What can I sell on line?

[Frank James]

Selling on ebay from a Thailand base is a losing proposition because of the high cost of shipping. It was really a great place to buy and sell when it was mostly amateurs. Now it's all pros, and the fees make it really hard to make any money.

[isawasnake]

"Just this morning , I woke up and I have decided to become rich!"

This may be my favourite ever quote on TV

"..decided to make somebody else rich" would have been better

[bkk_mike]

I can think of quite a few things where you could make money in Europe or the US doing it.

Not so sure about Thailand, because where it's easy to undercut the local shops in Europe (because of all the taxes they have to pay), it would be a lot harder to undercut the local shops here. About the only way to do it here would be to sell stuff that's hard to get, or which has giant markups here. (Example: You can't buy decent musical instruments here without spending silly money. From things like trumpets and the like for school, to drum kits, they're all far more expensive than in Europe, let alone the prices in the US.)

i.e. It would be things in what Amazon calls the "long tail". i.e. Maybe not a lot of people want it, but if you can have a wide enough sales area (a Thai web-site can be country-wide), you'll end up with enough buyers to be viable. The bigger issues are the credit cards not working online, so you need more staff than a regular website, because you basically have to talk everyone through the process of paying you.

For the rest of the world, if you can be the person selling the thing that nobody else in your free trade area sells (i.e. pick something sold in the US that might have a market in Europe or vice-versa), then you can make money on it.

I can think of a couple of examples that I've been looking at buying myself...

Home-built NAS boxes are getting more popular, because people want to serve all their movies and stuff around the house. (smart TVs running Plex, iPads, android TV boxes or Ouya's running XBMC, smartphones etc.). The ready-built NAS boxes from people like QNAP and Synology are fine for file-serving, and even running some apps, but they generally use Atom processors which are simply not powerful enough to do on-the-fly transcoding of video (i.e. 1080p video on the NAS going to a phone using Plex). That's where the home-built NAS comes in as you can put in a processor that's fast enough to transcode.

The problem is, there's a distinct lack of cases designed for a home-built NAS. There's plenty of choice once you start going rack-mounted, or if you don't mind opening the case to swap out drives. The free NAS software (FreeNAS and NAS4Free, for example, both run with ZFS as their software RAID solution. raidz1, with one disk's worth of space used for parity is fine for small hard disks (<=1TB), but once you get into the multi-terabyte monsters, you really need two disks for parity (raidz2), so that when a disk dies, the increased work of rebuilding it on a replacement disk doesn't end up killing another drive, which would lose all your data. Because of the way the disk allocation works, you generally want the number of data disks to be a factor of 2. (i.e. 2, 4, 8). Other numbers of data drives tend to have performance issues because the clusters don't span across the drives at a nice threshold for the underlying drive hardware.

So that means 4 disks - with only 2 disks worth of data, 6 disks = 4 disks of data, or 10 disks = 8 disks of data - are basically the best setups for performance once you're using raidz2. (You can do 6 data without the performance hit, but you need to know EXACTLY what you're doing - i.e. if you're happy changing default cluster sizes at the operating system level.) That means there should be a reasonable market for 4-bay, 6-bay and 10-bay NAS cases. (The OS itself will happily boot off USB)

Personally, I believe 6-bay is the best option, because you can get mini-ITX motherboards with 6 SATA ports at a reasonable home-user price, but the only 6 bay home-build NAS case I know of (U-NAS NSC-600 Pro) is literally NEVER in stock at their US website, and when it is in stock on the manufacturer's Chinese website, you have to order at least 25 of them. You can literally find chats online where people are trying to find where they can get a hold of them. (Admittedly, they're not perfect. The hot-swap drive bays would ideally have lights above the drives so that you know which drive has failed, but they're the best of what's around.)

I've personally given up trying to get a hold of one. My next NAS is going to be in a Fractal Design case. (cold swap, but fairly easily accessible, and a quiet case).

But it's not the only niche...

Another example - this comes from looking for a possible Christmas present for my father. He plays accordion, and is complaining that his gigbag is getting a bit tatty. The shop he bought it from shut down 2 years ago so I went looking online and can find a better gigbag for less money than he paid for his current one relatively easily on Amazon UK. (The shop he used to go to, which was over 100 years old, was quite famously not cheap - they were also in a town centre where parking restrictions became a nightmare (and accordions aren't light - they're not the sort of thing you want to carry half a mile to where you parked). The combination of parking restrictions and the arrival of the internet (so people could see how much the markup was) is probably why they're no longer there.

However, I then decided I'd see what I could get that was better, and came across something called a TravelMateXR on a US website. (It seems to be an own-brand for that shop, so is only available mail order from them).

From the website, it appears to easily be the best accordion case you can find - hard-shell, lots of internal padding that can be moved around, wheeled with an extendable handle, straps to hold it in place etc. I just have to hope it's better built than the cheapo hard-shell cases you get in Thailand. It's virtually the only one where you'd consider checking an accordion as hold luggage on a plane (you'd still need to do a bit of prep - to allow for things like pressure changes as an accordion is air-tight, and to prevent movement of buttons in transit).

Obviously the North American market is already covered by the US website, but if you look on amazon.de, (Germany is a big manufacturer of accordions), you get lots of accordion cases (akkordeon-koffer) - lots more than amazon UK or Amazon.com. There's even some hard-cases, and trolleys for hard cases (big accordions are HEAVY). But there's nothing that comes close to being as nice as the one in the US. Assuming you could get it at a better price than the retail price online from wherever it's actually made, you could make a killing on them in Europe. This is because accordion players are getting on a bit, and carrying accordions around needs some strength so a good quality wheeled hard-case should have a pretty decent market. Germany and Italy are still two of the major global manufacturers of accordions, so there is a market if only from people like me looking for a Christmas present for an accordionist. (Less likely to find reviews online than most things because the age of accordionists isn't really conducive to them being active online).

I'm sure there are other things where if you look at a specific group of people, you can find a market for something that you can find and sell to them.

As I say, in Thailand, the musical instrument market appears to be really badly served by the music shops here. Good quality trumpets are 50% more than they cost in the UK, and it's not like the UK is known around the world for it's cheap prices. I know Thais who really want a genuine Fender stratocaster. But you can pick one up in the US, new, for less than half the price they are here. You'd also be a lot more certain that it's a genuine one, and you'd have a better selection of colours. Similarly, I haven't even seen an electronic drum kit for sale in Thailand (I will admit, I haven't looked in a couple of years). I ended up buying one for my eldest daughter in the UK and flying back with it as hold luggage. (the metal bits in a padded bag, and the drum heads in my suitcase.)

There is always a market. You just need to find something that people want to buy. The advantage of selling online is the long tail effect. You don't need a market near your shop - you can sell to the whole country (or the whole of ASEAN), or globally, if it's something where duty isn't likely to cause shipping problems.

The real problem in Thailand is that there isn't an equivalent to Amazon or eBay with the huge local presence that people go to first when they're looking for something. Trying to find something online in Thailand is currently a PITA.

Edited October 14, 2013 by bkk_mike

[nisakiman]

You missed the boat by a couple of weeks matey - the FBI shut down Silk Road. I could have made lots of suggestions for that site!

On a more serious note, as mentioned already, it takes a while to get established as a trustworthy seller on the internet. Actually, the Tiger Balm idea was a good one. Ok, it's work for no profit, but it establishes you.

You don't have to use ebay - small traders are leaving it in droves because their commission charges are so high. There are plenty of alternative marketplace sites out there catering to different types of goods. My wife has been selling stuff online for three or four years, and it's only now starting to actually produce profits worth having. For her, that fact hasn't been a problem, as it started off more as a hobby, so if she wasn't making money, it didn't matter. But she is now fairly well established as a trusted supplier, and is actually making money. Not big money, but money. And it keeps her out of mischief!

[4u2mad]

Sell 100 baht for 90 baht.

And 100bht for P&P?

[brit1984]

use google translate to make a chinese language website and sell all of Thailand's soi dogs

[brit1984]

write and sell an e-book titled "careers in terrorism" then sell a list of all the buyers' contact / billing details to various law enforcement agencies

[Jayroo]

I know what but why should I tell you?

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Jayroo]

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited October 14, 2013 by Jayroo

[umbanda]

Long time ago I posted in Paypal a expensive watch for sale. I got a buyer, but I had bad feeling about. I did not send any invoice, I did canceled the sale and the posting...but Paypal charged me the commission for the sale anyway, and was good money. They never responded to my complaints.

I know now from friends experience, not also Paypal is scamming, buyers are using the system to get things for free....Be careful..........

[BKKdreaming]

BKK Mile said......

There is always a market. You just need to find something that people want to buy. The advantage of selling online is the long tail effect. You don't need a market near your shop - you can sell to the whole country (or the whole of ASEAN), or globally, if it's something where duty isn't likely to cause shipping problems.

The real problem in Thailand is that there isn't an equivalent to Amazon or eBay with the huge local presence that people go to first when they're looking for something. Trying to find something online in Thailand is currently a PITA.

_______________________________________

We have been doing this now on Ebay for 10 weeks , sold 12 items as we are limited to 10 items a month !

and only 2 feedbacks ,

Yes paypal holds your funds for 21 days, thank the scammers for that ,

yes Ebay and Paypal fees end up about 15% , that is just what you have to live with

yes shipping out of Thailand is expensive , nothing you can do about it really

So what to do ? TRY it , list items you can find in chinatown for 30 baht for $5 with free shipping , there are all kinds of cute girly stuff that is cheap and will fit in a flat envelope ,

Buy stuff that you think is cute so if it does not sell you can use it or give it to the kids you know , then try other stuff , if something sells relist it and see if it sells again,

You are NOT going to make much money the first few months , but you will learn the game,

and I hate to say it but COPY COPY COPY listings that work , if they can sell something , see the keywords they use , how they pose the pictures etc.

If you are successful many people will copy you , this happens in the west and will happen more in Thailand because your english is probably better then their English ,

when your

so the last thing is "Be a moving target" have more ideas on what you can sell product gets old or has too much competition.

just start , signing up for Paypal is not fun but needs to be done first , search TV for tips on that......

As they said in the surf movies " you should have been here yesterday man ! "

Ebay is not as good as before but its still the biggest out there and getting 85% of your sale on ebay after fees is better than getting ZERO Percent of sales by doing nothing......

[jackr]

Sort something the Chinese like and sell to them.

[Kabayo66]

How about a set of Thai coins: one each of 25 satang, 50 satang, 1 baht, 2 baht, 5 baht and 10 baht (18.75 baht in all), for US$1.99? There are plenty of people who collect coins from other countries, and 300% of face value is fairly reasonable.

Edited October 15, 2013 by Kabayo66

[chrisrazz]

One thing to watch out for with ebay is other sellers buying your stuff and then slating your product and service, because your are competing with them. This happened to me some years ago, ebay were completely ambivalent to my side of the story, so I just gave it up.

[Nana Cowboy]

I could sell some 100 bahts for 10$.i am sure some USA and Canadian guys would be happy to have some Thai money to show to their friends.

I can see you counting the green right now with that great idea. lol

[Nana Cowboy]

your 13K per month budget aint working out I suppose, CC

[PoorSucker]

I could sell some 100 bahts for 10$.i am sure some USA and Canadian guys would be happy to have some Thai money to show to their friends.

Please please please tell me you're not serious.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thailand-100-Baht-1994-aUNC-CRISP-Banknote-P-97-Sig-63-/271275788292?pt=Paper_Money&hash=item3f294c0804

[Cheapcharly]

I could sell some 100 bahts for 10$.i am sure some USA and Canadian guys would be happy to have some Thai money to show to their friends.

 

 

Please please please tell me you're not serious.

I m Dead serious... I am even thinking to sell some thailand air in small bottle.

[ableguy]

When in business I sold kids Chinese pajamas through E Bay sold loads but you have to know where to buy, also I imported them into the UK first and so had a UK trading address and more importantly a return address. Be difficult to sell from Thailand. Also there are so many scammers out there buying with the intent to defraud you I gave it up before I retired.

[zeichen]

used panties from hot Thai chicks.

[brit1984]

sell trees but just give the buyer a certificate and promise to look after the tree and buy it back from them in a few years for a higher price if you have enough cash

[BKKdreaming]

I would love to know any other sites but ebay that get traffic !

Esty seems to be interesting , but I do not know anyone who is selling there,

Amazon in the USA and Europe seems to work if you have a product they can find,

I see people selling spices you can buy at Lotus Tesco on Amazon

And I am not sure if Yahoo is still the top site in Japan.

For all the bad things about ebay , it does get the hits , maybe not your item but overall , and yes it gets diluted since there is so much stuff on ebay.

I would love to hear about other sites that work.....

[Cheapcharly]

I tried etsy, I got not sale.

Just too many people trying to sale their crap.

[Kudel]

I tried etsy, I got not sale.

Just too many people trying to sale their crap.

Try selling English spelling books,you sure could use one.

[ozyjon]

A friend of mine has been doing it for years,, you just need to replace the word SELL with GIVE AWAY because after all the fees are paid you end up with nothing,, the boat has sailed and you are not on it,, just wait for the next boat to arrive.

[Pitts]

Yep ebay is a very hard way to make money. It's great to recoup some of the cash from unused 2nd hand items but actually making money is hard. You will have to find something that you can buy for substantially less than your consumers can buy internationally. There will costs for using ebay, paying on paypal, consumers not paying, freight etc etc

If you do decide to have a go at my advice would just be to get a few things, sell them and see what your costs are like.

[BKKdreaming]

we buy an item for 8-10 baht ,

sell 2 of them in a envelope for $8 shipped

so 240 baht ($8) , less 36 baht for ebay + paypal fees (15%)

and I think 35 baht to mail

so 20 baht turns into 170 baht

I agree , not big money , but its HALF a DAY pay for a Thai,

and this is just to get the numbers up, since we are at 10 item limit. and you get 50 free listings a month so you can relist 5 times for free....

so a Thai making a little extra is possible, but it would be hard for us to live a Western life selling on Ebay from Thailand starting with a new account (limited listings ) and shipping from Thailand.

[brit1984]

set up a thai website and sell raffle tickets for 50 baht with top prize an ipad (later you can upgrade the prizes to something more valuable), with a weekly draw

you only need to sell about 400 tickets/week to break even but if you know some prolific facebookers/twitterers with 1000s of friends/followers could sell a lot more

ps not sure if commercial raffles are legal in Thailand - if not you will have to make the 50 baht a member fee for your "club"

(there is a successful beverage company that sells its products as much for attached raffle coupon on the bottle as for liquid content inside)

[taotoo]

set up a thai website and sell raffle tickets for 50 baht with top prize an ipad

Probably not a bad idea. My local Shell 'gifts' me coupons that allow me to spend 3 baht sending an sms in order to enter a prize draw.

[Cheapcharly]

I tried etsy, I got not sale.

Just too many people trying to sale their crap.

Try selling English spelling books,you sure could use one.

Wat dou yu meen my litle momi boi?

Did you get ur milc todey?