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.