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Can you make a profit on Ebay? - Page 2

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  1. #21
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    WOW alloy, that SUCKS....I NEVER ship something that valuable except via fedex or ups WITH signature confirmation. I know if international that is not always possible...I think UPS is the ONLY company that has that for international (and it is EXPENSIVE). I had a cell phone "lost" like that once...so my policy went to the one 2 day international shipping that gave signature...no one has taken me up on that due to the shipping costs LOL.

    Anyways, anything valuable, I only offer that sort of shipping and they MUST have signature confirmation...and the BUYER pays for that...period end of story. It is about the only thing you can do....because if I have sig confirmation, then I will go up the chain on Ebay if I had to...but I probably wouldn't with sig confirmation.

    I have heard all the horror stories...ALL items I send now have pictures taken of the entire shipping process in case someone what to act like a jackass....plus I either put a non noticeable mark (with a pic) in case some yahoo tries to send me back something that was broken in place of my item. Just stuff people need to do to protect themselves...and it shouldn't be that way. EBAY should be HAPPY we sell and fair for both sides.

    In fact, I had an asshat tonight "change his mind" on a purchase before I sent it...guess who is opening a non payment case on them tomorrow?? At least it will be a strike on the account (I already spoke with cust ser about it and they advised me to do go that route).

    PROFIT is made when you BUY/ACQUIRE NOT when you sell


  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by webuyselltradestuff View Post
    WOW alloy, that SUCKS....I NEVER ship something that valuable except via fedex or ups WITH signature confirmation. I know if international that is not always possible...I think UPS is the ONLY company that has that for international (and it is EXPENSIVE). I had a cell phone "lost" like that once...so my policy went to the one 2 day international shipping that gave signature...no one has taken me up on that due to the shipping costs LOL.

    Anyways, anything valuable, I only offer that sort of shipping and they MUST have signature confirmation...and the BUYER pays for that...period end of story. It is about the only thing you can do....because if I have sig confirmation, then I will go up the chain on Ebay if I had to...but I probably wouldn't with sig confirmation.

    I have heard all the horror stories...ALL items I send now have pictures taken of the entire shipping process in case someone what to act like a jackass....plus I either put a non noticeable mark (with a pic) in case some yahoo tries to send me back something that was broken in place of my item. Just stuff people need to do to protect themselves...and it shouldn't be that way. EBAY should be HAPPY we sell and fair for both sides.

    In fact, I had an asshat tonight "change his mind" on a purchase before I sent it...guess who is opening a non payment case on them tomorrow?? At least it will be a strike on the account (I already spoke with cust ser about it and they advised me to do go that route).
    I once sold a very expesive camera back that attached to a large format camera giving the photgrapgher digital capibilitys along with being tethered to a computer buyer replaced working items with junk then made a claim against me for an item not as described.

    I fail to see the benifits of leaving msyelf open to the mercy of others, I refuse to participate any longer in any situation in where I no longer have total control of my life. Whats the point of dealing with someone you can not trust and this mistrust that I have starts at the corporation head.

    I'm well aware of the reasons behind this corruption, the credit card vendors warned paypal that if chargebacks were to continue they would sever their services. This put the excecsutives at PP into a frenzy as 90 percent of the money passing through paypal was credit card money.

    Loosing the profit generated from all that credit card cash would have meant those executives would soon be collecting food stamps, easy way out was to create buyer protection and remove the sellers ability to leave negative feedback.

    Bottom line is the buyer can have the gold, I'll consider the loss as tuition, but be darned if I'm going to repeat this insanity over and over again.

    Siganature confirmation on foreighn sales I can agree with you on, bet this practice impacts a negative effect on your domestic sales.

    I've been a power seller three times keeping that status for months on end, tiring of the cheer leading propaganda declined a fourth invitation.

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  4. #23
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    A little late, but Happy Birthday Alloy!

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  6. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Repurposer View Post
    Years ago pretty much anything that was listed sold on Ebay and people knew they had to include shipping in their costs. Now with the saturation of just about everything being sold on the site and those who ship for free how can there be a profit in this especially if the item sold for only 2 bucks. Out of that comes a listing fee and commission for Ebay.
    I appologise for high jacking your thread, to answer your question I'm not sure how you would go about making a profit selling on ebay, especially since you would have to compete with the Chinese who almost exclusivly offer free shipping.

    I recently purchased a rotary drum switch, which is used to reverse the direction of an electric motor, the switch sold for $15.00 with free shipping. A four pound package shipped from China free, that same package would have sost me $20.00 or more just to ship it from Canada to the USA go figure that one out.

    Not more than a decade ago people from the US purchased truck loads of junk from China sold at cost, the profit was made from the change left over on the shipping charges the trick was to sell in voloume.

    If you can find a vendor willing to drop ship, you stand a chance of making a profit problem is finding a reliable shipper who ships on time remeber your reputation is at stake not theirs.

    I"ll lay out a plan that I had mapped out, found what I beleive was a reliable shipper located in China who sold induction furnaces and cnc stuff, my contact spoke perfect english and had a good grasp on brokerage. I contacted a local broker in my own coutry, the plan was to have all this paper work prepaid and made out before shipping to the customer which would have been direct to the customer no duty required on the buyers end as this would have already been looked after with my borker.

    On paper it was a beautiful plan, went so far as to get my import / export number along with my tax number, then decided to abandon the project. My decision was not based on distrust of my Chinese contact but rather that of paypal. I knew that if I were to proceed with this business venture it would soon fail with the first chargeback.

    I'm well aware of the opertunitys out there and wish anyone taking advanatge of them the best of luck.

    As for me I want to see the whites of my customers eyes and cash.
    Last edited by alloy2; 10-06-2016 at 12:14 AM.

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    Actually your own worst enemy alloy. I been selling on ebay for years and know all the "tricks" err scammers. Your fatal mistake is this, you didnt send with signature confirmation. Anything over 250 usd requires signature confirmation. You chose to save the 3 bucks added cost and lost 800 cash. Any scammer knows paypal will side with them without this. In fact a good rule of thumb is anything over 100 good with signature confirmation in my opinion. It says right in Paypal and ebay TOS you need this ftw.

    I actualy have had **** refused and sent back because of refusing to sign. Fine by me...weeds out the scammers.

    Also it will say right in paypal or ebay if your protected or not. If not, then don't bother to send it. Ebay will remove neg feedback for refusing to ship if the address doesnt fall under seller protection.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ozzy214 View Post
    Actually your own worst enemy alloy. I been selling on ebay for years and know all the "tricks" err scammers. Your fatal mistake is this, you didnt send with signature confirmation. Anything over 250 usd requires signature confirmation. You chose to save the 3 bucks added cost and lost 800 cash. Any scammer knows paypal will side with them without this. In fact a good rule of thumb is anything over 100 good with signature confirmation in my opinion. It says right in Paypal and ebay TOS you need this ftw.

    I actualy have had **** refused and sent back because of refusing to sign. Fine by me...weeds out the scammers.

    Also it will say right in paypal or ebay if your protected or not. If not, then don't bother to send it. Ebay will remove neg feedback for refusing to ship if the address doesnt fall under seller protection.
    I suppose you consider yourself a rising star.

  9. #27
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    um no...but im successful.. Im down to only once or twice a year i get burned...new tricks. Primary income is ebay. I really dont have any issues since i follow their rules.

    If u had sig confirmation and they signed for it as well as transaction marked seller protected, you would have not lost the money.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ozzy214 View Post
    um no...but im successful.. Im down to only once or twice a year i get burned...new tricks. Primary income is ebay. I really dont have any issues since i follow their rules.

    If u had sig confirmation and they signed for it as well as transaction marked seller protected, you would have not lost the money.
    If I had to depend on ebay for my primary income I would be condemed to a liftime diet of spam and KD.

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  12. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by alloy2 View Post
    If I had to depend on ebay for my primary income I would be condemed to a liftime diet of spam and KD.
    HAHAHAHA....gotta love spam..well maybe not..

  13. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by alloy2 View Post
    If I had to depend on ebay for my primary income I would be condemed to a liftime diet of spam and KD.
    kd????

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    Quote Originally Posted by hobo finds View Post
    kd????

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  16. #32
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    um last year i did 50k between scrap and ebay.....this year...about 18k not including scrap...not pushing as hard as usual....i have tons of crap to sell..i just dnt have ambition...too much pain from my accident

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    I will tell you this
    I was recently at a Get Motivated Seminar listening to various speakers.
    I had met one of the speakers that makes 200-400 K a month on Ebay.
    Using Amazon Prime
    They simply use the Amazon prime system for resell items.
    Amazon prime handles the shipping, and returns.

    I use Ebay to sell items that I get if I'm out treasure hunting.
    For instance I found a nice pair of JNCO jeans for 1.00 at a thrift store.
    These jeans sold for several more dollars than what I paid
    I am by trade a Mechanical Engineer, but I plan on optimizing my opportunity with Ebay
    I've been to 3rd world countries before talking to street kids wearing **** rags and begging for leftover rice
    America is the land or Milk and Honey and their service is one that everyone should use.
    Ebay is a gold mine if your willing to hunt and play the game.

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  19. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by t00nces2 View Post
    No, I do not seem to be able to make a profit on ebay. Every time I list a product and it sells, it seems to go for exactly what it is worth. There is no gain whatsoever. Just once it would be nice to actually get paid more than what the item is worth. It seems to be an exactly equal exchange of goods and value.
    I'm tickled to death to get exactly what an item is worth. However, I rarely pay more than 10% of what it's worth. No matter what "it" is. For instance, in July of 2016 I went to an auction of a local business that had closed. There was 300 registered bidders present. I spent $296. I bought everything from a Toshiba phone system to mannequins. Filled up my truck twice and my 16' trailer once. Did I know what the wide variety of items was worth? Heck no, I just put a minimum value on any given item and base my buying price on that. Then I go home and do the research. In the following three months I received (sold on eBay) $3k for items from that auction. And I'm still selling items from that auction to this day. That sale was in the public domain. I didn't know anyone in particular or have any other advantage. I just went to work looking. They are out there! It's not easy but it sure is satisfying! In summary, if you only buy and/or sell what you know, you'll never know anything new! Wow, I love that summary. Dem dare words is some goodins!

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  21. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by t00nces2 View Post
    No, I do not seem to be able to make a profit on ebay. Every time I list a product and it sells, it seems to go for exactly what it is worth. There is no gain whatsoever. Just once it would be nice to actually get paid more than what the item is worth. It seems to be an exactly equal exchange of goods and value.
    Okay, i just got around to reading this thread as I am an active eBayer. I dont mean to sound offensive to t00nces2, but I got quite a chuckle from your response. Of course the item goes for "what its worth", as it should in a free enterprise system. The trick is for you to obtain it for less than market value and sell at market. The profit is solely on your ability to get a good deal. I always research the value of something before I buy it for resale. Maybe your post was a bit of sarcasm. Either way I got a laugh...thanks!

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  23. #36
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    A quote I've held in high regard for many years that was passed to me by a man I respect.

    "Profit begins when you buy not when you sell"
    "Profit begins when you buy NOT when you sell." {quote passed down to me from a wise man}

    Now go beat the copper out of something, Miked

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  25. #37
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    You need to make about $100 gross profit per day ( depending on were you live ) ....
    I personally lost money last year mainly due to the gas I wasted driving all over PA !

  26. #38
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    Here is a recent auction I made a profit on TOM AND JERRY SPIKE BULLDOG THREE MUSKETEERS DOG PLUSH STUFFED ANIMAL TOY | eBay, goes to show you never know what is going to sell.

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  28. #39
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    So I was searching scrap on ebay and came across this auction.10g grams Gold Cpu Processor Pins Scrap Refining lot Amd Intel Recovery computer | eBay
    Now is my calculations are correct he should be making profit one each sale $5.01 give or take the listing fee. So just on gold pins alone he would make about $11,900 for 52.38 lbs. Please check my math. I think he is making $224.52 per pound.
    And now my head hurts...

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  30. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by CapitalRecovery View Post
    So I was searching scrap on ebay and came across this auction.10g grams Gold Cpu Processor Pins Scrap Refining lot Amd Intel Recovery computer | eBay
    Now is my calculations are correct he should be making profit one each sale $5.01 give or take the listing fee. So just on gold pins alone he would make about $11,900 for 52.38 lbs. Please check my math. I think he is making $224.52 per pound.
    And now my head hurts...
    1 killo = 1000 grams / by 10 = 100 x $6.99 = $699.00

    I think there's something like 550 grams to a pound so your answer should have been $349.50

    He's charging $8.99 USPS First Class Mail International / First Class Package International Service to ship 10 grams, which works out to 100 x $8.99 = $899.00 if he was lucky enough to have every sale go out of the US of A.


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