E-Mail 'Making A Living As A Reseller- Part 4, by BIF' To A Friend

6 Comments

1. There have been a couple of comments around how much time I spent finding items and selling them, as well as drive time and storage space.

   All told, I probably spent less than 10 hours over two months to gather, research and sell these items. Total mileage was around 25 miles, as several of the places I stopped were along my route to the grocery store or something else.

   As to space needed, not sure how to answer that, other than I had a corner in my shop for most of it, and shelves beside my desk for the rest of it.

   These questions are more important for someone doing this for a living, less so for someone like me who does this as a hobby.

2. Excellent series didnt know that kind of money was out there to be made. To me a few hours and storage space doesnt mean much as a farmer I’ve worked on smaller profits with larger layouts of income for it. Great job.

3. Quick profits may be important to some, there are other advantages in buying and selling things you know and like. I know of collections worth hundreds of thousand of dollars, that cost the owners nothing more than hours of fun and a bit of haggling.

   I happen to enjoy antique tools and mechanical stuff! Looking for it is not work and buying and selling is pure fun.

   It is healthy to stay interested and engaged in something more than just keeping your head above water! It can also make you wealthy.

4. I sell on eBay for a living and I enjoyed your article. I started selling while I had a full time job and now it is my full time job.

   My advice to anyone thinking of starting an eBay business is to shop on eBay first; experience it as a customer so you know how PayPal works and what a good buying experience feels like. Then you can try to offer a similar positive buying experience to your customers. Start selling a few inexpensive items you already have laying around, like clothes the kids have outgrown, so there is no pressure to make money. Use these trial sales to learn the ropes. This will teach you how to list, how to ship, how to communicate with buyers, and you will also learn what it costs to sell and ship an item, as well as some of the frustrations inherent in dealing with occasional buyer who is never satisfied. When you have some experience, you can make an informed decision as to whether you think selling on eBay is fun and worth your while or a hassle you would rather not deal with. (Believe me, it’s not for everyone.) If you decide to proceed, then you can start listing more items and build your business one step at a time.

   Whether you sell on eBay simply to clean out your attic, to make a few extra few dollars, as a hobby, or to build a business that can support you, it can be rewarding and fun.

5. As a potentially interesting side note – I have spent the last 20 years as a freight broker and a couple of my customers are e-bay / craigslist sellers that need to ship items that are too heavy or bulky for UPS or the postal service. So they go through me to get discounted rates and to guide them through the ins and outs of the “common carrier” and “owner operator” rules and regulations (to basically keep them out of trouble that could otherwise be expensive). There are many people like me doing business out there but we are not easy to find because most of us don’t advertise. If you need to find one you can always google “freight broker”. Call a few and compare prices and service levels because pricing is not a set thing – like UPS or the post office. So an unscrupulous broker can charge whatever he feels you will pay. Also, make sure they are backed by a large company because there are some shady scammers out there. Buyer beware on these last two points. Also important to mention is that on used items carrier liability may be reduced in the event of loss or damage. Find out ahead of time what those liability amounts are – they differ by commodity and by carrier. I hope this might help someone.

6. As a stay at home dad, I’m a full time reseller, mostly on ebay. There was nothing I could find fault with in this series of articles, and that’s saying a lot!

   For anyone saying, “it’s too much work for too little money” or “you’re not counting your time as anything, or the space it takes up” or whatever, I can only ask one question and make one comment.

   Would you leave a $20 bill on the sidewalk if you walked past it?

   There are always reasons NOT to do something.

   If you don’t want to spend any time developing a business or paying hobby, to generate an income stream that doesn’t depend on you going in to work for someone else then fine. DON’T. It doesn’t mean that other people shouldn’t. I don’t know of any job outside of government work that requires no effort and guarantees income.

   Reselling is a great way to make money, pay for a hobby, or cover the cost of preps. Sourcing the stuff exposes you to great items for your home and prepping.

   I’ve saved literal thousands on items for my family and for prepping. I’ve made thousands selling stuff online and on craigslist. I make great part time income for part time work. I treat it as a JOB. It’s one I enjoy, but it does take work. Track your expenses. Declare your income. Keep good records. Start small, and with stuff you know. You will soon learn to recognize when an item is worth money, even if you don’t know what it is. Use ebay’s search, always looking at SOLD items to determine what things should sell for.

   Unless you have special knowledge, stay out of “commodity” items where you have lots of competition.

   It helps tremendously if you can fix, clean, or otherwise repair minor things wrong with items. There is almost ALWAYS something wrong, but don’t let that stop you. Often it just needs cleaning, or a power supply, or a simple fix. And you can always sell it “AS IS – For parts or repair.”

   There are hundreds of youtube channels put together by resellers. LEARN FROM THEM. Do you want to grind away making $3 to $5 on clothing? Or are you a collector with higher value items to sell? there are people doing both.

   One last piece of advice- stay away from buying in bulk, like at BULQ or Liquidation.com. That is a crowded space, and takes a bigger investment of time, space, and money.

   By starting small, and working up, you can develop options in your life, and live better on less. What could be better?

   n

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