importing products and selling on ebay

pokerface11

just heard a friend on about this . what are peoples opinions on the relistic potential of importing goods and selling online in ireland.Is our market too small and taxes too big for this to work. By importing a success product would it be possible to even earn 300+ a week. obviously researching thoroughly and sourcing quality products from say china. I know one would have to be careful from scam wholesalers etc.

AARRRGH

Can they buy the products on ebay already? If so, will your prices be cheaper?

Is there a strong demand for these products?

TheCraftsDirect

Very easy to make 300+ on ebay in a week, i do it regularly. Pick a good product, market it well, keep your feedback in the + and you're good to go.

scottyboy1973

eBay will also give you access to a defined target group - people who shop on eBay already. this will drive down your acquisition cost (ie pay per click on Google or Facebook) as you dont have to drive traffic to your own site and will make your development of a profitable business that bit easier.

But as a few previous have mentioned - it has to be a product in demand or something that is slightly differentiated against whatever your competitors are selling.

Put yourself in the shoes of your customer, go onto ebay (in whatever countries you are planning to sell to) and do the searches they might do if they were searching for your item. This will give you a good idea as to what your likely/competitive sale price will be and, when compared to your purchase price (don't forget about adding VAT, shipping and Excise tax to whatever you are importing) will give you your margin.

Also, dont screw people on the P&P. I know some see it as an easy way to make a bit mroe cash but I think it jsut p1sses people off to pay €3 P&P and, when the item turns up it has a 95c stamp on it!

There are a few good eBay books available on Amazon.

Good Luck - ScottyBoy

scottyboy1973

TheCraftsDirect wrote: »

Very easy to make 300+ on ebay in a week, i do it regularly. Pick a good product, market it well, keep your feedback in the + and you're good to go.

What do you sell?

Cianos

Be very careful about who you're buying from in China. The only real way to know for sure about the legitimacy of a manufacturer is to visit their factory and know what to look out for.

scottyboy1973

Cianos wrote: »

Be very careful about who you're buying from in China. The only real way to know for sure about the legitimacy of a manufacturer is to visit their factory and know what to look out for.

I agree. but if you're just dabbling to dtart with and dont want to invest a few thousand € in travel and hotels, you can ask suppliers you find to send you samples. generaly they charge a little more than hte listed price but better you're stung for that than a large consignment of a load of rubbish

Ive been getting a lot of mails recently from a crowd called esources.co.uk. I know nothing about them and they are a middleman so will reduce your margin take

pokerface11

scottyboy1973 wrote: »

I agree. but if you're just dabbling to dtart with and dont want to invest a few thousand € in travel and hotels, you can ask suppliers you find to send you samples. generaly they charge a little more than hte listed price but better you're stung for that than a large consignment of a load of rubbish

Ive been getting a lot of mails recently from a crowd called esources.co.uk. I know nothing about them and they are a middleman so will reduce your margin take

would it be beneficial to join the likes of salehoo or alibaba. I presume if one just picks a few products that are unique in demand and start selling. for example if one had to bring in 10 pairs of womens boots say for 30 euro, how much would customs, tax and delivery be on top of this . trying to get an idea of margins etc.

scottyboy1973

pokerface11 wrote: »

would it be beneficial to join the likes of salehoo or alibaba. I presume if one just picks a few products that are unique in demand and start selling. for example if one had to bring in 10 pairs of womens boots say for 30 euro, how much would customs, tax and delivery be on top of this . trying to get an idea of margins etc.

Yes, you would have to pay whatever the VAT level is for that item and what the customs exise duty is. have a goo at revenue.ie for more info.

Re AliBaba, my experience has always been that they want to deliver in large volume which is why, to start with it might be worth going to a distributor to buy in loweer volumes. once you find what works, you can go to the big boys thorugh alibaba and order a container full. One thing on that, it;s well worth paying for an inspector to check the order going into the container so you know that a)you're not getting an empty container b)what is supposed to be in it is indeed in it and c) the condition of the goods is good and that they are well packed.

The Guvnor

I think IIRC esources.co.uk is a paid member site. Once you pay you get access to wholesalers, distributors etcetera many of whom are based in the UK.

Atlas_IRL

I know someone that gets 500+ a week on Amazon with one product alone.

Alao they have a service where when you get your goods(Alibaba or wherever) you just repackage them, send them to Amazon warehouse and they will do all the work for you. Sit back and watch the moolah flow in.

The Guvnor

Atlas_IRL wrote: »

I know someone that gets 500+ a week on Amazon with one product alone.

Alao they have a service where when you get your goods(Alibaba or wherever) you just repackage them, send them to Amazon warehouse and they will do all the work for you. Sit back and watch the moolah flow in.

I read that as well about Amazon Warehouse, not sure if this is just a US service for now but certainly a worthwhile thing.

Atlas_IRL

No its here as well, im not sure if he sends them to the UK or Ireland but the service is here, its on their website. As soon as it became available here he jumped on it and is doing very well.(Pays his rent and he doesnt need to work during college.)

Before that he sold hs goods to shops and pharmacy's but that dried up with the recession. Ebay and Amazon have the marketplace to get you a lot of visitors.

pokerface11

can anyone simply explain the VAT situation on this process of importing from wholesalers and selling online or even to retailers? When does one have to register for VAT? Is it worth doing so? Can a person import products and sell online without doing anything with VAT?

MOH

pokerface11 wrote: »

can anyone simply explain the VAT situation on this process of importing from wholesalers and selling online or even to retailers? When does one have to register for VAT? Is it worth doing so? Can a person import products and sell online without doing anything with VAT?

If your turnover is less than 75k per year, you don't have to register for VAT (thoufgh you can if you want to).
Assuming your wholesaler is VAT registered, they'll charge you VAT (at their local VAT rate) which you can't claim back, but as you don't charge VAT on your sales your sale price can be higher.

If you do register for VAT, you charge VAT on your sales, and pass that on to Revenue. But you deduct the VAT you incur in your business costs.

I'm a bit iffy on this bit, but as I understand it:
EU imports will be zero-rated, so you don't pay VAT to the supplier. But you are then liable for VAT on those at the Irish rate of 21.5%. However, that full amount is deductible. You then pass on the VAT you receive from sales.
Not sure what the story is with extra-EU imports.

My two cents:
If you're importing within the EU from somewhere with a VAT rate lower that here (e.g. the UK is 15% at the moment), you're probably better off not registering for VAT.
Not VAT registered: buy €100 worth of stock, costs you €115 with VAT, sell for €243, profit €128
VAT registered: buy €100 worth of stock, don't pay VAT to supplier. €21.50 due to Revenue is immediately deductible. Sell for €243 (€200+43 VAT). Pay Revenue €43. Profit €100.

Of course, there may be other factors, like business costs (other than stock) with large amounts of VAT which you might want to claim back, so you might be better off registering.

This is the Revenue VAT guide for importing within the EU, and this covers imports from outside.

Andy_Black

Hi,

I've not got into eBay yet, but attended a 1 hour seminar about how to sell on eBay. Aine worked for eBay before setting up her own consultancy to advise and help others to use eBay.

She seemed very knowledgable and approachable.

Their website is www.encorebiz.ie

I hope that helps.

Andy


Grow Your Business With Digital Insight
www.digitalinsight.ie

scottyboy1973

Re training, our local County Enterprise Board (Fingal CEB) is running a two day eBay training course for €100. Id guess that the other CEBs are running something similar so maybe worth a call.