The Ebay Entrepreneur

To Sell or Sit… That Is The Question

by Tristen OBrien on November 7, 2012

When selling on eBay, my normal motto is to “Flip an item as fast as possible”, but in some cases, it may pay off to be patient. You may have an item that is really easy to find right now, but it could be seasonal. When the supply dries out, the profit probably will go up, right? That’s not true in all cases, but if you do your research you could walk away with much more money!

Lets take a look at a recent purchase I made. Not to long ago, I was walking through a store with my wife, and I found a huge lot of FrankenBerry cereal on clearance for $1. This typically is a Halloween item, but since the holiday was over, the store seemed to think that the demand would go down. I pulled out my handy smartphone, and checked the completed listings on eBay. I really wasn’t that thrilled with the results, and I kept on walking. That’s when it hit me, since they are on clearance they will be gone soon and people may still want them. Instead of listening to my instinct, I pulled up one of my new favorite apps, Terapeak. I was able to see that I was right; a few months after Halloween, each box spiked to between $5.50 – $9 a box. So, against my wife’s wishes, I bought all 120 boxes for $1 each. (If you are a Member, check out the Top Find of the Day to see where I bought them).

It’s not like these are selling like crazy on eBay, so I had to develop a strategy to sell these before August 2013 (thats when they expire). So here is what I found:

They are selling better in the United Kingdom then in the United States, so I decided to add UK visibility for $.50 to my listing.
The current average sell price right now is $5.99 with $16.50 shipping to the UK, so I decided to sell them now for that amount. According to USPS, it will only cost $12.50 to ship the box there, so that will leave me a profit of $5.37 per box.
According to Terapeak, this number will grow throughout the year, so even if I only make $5.37 per box, I would have made a $644 profit on FrankenBerry cereal.
I am using more sources than ebay to sell this product.
If all else fails, I have a lot of FrankenBerry to eat.

Thanks to TeraPeak, in this case I have the knowledge that my product will probably sell for more in a few months, but since I have so many boxes, I think I am going to sell now and hopefully sell out throughout the rest of the year. If you have never used TeraPeak before, I suggest you at least check it out. Right now it has a free 7 day trial, and it has made a difference in how I make money on eBay. You can check it out here: http://www.terapeak.com.

Have you ever had an item that you sat on for awhile to make more money later on? If so, what was it and was it worth it?

{ 5 comments }

My Top 3 Toys to Resell This Holiday Season

by Tristen OBrien on November 5, 2012

With the Holiday Season already sneaking up on us, I thought I would go through my Top 3 Toys to resell. These are toys that I am predicting to be hot and in high demand, and as we all know, people will pay almost anything for the top toy of the year. To get to my predictions, I have done extensive research. Countless minutes sitting on the couch with my toddler son; just looking at one toy magazine after another. My son seems to think that everyone is going to want a Lightning McQueen Race Car, but since it’s not 2009, I decided to do my own research and pick my own top three toys that are a little more relevant. Let’s dive right in:

Disney Doc McStuffins Time For Your Check Up Doll – Doc McStuffins seems to be one of Disney’s new hit shows, and now everyone is going to want this Check Up Doll. If you have never seen the TV show before, its about a young girl who acts as a doctor to stuffed animals, hence the name “Doc McStuffins”. This doll is already hard to find, and is selling great on eBay as we speak! This doll is retailing for $29.99 at Toys R Us HERE, but is already selling on eBay for $60. I signed up to be notified when they are back in stock online, but you can also check to see if they are available in your area.
Wii U - The Wii U is a compact and portable version of the Nintendo Wii that we know today. It is sure to be a hot item for the Holidays, and is already gaining a lot of hype on eBay. They are scheduled to be released on November 18th for $349, but they are already selling on eBay for $505! Not a bad profit, and my guess is that they will continue to grow in value. Just like any other major gaming device that is released during the Holidays, this will be hard to find. So keep your eyes open and buy one if you can
1D Singing Doll - Mention One Direction to any young girl and they will scream with excitement. According to my young niece, this boy band is the hot group of the year. They do have several hits right now, and looking at eBay, these dolls are already selling! You can get them in many locations, but Toys R Us has a 20% off deal plus free shipping if you spend $125. These dolls typically sell retail for $30, but one seller on eBay is selling them in a group of five for $250. They are still in stock now, but I predict that they will be gone the day after Thanksgiving.

That is my prediction for the top three toys that will be hot this Holiday Season. Do you know of a Hot toy that you think will sell this Holiday? If so, let us know in the comment section below!

Side Note: There will be two videos this month on “100 ways to make $1,000″. One on November 17th and the other on November 27th.

{ 4 comments }

Global Shipping Program

by Tristen OBrien on November 2, 2012

Do you ship worldwide? If you do, thats great, but you are among the minority. Most eBay sellers are intimidated by shipping worldwide, and that is totally understandable. You need to know about customs forms, what you can or can not sell to a country, taxes, and that’s not to mention that it’s almost impossible to track a package! There is no denying that offering your product to the whole world opens up millions of more customers. Matter of fact, most of my sales are sent out internationally. Well fear no more, eBay has started a neat program that takes all of the uneasiness out of the equation. The program is called, “Global Shipping Program”, and in a nut shell, it allows you to offer Worldwide shipping with out the headache of knowing all the international rules. Here is how it works.

When you opt in to the Global Shipping Program, your listings will show that you are willing to ship internationally. The buyer will see an estimated cost for shipping to them along with the import charge. Once they buy the item and pay, all you have to do is ship your item to an eBay shipping center here in the USA, and eBay will manage the rest. They will make sure that the customs form is fill out correctly, and that all fee’s have been paid. Here’s the best part, eBay provides tracking so we can make sure that the item arrived safely. Also, if the package is lost during the shipment, it doesn’t fall on us eBay sellers.

Does this sound to good to be true? Well, maybe it is. The program limits the countries you can ship to, and they restrict a bunch of categories. To view the list of restricted countries and categories click HERE.

So do you want to opt in? Here are the instructions:

Click My eBay at the top of most eBay pages. You may need to sign in.

Place your pointer over the Account tab, and then click Site Preferences.

Click the Show link to the right of the Shipping Preferencessection.

Click the first Edit link in the Offer the Global Shipping Program section.

Click the Join now button.

Review the terms and conditions, and then click the Close button.

Click the List an item button.

Lastly, eBay has put together an easy step by step process that will show you how to list an item with using the Global Shipping Program:

“ On the Create your listing page, enter details about the item you’re selling.

If you know the where the item was manufactured, select a country from the Country of manufacture drop-down menu. Providing this information helps us accurately estimate any import charges and speeds up customs clearance.

Scroll to the International shipping section, and then select theGlobal Shipping Program check box.Note: If you’re unable to select the Global Shipping Program check box, the listing category is not supported by the Global Shipping Program.

If you want to provide other shipping options to international buyers, specify additional shipping options in the Additional international shipping options section. You can specify up to 4 additional international shipping options.

Note: If you accept returns and your return policy specifies that the cost of return shipping will be paid by the seller, you’ll be responsible for all costs associated with shipping the item back to you.

Complete your listing, and then click the List your item button.”

So what do you think? Does this easy your international shipping worries? Or if you are already an international shipper, will this help you? Let us know in the comment section below.

For more tips and tricks, check out the Mentor Program HERE

*Update: This is currently a piolt program, and will be rolled out to everyone shortly

{ 8 comments }