Preface:
Before we go anywhere with this I would like to make it clear that you will not find a personal link at the bottom of this article instructing you to register for courses for a small fee so I can help you become rich. When I started my eBay journey I read many articles and watched many videos, and almost all required some kind of incentive to reveal more "secrets" to me. Some even promise you MILLIONS, others simply give you the most generic advice you can find on a fortune cookie.
Background:
Maybe I'm special because it took me 8 years to finish a lousy business degree from a very expensive university. My cumulative GPA was 2.8 and it was as low as 1.7. Continued pressure from family and friends push me to remain in school where I was failing, borrowing, failing, borrowing, switching major, failing, switching majors again...until I finally shitted out a business degree with 30k in debt so my family and society can accept me.
I couldn't find a decent job and ended unemployed then working in a warehouse as a seasonal rep. I saw the large volume of online sales that can come from selling goods online and received my inspiration from that to sell on eBay.
Why is my background story important? Because you need motivating factors and inspiration to begin!
How I did it?
For us average people, the process is simple. Buy cheap then sell fair is the core of your business model. That is the most basic plan of beginners. So let's build on that.
My first sale:
I went to a local thrift store. Purchased an ice cream maker in October for $8; sold it for $9.5; paid $3.5 for box to ship it in; paid $8 for shipping charge; and about $1 selling fees. Obviously I lost money on this sale and nothing made sense about anything I did there but I was excited. Hearing the "chin chin" sound on the eBay app was music to the ears and I was not in any way disappointed that I didn't make money. My intention at first was to learn and making money was not a priority. I knew that I needed to get much smarter, and fast because I was nearly broke and couldn't afford to spend lose too much during the learning curve. Here's the steps that I needed to take:
-Where can I buy from with decent profit margins.
-Where do I get shipping supplies because they are expensive and each cardboard box can cost up to $18!!!
-Where do I store and transfer my inventory at a cost effective method.
To be continued on 11/18/2017