Very few sellers on eBay are willing to reveal their sources of supply. It stands to reason that if they have a good thing going, spreading the news to other eBay sellers will only hurt their business.
That said, selling through dropshippers is often recognized as a great way to lower your feedback score. Selling inventory that you don't control can lead to a whole host of problems. You may think your dropshipper has stock of a particular item but if it sells and they don't - look out for a neg from a lot of buyers. You might also remember that you are very likely no the only one selling on eBay for that dropshipper. You only need to look at how SMC sellers are doing in the US to realize that no one makes any real money.
Buying a lot of the lists of suppliers that are sold on eBay and elsewhere is a foolish thing to do. There is never any privileged info in those lists. Nothing that a few hours of work wouldn't reveal anyway.
Yard sales and auctions frequently reveal treasures that can return huge profits but they require a lot of physical work to find the right items. You would also likely need to have an area of expertise to make it really a profitable venture for yourself. One of the downsides to this type of selling is that you rarely have the same thing twice meaning that you have to do the photography and description for every purchase you make. It can be very time consuming.
Buying from wholesalers or manufacturers means that you need to register as a business first as they will not usually sell to the general public. A lot of them are also very reluctant to sell to eBay vendors because of perceived damage to their traditional brick ands mortar customers. The upside is that you can often buy quantities that allow you to create a listing once and then sell over and over or in multiples. The downside is that if you buy current stock you are competing with retailers, many of whom will have far greater buying power than you. Look for distributors and wholesalers that are selling of old inventory - you can often buy this at 25 cents on the retail dollar or less.
When I teach the Basics of Selling class I always recommend that the participants first find an area that they have comfort with and research it on eBay first. As much as you might think it profitable, there are so many sellers of digital cameras on eBay that no one really makes large profit. Find a niche that is relatively unsaturated and then go about finding a source of supply. That will prove beneficial on eBay for 6-12 months until others catch on that you are doing well and attempt to horn in on your market. You always need to be on the lookout for your next niche and be prepared to frequently re-invent yourself.
My most popular items this Christmas returned 1100% on my initial investment. I had bought many thousands of dollars of inventory from a bankruptcy sale and I will have items to sell for a couple more years. Even after I pay for additional warehouse space the profit is quite good. Most of the inventory was purchased at about 5 cents on the retail dollar. Those are the types of deals that I'm always watching for.
Good luck
Bill treasure-pot
That said, selling through dropshippers is often recognized as a great way to lower your feedback score. Selling inventory that you don't control can lead to a whole host of problems. You may think your dropshipper has stock of a particular item but if it sells and they don't - look out for a neg from a lot of buyers. You might also remember that you are very likely no the only one selling on eBay for that dropshipper. You only need to look at how SMC sellers are doing in the US to realize that no one makes any real money.
Buying a lot of the lists of suppliers that are sold on eBay and elsewhere is a foolish thing to do. There is never any privileged info in those lists. Nothing that a few hours of work wouldn't reveal anyway.
Yard sales and auctions frequently reveal treasures that can return huge profits but they require a lot of physical work to find the right items. You would also likely need to have an area of expertise to make it really a profitable venture for yourself. One of the downsides to this type of selling is that you rarely have the same thing twice meaning that you have to do the photography and description for every purchase you make. It can be very time consuming.
Buying from wholesalers or manufacturers means that you need to register as a business first as they will not usually sell to the general public. A lot of them are also very reluctant to sell to eBay vendors because of perceived damage to their traditional brick ands mortar customers. The upside is that you can often buy quantities that allow you to create a listing once and then sell over and over or in multiples. The downside is that if you buy current stock you are competing with retailers, many of whom will have far greater buying power than you. Look for distributors and wholesalers that are selling of old inventory - you can often buy this at 25 cents on the retail dollar or less.
When I teach the Basics of Selling class I always recommend that the participants first find an area that they have comfort with and research it on eBay first. As much as you might think it profitable, there are so many sellers of digital cameras on eBay that no one really makes large profit. Find a niche that is relatively unsaturated and then go about finding a source of supply. That will prove beneficial on eBay for 6-12 months until others catch on that you are doing well and attempt to horn in on your market. You always need to be on the lookout for your next niche and be prepared to frequently re-invent yourself.
My most popular items this Christmas returned 1100% on my initial investment. I had bought many thousands of dollars of inventory from a bankruptcy sale and I will have items to sell for a couple more years. Even after I pay for additional warehouse space the profit is quite good. Most of the inventory was purchased at about 5 cents on the retail dollar. Those are the types of deals that I'm always watching for.
Good luck
Bill treasure-pot
