We have a second channel that will cover making money from arts and crafts for those interested. There will be a lot of How To videos as well. Here’s a link: th-cam.com/channels/aViiCbXUWhekTbp8ttqUuw.html You can also check out one of our latest videos here: th-cam.com/video/xkAX3RjI254/w-d-xo.html We are now on Instagram as well: instagram.com/theauctionprofessor/ If you wish to help support our channel our Patreon page can be found here: www.patreon.com/TheAuctionProfessor If you'd like to see the equipment, shipping supplies, and reference material we personally use you can find it all right here: www.amazon.com/shop/theauctionprofessor
Hey man need your advice. I listed a 250gb xbox360 slim bundle with a bunch of controllers and 25 games for $249.99. Someone just offered me $249.99. I called eBay and the customer service rep said to accept the offer, but take videos and photos of the item proving it’s functional. So even if they open a claim against me, eBay would side with the seller. What are your thoughts? Should I accept it?
I appreciate your time, I realize the value in your information. You have just gained a student.. I think shoes, games and vintage games are my niche. Thanks to you I'm understanding the value in a high quality book$ Where would you recommend treasure hunting at for high value, vintage, or anything of high value in these three categories?
I watch other channels but none of them gives as much specific info as you do. When I watch your channel I grab my pen and notebook to take notes. Thank you Don
It’s funny how each of us do this business. There really are many paths to the top of the mountain. I can carry around 200 items when I’m on travel with my “real” job. When I get home I bounce that up to 350-400 items. When I get the call to run, I take down everything I can not carry. Even with the challenges, I make a good profit. But it does take focus. And sourcing on the road is a blast.
Every time I think I’ve learned most of what I need to know about online selling on EBay, I learn something else that’s just as important. I have a store on EBay and still have over 500 listings I can add so that’s wasted space. I’m going to start working on listing new items until I’ve reached the maximum. Thank you for opening my eyes on how important quantity can be.
This guy knows what he is talking about. The Auction Professor is well titled. I just stumbled on his videos. Deep specific industry knowledge. Its a GOLDEN nugget of information. Plain video, content is excellent, learning from his trial and errors over time. AWESOME!!!
"Never stop learning." I say "If you're not learning, you're dead." I am a part-time seller for 18 months. You've been a great resource, but I am still figuring out sourcing. Right now everything I source is free. I also keep tabs on the eBay algorithm and at 75-80 items listed my sales went bonkers; selling 3+ items a day.
@@johnnyhotrod2608 Some ebay sellers have listed items from 500 to 2000 products they have multiple sales making between $2000-4000 a week but the items they sell consist of furniture, beds, wardrobes, dining tables, fridges and so on.
We Have a similar business model To You and Your Family Don ,We have 52'000 items listed and items sell every day , We do refresh listings every 6 months or so ,we price high and send offers out to watchers A large Proportion sell Instantly , My Son and i work together He lists at his house and we send items live in a big lump every 3 weeks or so ,I on the other hand do dispatch and list when not packing , Only today 1100 items dropped in and around 35 have sold in the first 6 hours ,The rest can tick away just like all the other items . Its a good model but as you say its not for everyone .
The BIGGEST single thing that you have to be, with a high volume model, is be tolerant of inventory. If you don't have a solid inventory system in place, and/or struggle with clutter, you'll never pull it off...the people with the best organizational skills usually do well; the rest usually get frustrated, fall to the wayside and give up.
i'm a one man operation with ebay , i have a huge amount of items that i can get money out of and can take my time with . i've been at ebay ,market place, & craigslist to sell my items for a few yrs. just trying to keep track of my listings & organized is the real work for me . i'd love to make it into something , yet making money to have others help me is a whole other venture . i appreciate the knowledge you pass on in your videos & advise given also !
Thanks for always sharing your valuable info. I’ve been an eBay seller for quite awhile, however always get things out of your vlogs. My problem always is I set goals and meet them eventually but as a one person operation I can’t list as much as I’d like. I have lots and lots of items which has kept me going during the pandemic and can keep me going for along time. My issue is always trying to list more than what I sell, there are times that my sales keep me busy in a day and can’t list the quantity that I’ve sold in the day or more. Eventually need to bring another person in to help. Thanks again for all your info.
Hi Don, one of your better videos, it really was a good reevaluation for me of my own history with eBay in the slow and fast times with sales. My first eight years on eBay I was simply a buyer, a collector of several categories. As I became a seller I first I tried doing consignment of my things at the eBay stores that people had an actual store fronts in major cities of the country. I got kind of discouraged from that because the sellers told me if an object Couldn’t sell for at least $50 it was not worth their time with all of the photography description and work it would take to list it. Doing my own sales I soon learned that it’s just too much work to try selling six dollar books even if you’re selling fairly large quantity of it it takes work. These days most items have to be at least $28 sale price for me to bother with all the work it takes to list them. Regardless of the category, eventually I have placed my eBay items that I plan to list, I’ve placed them in Binz by price range. This way I start with the ones that are the highest value to list next. I’m not going to waste my time listing a bunch of $12 vintage record albums when I have a whole box of record albums that are in the $40-$300 range. What I’m noticing is that I end up with about half of my inventory being lower price things that are really not worth the time to list on eBay, yet they are too good to just sell in a swap meet or garage sale. With semi rare books, records, CDs, and DVDs, I find That I can trade them at a few stores. Typically a nice large coffee table book that I buy for one dollar, I might only be able to sell for five dollars at a yard sale. On eBay it might only be worth $12 because the market is flooded with low priced additions of that particular book, no matter that it was $100 coffee table book originally. So a solution that’s working good for me is to take a coffee table book like that and take it to a really good large used bookstore. They will look at the book and say “I will give you four dollars cash or $18 trade credit“. Of course I take the trade credit, so after they go through three boxes of books I might have $200 trade credit for the books they decide they can resell. It’s a win-win, they get more inventory and I end up with $200 trade credit. I take that trade credit and I looked through many categories of books on their shelves and I always seem to find a rare book that their staff has overlooked. Things like that happen, the person pricing books one day might not know about rare Automotive books or rare books that are indeed early first editition though they may not be marked in that way. So they have put a book on the shelf for $12 which I use $12 trade credit to get it and then I can sell that book for $75 on eBay. I know it sounds like a complicated process but it’s a way of turning a bunch of Low value books into a handful of high value books. Sorry for the wordy comments, I guess that’s why some people make TH-cam videos so that they can express all of this in video form rather than written form. I don’t have the time or desire to become a TH-camr but I sure do appreciate TH-cam producers like you, who share their knowledge and vast talents and skills at. Bravo Don! Keep going
I like how your very clear in your video and giving out multipule ways of how or if u can make money on ebay, im still learning alot. Im working up to selling on ebay and taking my time. Thanks for the insight 😄 You gave me advice that i did concider but wasnt sure about, like when you said dont limit yourself to just one catagory of selling.
That's one of the great things when you have a store if you use the store categories you can link to the store category that this item is in and it will show the user everything in that category. So I might say that "I have lots of listings in toys" and link my toy master category to the word toy, and then say "if you're looking for more Imaginext action figures like this one, please visit that part of my store" and have the word Imaginext and that part of my store both linked to my "Imaginext, galactic hero, and other rsmall figures" store subcategory.
You are so right about quantity & better quality and worthy products and doing research is always key to better selling, I always say know your product and niche and know what sells seasonal, your so Amazing brother!! Its very kind of you to share your knowledge and wisdom with people bless you Tenfold Don 🙏✌ your pure Rock N Roll man!! 😎🙀📸💰🕯🎸🎶
I found out the hard way that if I leave stuff that I have confidence (real or imagined) that will eventually sell when the market is right with the right customer coming along, ebay will make those listings "disappear" without warning if they are up too long in their eyes.
If AP says "expenses don't matter" one more time, I'm guessing he's running for public office, lol. Thanks for the tips, appreciate your time and insight!
Thank you for exploring all of those options for us! It is fun to discover new niches that not everyone else cares about :) Liked and shared, thank you for all you do 😊
Its a great video for someone in the US to make money on Ebay. Unfortunately not so easy in Canada with the fees plus the Extremely high shipping rates. Good info though!
I have about 1700 listings in my store . I sell about 1 to 3 things a day , by the end of the week I'll have about 12 packages or more to go out totaling anywhere from $200.00 to $400.00 ish. It's just my "part time job" now . But I am looking at it as my "retirement" (I have no pension or big stocks , 401 K; like "normal" people do) . LOL (?) 🤨🙄😮💨🤥😔😵😵💫😴😌😔
New subscriber here. Thank you so much for your Expertise. Get This one. I had a few adult oriented books for sale and they of course took them down and suspended me for three days. I thought this was ok to list because I seen several books much more revealing than the one i was selling sell all the time. But my mistake no problem lesson learned, I call ebay and ask them what category should I list these in they said the only place I can list these are in the everything else category ( which no see's because you have to verify your age before seeing the item ) but anyway I say ok, so I list my books in the appropriate category where a book sells and I try to send it Media mail which by there standards was a book. I try to print out the media mail shipping label and as you said It wouldn't let me choose media mail. I call ebay and they said you can't ship anything you list in the (everything else category) using media mail, I replied you just told me I have to list these in this category, WOW !!! Same result after talking to 3 different people they wanted to refund me the difference. So yes I shipped it using Paypal, but I am not on managed payments as of yet so that option will go away by Jan 1st. Now what. So Frustrating trying to make money FOR Ebay.
Thank you, thank you for all your tips and that you share your knowledge. I currently devote approx 20-25 hours a week. I have a full time job and planning on retiring within 1.5 years. I'm mulling over whether to take the plunge and retire at the end of this year -- if not sooner. I am a "one-woman show" and put in as much time and care as I can in my Ebay biz. Thanks for this video....much for me to mull over. Have a great day!
Don your a portal of information but more important you appear to be genuine and its hard to not be motivated recieving from you. 🙂 . I have some studio tv tapes of commercials and pilots on all types of size tapes. I was hoping you could provide some advice or assistance. Thanks for being you big bro. Jonny NYC
I've heard varying recommendation on descriptions. Some people say to write the description like you do, but then other people say that descriptions don't matter and people don't read them and that photos are the only thing that matters.
I would love to hire out help, but I feel like I can't trust anybody to do things accurately. I sell in a specific vintage clothing niche and I literally have thousands of pieces waiting to be processed and entered. My husband does the photography but I do everything else. I don't know what to do next to be able to list more items.
Hi again Don, I was wondering if you ever did a video about consigning eBay things. Years ago I was working on a TV production job outside of the US for six weeks. I thought about consigning my eBay things to another seller, but instead I had a friend do my shipping for me. What a disaster. Some people do not understand the importance of shipping an item quickly and very well packaged. They think it’s a casual thing but it’s not. I’m going to work in another country for the next five or six months and I am either going to shut down my eBay sales completely or figure out someone who can attend to my eBay shipping needs promptly for a commission on sales. Sounds like an easy concept but it is not when you try to practice it. I certainly don’t plan on shipping eBay items from another country to my buyers in the US. I know some people have a great luck with international shipping, I have zero interest in that, since it’s simply not a good return on the investment of time and energy I put into things. So I’m curious if you’ve addressed that in your videos, the idea of consigning eBay items to other sellers, or how to best Pine someone who will do responsible shipping for an absentee eBay seller.
Can you explain how it is that you "pay almost nothing for pretty much every single thing " that you sell? I would really like to hear more about that. Thank you!
Reading Carl Boor's answer....that is cool. And it took a few years ...of hard work...for The Auction Professor to make those kinds of contacts. I often wonder about offering my clean up services...after an auction...or yard sale, etc. ...but it's just my husband and me and we already have 2 full storages...more than we can handle on our own. I can just imagine if people were calling us with too many good deals :) For my husband and I...we have some good contacts with auctioneers. They know what we look for and will call us when they have those things coming up in an auction. They like when we show up because we drive the bids up on things that would go for next to nothing if we weren't there to bid against someone. I don't "up bid" just to drive prices up...I bid what I am willing to pay and stop when I hit my maximum price. In my opinion, auctions are better than driving around and hand picking at Thrift shops. I can get a whole box of items for $1- $5. If I hand picked those items out of that box at a Thrift shop... that same box would cost me $50 plus to buy. I look EVERYTHING up...after 20 years doing this, I am still amazed at the prices some things fetch. And you want to really give a good look in each box. I recently bought a box of "office supplies" at an auction...things we will use for packing and shipping...mostly sharpie markers and paper...and in the bottom of that box (which I didn't see until after I bought it and was putting stuff away) was a 1940's vintage box of pencils I sold for over $700...I paid $1 for that box...and got a ton of things we can use in the office... that $700+ box of vintage pencils was a super happy surprise :) So to pay $1 for a box of stuff...and get $50 worth of things I keep and use....and a few things I can sell ...I usually make about $100 to $200 off the thigs I sell out of that box.... that is close to FREE in my opinion. We are also usually the last people to leave the auction because it takes us so long to get everything loaded up. So....we walk around and pick through the things that other buyers left behind....anything we take is FREE. (We do ask and make sure it's ok...and try to make sure someone didn't leave it with the intent on coming back for it) The auctioneer and the family are glad we take it...saves them from more clean up and dumpster space after the auction. We have made thousands of dollars on all that FREE stuff :) People will post ads on Face Book to come take their left over yard sale things for free. Many cities have bulk trash pick up days where people set out perfectly good furniture and such...in my town... that's as popular amongst us locals as city wide yard sale day...lots of people driving around taking stuff off the curb :) ...for FREE :) We flip the furniture on Facebook Marketplace.
That would depend on what your selling surely ? If your selling Classic cars , high end watches or vintage motorbikes my guess is you wouldn't need many listings to make a living
Hi Don, love your videos. Do you know offhand if ebay allows the sale of vintage playboy magazines? I know they have been craking down on adult items but have some here I'd like to sell
My opinion...after I research it, If I see that it consistently sells for $XX amount of money....or...if I see there are 10 or more other current listings of the same item....I put it in a buy it now for close to the top dollar. People who play the race to the bottom game ruin it for all of us....meaning.... one seller has it for $20...so the next seller lists it for $18 so they can be "the cheapest" ...then the next seller lists it for $16 so they can be "the cheapest"...and so on and so on until that $20 item is now only bringing $10 or less...that hurts us all. If...an item doesn't come up often...or has 10 or less in current ..and completed listings...I look at the prices others have sold for...and current listing prices...and start that item off in auction at the lowest I would want to sell it for...in case only one person bids...so...if completed shows they sell for $15-$25...I start it at $18 to $22.......I list on Sundays for 7 days...or Tuesdays for 5 days...so that the item ends on a Sunday...and I start the auction at 7 pm CST...in the evening....so that people will be home on Sunday night to bid. If I can't find the item in completed or current listings...or...if there is only 1-10 of that item showing up...I do a 10 day auction...start it on Thursday ...so it ends on a Sunday night. I had a vintage license plate one time...had several of them. Most of the ones I was finding sold for $10...so I was putting them in buy it nows for $10...but this one...I couldn't find it anywhere...on Ebay or google search. I ALMOST put it in a buy it now for $10...it was rusty crusty beat up...but....I put it in auction and started it off for $10...turns out it was a super rare license plate and it ended up selling for about $175 :) That was so much fun to see it get bid up like that :) I commented up above on someone else's comment...I found a vintage box of pencils...I looked it up...didn't find that EXACT one...but found ones some what close...that sold for $700...so I listed my box of pencils in a buy it now for $700+...it had over 50 views in 2 hours....and...sold with in 2 hours...and I had 3 people message me afterwards about it. I really think if I had put that in auction and started it at $700...it would have gotten bid up to $1200 or more.... that would have been an extra $500+ !!!!...so even after 20 years of doing this.....I make costly mistakes :( :) 10 day auctions cost extra in listing fees to list..alot extra...and in my opinion...buyers get bored trying to watch an auction that long....you get more viewers during the last 2-3 days...and only start getting bids in the last 2-3 days...so in my opinion 10 days is too long. I rarely use a 10 day auction...only for rare items. I have also noticed that a lot of buyers would prefer a buy it now...and are willing to pay a few extra dollars...to buy it now...versus waiting 5--7--10...days..for an auction to end. If there are 10 or more in current....price it close to top dollar and just do a buy it now. I have 100% feedback...(the few negatives I have received...1-2 a year..fall of after a year) I worked hard for it...BUT I DO NOT cave in to scammers...or Ebay's B.S. hoops they expect you to jump through. I am not scared to get a negative.. in fact...I reply to negatives ...with my version of the story and...I feel that let's other scammers know...don't mess with me because I'm not an easy target !! :) I rarely get a return request or scammer. Ebay is not going to fight for you...you have to know how to fight for yourself. I win 9 out of 10 cases filed. It's a pain...and sometimes costs me money to fight it...but it's the principle that matters to me...if I'm wrong...I'll admit it...if I'm not...I'll fight it. I have had less than 10 negative out of over 6,000 feedback in 20 years...If I am at fault...I go above and beyond to fix the problem...if it is a scammer...I go above and beyond to make sure they don't win and get something for free.. because that helps all of us sellers...we have to fight the scammers to keep things from getting worse. Because I have such good feedback... that mentions great description....fast shipping...great packing....I often price my items $1 -$5 HIGHER than other people...and my item will sell before the others with lower prices...because the buyer feels more comfortable that it will be a good experience...with my feedback showing I am a good seller.
Hello, I have 500 items for sale. As well as a top rated seller with 100% feedback. I just can't seem to get steady sales. My sales come in waves. It feels for like "hobby" income coming in, rather than my goal as making this a full time business. Learning so much for you and other sellers. Whats your best tips to reach that next level? Cheers, RB
I've heard from much larger sellers that they experience the same thing. It has a lot to do with Cassini and all the manipulations that Ebay does to our search rankings. I'm just trying to hit averages that other sellers report and then I know I'm doing fine.
Hi Don, do you use an online service to help you list, or are they people you have hired and they come work with/for you? I am at the point of wanting to expand, and recognized recently I need/want help. I have no idea how to set this up. Thanks in advance for any information you are willing to share. Shauna
I need 100 per day 5 days a week just to make a $4500 take home. Unfortunately since I work 6 days a week I can only list 100 per week so am only taking home a net profit of $1400
My giant black walnut tree is starting to drop walnuts. Time for the tarps! Time to gather! Time for helmets! Yes if one falls on your head from far up in the tree, you can get hurt! I will be selling walnuts on eBay.
Can to many categories in your eBay store be a hindrance? Say auto parts, should you have categories like Parts for Ford Parts for Chevy parts for hummer etc?
how do I get people to leave feedback? I have 100% positive but of the last 8 things I sold only 2 left feedback. I wish Ebay was like Mercari if they don't leave feedback within a certain time Mercari gives you positive feedback. I've been selling much less on Mercari, and for less time yet have nearly the same numbers of feedback.
I periodically write up a short message addressing someone that hasn’t left feedback. I let them know that I left them great feedback, how much I was enjoying the item I purchased or how much I appreciate their business and hope their enjoying their item, and hope that if they have a moment, they’ll return the favour of leaving feedback for me, because of it’s importance in greasing the wheels of commerce..something to this effect. Nearly everyone responds within a day or two. Good luck.
I can’t get quantity, I’m all about quality. Also I have specific sites I sell certain things on. Cost of doing business is huge for me. I cut expenses as much as I can so my ROI is highest. Don if you need to get rid of items give me a call.
I am so sick of watching youtube because all people ever do is waffle on and on and on telling every one how rich they are ' and I keep watching waiting for some one to say some thing useful .
I do not go on and on at all and have no interest in being a million. Reselling is actual work, and is 100% NOT a get rich scheme as so many TH-camrs try and portray. If you want to learn something check out some of my videos as I cover vintage and collectible items.
![Method Writing: The First Four Concepts - Jack Grapes [FULL INTERVIEW]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ba9jAVzADY0/mqdefault.jpg)
![Method Writing: The First Four Concepts - Jack Grapes [FULL INTERVIEW]](/img/tr.png)
We have a second channel that will cover making money from arts and crafts for those interested. There will be a lot of How To videos as well. Here’s a link: th-cam.com/channels/aViiCbXUWhekTbp8ttqUuw.html
You can also check out one of our latest videos here: th-cam.com/video/xkAX3RjI254/w-d-xo.html
We are now on Instagram as well: instagram.com/theauctionprofessor/
If you wish to help support our channel our Patreon page can be found here: www.patreon.com/TheAuctionProfessor
If you'd like to see the equipment, shipping supplies, and reference material we personally use you can find it all right here:
www.amazon.com/shop/theauctionprofessor
Hey man need your advice. I listed a 250gb xbox360 slim bundle with a bunch of controllers and 25 games for $249.99. Someone just offered me $249.99.
I called eBay and the customer service rep said to accept the offer, but take videos and photos of the item proving it’s functional. So even if they open a claim against me, eBay would side with the seller.
What are your thoughts? Should I accept it?
Professor is there a reason my active is showing 385 and my unsold 354. Why the difference? I got only single items. 😵💫
I appreciate your time, I realize the value in your information. You have just gained a student.. I think shoes, games and vintage games are my niche. Thanks to you I'm understanding the value in a high quality book$ Where would you recommend treasure hunting at for high value, vintage, or anything of high value in these three categories?
I have learned so much from you. I wrap securely and it doesn't matter if it's 25 or 250 dollars. I ship quickly and my feedback is great.
10:39 this is facts. If you have a family and you're doing this, if everyone works together you can make the dream work
I watch other channels but none of them gives as much specific info as you do. When I watch your channel I grab my pen and notebook to take notes. Thank you Don
It’s funny how each of us do this business. There really are many paths to the top of the mountain. I can carry around 200 items when I’m on travel with my “real” job. When I get home I bounce that up to 350-400 items. When I get the call to run, I take down everything I can not carry. Even with the challenges, I make a good profit. But it does take focus. And sourcing on the road is a blast.
Holy crap. You must sell very small items!?
What a fun model ! I wanted to do that with 📚
@@aammdj ya that was weird
Are you on the lam
Every time I think I’ve learned most of what I need to know about online selling on EBay, I learn something else that’s just as important. I have a store on EBay and still have over 500 listings I can add so that’s wasted space. I’m going to start working on listing new items until I’ve reached the maximum.
Thank you for opening my eyes on how important quantity can be.
This guy knows what he is talking about. The Auction Professor is well titled. I just stumbled on his videos. Deep specific industry knowledge. Its a GOLDEN nugget of information. Plain video, content is excellent, learning from his trial and errors over time. AWESOME!!!
"Never stop learning." I say "If you're not learning, you're dead." I am a part-time seller for 18 months. You've been a great resource, but I am still figuring out sourcing. Right now everything I source is free. I also keep tabs on the eBay algorithm and at 75-80 items listed my sales went bonkers; selling 3+ items a day.
Really!? Is that 75-80 items per week? per day? per month?
They have 75-80 items listed and sell 3+ of those a day.
Free??????? Share!!!!!!!
@@johnnyhotrod2608 Some ebay sellers have listed items from 500 to 2000 products they have multiple sales making between $2000-4000 a week
but the items they sell consist of furniture, beds, wardrobes, dining tables, fridges and so on.
Thats awesome! What are some ways to get items free in any state? Thanks 😃
We Have a similar business model To You and Your Family Don ,We have 52'000 items listed and items sell every day , We do refresh listings every 6 months or so ,we price high and send offers out to watchers A large Proportion sell Instantly , My Son and i work together He lists at his house and we send items live in a big lump every 3 weeks or so ,I on the other hand do dispatch and list when not packing , Only today 1100 items dropped in and around 35 have sold in the first 6 hours ,The rest can tick away just like all the other items . Its a good model but as you say its not for everyone .
The BIGGEST single thing that you have to be, with a high volume model, is be tolerant of inventory. If you don't have a solid inventory system in place, and/or struggle with clutter, you'll never pull it off...the people with the best organizational skills usually do well; the rest usually get frustrated, fall to the wayside and give up.
i'm a one man operation with ebay , i have a huge amount of items that i can get money out of and can take my time with . i've been at ebay ,market place, & craigslist to sell my items for a few yrs. just trying to keep track of my listings & organized is the real work for me . i'd love to make it into something , yet making money to have others help me is a whole other venture . i appreciate the knowledge you pass on in your videos & advise given also !
Thanks for always sharing your valuable info. I’ve been an eBay seller for quite awhile, however always get things out of your vlogs. My problem always is I set goals and meet them eventually but as a one person operation I can’t list as much as I’d like. I have lots and lots of items which has kept me going during the pandemic and can keep me going for along time. My issue is always trying to list more than what I sell, there are times that my sales keep me busy in a day and can’t list the quantity that I’ve sold in the day or more. Eventually need to bring another person in to help. Thanks again for all your info.
I’m downloading this video for viewing again & again. Your wisdom is worth saving. 👍🏼💪
I like selling good quality items. Some sellers have 20,000+ items, but unless they are small items organized as such, you'd need a warehouse space.
Hi Don, one of your better videos, it really was a good reevaluation for me of my own history with eBay in the slow and fast times with sales.
My first eight years on eBay I was simply a buyer, a collector of several categories. As I became a seller I first I tried doing consignment of my things at the eBay stores that people had an actual store fronts in major cities of the country. I got kind of discouraged from that because the sellers told me if an object Couldn’t sell for at least $50 it was not worth their time with all of the photography description and work it would take to list it. Doing my own sales I soon learned that it’s just too much work to try selling six dollar books even if you’re selling fairly large quantity of it it takes work. These days most items have to be at least $28 sale price for me to bother with all the work it takes to list them.
Regardless of the category, eventually I have placed my eBay items that I plan to list, I’ve placed them in Binz by price range. This way I start with the ones that are the highest value to list next. I’m not going to waste my time listing a bunch of $12 vintage record albums when I have a whole box of record albums that are in the $40-$300 range.
What I’m noticing is that I end up with about half of my inventory being lower price things that are really not worth the time to list on eBay, yet they are too good to just sell in a swap meet or garage sale. With semi rare books, records, CDs, and DVDs, I find That I can trade them at a few stores. Typically a nice large coffee table book that I buy for one dollar, I might only be able to sell for five dollars at a yard sale. On eBay it might only be worth $12 because the market is flooded with low priced additions of that particular book, no matter that it was $100 coffee table book originally.
So a solution that’s working good for me is to take a coffee table book like that and take it to a really good large used bookstore.
They will look at the book and say “I will give you four dollars cash or $18 trade credit“. Of course I take the trade credit, so after they go through three boxes of books I might have $200 trade credit for the books they decide they can resell. It’s a win-win, they get more inventory and I end up with $200 trade credit. I take that trade credit and I looked through many categories of books on their shelves and I always seem to find a rare book that their staff has overlooked. Things like that happen, the person pricing books one day might not know about rare Automotive books or rare books that are indeed early first editition though they may not be marked in that way. So they have put a book on the shelf for $12 which I use $12 trade credit to get it and then I can sell that book for $75 on eBay. I know it sounds like a complicated process but it’s a way of turning a bunch of Low value books into a handful of high value books.
Sorry for the wordy comments, I guess that’s why some people make TH-cam videos so that they can express all of this in video form rather than written form. I don’t have the time or desire to become a TH-camr but I sure do appreciate TH-cam producers like you, who share their knowledge and vast talents and skills at. Bravo Don! Keep going
I like how your very clear in your video and giving out multipule ways of how or if u can make money on ebay, im still learning alot. Im working up to selling on ebay and taking my time. Thanks for the insight 😄 You gave me advice that i did concider but wasnt sure about, like when you said dont limit yourself to just one catagory of selling.
Great content. I sell in a specific niche, never thought of telling people to check my entire store out in the descriptions.... Thanks!
That's one of the great things when you have a store if you use the store categories you can link to the store category that this item is in and it will show the user everything in that category. So I might say that "I have lots of listings in toys" and link my toy master category to the word toy, and then say "if you're looking for more Imaginext action figures like this one, please visit that part of my store" and have the word Imaginext and that part of my store both linked to my "Imaginext, galactic hero, and other rsmall figures" store subcategory.
if i can stay around 1-2 thousand listings thats enough for me to live on.
You are so right about quantity & better quality and worthy products and doing research is always key to better selling, I always say know your product and niche and know what sells seasonal, your so Amazing brother!! Its very kind of you to share your knowledge and wisdom with people bless you Tenfold Don 🙏✌ your pure Rock N Roll man!! 😎🙀📸💰🕯🎸🎶
I too, LOVE Reece's Pieces.
I found out the hard way that if I leave stuff that I have confidence (real or imagined) that will eventually sell when the market is right with the right customer coming along, ebay will make those listings "disappear" without warning if they are up too long in their eyes.
If AP says "expenses don't matter" one more time, I'm guessing he's running for public office, lol.
Thanks for the tips, appreciate your time and insight!
Thank you for exploring all of those options for us! It is fun to discover new niches that not everyone else cares about :) Liked and shared, thank you for all you do 😊
Its a great video for someone in the US to make money on Ebay. Unfortunately not so easy in Canada with the fees plus the Extremely high shipping rates. Good info though!
Thank you for a very interesting video, we have been selling of eBay for years and still learned something
I have about 1700 listings in my store . I sell about 1 to 3 things a day , by the end of the week I'll have about 12 packages or more to go out totaling anywhere from $200.00 to $400.00 ish. It's just my "part time job" now . But I am looking at it as my "retirement" (I have no pension or big stocks , 401 K; like "normal" people do) . LOL (?) 🤨🙄😮💨🤥😔😵😵💫😴😌😔
That's some great inspiration right there! I've found a few niches that I'm always on the lookout for that.
Learned so much from you. You are the best eBay site - no one is even close.
Great show .I sell a little of everything. Having fun doing .thanks for the great information.
New subscriber here. Thank you so much for your Expertise. Get This one. I had a few adult oriented books for sale and they of course took them down and suspended me for three days. I thought this was ok to list because I seen several books much more revealing than the one i was selling sell all the time. But my mistake no problem lesson learned, I call ebay and ask them what category should I list these in they said the only place I can list these are in the everything else category ( which no see's because you have to verify your age before seeing the item ) but anyway I say ok, so I list my books in the appropriate category where a book sells and I try to send it Media mail which by there standards was a book. I try to print out the media mail shipping label and as you said It wouldn't let me choose media mail. I call ebay and they said you can't ship anything you list in the (everything else category) using media mail, I replied you just told me I have to list these in this category, WOW !!! Same result after talking to 3 different people they wanted to refund me the difference.
So yes I shipped it using Paypal, but I am not on managed payments as of yet so that option will go away by Jan 1st. Now what.
So Frustrating trying to make money FOR Ebay.
Thank you Don! Always enjoy your videos and your honesty.
Thank you, thank you for all your tips and that you share your knowledge. I currently devote approx 20-25 hours a week. I have a full time job and planning on retiring within 1.5 years. I'm mulling over whether to take the plunge and retire at the end of this year -- if not sooner. I am a "one-woman show" and put in as much time and care as I can in my Ebay biz. Thanks for this video....much for me to mull over. Have a great day!
Don your a portal of information but more important you appear to be genuine and its hard to not be motivated recieving from you. 🙂 . I have some studio tv tapes of commercials and pilots on all types of size tapes. I was hoping you could provide some advice or assistance. Thanks for being you big bro. Jonny NYC
Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us everyday..
great advice! I like how you tell everyone to research everything.
Loved the video. As long as you can hire help, the volume game does work.
We live and we learn
Thank you that really helped someone like me out
Thanks Don. Great channel. Keep ‘em coming.
I've heard varying recommendation on descriptions. Some people say to write the description like you do, but then other people say that descriptions don't matter and people don't read them and that photos are the only thing that matters.
Very helpful insights. Thank you very much!
I would love to hire out help, but I feel like I can't trust anybody to do things accurately. I sell in a specific vintage clothing niche and I literally have thousands of pieces waiting to be processed and entered. My husband does the photography but I do everything else. I don't know what to do next to be able to list more items.
Hi again Don, I was wondering if you ever did a video about consigning eBay things. Years ago I was working on a TV production job outside of the US for six weeks. I thought about consigning my eBay things to another seller, but instead I had a friend do my shipping for me. What a disaster. Some people do not understand the importance of shipping an item quickly and very well packaged. They think it’s a casual thing but it’s not. I’m going to work in another country for the next five or six months and I am either going to shut down my eBay sales completely or figure out someone who can attend to my eBay shipping needs promptly for a commission on sales. Sounds like an easy concept but it is not when you try to practice it. I certainly don’t plan on shipping eBay items from another country to my buyers in the US. I know some people have a great luck with international shipping, I have zero interest in that, since it’s simply not a good return on the investment of time and energy I put into things. So I’m curious if you’ve addressed that in your videos, the idea of consigning eBay items to other sellers, or how to best Pine someone who will do responsible shipping for an absentee eBay seller.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.
I love listening to you.
Thanks👀💞👍
This is the first time I’m watching! Great video!!! Just subscribed and will watch more!
I am trying to make this into a full time job. Hopefully it works out if not im kind of screwed
Me too, I don’t see myself ever selling face to face , to learn this will be success, I wish you luck !
Two yearas later, how is it going for you
Great info! Thanks for sharing dear sir..
Great video , agree with the research research research , many thanks !!
Can you explain how it is that you "pay almost nothing for pretty much every single thing " that you sell?
I would really like to hear more about that. Thank you!
That's what I do in my videos.
Reading Carl Boor's answer....that is cool. And it took a few years ...of hard work...for The Auction Professor to make those kinds of contacts.
I often wonder about offering my clean up services...after an auction...or yard sale, etc. ...but it's just my husband and me and we already have 2 full storages...more than we can handle on our own. I can just imagine if people were calling us with too many good deals :)
For my husband and I...we have some good contacts with auctioneers. They know what we look for and will call us when they have those things coming up in an auction. They like when we show up because we drive the bids up on things that would go for next to nothing if we weren't there to bid against someone. I don't "up bid" just to drive prices up...I bid what I am willing to pay and stop when I hit my maximum price.
In my opinion, auctions are better than driving around and hand picking at Thrift shops. I can get a whole box of items for $1- $5. If I hand picked those items out of that box at a Thrift shop... that same box would cost me $50 plus to buy.
I look EVERYTHING up...after 20 years doing this, I am still amazed at the prices some things fetch. And you want to really give a good look in each box. I recently bought a box of "office supplies" at an auction...things we will use for packing and shipping...mostly sharpie markers and paper...and in the bottom of that box (which I didn't see until after I bought it and was putting stuff away) was a 1940's vintage box of pencils I sold for over $700...I paid $1 for that box...and got a ton of things we can use in the office... that $700+ box of vintage pencils was a super happy surprise :)
So to pay $1 for a box of stuff...and get $50 worth of things I keep and use....and a few things I can sell ...I usually make about $100 to $200 off the thigs I sell out of that box.... that is close to FREE in my opinion.
We are also usually the last people to leave the auction because it takes us so long to get everything loaded up. So....we walk around and pick through the things that other buyers left behind....anything we take is FREE. (We do ask and make sure it's ok...and try to make sure someone didn't leave it with the intent on coming back for it) The auctioneer and the family are glad we take it...saves them from more clean up and dumpster space after the auction. We have made thousands of dollars on all that FREE stuff :)
People will post ads on Face Book to come take their left over yard sale things for free. Many cities have bulk trash pick up days where people set out perfectly good furniture and such...in my town... that's as popular amongst us locals as city wide yard sale day...lots of people driving around taking stuff off the curb :) ...for FREE :) We flip the furniture on Facebook Marketplace.
Thank you 😊 appreciate the information provided.
I have 80 listings right now but theyre mostly things nobody wants or uses which is a lot of old vhs tapes :/
Thanks for sharing 💯
That would depend on what your selling surely ? If your selling Classic cars , high end watches or vintage motorbikes my guess is you wouldn't need many listings to make a living
Great video, thank you !
Thanks Don Your still the Bomb
Showing love for the channel🥰😊
Thanks for the info today
Do you need anything from japan, if so, let me know, because there are tons of items that you can sell.
Hi Don, love your videos. Do you know offhand if ebay allows the sale of vintage playboy magazines? I know they have been craking down on adult items but have some here I'd like to sell
What is your gauge for determining if a prospective item sells?
Love this video 👍💯
The link to the 10x14 poly bags is bogus. Just thought I'd LYK.
Love your channel AP.
Question Don, should I use auction format? 7 days, 10?
Or BIN after research?
Help. Your are the bestest!
My opinion...after I research it, If I see that it consistently sells for $XX amount of money....or...if I see there are 10 or more other current listings of the same item....I put it in a buy it now for close to the top dollar. People who play the race to the bottom game ruin it for all of us....meaning.... one seller has it for $20...so the next seller lists it for $18 so they can be "the cheapest" ...then the next seller lists it for $16 so they can be "the cheapest"...and so on and so on until that $20 item is now only bringing $10 or less...that hurts us all.
If...an item doesn't come up often...or has 10 or less in current ..and completed listings...I look at the prices others have sold for...and current listing prices...and start that item off in auction at the lowest I would want to sell it for...in case only one person bids...so...if completed shows they sell for $15-$25...I start it at $18 to $22.......I list on Sundays for 7 days...or Tuesdays for 5 days...so that the item ends on a Sunday...and I start the auction at 7 pm CST...in the evening....so that people will be home on Sunday night to bid.
If I can't find the item in completed or current listings...or...if there is only 1-10 of that item showing up...I do a 10 day auction...start it on Thursday ...so it ends on a Sunday night. I had a vintage license plate one time...had several of them. Most of the ones I was finding sold for $10...so I was putting them in buy it nows for $10...but this one...I couldn't find it anywhere...on Ebay or google search. I ALMOST put it in a buy it now for $10...it was rusty crusty beat up...but....I put it in auction and started it off for $10...turns out it was a super rare license plate and it ended up selling for about $175 :) That was so much fun to see it get bid up like that :)
I commented up above on someone else's comment...I found a vintage box of pencils...I looked it up...didn't find that EXACT one...but found ones some what close...that sold for $700...so I listed my box of pencils in a buy it now for $700+...it had over 50 views in 2 hours....and...sold with in 2 hours...and I had 3 people message me afterwards about it. I really think if I had put that in auction and started it at $700...it would have gotten bid up to $1200 or more.... that would have been an extra $500+ !!!!...so even after 20 years of doing this.....I make costly mistakes :( :)
10 day auctions cost extra in listing fees to list..alot extra...and in my opinion...buyers get bored trying to watch an auction that long....you get more viewers during the last 2-3 days...and only start getting bids in the last 2-3 days...so in my opinion 10 days is too long. I rarely use a 10 day auction...only for rare items.
I have also noticed that a lot of buyers would prefer a buy it now...and are willing to pay a few extra dollars...to buy it now...versus waiting 5--7--10...days..for an auction to end. If there are 10 or more in current....price it close to top dollar and just do a buy it now.
I have 100% feedback...(the few negatives I have received...1-2 a year..fall of after a year) I worked hard for it...BUT I DO NOT cave in to scammers...or Ebay's B.S. hoops they expect you to jump through. I am not scared to get a negative.. in fact...I reply to negatives ...with my version of the story and...I feel that let's other scammers know...don't mess with me because I'm not an easy target !! :) I rarely get a return request or scammer. Ebay is not going to fight for you...you have to know how to fight for yourself. I win 9 out of 10 cases filed. It's a pain...and sometimes costs me money to fight it...but it's the principle that matters to me...if I'm wrong...I'll admit it...if I'm not...I'll fight it.
I have had less than 10 negative out of over 6,000 feedback in 20 years...If I am at fault...I go above and beyond to fix the problem...if it is a scammer...I go above and beyond to make sure they don't win and get something for free.. because that helps all of us sellers...we have to fight the scammers to keep things from getting worse.
Because I have such good feedback... that mentions great description....fast shipping...great packing....I often price my items $1 -$5 HIGHER than other people...and my item will sell before the others with lower prices...because the buyer feels more comfortable that it will be a good experience...with my feedback showing I am a good seller.
If I sell the same item like a manufactured items? Should I keep listing the same all the time? Or just leave as is and run promoted listing? TIA
Excellent info!
Hello, I have 500 items for sale. As well as a top rated seller with 100% feedback. I just can't seem to get steady sales. My sales come in waves. It feels for like "hobby" income coming in, rather than my goal as making this a full time business. Learning so much for you and other sellers. Whats your best tips to reach that next level? Cheers, RB
I've heard from much larger sellers that they experience the same thing. It has a lot to do with Cassini and all the manipulations that Ebay does to our search rankings. I'm just trying to hit averages that other sellers report and then I know I'm doing fine.
good content. well done.
Awesome. Thanks
thanks for sharing sir
Im manufacture my own items for selling on ebay.
I just want to have more listings.
Thanks for the amazing video!
What is fair compensation for help? Do they get paid by the listing, or a percentage or by the hour?
Just started selling on eBay, will u share ur eBay store. Like ur videos! I'm on disability, so looking for tips n tricks. Thanks
Good till canceled, do you use this and let listings sit or relist every month as sell similar? Thank you so much!
Good question
Hey Don do you ever post your eBay store? I would love to purchase from you. As always Thank you for such great useful talent .
Im just learning. So you place your listings in catagories? For example porcelin for a porcelin doll? And/or porcelin items?
You'd wanna start by spelling porcelain correctly, that way it'll be in the actual category.
Great advice
Hi Don, do you use an online service to help you list, or are they people you have hired and they come work with/for you? I am at the point of wanting to expand, and recognized recently I need/want help. I have no idea how to set this up. Thanks in advance for any information you are willing to share. Shauna
Thank you
I need 100 per day 5 days a week just to make a $4500 take home.
Unfortunately since I work 6 days a week I can only list 100 per week so am only taking home a net profit of $1400
Great job!
Excellent.
My giant black walnut tree is starting to drop walnuts. Time for the tarps! Time to gather! Time for helmets! Yes if one falls on your head from far up in the tree, you can get hurt! I will be selling walnuts on eBay.
Boi, I was thinking of doing that too!
Better off finding an amish person to buy those.
I cant even pay a bill on time due to ebays hold request
Can to many categories in your eBay store be a hindrance? Say auto parts, should you have categories like Parts for Ford
Parts for Chevy parts for hummer etc?
I would never worry about that. The more items you have the more you should sell.
9:41 where is the video?
Great video
why not put your store link in the description
powerful
How about letgo & offerup teaming up?? Any chance they take over ebay ????
nope!
But how many listing I need?
When trying to ship stuff off eBay how do I go about that when I am using an Android phone and not a computer and printer
If you only use your cell phone and don’t have a printer you can go to the post office to ship items
People buy my stuff only on weekends
How do u do you're taxes
One
how do I get people to leave feedback? I have 100% positive but of the last 8 things I sold only 2 left feedback. I wish Ebay was like Mercari if they don't leave feedback within a certain time Mercari gives you positive feedback. I've been selling much less on Mercari, and for less time yet have nearly the same numbers of feedback.
I periodically write up a short message addressing someone that hasn’t left feedback. I let them know that I left them great feedback, how much I was enjoying the item I purchased or how much I appreciate their business and hope their enjoying their item, and hope that if they have a moment, they’ll return the favour of leaving feedback for me, because of it’s importance in greasing the wheels of commerce..something to this effect. Nearly everyone responds within a day or two. Good luck.
Way too smart, if you aren’t watching this youtuber and sell e-commerse... you need to or except the outcome. #onemanband
I can’t get quantity, I’m all about quality. Also I have specific sites I sell certain things on. Cost of doing business is huge for me. I cut expenses as much as I can so my ROI is highest.
Don if you need to get rid of items give me a call.
Do you use a eBay store?
Is there an email address I can reach you at? I have an extraordinarily unique item I'd like your opinion on.
I am so sick of watching youtube because all people ever do is waffle on and on and on telling every one how rich they are ' and I keep watching waiting for some one to say some thing useful .
I do not go on and on at all and have no interest in being a million. Reselling is actual work, and is 100% NOT a get rich scheme as so many TH-camrs try and portray. If you want to learn something check out some of my videos as I cover vintage and collectible items.