Typically, returns are sold as pallets of assorted, dissimilar items ? you'll find everything from snow boots to toy cars to staplers. Most likely, you'll also find some damaged goods among a pallet's wares. A portion of these items were returned because the customer damaged them, or they didn't work in the first place.
In spite of the damages, many sellers feel they can make a profit. According to Jacques Stambouli of http://ViaTrading.com, a retail-return wholesaler, ?The rationale is that, even with disposing of a high percentage of them, you're buying them cheaply enough that you can still make a lot of money.?
Weigh Your Options
Retail stores normally sort their unwanted goods into two categories ? customer returns and overstocks. Both have positive and negative points to consider:
1. Customer returns are items that were purchased, taken home, and brought back. Once opened, they can't be re-shelved.
? The downside of returns is some of them were defaced by the customer or just don't work. A higher percentage of them are dented, have cosmetic damage, or are missing parts.
? The upside of returns is they're usually more current, in-demand products ? they were purchased for a reason. Many of them are still in perfect condition ? they were only returned because the color, size, or model was wrong.
2. Overstocks are items that sat on a retailer's shelf too long. In spite of discounts, they simply didn't sell.
? The downside of overstocks is that the retailer couldn't move them, regardless of multiple price cuts ? the demand wasn't there. Moving them may be a challenge for you as well.
? The upside of overstocks is that they're mostly clean, new, and probably still in their original packaging. You'll find comparably less damaged goods.
Mix Your Channels
When purchasing returns and overstocked merchandise, it's a good idea to have more than one outlet for reselling. Don't limit yourself to only eBay or only the flea market ? not everything you buy will lend itself to a particular market. Some people even throw ?pallet parties? ? they're like Tupperware parties, only they're selling the contents of their pallets. Says Stambouli, ?We find that our most successful customers are the ones that know how to combine different channels.?
Bags At Wholesale Prices
First of all let me tell you selling on eBay is easy, but it takes time or money. eBay has fees that you have to pay and if you want to grow quickly you will spend a lot on fees while you are learning.
My wife had an eBay business and she was a Gold Power Seller selling more than $20,000 per month. She sold mostly watches, lots and lots of watches. She sold them wholesale, by the dozen or by the case, 30 to 60 at a time. They were inexpensive watches; we paid from $2.50 to $4.00 for each one and sold them from $3.50 to $12.00 depending on the quantity purchased.
All of the techniques and suppliers we used are included in my eBook or in my exclusive newsletters you get as a free bonus when you buy my eBook.
When selling on eBay there are several tricks. Let me tell you the 3 tricks I think are the most important.
Trick #1: Build your reviews. Your reviews are your lifeline on eBay. You need to build your reviews so people trust you and want to do business with you. If they don't trust you, you won't sell anything on eBay. When you start you will have to offer good deals, free shipping or great communication. I always encouraged people to call me on the phone and ask questions by posting my phone in every listing. I didn't get a lot of calls but I did get a lot of reviews.
Trick #2: Make big margins. You need those margins. You can't buy something for $10 and sell it at $12, not even at $15. The listing fees alone will eat you. Remember, you have to pay a listing fee, you have to pay a fee if you sell the product and on top of that you pay PayPal when you collect the money. You could easily pay up to 10% or more of your selling price. This could be your entire profit. If you use any special listings to showcase your product you could be looking at $20 extra per listing category. So again, don't try to make it on volume, try to make it on big margins. The best things to sell are either unique items or collectibles, name brand items that people are looking for like iPods, or hard to find items or imports.
Trick #3: Make more money on shipping. When my wife sold on eBay about 80% of our profit was made from shipping charges. We kept our product prices low so they attract the buyer and charged a bit more on shipping. People understood and they always got a great deal. For us it was a no brainer. eBay does not charge you any fees on your shipping charges, just on the selling prices.
The funny thing is we only sold wholesale on eBay. And it seemed we were the only ones really selling wholesale. Most people selling at ?wholesale prices? were selling at about 3 times what we could get any of their items.
Many of our customers had eBay stores, others had convenience stores or gift stores, many of them had other businesses and wanted giveaways for their customers.
This is only a small example of what you can do with Wholesale Distribution. And believe me, it's not the most profitable one or the easiest to start. In my eBook you will find cheaper, faster ways of getting started in wholesale distribution and make even more money than what I made on eBay. I made much more from my other wholesale distribution businesses than what I made on eBay and I worked less too.
Both Chris Malta & Robin Cowie & Jorge Olson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Jorge Olson has sinced written about articles on various topics from How to Sell on Ebay, Trucks and The Internet. Jorge Olson is a consultant, speaker and entrepreneur and owns several Wholesale Distribution companies. His latest eBook teaches you step by step how to get started and make money in Wholesale Distribution. You can find it at. Jorge Olson's top article generates over 9900 views. Bookmark Jorge Olson to your Favourites.
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