My Auction Empires – eBay Consultants

Helping You Take Your Business To The Next Level

Browsing Posts in Product Sourcing

eBay And Product Sourcing

As an eBay Consultant eBay and product sourcing are never far apart. I think it is always at the top of people’s lists when they are looking at starting an eBay business. As we have looked at in other articles there are many ways that you can go about when sourcing products for your eBay business – magazines, trade shows, TV, radio, friends, items in shops, but when you first start out you may not know about a Trade Show in your niche or about the secret trade magazine. So how do new people find these products to sell.

Well some people do the research and after time they find out where the trade shows are and where the secret suppliers hang out and then they go and visit them at the warehouses and make a choice of the products that they will be going t sell. But sadly some get caught out and instead of visiting a genuine wholesaler or importer they find either a middle man or a cash and carry that supplies both retailers and the public.

Now while there is nothing wrong in middle men and cash and carry places that supply both the trade and public, you will find an issue with the prices they supply you at and sometimes there is not enough margin there to make a business, this is where you need to do a bit more digging and find out where these people buy from.

To begin with some people buy wholesale source guides from eBay, again while some of these are great sources of information, you need to just be careful of the fact that are they a real wholesaler that just supplies the trade or do they supply the trade and public at the same time, all you need do is send them an email or give them a call and ask them. 


When you talk with these people or visit them, explain that you are just starting out in business and need to test the market and can you buy a small amount of stock and as long as the prices are good and the items sell well you will be back for and will be buyer in bigger quantities. Most suppliers like the honest approach from you and will help you all they can, for they know if they help you, and the products sell you will be back time after time and will be buying bigger and bigger amounts from them.

Over the years I have used wholesalers, Importers, Manufacturing agents, guides bought off eBay, but for around three years I have been using a service called World Wide Brands. World Wide Brands does not supply the items, they are a membership site, which costs several hundred dollars to join, but it is well worth the money as you get so much for it. One of the main advantages is you get a database of thousands of suppliers. And the major advantage is the fact that all these suppliers have been checked out that they are a genuine supplier to the trade.

Also with World Wide Brands  you get other fantastic resources that you can use to grow your business to the next level. But as I explained it is not cheap and is best to join once you are certain that eBay and product source on a regular basis is the way you want to go. In the early days you can use on of the other methods, but just be careful and always ask if they are a genuine wholesaler and only supply the trade industry, that way you will not go far wrong.

 

As an eBay consultant one of the question that I get asked is "How to product source for eBay" it is one of the hardest questions at times to answer but it is also one of the easiest to do.

 

how to product source for eBay, eBay consultant, Andrew Milburn

 

Until you can grasp the whole concept of how to product source for eBay you will never make a large success of selling on sites such as eBay. eBay is just like a brick and mortar shop, you need products in there that will bring in people to look and buy and also you need to introduce new product lines to bring in repeat customers and also ones wanting to buy something from you for the first time. And you need to be doing this on a regular basis. It is true the more you list the more you will sell.

So where do you go product sourcing ?

Trade Shows – these are good places to go and meet old suppliers and also make contact with new ones. Also it allows you to see and touch the products.

Trade Magazines – These are good places to read and see about new products coming out, and often you get advanced motice of new products being introduced, and get to read about other successful traders, both online and offline.

Google – Type in the type of product you are looking to sell and within seconds you will have pages of information of retailers and wholesalers who sell the item.

Yellow Pages – Look up wholesalers in Yellow Pages, give them a ring and go and visit them.

Craft Fairs – Go and visit some craft fairs and speak with the sellers and see if they want someone (you) to sell their items on eBay – you never know, until you ask.

There are many other ways where you can source products to sell on sell on eBay, and we will cover these in other articles on How to product source for eBay……….keep those eyes peeled on here or over at our Facebook Page.

 

How To find wholesale products on eBay is a wonderful place to start to look for and find some great products to buy and then resell.

 

In the above short video I show you a quick example how to find products at very low prices with not many people bidding on the auctions.

The main tip when looking how to find wholesale products on eBay is to search during the daytime when other people are at work. If you follow the tip in the video and search by ending soonest you will have hundreds of products to choose from with very little competition.

Hope you find the above video on How to find wholesale products on eBay helpful and look out for other videos coming up soon.

 

Andrew Milburn Is An eBay Consultant Based In The Uk
info@MyAuctionEmpires.com 
07582 889 050

 

It is true bits and pieces do make money on eBay. Once you have read this short article you will never ever through a game or jig saw away again just because there are a few bits and pieces missing.

scrabble tiles, eBay Consultant, My auction Empires

Now I want you to be honest here, how many of us have gone to play a game opened the box up to find some of the bits and pieces were missing. Ok yes at times we can borrow some parts from another game – then we forget to replace them back and now we have two games with parts missing and in the end we just through them away or put them in the back of the cupboard just in case the parts turn up.

Right now I want you to stop right there and put your product sourcing hat and marketing hat on, every home is sitting on a small gold mine with all these games that have bits and pieces missing. The reason is their is a new niche on eBay Bits and pieces make money on eBay every day of the week. And apart from your own home you can find sources all over the place : friends, family, neighbours, charity shops – (each day these shops get loads of games with missing parts in, all they do is skip them, you offer to buy them for a small donation, they will laugh and take your money and think how sill you are, but little do they know)

All you do is put these parts into small bundles such as monopoly money, ludo counters, dice, scrabble letters etc. And then sell them to buyers who are looking for bits and pieces for their much loved game they can no longer play due to missing parts, but also people who craft are often looking for things like scrabble letters.

So if you have some games with missing parts, buddle the items up and give this small niche a go and see if people are right when they say Bits and pieces make money. And why just stop at game parts, look around you and think what else can be sold in this niche, the list is endless.

Andrew Milburn Is An eBay Consultant. If You Need Help With Your eBay Business Send An Email To info@MyAuctionEmpires.com
Or Phone 07582 889 050

 

As an eBay Consultant product sourcing is one of the key questions myself and other eBay consultants get asked time after time. Today I want to tell you about a great niche that sells throughout the year, and a niche that has many sub-niches and then micro niches. It is so big in fact that you will never run out of items to sell, nor people to sell them to.

collectable, product sourcing, my auction empires, ebay consultant

When you deal in the collectables or for our American friends collectibles you find collectors are willing to pay very often high prices. And also as you start to sell into these niche you soon realize these collectors know what they are buying and if you list something not quite right they soon will tell you.

Also the collectors in the collectable niches are very open and willing to share their knowledge that they have built up over the years, and as I said if you have a few people wanting the same item and you are selling it at action then the price can go sky high.

But on a down side a lot of the items you will be selling are one off’s and will need several photo’s and often a detailed description, but the end prices are well the time.

You can source the items you are wanting sell in many places :

  • Car Boot Sales
  • Garage Sales
  • Jumble / Table Top Sales
  • Antique shops and fairs
  • eBay
  • Word of mouth
  • Adverts in papers

And as we have talked about in other articles on product sourcing you need to buy at the right price to make a profit. Very often people will ask you to sell whole collections for them, this can be fun, yes hard work, but the hard work will have a good pay off. If you are selling for other people do not be greedy with the commission you charge as very often these people will keep coming back to you with other items for you to sell for them.

Another tip here is if you are selling for other people and when you go and take a look at the item, you do not like the look of the items or your research does not match up with what they are saying, please do not be afraid to say no to them, and move on to the next client or next cool find. Sometimes people who collect items think their item is worth a lot of money when sadly it is not. I have learnt this fact the hard way.

Another tip about the collectable niche, is the fact that people and people looking to get into the selling of of collectables very often think they are antiques, this is not right a collectable item can also be modern. Just do your research using a tool such as Terapeak and Google, and if you can make money then give it a shot. But research is a most as you can quite often be left with egg on your face, a room full of items and a hole in your bank balance.

If you want to start off buying and selling in the collectable niche, start off small and then build and re-invest profits and very soon you will have a profitable business on sites such as eBay and you will also become the go to person in your community when people want to sell the collection of collectables.

 

When consulting with eBay clients and we come to the subject of product sourcing, it often amazes me how some people struggle with this part of the business. I try and explain to them that products are all over the place crying out to found by eBayers and other marketers just waiting to be sold on sites such as eBay. Anyway today I want to talk about a unique way of product sourcing that could make both people a regular income.

art, product sourcing, ebay consultant, knitting wool, craft

All around the world in every hamlet, village, town, city and country are people who spend many hours painting, sewing, knitting, making pottery and crafting, they have a gift and eye for detail, but then the time comes when they are looking to sell the items they have so lovingly made – they head off to a local craft show and spend a weekend sitting behind their stall and selling their wares to other traders and the people who have paid to come to the county show or craft fair. Here is their first issue, the craft fairs are local and the same people visit them time and time ago, so the items they make are only visible to a limited amount of people. Yes they could travel further afield, but this costs time and money.

Another issue art and craft people have is that they are so busy making items to sell they do not have the time or resources to sell on eBay. So this is where those of us who have the time and the resources to take over the task of selling their items and taking an agreed commission for doing this work. Now if you do a good job these people will keep supplying you with items, and also will recommended you to other crafters, soon you will have as much business and stock as you need – all without investing in stock.

To start off I would recommend having some business cards printed and some flyers promoting your service and the commissions you charge. You will also need some agreements that layout your terms and conditions and what you will do and not do. Then you visit the craft fairs and talk with the traders. Another way to get business is to place adverts in local craft magazines, and visit craft groups and give them a free talk on selling items on eBay – this is not a sales pitch but a simple nuts and bolts of how and why they should sell on sites such as eBay, then at the end you promote the fact that you can take over the selling and marketing for them and leave them to get on with the making of the product. This is a win win situation for all parties.

 Andrew Milburn is an eBay Consultant based in Lichfield Staffordshire, for further details please phone 07582 889 050

 

Today I was out and about in Lichfield, spending some time in the field interacting with some friends on our City market, and spending some time chatting and spending time with some great people, before my morning eBay Consulting client appointment was due. Sadly he had to cancel the appointment which left me with some spare time, so I decided to do some product sourcing in some of the local charity shops.

Charity Shops, product sourcing, Andrew Milburn, eBay Consultant, Lichfield, eBay Consultant Lichfield

Now I have not visited these shops on a Friday for a long time, so did not know what to expect, as recently on Saturday’s they have been low on items to source and buy. But as everyone knows who is in the product sourcing game knows never give up a time to go product sourcing.

Anyway hit two shops and not much, but the 3rd shop I think I hit a jackpot. There in a box was a load of postcards and several model trains, they all looked in great condition and there must have been 400 postcards and some other paper items. And in the middle of the box were around 6 model train pieces. I looked and there was no price on the box, to begin I thought it had just been bought in, but it was on the floor with the junk items, so I asked the girl who worked there, and she said oh that box of tat, give me X Amount I was about to throw it out as no one wants it. I mentioned the model trains and she said I Know she put them in there today as no one wanted them.

I handed over the £10.00 feeling a bit guilty and packed the items in several large bags as I was using the bus. Once home I did a quick search on the model trains and a very big smile came across my face. Will they be instant profits, well I do not think so, but over time I will get my money back many times over.

I guess the motto of this story is when out product sourcing, keep your eyes peeled and look in boxes and backs of shelves you never know what you may find and if you see boxes un-priced either say can I have this for xyz or ask how much for these, and like me you may be surprised.

Andrew Milburn is an eBay Consultant based in Lichfield Staffordshire, for further details please phone 07582 889 050

 

A question that I regularly get asked by eBay Consulting clients is “Do all products sell on eBay” ? Well this is a very hard question to answer as it my great friend Kat Simpson says “It all depends” In an ideal world the answer would be yes, but as we all know we do not live in a ideal world and there are many different factors that go into the sales process.

ebay, eBay consultant, do all products sell on eBay, Andrew Milburn ebay consultant

When you are out there in the real world sourcing products you need to be looking at items that you know or think will sell online – please note the world online !!!! this is very important and needs to be added into the product sourcing mindset. So let’s look at the question Do all products sell on eBay, and let’s try and answer the question by looking at some examples.

Recently I attend a trade show here in the UK. There were hundreds of thousands of items for me to look and choose from, but did they all tick the boxes….no of course not some because I did not like them, some were not allowed to be sold on eBay due to their adult content, and some just because I did not feel happy sending a £5,000 glass mirror in the post. Yes it may sell on eBay but I did not want to run the risk of shipping it.

So point one when looking at the question do all products sell on eBay is, is it legal, ethical and will it ship.

Again while at the show i wondered into the new business start-ups and products area. And as mentioned in other posts it amazes me that people will spend money to be at a show and not be interested in selling…..ok these stands were invited to be there as they had designed new products and ideas. On one stand thee were two pretty girls one was texting on her iphone and the other one was anding out flyers with a bored expression on her face…….not good.

Anyway she say on my name badge that I was an eBay seller and her eyes lit up and said could I spare them a few minutes as they had been wanting at speak to an online seller all morning and I was the first they had seen……I wonder why !!

On with the story, both girls were bubbly and really sold their products to me, they kept saying, just feel the material, touch it and feel it, it, At that point I had to say to them sorry it will not sell on eBay and oh dear we almost had tears, and before I could explain they said they had invested their savings and their business mentor told them it would. So I sat down with them and explained, they had an excellent product great marketing, but it was a product that needed to be sold by feel, touch and using it. (They were gaming bean bags and baby bean bags), and while they would sell a few on sites such as eBay and Amazon their main market would be shops, shows, and places where people could experience the product in real life.

I spoke with them just the other day to see how they were doing, and they thanked me so much for the advice I had given them and they were now selling the items into high street shops and had other shows all booked up and they were selling them.

So in closing, do all products sell on eBay …yes, but at times it is hard going as the product needs to be seen and felt to really buy the product. So when you are out there sourcing your products keep that fact in mind.

Happy product sourcing.

 

As an eBay consultant one of the things we tell clients, is to make sure that they spell titles and descriptions in the correct way, and explain why they need to do this. But as a buyer,  spelling mistakes equals profits on eBay.

My Auction Empires, eBay Consultant, Andrew Milburn, eBay Training, Spelling Mistakes equals profits on eBay

Everyday on eBay, people will list items with badly spelt titles, poor descriptions………quite often these are a mistake due to a listing being done in a hurry, and the person doing the listing just did not have the time to proof ready the title or description and very often do not realise the mistake until the item does not sell, or it sells for very little.

Other times people will list an item and spell a brand name wrongly, or spell an artist name incorrectly, now you may think that this does not happen very often……….well think again. Everyday many thousands items are listed wrongly with a bad spelling or brand name spelled incorrectly.

So how can spelling mistakes equals profits on eBay ? There are many ways, the hard way is to just go on to eBay and do a search for items ending soonest then look for ones with no bids or badly spelt listings, but yes this takes time and is a lot of work, There is a range of free software out there that helps you source these products with just a few mouse clicks. One of the best ones I have found is http://www.fatfingers.co.uk/ it is free and fast and will always bring you a list of items for sales that you can buy at super low prices.

So if you are looking at new ways of buying items to re-sell have a look at the spelling mistakes equals profits on eBay idea and see if you can make a nice profit. But one word of advice you need to use two eBay accounts to do this. One to buy on and one to sell on. This way people will not be able to see that you bought the item at a low price, changed some spellings and then re-sold at large profit.

 

As an eBay and Amazon Consultant we get asked many questions but when you look at the questions as a whole they are very often the same thing, just asked in different styles. Over the past few months one of the top questions I get asked is “Does retail arbitrage really work” ? And I can answer yes it does work, but you do need to know what you are doing.

FBA Pic

It does not matter where you live in the world you will have access to retail shops where they sell items and all through the the year these offline shops have sales, or they are discounting items or even better they are discontinuing a item due to poor sales in the store. And it is important to note here in that store. Although the item may not be a hot seller where you live, it may be a mega seller somewhere else in the world, and people are willing to pay over the top for it. This is where you can come in and make some good money – but as with anything you always need to be careful and never invest money for stock that you cannot afford.

Retail Arbitrage is a fun side of product sourcing it can be done whenever you are out in a retail shop. You need to get to know where the different store put their items they have discounted for sale or where the end of line products are put, and on a regular basis visit those stores and buy up any inventory that you know will sell. (You know this by using a scanner and programs such as FBA Power)

Another side to Retail Arbitrage is where you keep a look out in your local paper and local radio for stores that are closing down or running a deep discounted sale, you need to note these in your diary and note the time the store opens and get their early. You normally have a few days notice of these sales, so this lets you see what will be sold then check on sites such as eBay and Amazon and as long as there is some decent product  in the items get along, but some and get them listed on eBay and Amazon – and very soon you will see the money and profits starting to grow.

In today’s Retail Arbitrage article keep a lookout for those coupons that are offering money off items, if you can buy at a low enough price from a retail store and the price is higher on eBay and Amazon then again you are in the money. So does retail arbitrage YES it does and as an eBay and Amazon consultant it is something I recommend to my clients to try.

<