starting ebay business

Ghoul

hi am new to all of this but looking into starting a business selling on EBAY. now the thing is I am on disability at the moment and am wondering if I apply for a vat number what effect would it have on my pension. Next what requirements are needed to apply for this vat number. lastly is there anything else I need to fill out or have done

thx in advance

mrawkward

Type of Pension or disability benefit? What are you on?

Ghouls35

ok mate thanks for your reply what I am on is disability allowance if that helps also for some reason I couldn't log back in under Ghoul so had to make a new account Ghouls35 just in case you wondering

jimmii

For general businesses there's no real requirements to register for a vat number other than being a business only thresholds at which point you must register.

Ebay was how I really started out. Back in the day years back I used to be an eBay trader in baseball cards that was back some time around late 90s early 00s and then there was a series of postal strikes and that kind of messed it all up! I still have a few thousand cards in the cupboard! There's a guy in an office where we are who trades mostly on eBay and Amazon seems a lot tougher than it was 16 years ago that's sure sure. Have fun!

mrawkward

Your benefit is means tested but you can do some work

Income from work
You can do rehabilitative work (which includes self-employment) and earn up to €120 per week (after deduction of PRSI, any pension contributions and union dues) without your payment being affected. You notify the Department of Social Protection before you start work.

50% of your earnings between €120 and €350 will not be taken into account in the Disability Allowance means test. Any earnings over €350 are fully assessed in the means test.

People on Disability Allowance are eligible for JobBridge - the National Internship Scheme.

More information is available in our document Disability payments and work.

Axwell

Source for the above which has the info and docs

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/disability_and_illness/disability_allowance.html

Ghouls35

ok lads thx for the replies much appreciate it. now I am a bit OCD but so what do I have to do. have I to register as a sole trader and get a vat number to start this EBAY business or is there another way as im only aloud to earn 120 euro extra so as I can keep my disability allowance. also how much does it cost for both sole trader license and a VAT number.

anyway totally new so be lenient on me any info is good info in my books

thx again

mrawkward

Read this http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/tax/income_tax/taxation_of_self_employed_people.html

You only needn to register for VAT if your sales are above approx €6000 per month...unlikely

Costs nothing to register a a sole trade with revenue.
If you want to trade under another name other than your own, like JAZZY STUFF you will need to register a business name with core.ie https://www.cro.ie/Registration/Business-Name

ironclaw

Before you go down the route, I'd assess your market pretty carefully. Are you selling a niche product or are you drop shipping? I sold USB keys on eBay and drop shipped them out of China. Was good fun and I made a few bob at the back of lectures but serious money it was not. Remember, you are up against 100s of 1000s of others on eBay, many of them operating out of low cost centres such as China which you can never, ever compete against in terms of margin. The only way to compete there is to either drop ship at low margin but high volume, or buy in bulk, get the product into Ireland and then sell with the unique selling point that you can have the product to someone next day. The issue there is your need to ride the trends e.g. iPhone cables, In Car DVRs etc. Your set up cost is also going to be really high.

If your product is niche e.g. You make it yourself, local crafts etc, then eBay is not the route to take whatsoever. People will never find your product, unless its incredibly specific, and if it is, you need to ask yourself do you have a market to sustain your time and effort to sell it. If you are selling a niche product, you'd be better off with a simple website and PayPal / Stripe check out. This is not difficult to set up, there is plenty of material online. You can then compliment it with a facebook page (or other social media / SEO)

Post up an outline of what you are trying to sell as eBay is really only suited to incredibly niche or low cost, high volume.

Ghouls35

that's what I mean I haven't decided what to sell I was just looking into working with a disability could I do it. now im not out to make thousands just want to supplement my disability allowance and the 120 euro a week extra would be fine with me. also people are saying that I don't need a VAT number if I don't break the threshold but when I get in contact with any suppliers or wholesalers they always ask for your vat number. also could someone tell me definitively can I apply for a VAT number and it not impact my disability if as I say I don't reach the threshold as stated above..

mrawkward

Ironclaw gave you some really solid advice about selling on eBay. Nobody on here wants to see a person like you on disability benefit losing money on having stock that you cannot sell. Honestly that is the most likely outcome. Importing and reselling is a very very tough way to make a few bob, especially if you are not doing large volumes.

That does not mean that there are not other opportunities for a home based trading business. Why not get into a specialised line of perhaps even "used" goods. Something from an interest that you have, old gramaphones/vintage HiFi, rugs, collectibles, car baby seats etc etc that you can be bought at low prices and and sold for a decent profit on ebay, DoneDeal Adverts.ie etc.

Ghouls35

yeah I know its a big risk but all I am talking about here in capital was like a hundred or two and if I hit the mark maybe scale up from there. so anyway I respect your opinion so tell me straight out is this wishful thinking or what. I wont mind if your reply is negative

cheers once again

Ghoul

ironclaw

What are you going to sell? Only by knowing that can we progess and give you solid advice. If you are talking of an investment of sub-€1000, I'd be interested what suppliers and wholesales you are approaching and for what products (Hopefully not outside Ireland / EU as you have issues then)

You mention you only want to make a small income but remember to factor your time. Its all well and good making €200, but if it costs you 40 hours to do it, whats the point?

mrawkward

Ghouls35 wrote: »

yeah I know its a big risk but all I am talking about here in capital was like a hundred or two and if I hit the mark maybe scale up from there. so anyway I respect your opinion so tell me straight out is this wishful thinking or what. I wont mind if your reply is negative

cheers once again

Ghoul

Perhaps I was being too subtle, not something I do well.
I essentially already told you that I think your idea is crap. I suggested some alternatives that strike me as being possibilities with smaller risks. This is not an area in which I have expertise/experience, but in the hope that others might add better options!

Ghouls35

yeah ok mate we are all here to help each other out the wholesalers I am looking into are got from esources.co.uk now its a pay site but I have looked it up on trustpilot for reviews also for reviews here wholesaleforums.com I cant enter the links cause im a new member of board.ie. if you need the links pm me. I was thinking of selling batteries, drones or android TV boxes now im only researching at the moment and my product choice might change so any input is good input.

let me know your opinion

ps I didn't bite the bullet and join esources as a paid member but as I said it looks promising and when I do join ill keep everybody informed

Ghouls35

only noticed your post mrawkward lol ill fully take everything you say into consideration at least you made me laugh

ps lol

ironclaw

Ghouls35 wrote: »

yeah ok mate we are all here to help each other out the wholesalers I am looking into are got from esources.co.uk now its a pay site but I have looked it up on trustpilot for reviews also for reviews here wholesaleforums.com I cant enter the links cause im a new member of board.ie. if you need the links pm me. I was thinking of selling batteries, drones or android TV boxes now im only researching at the moment and my product choice might change so any input is good input.

You have absolutely, positively no way of meeting the margins of other sellers, especially those based in China. Check out AliExpress.com for example. You can buy iPhone cables by the 1000s if you wish.

As a case study, assume you can get cables for €2 each, delivered to your door. You need to sell them at perhaps €4 to make a profit by the time you post them. Someone else will be able to buy them in bulk at 50c a piece and sell them for €1.50, at far lower postage costs purely from location and volume.

You're sunk.

Thats for low value items, take your example of an Android TV box, perhaps €20 a piece. You can walk into a bazaar in Beijing (I have) and you can buy them by the lorry load for maybe €5 each.

Now, assuming you could meet the margin by perhaps doing high volume or carving a niche of 'next day' service in Ireland, you need to summount:

- Someone willing to pay a premium for the same product they can get cheaper (The text book example of a nigh impossible sell)

- Someone actually finding your product, out of millions on eBay, and buying it.

I cannot stress enough how you should not embark on this venture unless a) you have a niche product that has a proven sales record in Ireland and b) you can get stock without on going costs. You should not be paying for access to suppliers!

Selling on eBay was a nice activity in the early to mid 2000's. The world is global now, you just cannot compete.

Ghouls35

ok that's fine mate I get your point. that's why I posted here before I went a head and did anything. cheers again for all your input ill scrap the idea lol. but if I hadn't asked I would never have known

cheers

ironclaw

Don't scrap it Ghouls35. Pivot and think about it. The greatest way to make money is sell people back there time. If you can save someone time, you will make money.

jcon1913

ironclaw wrote: »

Don't scrap it Ghouls35. Pivot and think about it. The greatest way to make money is sell people back there time. If you can save someone time, you will make money.

How about buy cheaply online, sell using small ads, maybe using a notice in the community noticeboard of your local supermarket. Android box - buy online for €5 transport to Ireland for another €5 sell it for €20 and for an extra €20 set it up(?). Anyway just a thought.

Ghouls35

ok so the first idea is crap in everyone's mind but how about testing the market drop shipping I know your money is less than when you buy in bulk but at least you can find out what sells. also what do you think about esources and another one is wholesaledeals you seem to know what you are saying ironclaw so would appreciate your input and everyone else's


ps if its crap tell me lol

mrawkward

http://www.coolfunnyjokes.com/Funny-Jokes/Religious-Jokes/The-Big-Flood.html

Ghouls35

ok so im clutching at straws here with these ideas thank you mr akward so what I think is I have to do is tons more research and as ye say revise my plan. so im after downloading two ebay books and lets call them two video tutorial's got them for free but don't think im aloud to say where I got them on this site. ill post some of there ideas here after I have a gander at them. ofcourse im taking these books with a pinch of salt but who knows they might contain good info they claim to be from successful ebayers.

that's all for now

cheers

hairyslug

Keep on clutching at straws and hopefully one will turn out good. Learn to sell yourself and your idea to suppliers, treat it like an interview.
As for shipping and competitors from Asia, a lot of people will pay a premium for a faster delivery date and the "belief" that a product may not be from China (not knocking Chinese goods).
Have a look at Fulfillment by Amazon, granted margins are higher for more expensive items especially if they are physically smaller but it's another avenue to go down.

ironclaw

Check out DX.com and WsDeal.com. Both of them offering Dropshipping (or they used to) You are quite right to check out what sells, pick a different or unique product and try your luck. The extra margin you pay in terms of DropShipping (versus buying stock yourself) is the insurance for not being left with stuff you can't sell. For me, it was USB Keys that looked like car keys e.g. A BMW car fob. I was the only one on eBay flogging them, so I did well for a little while.

Two issues to note however:

- People are more savvy now. 5 years, my mother would have no idea how to buy something online. She's now pretty handy in terms of eCommerce. People search and look for bargains, they have begun to realise the power of Google and social media e.g. Anyone bought one of these? Oh, check out XYZ.com or whatever.

- Delivery times. You need to be careful as DropShipping can be really slow. I'd recommend the fastest delivery time and get insurance. People won't be happy when a product 'in Ireland' takes two weeks to arrive. Clearly state you 'keep your prices low and ship from China' or whatever.

fiload

Did the whole eBay thing a few years ago and made a good bit of money at it myself, left it go by the wayside as I knew the venture wasn't really as scalable as I'd like.

I like your idea of android boxes, there are many people selling them already but still margin to be made. Set up a facebook page and promote it for likes, everyone can use facebook and it's very visible. Try to expand and focus on making your ads appealing and use good photos. I wouldn't really use dropshipping, not going to have any real margin out of it and the shipping times are too long, but could be used to gauge if people want an item or not. Also the point a user made above about competing with China is really irrelevant, people don't want to wait 10/20/30 days for something to arrive. It's bad enough that they will have to wait a day or two but that is your advantage, when you get your days orders pack them up and schedule a time to send them all off before the post leaves. They'll get there the next day if the destination is Ireland and that way you'll get good reviews.

odeamarcas

I'm returning to boards after giving up on it having seen the rudeness & harshness of a couple of posters in this forum. I'm so relieved and encouraged to see the pleasant, supportive and advisory nature of the tone of the contributors on this thread! Where have the ass*holes gone!!

Trojan

I sold off a bunch of old hardware I had lying around in the office on ebay. I tracked my figures out of interest.

Items:
AMD Radeon HD6850
Audio Technica AT2020
2 x Crucial 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM
Logitech Mini USB Receiver
Flip Video MinoHD - I sold it, but had to refund as An Post refuse to ship it as it has a battery

Total sales price: $170 sales plus $22 shipping charged to buyers
Ebay Fees: $9.65
Shipping actual: €39.60 ~ $45 at the time
Profit: €115.40
Time: 2.5 hours total

That number looks good to me for old stuff that's lying around unused in the office. But doing this for a living, buying & selling? I wouldn't like to have to do that.

Also the situation with not being able to post items with batteries? That has to be really messing with SME's trying to export from Ireland.

ironclaw

Trojan wrote: »

Also the situation with not being able to post items with batteries? That has to be really messing with SME's trying to export from Ireland.

Lithium batteries are highly explosive, you could easily down a plane with one. They can burn without oxygen. Portable power packs are banned on some airlines, especially in China for example.

Trojan

ironclaw wrote: »

Lithium batteries are highly explosive, you could easily down a plane with one. They can burn without oxygen. Portable power packs are banned on some airlines, especially in China for example.

Hundreds of people get on airplanes every minute of the day carrying 1, 2 or sometimes more lithium batteries in their phone, laptop and tablets, they're in overhead lockers and in the cargo section.

Other countries mail services accept them. I don't know what's required, maybe a special warning label or specific types of packaging, but an outright ban on exporting them via regular postal service, that's not right.