Need more income - Auction Ideas? Bulk Buying, etc.

[LordX]

Hey all.

Every now and then I hit a slow stretch, and I like to have things to sell on eBay etc. to help pad the income during these times.

I have had small bits of luck over the years on craigslist finding someone selling a large LOT of used systems etc. but this is certainly not dependable.

There is a company nearby that seems to get bulk systems from auctions, but I would love to know where to look so I can be part of these auctions.

Are estate sales/business closings good bets too?? If so, how to find out about them.

eBay doesn't work so well (unless they are listing local lots) as shipping is a nightmare.

Any other ideas are appreciated!

 

[sapphirescales]

Shipping is always a problem as it eats into your profits. It's hard to find something you can sell on eBay and actually make a profit on. I'm surprised you don't have more stuff to sell on eBay just from what you get from your clients. I'm swimming in "for parts or not working" laptops right now and I don't have time to list them! Got probably $20,000 worth just sitting here. And probably about $5,000 worth of old hard drives I need to unload that I got from my most recent batch of SSD upgrades.

Basically if you want to be able to sell on eBay and have any sort of decent margin, you need to get the stuff for dirt cheap (or free!). Or you can do what a buddy of mine does and just list a crapton of stuff for high prices and just wait months and months for it to sell. An idiot will come along eventually. My friend has thousands of listings, but he does sell stuff. He just sold an E5320 for $300 that he bought for $100. $120 would have been a "fair" price as most units go for $100 to $120. But where's the profit in buying something for $100 and selling it for $120? He sat on that thing for nearly four months, but he's laughing all the way to the bank. The guy's probably got $100k worth of inventory, but he sells about $20k/month on eBay asking ridiculous prices.

 

[LordX]

Hah - I have seen those insanely high priced items before - and always wondered how the did that! Like hard drives that are routinely selling for $35 sells for $150......

I do have the old stuff I get from clients that I list on eBay. 1000+ feedback account - so been doing it for years.

Wish I had the inventory of stuff you do.

Care to bulk ship me those hard drives at a bargain price?

 

[DataMedics]

Like hard drives that are routinely selling for $35 sells for $150......

That's when it's a rare submodel and the seller actually knows what they have. Certain companies like Donordrives.com make their business out of stocking rare drives and selling them to us (data recovery companies) for a premium. We try to avoid buying from them at all cost and prefer to just buy on ebay. But, when you can't find a particular drive you need, and it's a rush project, you shell out the $275 to get it from them. Regardless of the fact that it was a $75 drive when it was brand new.

It is price gouging for sure, but I'm still glad they exist since it means I can get what I need in a rush (provided customer is willing to pay for it).

 

[Bryce W]

If you already have stuff to sell, do it for sure.

But buying stuff TO sell on eBay, I dont think thats a great idea. (beyond a few niches the others have mentioned).

Basically, you are up against any grunt on eBay who is willing to work for less than you. And I find the Chinese sellers are always willing to work for less than us westerners do, so I find fighting that battle is never worth it.

I think your time is better spent marketing your existing business, building trust with your clients and charging a premium for that, rather than nickel-and-diming on eBay.

 

[HCHTech]

Basically, you are up against any grunt on eBay who is willing to work for less than you. And I find the Chinese sellers are always willing to work for less than us westerners do, so I find fighting that battle is never worth it.

Not to mention the constant stream of communication before and after a sale. I spent a few months trying this when I first got started, what profit there was, was absolutely not worth the hassle.

 

[Your PCMD]

I'm with @sapphirescales on this. I was swimming on HDD's to the tune of 300+ from upgrades to SSD's and "for parts" as well as "you can have it". Ranging from 250GB to 2TB drives. I just sold the whole lot to a company that does refurbished machines for a mere $3.5k for the pallet and another $2k for just over 200 motherboards, CPU's and ram - about 400 sticks, of course, this was after I picked through what I wanted to keep. I now have an empty storage building, but how long it will last is a mystery.

But, if your seeking "parts" to sell, one thing not mentioned is what I do. Hit up the schools and colleges, especially during the middle and end of school year as they tend to get new systems. Well, around here they do. I literally filled up my 32' trailer with systems twice last year filling my 10x20 storage building from floor to ceiling - hence the above. It just took me the summer to go through it all. Not to mention, the e-waste recycler loves me.