# eBay !!



## Bthebarber (Jan 21, 2015)

Ok guys I'm having a hell of a time on eBay .. Just starting out as a seller sucks .. I don't know if it's just me or eBay is a horrible place to sell . I'm not doing anything been on there for 2 months and made 130$ . Selling t shirts and vinyl decals .  I feel like I bought thousands of dollars worth of equipment to only fail .... I have to focus online because I have a full time 6 day a week job so my plan was to go online with my business but I feel like I'm in a rut . If anyone could give me some motivation or ideas I would greatly appreciate it ..


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## Mtnview (Nov 5, 2009)

Bthebarber said:


> Ok guys I'm having a hell of a time on eBay .. Just starting out as a seller sucks .. I don't know if it's just me or eBay is a horrible place to sell . I'm not doing anything been on there for 2 months and made 130$ . Selling t shirts and vinyl decals .  I feel like I bought thousands of dollars worth of equipment to only fail .... I have to focus online because I have a full time 6 day a week job so my plan was to go online with my business but I feel like I'm in a rut . If anyone could give me some motivation or ideas I would greatly appreciate it ..


I've seen it too many times to count. People buy equipment and open an online store with visions of dollar signs dancing in their heads. After a couple months they wonder where the money is. 2 months is not a long time in the scheme of business ownership. If you bought thousands of dollars in equipment to operate a part time business you could be awhile in seeing your investment pay off. I don't know what your products look like but there are a ton of people and then some selling the same products you are. 

I am not trying to beat you down more but unless you are selling a unique design no one can get anywhere else what is there to set you apart? Are your prices too high? What are some of the products you are selling?


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## tomdidthis (Feb 14, 2015)

We used to sell a ton of stickers on ebay. Then gradually so did everyone else. Eventually the prices got so low it wasn't worth our while. If others want to sell a sticker for 20p profit that's up to them, but it's not for us.

It is now totally saturated. We used to make a bunch of cash from wall stickers, then the masses came, then the Chinese who manage to sell and ship to the UK for less than anyone here would be comfortable selling at. Nail in coffin.


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## tomdidthis (Feb 14, 2015)

Just re-read that - sounds totally negative! There are however a bunch of other ways to make your equipment pay, you literally don't even need ebay.

We didn't use it at all last year and had our best year yet. The trouble with ebay is it attracts cheapskates, who want cheap stickers. Then complain when it's not delivered next day despite ordering at 9pm.

Do you want to be the guy (or girl) that sells cheap stickers & tees? Be the person that makes good quality stuff that warrants a higher price and you will fly 

Remember, a cheap customer will always leave you for someone cheaper!


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## hextex (Jul 20, 2008)

I agree with the above assessments. Also, how many items do you have listed? I have a friend that offers items (Stickers and such) on eBay and he has over 1000 items listed at any time. It's purely a numbers game with eBay, but, as stated above, prices have been driven to hardly any profit to make it worth your time and effort.


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## Bthebarber (Jan 21, 2015)

Thanks for the responses guys . 
I got into this with the dream of starting my own clothing line . But just wanted to try to use eBay as a easy dollar until the clothing line was a full go . But I have 500 listings right now with mainly funny shirts and car shirts car decals like Honda jdm stuff I hear about people selling 1345366 stickers and shirts a day and I'm having a hard time selling 1 a day . So I got desperate I copi aa listing on eBay for a decal I took his title and description changed a few words and took my own picture listed the item for 10 cents cheaper and I am selling maybe one a day and he's doing around 50 so I'm at a loss for words lol I feel like I failed or it's just not for me


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## hextex (Jul 20, 2008)

It's probably not going to come over night. I read a news article recently about the Etsy boom. It stated that over 60% of Etsy sellers sell less than *$100 per YEAR*, yet you can go look on the front page right now and the first person you click on probably has 500-1000 sales in the last year or so, and there are 50 other people on there selling the exact same thing with 1-2 sales in the past year. Point is, that it takes time to build up the business, and once you start rolling it will come. Just don't give up. Find your niche.


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## Bthebarber (Jan 21, 2015)

hextex said:


> I agree with the above assessments. Also, how many items do you have listed? I have a friend that offers items (Stickers and such) on eBay and he has over 1000 items listed at any time. It's purely a numbers game with eBay, but, as stated above, prices have been driven to hardly any profit to make it worth your time and effort.



Is your friend doing pretty good on eBay ? As far as sales


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## lemorris (Apr 29, 2008)

Examine your titles and your descriptions. You need to include your keywords in both.

That being said make sure you are using good keywords. That all sounds very vague but without knowing your product that's all I can offer.

If you are trying to get sells using the keyword "t shirt" you're going to get your a_s handed to you. You need to be more specific and target your audience. For example if I was selling a Unicorn T Shirt I might make my title "Unicorn T shirt for the ultimate corny fan"

In my description I would include fitment. i.e. small sm, medium med, large lg, extra large xl and double extra large xxl available.

I'd also make sure I did FREE SHIPPING. Cant stress that enough. Folks would rather buy a t shirt for $22 with free shipping than $15 and have to pay for shipping. It's cyber psyche.

You also might want to drill down to the specifics of what you are selling. You are not big enough to be on top under the general stuff. Drill down and get paid.

I sold $2400 worth in 21 days applying this method. I only had 1 sku too. Go figure.

Good luck


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## Bthebarber (Jan 21, 2015)

you definitely motivated me lol . I'm going to go through and redo my whole game plan . And start off with one shirt design and do it to the max !! Wish me luck . I think I'm going to need it lol


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## tomdidthis (Feb 14, 2015)

When re-doing your listings have a think about what you would like to see if you were buying. Don't bang on about it but a short piece on your delivery method, awesome packaging and returns policy saves people wasting your time asking you, or if like me - just going to the next seller that has put the effort in.

Also, no stock or mock images. Take a professional looking photo of your tee on a friend and use it.

If your listing looks cheap, you look cheap.


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## ehas0430 (Dec 24, 2014)

are your mock ups photoshop images or are they real? because in my experiences with ebay having a image of you actually wearing the shirt increases sales by a good 40% atleast in our case it did


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## Bthebarber (Jan 21, 2015)

I bought a cheap manakins from eBay that I was using but tomorrow I'm going to work on taking photos using my wife as a Model  thanks so much for all your help guys I will keep you posted on how everything goes


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## tcrowder (Apr 27, 2006)

why don't you share a link to your items, might get you more insight if folks can see your listings.


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## chunkymonkey (Jul 7, 2010)

Ebay is going through a lot of changes. I have been selling on ebay since 2009 and sales have greatly diminished regardless of my bigger inventory. I only sell a hand full of shirts but my store is not a shirt store. The problem with ebay is not you or your product. It would suck to be anew seller in this day and age as I can imagine it might go painfully slow but in due time your customer base will build and people will follow you. Ebay has a lot of sellers and want's to make everyone happy therefore regulates your items and everyone else. My recommendation on ebay is the shirts you do sell make sure you have a hang tag or business card or even tagless labels with your website on it. If you do not have a website where you sell shirts then I suggest you get one soon. Ebay is a great way to make money but you are not going to get rich from it you need to have other outlets with ebay being one of them. Good Luck.


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## deckfeathers (Sep 14, 2014)

All of the above advice is spot on but even if you revamp your listings without much improvement, don't let it drag you down.
IMHO Ebay is a great place to get your product seen but the worst place to try turning a profit. They take a huge 10% out your total sale price which includes shipping and then sock you again with paypal. Etsy, at 3%, isn't nearly that aggressive from what I have read.

I'm just getting started myself and plan on exploiting as much social media as possible. I don't know for sure that it's the answer but I'm determined to try.

Stay determined.


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