Anyone Make A Living Of Ebay In Thailand?

[THAICUSTOM]

Just wondering how many people out there making a living out of ebay.seems that most of the farang thai based ebayers are selling the cheap stuff you normally see tourists buy.like 100 baht tshirts muay thai boxer shorts, thai silk shirts and scarfs,bags and other stuff you see in the market.

How do people make it pay with the cost of shipping? must be some desperados out there.

[sanook2me]

Just wondering how many people out there making a living out of ebay.seems that most of the farang thai based ebayers are selling the cheap stuff you normally see tourists buy.like 100 baht tshirts muay thai boxer shorts, thai silk shirts and scarfs,bags and other stuff you see in the market.

How do people make it pay with the cost of shipping? must be some desperados out there.

I think you are about 5 years too late to think about making a living from ebay...its saturated with cheap Chinese / Hong Kong stuff..

The main sellers from Thailand are well established ebayers - the odd ones start up selling copied gear and get closed down rapidly

[TonySoprano]

i have always been amazed at the whole ebay thing. I expected it to be a quick fad. there is an insane amount of junk on there, fwiw, I guess someone is surviving from it.

[TEFLMike]

Two weeks ago, there was a newspaper article about a guy in Southport, in the UK. He is now a £Million plus in pocket through eBay. He started off selling from a garden shed a few years ago, now he has moved to a large purpose built modern warehouse and employing quite a few people. Good luck to him. I suppose this could be done anywhere, including Thailand.

Here is the link >>>>>>

http://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/southpor...01022-23164377/

Edited April 1, 2009 by TEFLMike

[rick75]

Back here in Australia I have a Chinese mate who has done the same thing started out selling from a shop 50sqm, now bought a wharehouse maybe 700sqm, turns over a couple of millions of dollars and employs about 7 people.

[Svenn]

The competition from other native Thai-ebayers would probably be too fierce

[JimsKnight]

Just wondering how many people out there making a living out of ebay.seems that most of the farang thai based ebayers are selling the cheap stuff you normally see tourists buy.like 100 baht tshirts muay thai boxer shorts, thai silk shirts and scarfs,bags and other stuff you see in the market.

How do people make it pay with the cost of shipping? must be some desperados out there.

A lot of the 'desperados' saying this are deflecting attention to keep a low profile

Or wishing to be private about their business.

The trouble with Ebay is it's gone too much in the pocket of regulations and beaurocrats.

Now if you sell gear on Ebay you get hit with higher charges and even VAT!

They are also very much into restricting what you can sell.

Edited April 1, 2009 by JimsKnight

[H2oDunc]

The competition from other native Thai-ebayers would probably be too fierce

I don't know many Thai ebayers selling to customers in the UK ? Mrs H2o had 2 ebay shops which she ran from here selling handmade flowers and butterflies and card making accessories. She made a comfortable living doing it as a sort of hobby. I ended up with the job of taking the packages to the PO for posting. I got to know all the staff there and always tipped them well. I also used to buy bits and bobs from ebay and all the postmen mad sure I never lost anything. even to the point if I was out and they needed a signiture they would come back in their own time at night. To me making sure I got my post was well worth a couple of hundred baht

[TonySoprano]

Yes, I bet everyone will tell you not to sell fisher pants because they are doing it already. Haha.

[jetpilot123]

The competition from other native Thai-ebayers would probably be too fierce

I don't know many Thai ebayers selling to customers in the UK ? Mrs H2o had 2 ebay shops which she ran from here selling handmade flowers and butterflies and card making accessories. She made a comfortable living doing it as a sort of hobby. I ended up with the job of taking the packages to the PO for posting. I got to know all the staff there and always tipped them well. I also used to buy bits and bobs from ebay and all the postmen mad sure I never lost anything. even to the point if I was out and they needed a signiture they would come back in their own time at night. To me making sure I got my post was well worth a couple of hundred baht

can i ask why you would tip post office staff?

[runner]

I earn about 40,000 a week profit from my website. I work when I want to or when I need money. it's not ebay related though. I've heard it's just too hard to make money on ebay now. nothing even sells.

[mommysboy]

I earn about 40,000 a week profit from my website. I work when I want to or when I need money. it's not ebay related though. I've heard it's just too hard to make money on ebay now. nothing even sells.

I used to earn 100,000 bt plus off Ebay, but that went in to steady decline 2 years ago, then it just plummeted 3 months ago. Suddenly, the market became innundated with Thai sellers selling at insanely low prices. As I'm back in UK now I tested the business model again, but sales are very poor, even though I'm selling off old stock dirt cheap. So I reckon there is a general slump in demand and I think it's worldwide.

I think there's still room for a very class act or two, but you'd have to be the best.

IMHO even a very good Ebayer can't make any headway at present (on legal stuff anyway), and a novice, no chance.

Give it a whirl but don't invest too much.

[rideswings]

Can I ask anyone who has a product based international internet business in Thailand how much a 50 gram item costs to ship to the UK or EU and how you would ship it? I am considering en eBay business for the Mrs. and just cant understand why shipping costs to outside Thailand are so high, or maybe I am missing something. She sent me 2 shirts for my birthday from Thailand and it cost her 1500 baht which is crazy.

Edited April 1, 2009 by rideswings

[capco1]

I think that's why you have the buyer pay all shipping charges.

[Lite Beer]

Flame and reply to it deleted.

[bridge]

Can I ask anyone who has a product based international internet business in Thailand how much a 50 gram item costs to ship to the UK or EU and how you would ship it? I am considering en eBay business for the Mrs. and just cant understand why shipping costs to outside Thailand are so high, or maybe I am missing something. She sent me 2 shirts for my birthday from Thailand and it cost her 1500 baht which is crazy.

I sent my brother-in-law 6 short sleeve shirts that he had had tailored in Samui (to Australia). I cant remember the exact weight, but it cost just under AUD$60. Obviously it would have been considerably cheaper by sea mail, but who knows how long that would have taken.

[sanook2me]

I earn about 40,000 a week profit from my website. I work when I want to or when I need money. it's not ebay related though. I've heard it's just too hard to make money on ebay now. nothing even sells.

Are you making the money from selling items from Thailand or from adverts on site?

Also is 40,000 baht per week is that profit? If yes, i have to congratulate you on a very successful business.

A true winner

If you dont mind I'm feeling a little nosy and would like to see this website what is the name of it?

[patklang]

I am very nosey.

If its that good you must have some great stuff to sell and no postage as i live in Thailand

[qualtrough]

Can I ask anyone who has a product based international internet business in Thailand how much a 50 gram item costs to ship to the UK or EU and how you would ship it? I am considering en eBay business for the Mrs. and just cant understand why shipping costs to outside Thailand are so high, or maybe I am missing something. She sent me 2 shirts for my birthday from Thailand and it cost her 1500 baht which is crazy.

Google Thai Post to find the Thai Postal site. They have a brilliant postage calculator that is easy to use. For under 2 kg. packages they have a small parcel rate that is better than the regular one. Only caveat is that the packages cannot be taped shut, must be stapled. Works great for me. I would highly recommend using Registered airmail. 55 Baht but has been very reliable for me.

[bkkdawg]

Ebay is dead now mate, like most people are saying it was good 5 years ago. Now there is too much competition, and often it is the actual suppliers retailing on there, whom it is impossible to compete with. i.e you won't be able to make a profit after shipping. Also, like someone else was saying, the market is flooded with cheap junk from China. The only thing Ebay is good for these days is for pulling in eyes and then redirecting them to your website.

It's a shame because i used to make 600 quid a week profit on an average week 5 years ago. Now its not worth the time and energy...

Cheers

[dave111223]

I used to sell on ebay, but their rates are so extortionate that i stopped in favor of running an independent website.

Say you sell something (lets say a hat) on ebay for $20 (and this is without any of the opinional extra ebay features), you pay:

- $.55 insertion fee

- $1.75 closing fee (8.75%)

- Paypal transaction fee: $.35

- Paypal percent fee: $.60 (around 3%)

Around $3.25 (16.25%!!)

And that's assuming you have a US paypal account, Thai account cost more in fees, and if you start opting for the ebay extra features you'd soon be spending more than the price...!

Plus you can just pay for google adwords which get listed right on ebay anyways.

Obviously some will say once you become some kind of powerseller doing huge quantities you probably pay a lot less in fees...but if you're doing that many sales why not invest in your own store instead of making ebay richer?

Edited April 2, 2009 by dave111223

[maechanman]

Ebay is dead now mate, like most people are saying it was good 5 years ago. Now there is too much competition, and often it is the actual suppliers retailing on there, whom it is impossible to compete with. i.e you won't be able to make a profit after shipping. Also, like someone else was saying, the market is flooded with cheap junk from China. The only thing Ebay is good for these days is for pulling in eyes and then redirecting them to your website.

It's a shame because i used to make 600 quid a week profit on an average week 5 years ago. Now its not worth the time and energy...

Cheers

Likewise in 2003/4 I was making a similar profit selling direct from Thailand,gave up on it early last year,it's neither worth the time and hassle nowadays.

[Geekfreaklover]

I had a good run on ebay a few years back, employed seven Thai staff, registered business, work permit, and had seven seprate accounts linked to the one PAYPAL account. I got caught with one shirt that was considered to invade intellecual property rights and eBay closed all seven accounts for a year. Obviously I had to sack all the staff and reorginise the business for the sake of one shirt. At it's best we were turning over 150k per month profit. By Christmas last year we were making nothing as the accounts had been closed.

Have since reopened a new account and it is doing well slowly, but I no longer have any US customers whom used to provide about 80% of the business. People are having their credit cards taken away from them. Most of my customers now are from the UK, Cyprus, spain and Scotland. The quality of clothing I sell is better then the likes of Primark but more expensive. If you find a niche market you make eBay work for you and then direct customers to your own website.

Have found that there is no compition from Thai eBay sellers as Thais are not profficent enough in english to deal with customer problems. I know of not one Thai eBay seller that does well, they are all farang as far as I can tell.

It can be done and if you make it through the next few years then you could make a serious profit when we come out of this depression..

[FarangCravings]

A friend of mine (farang) turns over 1 Million baht a month on ebay he has a slick operation running 14 girls on computers a photo studio for taking pictures of products. many sewing houses etc wish i could get a small portion of his monthly income LOL

[TonySoprano]

cool. i dont know who the fuc_k goes onto ebay and buys stuff. maybe a used book. but what, clothing? copy bags and stuff i could see but thats not allowed i guess. maybe i am underestimating how sad people's lives are.

[Goshawk]

A friend of mine (farang) turns over 1 Million baht a month on ebay he has a slick operation running 14 girls on computers a photo studio for taking pictures of products. many sewing houses etc wish i could get a small portion of his monthly income LOL

hard to believe.. tell us his ebay name(s) so we can all check it out/his feedback(s) etc..

[bkkdawg]

A friend of mine (farang) turns over 1 Million baht a month on ebay he has a slick operation running 14 girls on computers a photo studio for taking pictures of products. many sewing houses etc wish i could get a small portion of his monthly income LOL

hard to believe.. tell us his ebay name(s) so we can all check it out/his feedback(s) etc..

Very hard to believe, i think you are full of s*%t!!

[DLock]

A friend of mine (farang) turns over 1 Million baht a month on ebay he has a slick operation running 14 girls on computers a photo studio for taking pictures of products. many sewing houses etc wish i could get a small portion of his monthly income LOL

hard to believe.. tell us his ebay name(s) so we can all check it out/his feedback(s) etc..

Very hard to believe, i think you are full of s*%t!!

Actually, this is quite believable. I have done some similar months, but they are less common these days. I know a few other Sellers that do better than I do in Thailand, some selling things that you just wouldn't think would do that well.

No one is going to direct you to their Ebay site or tell you what they are selling. Why create more competition from copy cats?

But Ebay is hard work. It takes a lot of time, but even these days, the right product with good customer service to gain positive feedback will do well over time, but the key is that right product. Good photography, low shipping fees and combined shipping are also important, especially from Thailand. Staying low key is also important.

The days of sticking up a listing for any random product and making some quick money are long gone...unless you first or lucky.

Agree, fees do hurt, but compared to owning a retail store and having limited foot traffic, and being able to work from home still make it a really interesting business model.

[adad]

This seller seems to be pretty established.

ebayer

Not related to him/her at all, but I do like the style.

[sanook2me]

cool. i dont know who the fuc_k goes onto ebay and buys stuff. maybe a used book. but what, clothing? copy bags and stuff i could see but thats not allowed i guess. maybe i am underestimating how sad people's lives are.

I'm a sadist - i am happy to make a living from sad people