17 Things I’ve Learned Sourcing OA from eBay

*Click to read the affiliate disclaimer*

(Last Updated On: )

 

If you follow my tweets, you will know that eBay is my favourite source for online arbitrage. There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t buy something from the site. There isn’t a day that goes by when the Hermes woman skips my house.

There are thousands of websites I could buy from, but I resort for the #2 ecommerce site in the UK. Why? Because it’s a gold mine for flippable goods.

No matter what category you specialise in. No matter what budget you’re working with. No matter how big your online arbitrage business is, eBay is the best place to buy things from to sell for profit on Amazon.

I buy elsewhere, so let’s not get it twisted. I even buy from Amazon. But there’s nothing like the steals you can get on the eBay marketplace. Despite having half of the big AMZ’s traffic, it’s beast and is constantly being replenished with more goods.

Thanks to the abundance of casual sellers, the site is completely unique as a business shopping destination, and certainly has its quirks for sourcing.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned:

1. So Much is Waaaay Underpriced

From the 99p auctions to the sub-market value Buy It Nows, eBay sellers are all over the place with their pricing. For new products, sellers tend to match or penny-under the price of their listings. These items usually line up well with the Amazon price. It’s sensible to do it this way. However, a lot of people just throw things up to get rid of them. They may be clearing out, so don’t mind if something goes for low.

Whatever the reason, there’s a lot of it going on.

2. Saved searches are everything

Saved searches are a way to get alters whenever a brand new listing appears for a certain search query. Once you’ve sold a product a couple of times for profit, you can make eBay look out for any future instances of it appearing. When it hits the marketplace at a price you like, you can swoop on in. You can add in negative searches, exact match, and filters to ensure you just get the products you would be happy to buy.
A list of my favourite flips is automatically emailed to me every day directly from eBay. Build up an saved searches list so you can get the same too.

 

3. You Can Control the Price

If you're the only person buying a particular product, you dictate the price. As I mentioned earlier, eBay users often list based on a market value. If it previously sold for £10 you better list it for that or less. Once you find a good selling product, swooping in on each listing as soon as it appears means you keep that price right down. If someone lists it for higher than it should be, let the listing expire, and they'll eventually give in

There's a sealed game that I always pick up for £8 and sell for £24.99. People try it up to £15, and although I'd still make a profit by flipping it, it would cap my profit on that product in the future. I have to let the listing expire in the hope they'll drop the price next time.

 

4. There’s a Spectrum of ‘New’

eBay has guidelines on condition. You become very familiar with them when you buy from this site for business purposes. If we take media as an example, people know that pretty much all CDs, DVDs and video games should be sealed when they get to you. Well some sellers have different ideas. They may use stock images, so there's no way of you telling how it's going to be until you get there.

There shouldn't be ambiguity with “New”. You shouldn't have to guess how New and “New” thing is. You don't when you buy in regular retail sites. It teaches you to be cautious and actually read the descriptions. I've got into the habit of asking sellers if something is sealed, if it's meant to be. It's another step in the sourcing process and it slows things down, but at least it reduces the returns.

 

5. Returns are No Fun

No one enjoys returns. Neither party feels any sense of joy in the process. But it's something you have to get accustomed to if you're sourcing from eBay. So many people just don't know what they're doing.

Instances like the sealed media case are easy to clear up; request a return for a full refund with an image of the offending item, decline their inevitable request of a partial refund, and get your money back when the item hits their doorstep. It would be nice if we cut all of this out though.

 

6. eBay Hides Listings from Search Results

When you list an item on eBay, you expect that it has an equal shot at being shown to users. I've found that when I look to replenish stock from a good eBay supplier, sometimes a title search won't actually shown the product. The only way I'm able to retrieve it is through the item number. This is interesting, considering that you're meant to get a search boost if your multi-unit Buy It Now listing has sold previously.

Many factors must be at play, but it goes to show that eBay's search algorithm is more complex than people make out. It also pays to keep a log of item numbers for listings you plan to return to. Even when the listing ends, you can find the re-up by checking the solds.

7. There are Bundle Opportunities Everywhere

If you're only doing online arbitrage flips with single-unit listings, you're missing out on all kinds of opportunities. When you bundle a pair of the same product together or create some sort of gift set, these convenient packages are easy to mark up for additional profit.

eBay's flaws create benefits for savvy resellers. It's easy for multi-item listings to get lost in single-item ones. While everyone's looking for the cheapest deal on a £12 product, they may not have noticed that a pair of them is going for £14. They then might be going for £28 as a pair on Amazon, so you have a deal on your hands.

8. Automated Stock Images Cause Issues

I get that stock images have been introduced to certain categories, because it makes listing them more convenient. After all, all sealed media should be identical. It turns out that this isn't the case with lots of DVDs. Many get updated packaging for reissues, so won't match the listing on both eBay and Amazon, despite having the same bar code.

You can't sell a product on Amazon that doesn't match the images displayed. It doesn't matter that the content inside identical, so don't take the risk. Thankfully, the same applies to eBay purchases; so always be sure to get your money back if you get sent a version you weren't after (unless of course the ROI on Amazon is the same on its actual product listing).

9. You Can Reclaim Your Own Stock

Amazon is a big destination for gift shoppers eBay is where a good proportion of unwanted gifts go to. FBA products have to be stickered. You can do it yourself or get Amazon to individually label all the items at their warehouses. Spotting an ex-Amazon product from your eBay shop is easy. When you sell rare items, it's easy to identify when your own products have landed back in your possession.

There's a particular sealed deadstock media item from 2005 that I bought from eBay for £10 sold on Amazon for £30. I then saw it appear on eBay again in the same city I sold it in for £10 (back to the controlling the price point). So I bought it again and sold it in the same way. I've got suspicions that this has happened with a few similar products, and it's part of the fun of eBay product sourcing.

10. Best Offer is GOAT

The ability to name your own price on a product is so valuable. If you ever see Best Offer on a Buy It Now listing, it's your duty to claim at least 5% off your purchase. I use that as a minimum, unless I'm buying multiplies or I know the seller, and it helps me to shave loads off my sourcing costs each month. It easily cuts hundreds off stock purchases each year.

On eBay, you also have the power to see just how well a seller is doing. You can check if they're had decent sales recently, how healthy their stock levels are. All of things factors can be used as leverage to suggest a price to purchase the item at.

11. Top Cashback are Good People

Cashback is a bonus saving you receive for clicking through from an affiliate, and it’s essential if you’re an online arber. That saving, rather than being deducted from your basket total, is given to you in cash. Top Cashback is the best UK site to do this with. Money steadily accumulates without any extra input. At standard, the cashback rate is 1% for eBay orders, but I've seen it drift up to 4%.

Just sign up to Top Cashback now. It's free money. You deserve it. All you need to do to claim cashback on your orders is navigate to the eBay page of their website, click and you're good.

12. Sensible OAers are Scared of It

I don't know how it's possible to breed such people, but there are sensible online arbitragers out there. There are those that absolutely will not take a chance on sourcing, because they know that product quality issues can lead to Amazon suspensions. If they don't want to play, good on them. There's plenty left for everyone else.

Sensible OAers don't trust marketplace sellers. In my experience, you're going to have to return more stock than with other sites, but the profit potential blows that completely out of the water.

 

13. Sniping Software is Essential

When you snipe an eBay listing, you use software that places a bid in the closing seconds of an auction. This means you don't have to be there to see the auction close, and you also don't need to bid prematurely, potentially making you pay more than you need to for products.

A sizeable chunk of my eBay sourcing wouldn't happen without Gixen. It's free and a very reliable way to ensure you claim the stock you deserve in the quiet eBay auctions. Manual bidding is for lames.

 

14. You Can Source Deadstock

Deadstock is any product that isn't sold anymore by retailers. It may have come to the end of its run and it's no longer being manufactured, so where in the world are you going to find it again. Are ANY still out there in new condition? eBay is one of the few places that valuable deadstock can still be unearthed. Once you claim it, it's easy to price it extra high on Amazon for maximum profit.

So many people hoard items that they think will have a higher value in the future. They may be disappointed when it doesn't sell for what they expect it to on eBay, but that's only because it's listed for a short while. Once it's on Amazon, it's likely to tank highly on Google and you can keep it on there at a high price until it finally sells.

15. Description Small Print Must Be Read

Regardless of how good your filtering is, eBay sellers love to mislabel their items. Again, I go back to the scale of ‘New' and the stock images. This means that technicalities on the listing may catch you out. “New not sealed” may be skipped discreetly into a description or “cover may be different”.

It's more difficult to return items like this, unless they have a universal return policy in place. It's definitely one of the pitfalls, but something you learn to avoid over time.

16. eBay Sellers Get Petty When They Figure Your Plans Out

Dedicated eBay sellers are great people and deserve props for their dedication to the cause. A lot of them built substantial businesses from the platform and remain loyal to it, despite the fact they could (as they know) sell on Amazon through their FBA programme. Funnily enough, most aren't happy when you buy from them for this purpose.

This is all about good communication. If you find a particular seller often has good flippable deals going on, contact them and see if you can arrange something. A seller that I kept abusing with Best Offer savings decided that rather than accepting my custom, he would respond by hiking up the prices of all of my offers – making them cheap enough to beat the Amazon price, but too expense to sell on for profit.

17. You Can Always Find Something

It’s easily my most consistent source of products. Whereas others may only reveal deals when there’s a good discount code or promotion, eBay just keeps on giving.

If you can't find a flippable item on eBay, you're not looking hard enough. Remember what sorts of people are listing on there. There are so many that post with terrible images, titles, descriptions and especially priced. It's your duty to take advantage.

 

 

Are You Sold?

It’s a no brainer. Don’t leave it out. You’re missing out on all sorts of greatness. It’s about time you took yourself over to eBay and had a look around. Don’t forget to go through Top Cashback and to collect your Nectar points too.

.