Personally, I buy, sell, and collect older film cameras, and also Analog high-end audio gear.   Buying and selling on ebay gives me the chance to sample something at little or no cost - I can buy it, use it a while, and if I decide that it's not something I want to keep, I can generally sell it for around the same price I paid for it (Actually, I have figured out how to generally do this for a slight profit, but not enough in and of itself to justify the effort involved).  But normally, outside of ebay, to change brands of camera systems would involve taking a substantial financial loss in the process - ebay eliminates that problem.

There are also certain segments of the market that I specialize in, such as older film cameras that make great learning tools for photo students.  Often, these older cameras are being dumped by owners looking for the newest auto-whizzy everything plastic marvel.  These can be bought up and sold to people who are looking for a good manual camera to learn on, but who want to buy them from a very knowledgeable seller with integrity, which I am (near perfect 99.9% ebay feedback score in nearly 1000 transactions).

But I would never claim that buying/selling on ebay is a self-sustaining business (other than for ebay's stockholders).  Rather, it is a useful adjunct to another hobby or business, in that it serves as a cost effective channel for certain things, provided that you have another reason to be involved with owning or trading those things.

There will always be the pros and cons of both buying and selling on ebay.

I have an acquaintance who was able to quit her full time job after 20 years and maintain her fulltime ebay business, making more money! Since her husband worked, she didn't have benefits to consider, as that's something to remember, too.

My daughter dabbled and did well.

As a consumer, I've been ripped off about 50/50, and that wasn't happening, so I only buy now, not from individuals but from those who clearly have a 'store' or business. Even then, the Customer Service is mediocre. Sometimes the money savings is not worth the longer shipping, mediocre service, and the 'risk'.
Of course, you can address those issues yourself.
Again, I believe ebay has good resources to get your questions answered, and perhaps be in touch with some of their biggest resellers there for some personal consult.

I have two online stores (both now closed while I am out). The first one, I am the second owner. I am glad that he wanted to be sure that I knew that he had always run the store with impeccable customer service and hoped I would maintain that reputation. I have. I received the loveliest email the other day from a customer raving about my store but mostly the service. She wanted me to be sure and let her know when the store reopens and provided all her contact information.
For some the key might be quality of products, for others it may be other things, but one thing is sure - people remember who treated them well, and who provided good service, which to me includes timely shipping.
My other store is a 'baby' and taking baby steps. But, it will get there.
Neither of these provide a means of living right now - they are merely a tax write off, and part time. I do enjoy them though, but they also have their expenses.

There is also a wealth of information on the Small Business website. If you are a woman, they have special loans - the government not only encourages us to own our own business, they really encourage women! Right now, there are more businesses owned by women than men in this country!
Anyway, I'm getting off the topic, but no matter what, it's worth looking into.

I would rather be dead, than be an employee ever again, and I truly mean that! So, do your research with as much drive as you can to reach your own dream - not someone elses.

-- Modified on 1/21/2004 12:14:34 PM

I had a bad experience on purchasing something and because of that experience, I don't trust them any more...

Corey

And have been on ebay since almost it's inception ('96) with a 10k+ feedback. It can be a viable business, you just have to have the product to sell, the sources to buy the product at items below eBay prices, and the patience to deal with it all.

eBay has essentially no barriers to starting (confirm your information, get a password, and add a credit card if you want to sell), but like any other type of business, mastering the process is an entirely different matter. There are problems with scams (both when you're the seller and the buyer), non-paying bidders and non-shipping sellers, and other issues. But it's really no worse than anything in brick and morter - someone can walk into a store and pass a bad check, or just shoplift something.

We sell about $50,000/month on the 'Bay, and have done 5M since we started 7+ years ago, so there are definately buyers and sellers on it.

I do it more or less as a hobby. I buy and sell, and usually my profit turns right back around to buying something. The worst thing for a seller is the non paying bidder and the worst thing for a buyer is the non shipping seller. Recently I've had a rash of late pay or non paying bidders, but I've been very greatful that all the sellers have been honest.

I have been using ebay for about 2 years, and bought a few things other the years.  I have never been ripped-off or cheated at all.  I have in fact gotten some pretty good bargains on some unique items.

eBay is great to sell or buy items that are in limited supply.  You mention that you are selling antiques, which is a great item to sell simply because the rarity of them makes them in more demand, and many more people will be looking at them.  I always look at feedback and will never bid on items from sellers that have any sort of negative feedback (except if the person leaving the feedback has either a 0 or a negative number).  The best thing I found to is to purchase some small items first to boost your rating up, then sell some small items to get your reputation known as a good seller.  Then list the items that are worth some major money.

The major key in listing items that are one of a kind or rare is to make absolutely sure you put many pictures up, and give a very good description of the item.  When you list a CD player that is brand new, people know exactly what they are getting.  When you list an antique item, you need to describe exactly what the item is (including all of its faults).

To be honest I have never purchased anything that is available in retail off of eBay simply because I can usually get it for less money, and more quickly without eBay by using the shopping services on the 'net.  What I have done is call/email the seller, and purchase the item from his stock using a credit card directly, and saved money over retail, and I am protected by my credit card agreement.

Ebay for me is a total hobby, and the only thing I sell is items that I already own that I want to get rid of.  For example I sold an older model Garmin GPS when I upgraded to the newer version, and got 2/3 of the origional purchase price back.  The key in this case was that while it was used and I clearly said that, I had the box, manual, packaging, etc. so the item was basically like new.

I've been a casual ebay buyer and seller over the years and never had any problems at all.

Selling in a retail storefront or a catalogue, etc.. you'll encounter your share of "bad customers" that are tire kicking, don't really have any money, etc..  eBay is no different, but the vast majority are legit.

Selling online holds the same basic principles as elsewhere....supply and demand, quality of product, etc.. all hold true.  Too many people these days put useless crap on ebay and expect it to sell.

There's are at least three "Dummies" book on the subject.

These books are great for quickly getting up to speed on
a topic when you know nothing about it.

Check out the link below.