• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Is this a profitable idea? Do you have Exp. With this? Please help

#21
Thats called "Flipping"

You can do it, but it is not profitable at that range...

Although, you could launder money from a credit card into cash pretty easily that way!

And the risk of selling items on ebay over $250 is not worth all the fee's and signature confirmation ...

now, buying a bass for $200 and flipping it for $600+ then yes, go for it.
 
#22
SLaPiNFuNK said:
Thats called "Flipping"

You can do it, but it is not profitable at that range...

Although, you could launder money from a credit card into cash pretty easily that way!

And the risk of selling items on ebay over $250 is not worth all the fee's and signature confirmation ...

now, buying a bass for $200 and flipping it for $600+ then yes, go for it.
Click to expand...

Profitability doesn't depend on a value range. It's all margin. If it's a $25 item flipped for $40 it's just as good as a $200 flipped for $320. Profit margin is the same - you just gotta do it more times with the lower value.

I've been selling hundreds of $250+ guitar parts on Ebay over the past 2 years. Never had a problem. The risk is overblown, especially if you know what you're doing.

I don't understand why everyone advocates the profit margins to be so large. Rarely will anything come up anywhere that can be flipped for triple the value, so waiting around for that one a person can miss dozens of other ones. I've been doing 20-50% profit margins for a while now and I have no problem reaping the rewards that many others ignore.
 
#23
michael_atw said:
Profitability doesn't depend on a value range. It's all margin. If it's a $25 item flipped for $40 it's just as good as a $200 flipped for $320. Profit margin is the same - you just gotta do it more times with the lower value.

I've been selling hundreds of $250+ guitar parts on Ebay over the past 2 years. Never had a problem. The risk is overblown, especially if you know what you're doing.

I don't understand why everyone advocates the profit margins to be so large. Rarely will anything come up anywhere that can be flipped for triple the value, so waiting around for that one a person can miss dozens of other ones. I've been doing 20-50% profit margins for a while now and I have no problem reaping the rewards that many others ignore.
Click to expand...

I am not saying to go for huge profit margins... I am just saying why do something just to do it for a minimal amount.

If someone wants to purchase an item for $200 (are going to have to pay tax too), sell it on ebay for $300... after PayPal Fee's and eBay fee's etc you may come ahead $10... if the risk of loosing your original $200+ investment for $10 is worth it to you then go for it.

I mean, if we want to get into specifics in fee's involved we can...

Ive bought and flipped a lot of stuff on eBay... but with discussion of the items in this thread, to buy something for $200 to sell for $300, you just need to look at what the costs of it are going to be.

There is nothing wrong with buying things to flip them, thats what GC does,,, Last I checked, they have a return policy, so you will just be out your eBay listing fee...

Just look at the total expenses of flipping the items.

The other day I saw a VMJ in a GC used for $200... They go new for $280. I would hope OP would not want to try to flip that... GC probably gave the seller $50-$75 for it...
 
#25
the answer is yes. i have been a "picker" for years. a picker buys low and sells high. my best score was a $10 speaker cabinet at an estate sale with a tannoy silver speaker inside and it sold for $3500 on ebay. the hardest part is- finding the goods at a low price. i would say the best bet is craigs list or auctions/tag sales.
 
#26
Gear_Junky said:
Anyone relying on forum members' ideas for profitability will not do well in business (regardless of how good the advice and accurate the number crunching)
Click to expand...

i first learned about picking on a forum, many years before american pickers was on the air. so there goes your theory... also, he was not relying, he already had the idea, and was looking for opinions. people used to tell me when i was a teenager " dont bother being a musician- you'll never go anywhere" that was many millions ago.
 
#28
Also one has to think about the actual price people are willing to pay,how rare or desirable the bass is

For example the reason the stingrays in our for sale forum aren't selling is because most are being sold for 1000 ,give or take a 100,however what they eventually sell for is 850 shipped depending on the model.

I remember seeing a saphire blue bongo sell for 700 shipped here on tb ,that ad lasted a new york minute, but people remember how low they could get and base their offers their.

With MIA fenders, I noticed that the early 2000s and 90s models will most likely sell around 600 and the latest models around 750
 
#29
Kwesi said:
Even after considering all the costs and such, a huge part of it is supply and demand. Not many things are selling quickly. I have a friend that does stuff like this regularly. He buys from all over the place and sells for profit but only because he deals in a market that is seemingly unaffected by the current economic situation.
Click to expand...

Nuclear fuel rods seem to be holding their prices though - even in this goofy economy.

IOW - you're trying to compete with tens of thousands of desperate individuals who are in survival-mode and trying to unload a lot of their gear to put food on the table.

If anything - just wait a few months until the economy tanks further and you will find a buyer's wonderland.

As for selling it after Mad Max comes through your neighborhood - well that's a different story.

staindbass said:
the answer is yes. i have been a "picker" for years. a picker buys low and sells high. my best score was a $10 speaker cabinet at an estate sale with a tannoy silver speaker inside and it sold for $3500 on ebay. the hardest part is- finding the goods at a low price. i would say the best bet is craigs list or auctions/tag sales.
Click to expand...

I think the in-person seeing an item like that is best at yard/estate/garage sales - since CL is usually full of either 1) scammers 2) idiots with junk in the first place calling everything a Fender or Vintage or 3) outright phony off-shore clones that are about the same as the 'Rocks-In-A-Box' TV sets of a few years ago.

It's not unknown to go to finalize a CL buy and find the guy brought a few friends in ski masks and carrying a Mac10 to steal your money, the car you came in and your girlfriend if she's in the car with you.

Desperate times like these bring out the worst in some people.

Be careful since just ONE transaction that goes bad can offset a lot of the miniscule profit you made on the last sale or if you decide against your superego, any future ones if you should choose to try it again.
 
#30
SurferJoe46 said:
I think the in-person seeing an item like that is best at yard/estate/garage sales - since CL is usually full of either 1) scammers 2) idiots with junk in the first place calling everything a Fender or Vintage or 3) outright phony off-shore clones that are about the same as the 'Rocks-In-A-Box' TV sets of a few years ago.

It's not unknown to go to finalize a CL buy and find the guy brought a few friends in ski masks and carrying a Mac10 to steal your money, the car you came in and your girlfriend if she's in the car with you.

Desperate times like these bring out the worst in some people.

Be careful since just ONE transaction that goes bad can offset a lot of the miniscule profit you made on the last sale or if you decide against your superego, any future ones if you should choose to try it again.
Click to expand...

Oh stop.
 
#31
SLaPiNFuNK said:
If someone wants to purchase an item for $200 (are going to have to pay tax too), sell it on ebay for $300... after PayPal Fee's and eBay fee's etc you may come ahead $10... if the risk of loosing your original $200+ investment for $10 is worth it to you then go for it.

I mean, if we want to get into specifics in fee's involved we can...

Ive bought and flipped a lot of stuff on eBay... but with discussion of the items in this thread, to buy something for $200 to sell for $300, you just need to look at what the costs of it are going to be.

There is nothing wrong with buying things to flip them, thats what GC does,,, Last I checked, they have a return policy, so you will just be out your eBay listing fee...

Just look at the total expenses of flipping the items.

The other day I saw a VMJ in a GC used for $200... They go new for $280. I would hope OP would not want to try to flip that... GC probably gave the seller $50-$75 for it...
Click to expand...

I'm confused at those numbers. So someone is going to buy something for $200 and then sell it for $300, and only come out $10 ahead? Even with Paypal/Ebay fees at the VERY most $30 comes out. I can put in a mere 2 man hours parting, listing, and shipping a $200 item and make at least $70. I'd call that a pretty profitable enterprise. At one point a couple months ago I was doing 4 or 5 a week, making easily $80-$100 each...and that's the low-end.

Tb'ers are always advocating such huge profit margins. Must be all of you guys are doctors, lawyers, and basketball players because I have no problem making $100 on an item while some tb'ers let them float right on by.:smug:

Ebay listing fee is 10-50 cents. I am not scared of losing two quarters.

"if the risk of loosing your original $200+ investment for $10 is worth it to you then go for it."

Risk of losing? There is almost ZERO risk of losing if one knows what he's doing. You made it sound like someone was buying something that rapidly fluctuates price daily. This ain't the stock market; if anything, the value would go UP as long as no harm comes to the item. I've sold probably 350-400 guitars/basses (nearly all Fender) over the past 2 years and probably only lost money on about 12-15 of those purchases.


That example isn't really good because Squiers are on the worse end of things to flip. They generally don't retain value. I did flip a VM P-bass once, bought it for $120 and sold the neck and body for $180. Made $50 after the fact; getting paid $25 an hour is not a problem with me.
 
#32
Depends on what your time is worth. Most people don't put that into the calculation or underestimate the actual time - instead they just look at paid vs. sold. Time has an opportunity cost and of all the things in the world, it is the only thing you can't buy more of.
 
#34
I dare say quite a few people are doing this already. It brings to mind one notorious member of TB and the EBMM forum who is famous for scrounging up EB basses at low prices and trying to flip them for insanely high prices. He must be finding suckers somewhere, because he keeps doing it.
 
#35
michael_atw said:
I'm confused at those numbers. So someone is going to buy something for $200 and then sell it for $300, and only come out $10 ahead? Even with Paypal/Ebay fees at the VERY most $30 comes out.
Click to expand...


I just sold a Soundgear for $350. My charges were:

Ebay Listing Fee - $2.05
Ebay Selling Fee - $31.50 (9%)
Paypal Fee - $10.98 (3% of total including shipping)

That leaves $305.47 for me. I paid $269 for the bass, plus shipping, which was about $25. So, at first glance it looks like I cleared $81 ($350-$269), but really, I cleared about $10.
 
#36
danomite64 said:
I just sold a Soundgear for $350. My charges were:

Ebay Listing Fee - $2.05
Ebay Selling Fee - $31.50 (9%)
Paypal Fee - $10.98 (3% of total including shipping)

That leaves $305.47 for me. I paid $269 for the bass, plus shipping, which was about $25. So, at first glance it looks like I cleared $81 ($350-$269), but really, I cleared about $10.
Click to expand...

And what did you spend to ship to buyer?
 
#38
danomite64 said:
I just sold a Soundgear for $350. My charges were:

Ebay Listing Fee - $2.05
Ebay Selling Fee - $31.50 (9%)
Paypal Fee - $10.98 (3% of total including shipping)

That leaves $305.47 for me. I paid $269 for the bass, plus shipping, which was about $25. So, at first glance it looks like I cleared $81 ($350-$269), but really, I cleared about $10.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you didn't do very much research, if any.
 
#40
michael_atw said:
Sounds like you didn't do very much research, if any.
Click to expand...

I do a hell of a lot of research, pal. But in this case, research wasn't relevant. I wasn't flipping a bass I found cheap, I was selling one fo my old basses I haven't used in years. I was happy to break even on the deal. I was merely pointing out to you how the actual ebay/paypal fees eat into potential profits.

Most of my ebay sales are for a music store that pays me a percentage to put up their items, deal with the bidders, and ship the stuff out.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back