Idea for a ebay business

mikemac

For the past few months, I've been toying with the idea of starting an ebay business. It basically involved 3 or 4 multimedia dvds that I know there is huge demand for.

Two months ago, a guy in England started the same thing. Going by his feedback, and a rough estimation of profit, I'd say he's made £400GBP in two months.

It's not massive money but a handy side income.

If I were to start my shop and it would basically be selling the same products at a slightly cheaper price, can he claim I copied him and get my ebay shop shut down.

Maybe, a stupid question. Anyone on boards have an ebay shop?
I'll google for the info but maybe somehere here has info.

Gone West

of course not.
go for it dude, and good luck!

zAbbo

As long as the DVD's aren't copyrighted.

mikemac

No copyright issues. All above board.

Kind of exciting to start my own little business. This must be how entrepreneurs feel.

I reckon the other ebayer is way overpriced and I could cut margins by 25% and still make a handy profit.

Ruu_Old

Good luck with it, hope it works out.

Nukem

Sounds like a good venture. Any chance you could start an Ltd company and expand in years to come in Ireland. Food for thought i suppose. Best of Luck

the_galway_fry

what do you mean by multimedia?

SouperComputer

I reckon the other ebayer is way overpriced and I could cut margins by 25% and still make a handy profit.

Remember on average you can loose 10-15% of the final value between ebay and paypal fees.

Be sure to consider:

1) Time spent putting up listings and auctions terms\conditions.
2) Time spent dealing with queries\returns.
3) Time spent dealing with P&P at the post office q'ing to send the stuff away.

Work out your costs and therefore profit after all expenses (packing, maybe storage, internet etc), then divide by the time you will spend on on the above. Remember to consider that you may be working "unsociable" hours.

If its around an hourly rate you are willing to work for then go for it.

Bluehair

SouperComputer wrote:

If its around an hourly rate you are willing to work for then go for it.

Good advice that, if by the ops calculations the first seller makes about gbp£400 every two months and you plan to knock 25% off that you're not left with a whole lot bearing in mind the amount of hours you could be putting in for this.

Also don't forget your competitor (who got there first and has presumably generated considerable positive feedback already) can easily match or beat your prices and leave you high and dry.

If it's a small price item (i.e. a few quid) you could easily find An Post prices versus Royal Mail can have a definitive effect on your overall ability to compete.