Making a living?

[sparegy]

Hi, I am not a new user to eBay, but not a long established business seller. 

I have a query! 

As a business I have access to various suppliers (trade only) who I buy from (mostly domestic appliance spares) .  

My suppliers are very competitive on price, and if you look at high street shop prices there is plenty of room for profit. 

I understand eBay is ultra competitive because of its structure, but making even a small profit is incredibly difficult and you are stuffed if you get a lost item! It then takes another 10 sales of one item to recover the loss!

I get the fact that the lines I sell are flooded therefore the prices are so competitive and other items perhaps can leave better profits?? 

I wondered if anyone would have advise on a good strategy to remain competitive and to make some kind of profit? 

I've adjusted some small parcels to be sent via the cheapest route possible to help.. 

Are people getting that big of a discount on bulk postage? 

Just wondered how others view this? 

Thank you for reading. 

Jason 

[tobiasd4]

You will be better asking on business seller board. 

[sparegy]

Oh! I didn’t know there was one ? Thank you for your reply. 😀

[red_magpie]

Try the business board by all means, but your competitors may not be in a rush to give away their secrets of success!

At least as a business seller your buyers are not surcharged for buyer protection, you can choose which delivery service to use and eBay will allow you to reduce the amount refunded if items are returned damaged.

I would think a big problem for all similar business sellers must be the flood of low cost items from China, often of uncertain quality and safety, with State subsided delivery.