How can anyone make $ on ebay?

It's not just ebay, but when you list an item, you're also competing with the guys that also sell on Amazon, yahoo,ubid.com, auctionfirelist.com, buy.com, overstock.com ....there are so many sites...

I had the idea of selling something I dont own, then going out and buying the item once the bid was over.

I hear this is/was something amazon did.. they had connections to suppliers, then when they sold something, they'd just buy it from their suppliers and ship it, which cut down on inventory.

So for example, if I wanted to sell a 60'' widescreen TV, I could start the bids as low as I wanted sinse I dont even own the item and blow the f--k out of the competition. The only problem would be that the bids dont go high enough to cover the cost of buying the TV and shipping....

I've been thinking of a business (online site) that actually makes it fair for both buyers/ sellers...I have no idea how I'd do that though.

cm
 
Quote from cashmoney69:

It's not just ebay, but when you list an item, you're also competing with the guys that also sell on Amazon, yahoo,ubid.com, auctionfirelist.com, buy.com, overstock.com ....there are so many sites...

I had the idea of selling something I dont own, then going out and buying the item once the bid was over.

I hear this is/was something amazon did.. they had connections to suppliers, then when they sold something, they'd just buy it from their suppliers and ship it, which cut down on inventory.

So for example, if I wanted to sell a 60'' widescreen TV, I could start the bids as low as I wanted sinse I dont even own the item and blow the f--k out of the competition. The only problem would be that the bids dont go high enough to cover the cost of buying the TV and shipping....

I've been thinking of a business (online site) that actually makes it fair for both buyers/ sellers...I have no idea how I'd do that though.

cm
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That really only worked on items that had big enough rebates to be profitable, such as disk drives before they got cheap.
 
You're not the first person to think of "shorting" an item. PS3's were great this year. Sell it for 2,000 before the release, when release date comes, buy another one on ebay or craigslist for 1K, pocket the money. Lather rinse repeat.
 
Quote from thegazelle:

You're not the first person to think of "shorting" an item. PS3's were great this year. Sell it for 2,000 before the release, when release date comes, buy another one on ebay or craigslist for 1K, pocket the money. Lather rinse repeat.
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Actually I hadn't thought of it, shame on me, probably because its kind of scammy and I dont need the money that badly.

Thing is, how many are actually doing that, and do you realize that this practice also 'puffs up' the aftermarket price as they 'cover' the play.
 
Scammy? I think not. I've got 100% feedback and have been a power seller for a number of years. I follow through even if I lose money, which has rarely happend.

Its no different than someone shorting a stock, and no, buying PS3's after the release does not inflate the price. I'm just a drop in the bucket. No one wants the PS3 now anyways, and its an embarassment to Sony. Any level headed person who followed the PS3 launch could've seen this coming.
 
cash - as others have said, watch those auctions and see where the actual closing price is. Some sellers simply take the risk and start the auction at a penny and then see where it goes.

To put it in perspective - I sold two Nintendo Gamecubes on Ebay with a bunch of games, controllers and memory cards. In the end, I made about 300 bucks after fees, which was more than GameStop was offering. So I was happy. Two bidders ended up getting fully loaded systems for less than they would pay at GameStop.

I don't mind selling stuff around the house that is just sitting around collecting dust. I just view it as it's better to get something than nothing.

As for running a business on there, you just have to keep your profit margins in line to make it worth your time and effort. I really don't understand how some of the power sellers can make a good living selling stuff for 30%+ off retail prices. I've gotten some good buys on Ebay as well, but not sure how some of these people make a good living doing it. Maybe it's just a part-time gig for some and I wonder how many actually calculate their true net profit after fees, taxes, etc... I would guess that most sellers think they are making more in profit than they actually do.
 
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