Want to start a new business on eBay ?

[pierrelebel]

Everyday new users look into the possibility of establishing a home-based business centered around selling on eBay.

It is not as easy as it sounds.

To sell on eBay as a hobby is one thing. To organize it up as a full or part time business to generate income is something more serious and requires some prerequisites.

First you must prepare a business plan and a budget.

Like any mail order business, newcomers should have business (preferably retail) experience, with good marketing skills and adequate capital (money does not grow on trees).

They should be familiar with the basics of both consumption and income tax legislations affecting their business. GST and PST regulations can be tricky.

They should understand currency conversion, banking, international trade and methods of payment available to online buyers.

More importantly, they should sell what they know and know what they sell.

I am not a paid eBay employee and, as such, cannot offer direct business consultation and advice. For assistance, you should take a look at the many threads of the last few weeks on this Board dealing with a vast variety of subjects. Start with the Selling 101 thread:
http://forums.ebay.ca/thread.jsp?forum=13&thread=100007162&modified=1109682709634

Then take a look at other Canadian Boards such as:

New to eBay: http://forums.ebay.ca/forum.jsp?forum=41

User to User Help: http://forums.ebay.ca/forum.jsp?forum=9

Then, one should invest some time on the PayPal Discussion Board (on eBay.com):
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/forum.jspa?forumID=97

and the eBay Stores Discussion Board (also on eBay.com):
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/forum.jspa?forumID=21

While you are on eBay.com, take a look at other Discussion Boards which may offer you good free advice:
http://pages.ebay.com/community/boards/index.html

If you target primarily the American and overseas markets you should list on eBay.com in US dollars; if you target the Canadian market list on eBay.ca in Canadian dollars.

Finally, before setting up your business, invest a few dollars and get some professional help for business and tax (GST and PST) registrations and bookkeeping (unless you already have the necessary expertize).

Good Luck.

[nikuradse]

I recieved a letter yesterday stating that TD Waterhouse Bank, N.A. was no longer going to offer individual checking accounts.

As of February 28, 2006 all individual checking accounts would be closed by the bank and if there were any funds on deposit as of midnight on that date then the bank would remit a check for the amount by mid-March.

It was suggested that account holders cease writing checks as of February 14, 2006 as any checks that would be honored would have to be recieved at the clearing house by midnight Feb 28th, after that date the checks would be returned with the notation "Account Closed".

It was suggested that account holders withdraw all funds either via writing a check for the entire amount or transfering to a TD Waterhouse brokerage account.

[kbnewfoundland]

http://forums.ebay.ca/thread.jsp?forum=13&thread=100007162&modified=1109682709634

Hi. I clicked on the link provided to Selling 101 thread and get this message...

The specified thread [100007162] was not found.

Can someone please direct me to this thread please and thank-you?

[pierrelebel]

Sorry - that thread has been removed by eBay a while back. :-( .

[canuckaloo]

Time to graduate to Selling 102?

;-)

[the-real-beez]

OK... so I'm ready to start up my eBay selling, and I went to re-read "Selling 101" and discover it's GONE? What's the deal with this?!?
Is there something WRONG with people learning the in's and out's of selling before paying to sell here? That was an EXCELLENT article/post and, judging by the reaction of others who are now bumping and searching and hoping it will return... it BELONGS here! So... who do we have to contact in order to have this information relisted? Is this a job for Carly or "Pink" (what's a Pink, anyway? Thought it was some rocker gal...)
Well, now that I'm through with my rant... the information that I was looking to re-read was concerning US dollar transactions. I'm looking to sell in US dollars, and use PayPal as my buyer's payment method. If I open a US dollar account at T.D. here in Canada, can I transfer my incoming sales money into that through my PayPal account? Can I register the US account with PayPal? My current PayPal "default" account is a Cdn. dollar chequing account.
I really want to begin listing items, but I want to be more "in the know" about the best way to accept US funds as payment with the least % loss due to handling charges and banking fees.
Seems to me that this was covered in Selling 101 when I originally read it... dang! Wish I'd printed that out, and I certainly will print good ones from now on! Can anyone give me the inside scoop on "best banking practices" for collecting US funds as payment? Please?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.
the-real-beez

[tobyshitzu]

No, no US dollar account located in Canada will work. You need a USA based account, eitehr gtting an ccount at a bank physically in the USA or RBC will open a centura account from a canadian branch. Until you have significant sales its not a big deal, the savings may be offset by service fee from having more bank accounts. If you ultimately wnat the money in C$ funds anyway the savings on the exchange will be under 1%. You can move $US funds in paypal to CDN$ spending by using the paypal debit card and save 1.5% with the cashback

[the-real-beez]

Thanks for that information... now what exactly is a PayPal debit card... I'll go look it up, but an explanation from a seasoned seller here at ebay.ca would be appreciated as well. As a rookie, I am hoping to get all the help I can. I've been faithfully reading these forum threads, and a great big thanks goes out to all those who have posted things like this one that help us "newbies". Perhaps after I read enough, I'll even be able to close with a nifty signature like Pierre does!
;-)

Sincerely grateful,
the-real-beez

[tobyshitzu]

Paypal debit card works like a mastercard but draws on your US$ balance held in paypal. You still pay the same slightly high exchange rate but it provides a decent 1.5% cashback reward to partially offset that. I draw as much as possible from paypal using that as I don't have any reaosn to hold US$ and my volume would only borderline worth it to open USA bank account for the small exchange rate saving. I gather there are issues with some Canadians getting one now with some saying they can't while others say they recently did.

If you're going to open a bank account just to save .7% or whatever on the exchange rate its only $70 per $10,000 converted minus whatever service fees are involved. So for most of us its not really worth it unless there were other reasons to want the USA account.

[phoebescollectables]

I was speaking with someone from TD Waterhouse Bank yesterday. They confirmed that the bank is definitely closing and that some accounts have already been closed.

Because I have an account with TD Canada Trust my account will be kept open for another 2-3 months while they try to work out alternative arrangements. They did mention that they are trying to work out arrangements with TD Bank North, but they don't know if they will be able to.

If they don't work out other arrangements then I will have to close my account. Then the only option then will be to open a Royal Bank RBC Centura account, or make a trip to the US and open a new account with a local bank.

[kbreton17]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me if they ever used the Marketplace Research provided by Ebay? If yes, could you let me know what you thought about the research.

Thx.

[laurahowes]

Think this could use a bump!

[loganzmeadow]

hear, hear laura!

btw, why isn't this thread pinned?

[lauraismynametoo]

What is a bump? (I seriously don't get it!)

[lauraismynametoo]

I finally made an About Me page, any feedback would be much appreciated! (I've also noted the PST for Ontario residents in my listing, I hope I don't have too many headaches...) Wish me luck!

[laurahowes]

lauraismynametoo: A bump is a post that doesn't add anything to a discussion but makes it more prevalent in the list of threads on a board (since the threads are listed by most recent post).

I bumped this thread since I thought it had relevant information for the visitors of this thread ... you found it didn't you!

[laurahowes]

I like your About Me page (I still haven't got around to writing mine!), but I was interested in seeing more pictures of your knitting and beading.

[lauraismynametoo]

Laura: Thanks for the bump explanation, and yes it obviously works well! 🙂 By "interested" do you mean there isn't enough to see on the page, or you like to see more of my inventory? (Unsure, but flattered either way!)

[laurahowes]

I am personally interested, since beading and knitting are hobbies of mine (by hobbies, I mean things I'd LIKE to do but are currently on the back burner! Lol.)

But I was also commenting as an impartial viewer of your ME page... you mentioned these things that you create, and then we only get to see your wine charms (which are lovely by the way). I was just thinking that the average person viewing your page would want more.

But this is not a fatal flaw! Overall, a very nice page. 🙂

[lauraismynametoo]

I didn't put scarves on the page cuz it's so hot out, and the charms are acutally ready to go! I also don't think the belts would sell on eBay. Should I just change the page? (not talk about anything but the charms?)

[laurahowes]

No, no, it's fine.
Just a thought!