An eBay wholesale consignment business can be a
lucrative enterprise. Its goal is to find
merchandise owners and sell their
products on their behalf on eBay.
Essentially you would find retailers
and wholesalers that would like to
sell their goods on the auction website.
You would then list their goods,
take care of customer service,
and fulfill their orders.
In exchange for your service you
would receive a commission
on the net amount that the auction
produced.
So if an auction for a Tahari women's suit
netted 60.00 after any eBay fees
and credit card expenses,
you would keep a percentage
of the 60.00 amount as your
commission.
The commission that you will charge
will be negotiated between you
and the owner of the merchandise.
You should consider how much work
will be involved when agreeing on your commission.
I have seen commissions range from 25 to 50% of the
net auction proceeds.
And you might consider offering discounts
in your commission for certain lots,
such as clothing pallets and complete
store inventories. Since the price for these
lots will tend to be higher, it might be
worthwhile for you to sell the lot
at even a smaller commission.
You might wonder why
wholesalers and retailers don't simply
list the merchandise themselves
instead of hiring an eBay seller.
The reasons can vary, from
insufficient time, to lack of
experience, to not having an
eBay account, or to other
factors.
Imagine that there is a dress wholesaler
that is already fully occupied with
the buying and selling of wholesale
dresses. That wholesaler might
be able to benefit from listing his dresses
on eBay, but if he does not have the time
to do so he will have to skip the opportunity.
As an eBay seller you would approach
that wholesaler and offer to sell
his dresses on his behalf on eBay.
It can be a win-win arrangement since
the dress supplier will be able to move
more dresses at no extra expense.
The dress supplier will only have to share
part of the proceeds once the
dresses have been sold.
The eBay seller benefits because she has access to
merchandise without having to pay for it.
Once she sells the dresses
she will have earned herself a nice
commission.
When you approach retailers
and wholesalers, you might get a surprised
reaction as to why your commissions
are so high.
You need to gently explain to
them all the work that is involved
when it comes to selling on eBay.
You will be taking pictures,
writing descriptions, answering
questions, processing the orders,
and handling the shipping
of the orders.
If the owners of the products
are willing to do any of these
steps then you can offer them a reduction
in your commission in exchange.
I would still recommend that you
handle these tasks since as an
experienced eBay seller you
will have a better grasp on the
process than someone who
has not sold on eBay.
So how do you locate retailers
and wholesalers that will
give you merchandise to sell?
You can visit your local shopping
district, walk into stores, and introduce
your services to the store owners.
You can call wholesalers, manufacturers,
brands, and distributors, and let
them know how you can help them.
Now I realize that when you first
start your business people will
be reluctant to simply give you
their merchandise.
After all, they don't know you, and
once the merchandise leaves
out the door, they have no guarantee
as to what will happen next.
You can address this concern
by agreeing to take pictures
of the items on their premises,
and then returning to pick up the
items once you have received
payment from your eBay buyers.
For example, let's say you go to
a shoe boutique and offer to sell
their excess inventory for them.
You can take pictures of the
shoes in their store, create auction
listings for them, and then
return back to the store once
you have received payments
from the auction winners.
You would then pay the boutique
owner and take the shoes with you
and have them shipped out.
One good tip you should keep in mind
is that most shipping companies
will come to you to pick up your
packages. That means that you
can either have the packages
picked up from your facility,
or from the store.
The only challenge with leaving the
merchandise in the location
of the retailer or wholesaler
is that it might get sold
before you have a chance to pick it
up. This should not happen if there
is good communication between you
and the owner of the goods.
Now while you don't necessarily need
a warehouse or store to conduct
an eBay wholesale consignment business
I would still recommend that you
get one. Having a location
gives you more credibility,
as well as gives you the opportunity
to have people visit your location
to give you merchandise to list online.
Although your goal is to source merchandise
that you can list without having to buy it ahead of
time, stay flexible so that you can take
advantage of opportunities.
Imagine you are visiting a wholesaler in New York.
You see a closeout deal that is available
at a really good price, and you are sure
that you can sell it on eBay at a great price.
But the wholesaler does not want to
give you that specific closeout on consignment
since he is sure that he can sell it to his
wholesale buyers.
If you are very confident that you
could make auctioning it online then
you should consider buying it.
Although you will be laying out money to purchase
it, you will also be benefiting from being
able to keep all of the profits on the sale.
I would like to share with you another
important tip.
As your feedback on eBay increases you
will be able to sell more products and
sell those items at higher prices. This is because
bidders will trust you more.
Being able to sell merchandise quickly and at higher
prices is a great service to the owners of the
merchandise.
You have every right to charge them
a higher commission for the quick turnaround
and higher auction proceeds that you
might be able to generate for them.
But before you can start the process you
need to first open an eBay account,
become familiar with the auction site
as a buyer and seller, and build your feedback.
Like every business, the more experience
you have, the better you will be able to serve your
clients. And the better you serve your clients, the
better success you will have.