one seller, feedback of 4500, who lost money on every sale. In 10,000 sales, I have lost money four times.
At yesterday's repair shop auction, I passed on the alternators, distributors, carbs, and engine blocks. Chevy 350 engine blocks, 16 of them, went for $230 total. That hurt. I bought a "lot" of NOS ignition parts for $100. I opened one box and found an ignition switch with keys. 1:160 parts and I make half my money back.
09-20-2015 12:19 PM
One has to know what not to do.... and how to determine what not to buy to sell
Buy the right item and it will sell.
Practice makes perfect....Many times I will pick up a book and walk around with it ... and then After a period of time I will have a discussion with myself.... perhaps an argument as to value....
One always has to make a choice...... buy to sell or leave it for someone else.
I have to look at the final selling price in relation to what I am willing to pay...
Very few " purchase to sell" errors.... perhaps there is something called a sixth sense..... intuition based on knowledge, understanding .... of buyers.... of competition ....and one's willingness to take a chance.... maybe buy to sell!
and if I am not too sure of the final price.... I record the ISBN and check when I get home... and maybe next time it will be purchased to sell.
I am always looking for that something extra.... unique and unusual... and some of these do sell well.... sometimes very well.
09-20-2015 12:26 PM
Mr Elmwood....
Definitely a nice collection of boxes... for that is what that collection is to me ... boxes
and that is the difference between sellers... each knows their ...OWN.... inventory
09-20-2015 12:51 PM
09-20-2015 01:31 PM
Maybe we have to find someone who does some heming.... to dresses
and maybe they would know how to do the right Hemingway...
and
then some classic novels are being published as graphic novels ...
and ..... graphic novels are the equivalent of "comic books"