EBay General: 1488 edition

eBay General: 1488 edition.

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>tfw 1488 feedback.

...

lesson learned: if someone not in the same country starts out as trouble prior to a sale, get the fuck out, it's not worth it.

US seller here, had a guy contact me asking if I would ship a 60 dollar headset to israel, said sure as long as you're okay with the additional shipping costs.

>get address from him, provide cheapest shipping quote, tell him it's the cheapest option
>he agrees, buys listing after a week of messages back and forth
>I go to send invoice with added shipping price, notice the shipping address is to NJ instead of Israel, ask buyer
>"i need it to the israel address not nj", asks if I can ship to NJ instead
>tell him he has to change the address on file for the trasnaction, must ship to addy on file

it took him 2 weeks to get this worked out, I was concerned he was trying to scam me but gave him the benefit of the doubt (they ask you to ship to diff address than what's on file, then argue "it never came" and you have no protection because you didn't ship to the address associated with the transaction)

>After payment, before item is shipped, he asks if I'm interested in only selling the headset and not the charging base as it's a replacement and he doesn't need the charging base
>tell him not interested, item is being sold as complete unit, he says np

Another red flag, the moment I read that message i knew there'd be trouble, cause now hes showing me he didn't want to buy the entire thing IE he's spending more than he really wants to

>yesterday receive message

(Cont)

(Cont)

Him: Hello, I'm very disappointed from the shipping method you have us d. Usually it takes a week to arrive...not in that case.

Me: i told you the quote was the cheapest shipping option possible, which naturally means it will also be the slowest

Him: I'm going to be inNJ next week, I could of save time and money.

Me: Once again sir, I told you it was the -cheapest- shipping option, you did not make any mention of concern for timeframes, and you had me ship outside of the country to -israel-. You also took ~2 weeks to pay and fix the shipping address which caused the package to be in transit during holidays. That did not exactly help the situation. I don't know what kind of time frame you could have realistically been hoping for.

Him: For the next I can advise to ship by yourself.

=====================================

I expect to receive negative feedback from him, possibly a dispute saying the item was damaged / box was empty / other bullshit to try and weasel money back

It's cool though, I'll get the negative removed cause dumbfucks like him are easy to get around normally.


With that said, in other news:

I'm one of the "professional ebayers" that comes into these threads and answers questions lately. I've been expanding operations for the last 6 months or so and just began thew newest steps- some of my inventory imported from china has arrived. I'm excited as all fuck

I've branched out and got new inventory coming in from various new sources (one of which obviously chinese wholesale) and over the next month they're all going to start showing up, this is exciting for me and I can't wait to get everything setup and in place (ie regular rotation of inventory coming in and going out from the new sources)

I think 2017 is going to be an amazing year for me.

I've started turning off international selling on eBay because of this. Even had a buyer still try and purchase an item and complain when he couldn't pay because of the block. Way too many problems and "Lost" packages.

-

How do you decide on items to order from china and where do you store them at?

>israel
First red flag.

When I first started I had non US blocked, but over the years I've opened up the option because so far I've had zero issues with them, up until this guy

otherwise the only trouble I've ever had was once when a package got held by customs, but normally the customers I've had are all very thankful I'm willing to ship to them. This guy is the first of his kind for me, and now I know if they start as trouble, back out.

To answer your question, it really comes from experience. Over the years I've developed an eye for profit making, able to quick price items on a whim and normally be generally correct when guessing an items profit margins. In the last 5 years or so it started getting to the point where I started noticing safe, legal things I could import and sell successfully, so I finally started buying in.

Other then that I'm not going to share specifics, but I will give you a very small hint via pointing you to the first item that lead to my own breakthrough in methods/thoughts:

Razor Blades.

as for storage, I've been running out of my home up to this point. however in the last year things have expanded to the point where I will very shortly have to move to a dedicated location, more than likely renting one of those office spaces available in self storage locations to both store and work out of. Also considering purchasing one of those mini barns to put in the backyard, something large and climate controlled, as I don't like the idea of going back to having a commute to work. We'll see.

Honestly that really was the first warning sign, but I gave in to trust and looks like it may have bit me in the ass.

Just started my business last month, what program do you guys use for writing receipts? I'm writing them from hand right now.

How do you order your stock and who from? I'm looking to do a bit of wheeling and dealing as it were and I reckon I've got a good niche sussed, but can't really figure out where I get what I'm looking for at a reasonable wholesale price.

up until recent my inventory was 75% used and new electronics (mostly well known or decent brands), with the rest consisting of various other stuff new and used and across a wide variety of niches.

only in the last few months have I started out sourcing from china/other outlets, but the rules/methods/specifics looked for are still pretty much the same.

There are no real rules or defined methods for where i source inventory. some regular methods though are:

-storage lots
-local wholesale companies
-direct from makers for products produced in my local area
-live auction
-closeouts
-craigslist
-thrift stores
-garage sales
-flea markets

etc etc etc, I just always keep my eyes open and over the years have developed a sixth sense of sorts that allows me to quickly mentally price stuff on the fly and be decently accurate (enough to not fuck up and take losses very often, rarely in fact)

The same mentality goes for the Chinese imports I'm now doing. I do not corner myself into only using one source for inventory, I will look through any options possible to find connections and try to strike a deal when I find something I like.

I do however suggest being very careful to make sure you don't buy anything bootleg or otherwise illegal to import

DESU this is a horrible question though, "Hey tell me where you get your stuff so I can become competition" - I never understand why people think asking this is going to work and is even worth the time typing it.

This

Hey I'm really interested in selling stuff on ebay. I'm 19 and have a pretty good job, but I want more on the side of it as well. I'm also a full time student studying engineering. Any chance you guys could give me a few tips? Trying to get some money so I can finish my project car.

Just start here:

startupbros.com/how-you-can-make-big-money-importing-from-china-the-rise-and-fall-of-my-empire/

It's one of those things that nobody is going to tell you exactly what to do, because it'd cut into their own margins.

eBay allows you to include receipt..

Just start selling stuff. You'll get the hang of it.

Post here or /r/ebay when you run into a question or trouble.

>be me
>making a living on print on demand. Ebay and other places. 99% US clients
>delayed delivery with 30 customers cause POD company fuck up
>Deliver some 2 weeks late. Refund others
mfw realising (again) that amerifats act like hardarses online, but really are quite amicable people

Missed mentioning the point.
>30 customers have reason to give neg
>0 neg given.

I'm not after your stuff at all though so typing that last sentence was retarded.

it's still an open, public forum for all to see, so yes, still retarded even if that is true. This was more a general statement how every 3rd question I get is the exact same (bad/stupid) question than a personal hit on you.

ebay buyers are probably the worst example of "shitty customers" one can find, they're almost a special breed of shitty customers. My theory is it's because the general ebay buyer is the cheapest of the cheap trying to find the best deal, and as such they're eager to throw fits to get more discounts.

With that said, the nature of your product (with it being a "created on demand as a custom order") probably has a lot to do with your customers being docile. In my experience when people buy things custom order it seems to trigger an understanding and willingness to wait if delays occur.

I'd be willing to bet if you had selection of pre-made things in bulk for quick buys and had the same delay times, at least some would lynch you.

>I'd be willing to bet if you had selection of pre-made things in bulk for quick buys and had the same delay times, at least some would lynch you.


Yeah. Perhaps. I think I just struck lucky though. Still gobsmacked about the fact that I had 30 delayed orders and I am still at 100% positive rating on 1000+ sales.

Next time I'll be more careful.

just like a warn. the course suck ass and it doesnt teach you anything you can found in blogs. they lie a lot about their revenue in amazon too.

eBay is just full of poor eople who shit the bed if their 1PM Saturday order has to wait for Monday's mail.