How am I doing?

berka · 11-01-08

I have a question for the more experienced individuals here. I've made roughly 7 purchases from a liquidator, and re-sold them all on eBay. The wholesale lots I've purchased have ranged from $200 to $900. I've been able to double my money, or better, every time so far. I've done this with computer related items. (I went to school for Computer Engineering and consider myself "very comfortable" with building computers, repairing, etc...)

Is this typical for wholesale purchasing? I'm not looking at making some purchases in electronics, and maybe power tools. Or should I not even bother with the returns I'm getting right now?

I'm doing this out of my house, and I'm doing it very cheaply -- Obtaining free boxes from my work (we have more then we know what to do with), purchasing supplies cheap as a I can, doing all the shipping & packaging myself, etc... I mainly use USPS for shipping, although UPS is trying to get my business but I'm too cheap to even pay the weekly pick-up fee.

If anyone is purchasing bulk items from a liquidator and re-selling them on eBay, I'd love to hear what kind of ROI you are receiving on the type of product you are pruchasing, and what your experience is. Thank you!

certifil · 11-01-08

If you can double up on eBay with computer stuff you're doing just fine. I'd say it's more a matter of time than anything. How much more can you handle?

berka · 11-01-08

Well, you probably hit the nail on the head with that one. This is taking a bit of time each night -- listing items on eBay, dealing with complaints, printing labels, and then shipping. I'm working on swiging a deal with my local Pack-and-Ship where I stock my high movers in their back-office, and they just ship them out for me. Hopefully that will save me some time.

I guess I'm more curious then anything how others are doing in other venue's -- electronics, household, sporting goods, etc... Maybe I could be doing better in another area.

I'm also hoping to work my way up to making bulk purchases of new items and then re-sell them. We'll see if it ever gets to that point though.

graper · 11-01-08

Complaints.....you should limit yourself from building and deal with the issues surrounding the raising of complaints so that your initial business model is providing goods that the customer is 100% with then focus on developing your sales numbers and looking at outsourcing options as your revenue grows.

iframe · 11-01-08

If you are able to double your money then you are doing very well! I would not say that doubling your money is typical on wholesale items: it is not easy to find wholesale items which will double your money especially with all the competition on eBay or the internet.