Lalaloopsy dolls are doing well on eBay right now and you MAY be able to find these at retail stores such as WalMart, Target, and Toys R Us. These toys are in short supply, which indicates the prices are going to increase. As supply decreases, price and demand will increase. Remember Econ 101? Even the media is talking about these dolls:
Mittens Fluff N Stuff sells at Toys R Us for $24.99. As you can see, the item is out of stock online and for in store pickup:
This doll recently sold on eBay for $56. Prices are all over the board right now and have gone over $100 in the last week.
Sugar Cookie is another one out of stock on Toys R Us:
And one sold on Sunday (11/28) for $38.02 - BUT - look at the shipping charge - $22.35? They made a nice profit on the shipping mark-up!
Pay attention to these by searching the completed listings on eBay frequently.
Here is a cool trick for using eBay to obtain inventory to sell on Amazon, especially books. If you are looking to get into the book business selling used or new books on Amazon, you can do this at home, at your convenience, without a special book scanner.
If you aren't selling books already, you will need to poke around on Amazon and look for books that are selling for $20-$30. (Click here for the types of books and categories to look in.)
If you are already selling books on Amazon, pay attention to your sales reports. When you sell a book for a high price on Amazon, go look for it on eBay and see if you can buy it at a low enough price to resell it on Amazon for a decent profit. For example, I recently sold the book, "Disney's Aladdin - The Making of an Animated Film." Here is a screen shot of the Amazon sale:
My profit on this item was $23.44 after my cost and Amazon fees. I consider that a high profit book sale. Next, I checked on eBay for this book, and found the following listing:
This book on eBay would cost me a total of $6.34. So, I can buy this book on eBay, receive it in the mail, and list it on Amazon for $32.97 (the same as my other sale). When it sells, I will make a profit of $20.34:
Cost to buy on eBay = $6.34
Amazon fees after sale = $6.29
Total investment = $12.63
Amazon sale price = $32.97 - $12.63 = $20.34
The moral of this story: Pay attention to your sales and scope out eBay for the product. Many sellers don't know how to price books and don't know their value. You can snag some high profit books very easily and resell them without ever leaving your house!
I love flipping listings. It is kind of like gambling. (No, I don't need a 12-step program...yet.) This is a great way to get inventory to sell, to try new things, and to leverage the power of eBay. Here is my latest flip and how you can do this, too! Thousands of new listings hit eBay every day, so the opportunity is ALWAYS there.
Here is my flip:
I found this item using a misspelling tool. I use Typohound.com - it is free. I searched for the words "cashmere sweater." The tool generates a list of possible misspellings, including typos, common misspellings, etc. I found this item:
Fatal errors on this listing:
1. Two words in the title are misspelled.
2. No return policy. (Read more on the importance of a return policy.)
3. The shipping is really too high for this item. It only weighs a few ounces.
4. No measurements on the listing. Always include measurements on clothing!
5. Keywords in title not optimized. Did not use the word NEW or NWOT in title.
The starting price was $3.99. I bid $5 using a sniper. You always want to snipe these items because bids on auctions encourage more bids. Stay under the radar and let a sniper win it for you in the last few seconds. I use Gixen.com - it is free.
I received the item in the mail, took my own photos, and relisted it. Here is my listing:
What I did differently (better!) than the original seller:
1. Use the word NEW as the first word in the title. This helps you place higher in searches.
2. Included free shipping. This also helps you place higher in searches.
3. Spelled all of the words correctly, added the color to the title, and used all of the space for the keywords in the title.
4. Included a 30 day return policy.
5. Included the measurements in the description.
6. Included international shipping.
So, did I make any money on this item:
Original cost: $16.99 Listing fee: .20 Final value fee: $3.95 Profit: $11.81
Not a huge profit but this is an example of what you can do on eBay without even leaving your house to find inventory. And you can do this many times a day, every single day. All you need is the internet, time, and your imagination. Some tips on flipping listings.
Focus on what you already know. Brainstorm within a niche you are familiar with. Do you know about books, guitars, cameras, tools, leather goods, or anything collectible? Browse websites that carry expensive products such as Nordstrom, Saks 5th Avenue, Bloomingdales, Macys. Zone in on international sounding words as these are frequently misspelled. Good categories are apparel, shoes, fragrances, cosmetics, electronics, musical instruments, and tools. Avoid handbags and watches as many of these on eBay are cheap imitations and if you resell a fake one, you may be suspended.
Avoid fragile items as they will have to be shipped to you, and then shipped out again to your customer and this opens up opportunities for damage. Choose items that are easy to re-ship.
Create your own list of words to search for arbitrage. The key to this process is knowing what to plug into the misspelling tool.
Do this process regularly. I spend about a hour a week looking for items like this, set up my snipes, and win (or lose) the items throughout the week. This process is not intended to be the base of your eBay business, but is a fun way to find things to resell.
Today's post is contributed by Amanda Moak, an expert on finding and selling Legos and minifigs on eBay. Amanda is an active member of the eBay Stay at Home Mom's group on Facebook.
When it comes to selling Legos on eBay, minifigs are the cream of the crop. A minifig is the term used to describe the little Lego figures or people. Believe it or not minifigs are some of the most valuable and sought after Lego items. The most common minifig buyer is the collector. There are collectors all over the world that seek out and purchase particular minifigs for their collections. Lego sets are constantly being discontinued which makes some minifigs hard to find and extremely valuable.
Star Wars themed minifigs are the most valuable and sought after. The average price for a common Star Wars minifig ranges from $5.00-$15.00 each, while some of the rare ones fetch $60.00-$100.00 each.
Castle and Pirate minifigs, from the 1980’s and 1990’s, are also highly sought after and quite valuable. Minifigs from these themes sell for $4.00-$8.00 each.
Aside from Star Wars, Castle and Pirate minifigs there are various other minifigs you may come across.Such themes include Town, City, Islander, Western, Indian and many more.On average these minifigs sell for $1.00-$3.00 each and sometimes more based on the rarity.
Minifigs have an incredibly high profit margin and you can typically pick them up cheaply in lots at yard sales and thrift stores. Check out Amanda's ebook, Bricks to Riches, where she shares more of her expertise on selling in the Lego minifig niche.
Amanda Moak and her husband Nate live in Gastonia, NC and have been selling Legos on eBay since 2005.To date they have sold over 3,000 pounds and over 5,000 minifigs.In 2009 Amanda quit her job to sell Legos full time.They also run a website Bricks 2 Riches geared towards helping others sell Legos on eBay.
I went over this with a few of my clients this week, and thought I would share.
Craigslist can be a gold mine for inventory if you check often, do your research, and act fast. People are desperate and are selling things cheap. Your eBay selling knowledge (at whatever level) will pay off here. Many people are intimidated by eBay, don't have time to learn how it works, and just settle for selling items on their local Craigslist. By snagging these items cheap, you can make much more selling them on eBay because your buying audience will be exponentially larger than the local Craigslist audience.
Here is how it works.
1. Visit Craigslist for your city or other surrounding cities.
2. Look under the FOR SALE section.
3. Browse through the categories. You will come across things you have never heard of. Do the research (Terapeak or eBay completed listings) to find out what items sell for on eBay.
A few things to look for:
Perfume, cologne, and fragrances
MLM Distributors going out of business (Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, Creative Memories, NuSkin, Silpada Jewlery, etc.)
Coats
Shoes and boots
Sporting goods such as ski equipment, little league football equipment, skates, hunting / camping / fishing supplies, equestrian supplies (saddles, tack, clothing), martial arts sparring gear and clothing
DVD collections
Move out of your comfort zone and try things unknown. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new. 95% of people will retreat to their comfort zone when what they try doesn't work the first time they try it. You have to explore new territory.
Key Points:
1. Check often and act fast.
2. Do the research.
3. Look in categories unfamiliar to you. Then refer to #2.
4. Focus on items that are easy to ship.
5. Be safe - only meet your Craigslist trading partner inside a public place, during daylight, and take another adult with you.
