How to be profitable on eBay with goods from China?

  • avatar

    by: dreamcatcher
    SaleHoo Senior Member
    116 posts

    How to be profitable on eBay with goods from China?

    Posted 5 Jul 09 9:40 pm.

    After checking out Chinavasion, Beltal, and DH Gate, and then checking a few of the same products on eBay, it became clear to me that no one in the USA can buy in small quanties from any of these sellers and compete on ebay. These same suppliers are also selling on ebay for less than the wholesale price on their own sites. So my question is: how to compete? Any special edge?
  • avatar

    by: raiderjake
    SaleHoo Master Member
    247 posts

    Re: china goods.

    Posted 5 Jul 09 9:56 pm.

    i found a few things that you could double your money on ebay from dh gate. though it took A LOT of searching. if you have a few hundred $ to spend i think you could do well. but i never made any purchases though, so its all speculation really.
  • avatar

    by: fudjj
    SaleHoo Staff
    2001 posts

    Re: china goods.

    Posted 5 Jul 09 10:23 pm.

    Wholesalers using ebay as a market place is one of the major reasons that makes ebay the worlds leading wholesale market place, and it makes it hard for smaller sellers to find resources.

    Some wholesalers will happily sell you a product at wholesale price, then turn around and compete against you on ebay under a different trading name so you are none the wiser.

    Most just assume that it's another seller sourcing the product cheaper from someone else, so then they jump on the merry-go-round to try and find the secret supplier.....which of course doesn't exist and just leads to dead ends.

    It's important to remember that wholesale price is usually plenty to make margin on when selling through more traditional offline methods because you aren't competing against your supplier, as well as multiple other sellers in your own local market.

    It's just good business sense for any wholesaler to use ebay to increase their market share, they would be crazy not to!

    Of course most will usually say that the wholesale price they have been offered is not genuine because it's dearer than prices already listed on ebay.

    The price could very well be genuine wholesale, it just won't be good enough to compete on ebay! I would suggest that if you can find a wholesale price close to the same price that is on ebay, then the chances are that it is very much a genuine wholesale price, you just can't compete against a wholesaler with their own products.

    Of course not every product on ebay is being sold by wholesalers, mostly the big selling items are covered, which is why it's a waste of time looking at what the hottest selling items are on ebay.......that's a fools game!

    How do you compete against a wholesaler?

    Only secret that I have is to become a wholesaler yourself, invest the same amount of time and money that the wholesaler has in establishing thier business, and buying in serious volume. Then be prepared to sell at low margins to capture market share with high volume ebay sales.

    Marc Ransom

    Community Manager
    SaleHoo

  • avatar

    by: dreamcatcher
    SaleHoo Senior Member
    116 posts

    Re: china goods.

    Posted 5 Jul 09 10:28 pm.

    thanks jake, ive got a few hundred to expand to a different cattagorie than i normally sell in. but man its confussing as hell!!! seems every product ive found, has a china seller on ebay with a price i could not come close to. even chinavision is selling their own products on ebay!! man thats just dirty. i know my typing is kinda small but i have to mind my manners lol. hey , pre season getting closer!!! allready have my first keg ordered!!! come on down south and we,ll cheer the raiders on in style!!!
  • avatar

    by: dreamcatcher
    SaleHoo Senior Member
    116 posts

    Re: china goods.

    Posted 5 Jul 09 10:35 pm.

    hi fudjj, man you said that right!!! its really a let down to find a product that you think will fly, then to discover that the same wholesaler you bought from is also competeing at a lower price than you paid wholesale!!!!
    so i ghuess find a product, resaerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrch it , and if its a winner buy a truck load.
  • avatar

    by: dreamcatcher
    SaleHoo Senior Member
    116 posts

    Re: china goods.

    Posted 5 Jul 09 10:46 pm.

    fudjj, ive got a quick question. ok im a football fan, and at the game ive noticed alot of those mp3 sunglasses, so i checked them out and found the cheapest prices were from china vision. but of course their are abot 20 china seller on ebay selling at a price i cant touch. BUT, if i purchased a lot of say 20, and had them shipped to me instead of dropshipped, then i could play up the angle of us seller, fast us shipping, no waiting for up to 6 weeks on slow china shipping. you get the point? do you think that would work??
    i really do belive most people would prefer to buy from a us seller.
  • avatar

    by: fudjj
    SaleHoo Staff
    2001 posts

    Re: china goods.

    Posted 5 Jul 09 11:04 pm.

    I think the local angle is always a good card to play, as you say there are always those that don't want to wait, and feel more comfortable buying somewhat locally anyway.

    Having the stock also gives you the flexibility to list in other areas, such as free classified offers in local newspapers and those sorts of avenues.

    When you have the stock ready to send then you should find a market, but don't go crazy with the price, people will pay a little more in my opinion, but there will most definitely be a limit.

    If you're confident that it's a seller, then I would suggest it's worth a risk.

    Here is an interesting angle to look at. You mention the football games where these items are popular, so check out the merchandise stands, see if they are actually selling them there at the game.

    If they are, check your pricing. You may well find that they aren't cheap, they certainly won't be anywhere near as cheap as on ebay in that environment.

    If you find that you have a better source that the seller, work on developing a wholesale deal. That would put you in a very simple supply situation where you could reduce your margin on a volume deal.

    Who knows, never simply assume they are getting the product at the same price as you. Check it out, if there turns out to be an avenue there, there will be other avenues with other stall holders at other events.

    Of course the more volume you purchase in, the sweeter the price you'll be able to negotiate from your supplier, and the better the price.........the more business you would be able to do!

    Just an idea, but as you are one for thinking outside the square I would suggest it could be worth taking a good look at!

    Marc Ransom

    Community Manager
    SaleHoo

  • avatar

    by: raiderjake
    SaleHoo Master Member
    247 posts

    Re: china goods.

    Posted 6 Jul 09 7:04 pm.

    yes preseason is just around the corner! RAAAAAIIIIIDDUUUUUHHHHHHSSSSSS