Making a living from eBay

ok, I have just started making money off of ebay about 1 month ago. I strictly deal with ipods now. I have done everything from buying in bulk to getting the best suppliers. Anyway, im 23 years old and I really enjoy doing this. I hate working for people and this is great for me. Im really nervous though. I know alot of people make there entire living off of ebay but does this ever make you nervous that one day it could all fall apart? Like what happens if all my suppliers run dry...then what? How do you guys deal with this? thanks

sorry for the weird question

As the saying goes, 'Make hay while the sun shines.'

One day no one will give a crap about MP3 players, or about eBay, or about some combination of things that you might be doing right now to make money. So, when that happens, do something else.

I realise it sounds kind of tautological but that's the simple and direct answer. Do what works, and when it stops working, do something else.


Frank

HI. fm1234 is right. At the rate in which new electronic gadgets are being produced, you won't be able to depend on that to produce income for very long..I remember when the first xbox came out and everyone was rushing to find a supplier for them, but you can hardly give them away today..

What you should try to do is have about at least 3 streams of incomes and/or products. That way if one suddenly dries up or you loose your supplier for that stream or item, you still have income being produced by the other two while you search for a replacement product for the one you lost...It's the old 'don't put all your eggs in one basket' thing..

The internet market place changes at lightning speed and you have to be able to adapt and change on the fly to keep up, so try and make your stragety a 'plan ahead' type and you should be fine...

There's also another saying 'don't put all your eggs in one basket'. As mentioned above today's hot item is tomorrow's obsolete item. Who wants a Walkman now or an electronic organiser? iPods are a great item and it seems everybody wants one, but the competition is so fierce that soon there will be no profit at all in selling them because of the cut-throat competition. Some of the Chinese manufacturers are selling them on eBay now and nobody can compete with their prices. Keep adding new items. As for eBay, it's here to stay! There are other sites on which you can sell your items but eBay still gets the most traffic.

Well! What can I say?
Don't limit yourself to what works for you now. Always look further than your nose. Adapt and overcome. Or like Van Halen say: You gotta roll with the punches!

Don't limit yourself to ipods and start thinking about negotiating better deals with your suppliers and try to go local instead of Ebay. Only then you will see a better margin of profit.

Hey Allcomcb

Could you hook me up with one of your supplier? I am still looking for a supplier of ipod whose price would allow me to make a decent profit on ebay.

Regards

Another Saying is:

In order to be successful in life,
you must be able to take 'RISK'.

John(bacpro)

You will increase your chances of remaining successful if you constantly source product. Then, when the ipod well runs dry, you're already ahead of the game :)

The best thing I can say is to spread out. If your making good money on 1 items use the profits to move to other areas. Never just sell 1 line of products, always expand. Keep with trends to make your profits. Always be on the move. :D

Excellent advice from all they key thing when selling online is to have multiple streams of income..... If one quits producing its easy enough to say oh well and plug something else in.......... The internet is endless as long as your willing to work and service the orders.....