Wednesday, March 02, 2011

What to Sell Online

I signed up eBay recently. Since then I have been thinking:

What sort of things is suitable to be sold online?

(That is, not just on eBay, but all e-commerce sites.)

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As seen on eBay...

I am perplexed as to why people buy dresses online. Don’t you want to try them before making payment?

Anyway, I think one category of thing we can sell online is the hard-to-find items. As a shutterbug, I naturally think of such specialty photographic gears such as tilt-shift lens and light meter. Past issues of magazines also fall into this category. I have plenty of National Geographic magazines, the oldest of which was published in 1930s. Somehow, I am reluctant to part way with my collection.

A second category of merchandise great for online trading are things people don’t feel easy to buy in brick-and-mortar stores. These include condoms, and the “nipple cream” I mentioned in another post.

Finally, if you can price your merchandise at lower price compared to in brick-and-mortar stores, you can sell them online. One advantage of online trading is that you don’t need to pay for the rental or installment of a physical store. The drawback, however, is that postage doesn’t come cheap.


Have you bought anything online? Tell us your story!


18 comments:

  1. well, there is just no constraint on what you can or cannot sell online..

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  2. like you've posted before, there's just virtually nothing you can't find on sale online..

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  3. some people are just too lazy to go out, and by just some finger clicks, they can get what they want delivered to their doors!!

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  4. and i think this is slowly becoming a trend already..

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  5. Maybe I should sell my old Reader's Digest magazines online!

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  6. I've never do any selling on e-bay before! Very new to this! How does e-bay charges? A certain percentage of your sale?

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  7. i only buy tickets online.

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  8. I bought books online from overseas which are banned in Malaysia. :p

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  9. The most outrageous thing people have ever sold..must be their own...virginity. :p

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  10. Agree with you on the hard-to-find items as a viable option to sell online. Personally the only things I've bought online are flight tickets. Maybe it's time to make my maiden online purchase of other items.

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  11. The way I see it, there are various reasons why people shop online. Some people don't have time to go shopping. Some don't like the hassle of physically going shopping - driving there thru traffic, parking problem, etc.. Sometimes you find something you've been looking for and may not be able to get at a brick-and-mortar outfit. Some people may be staying in such remote locations that the only shopping option is to go online. Obtaining banned books/stuff like what Tekkaus mentioned. These are just what I can come up with. I'm sure there are lots of other reasons.

    I'm certainly not an authority on eBay but from observation, people either treat eBay as a store selling brand-new things or use it to sell collectibles or pre-loved items. Whatever or both you are using it for, I wish you the best. People normally include a shipping fee, so you may need to do some research on what's the optimum to charge so you don't make a loss in the end. My two cents..

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  12. I read about people selling junk on ebay. So basically, one can sell almost anything on ebay..as long as there's demand.

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  13. I never buy things from ebay.... still prefer shopping at brick-and-mortar stores.... Maybe I like to see and hold something real by my own eyes and hands but not something in a virtual world. :)

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  14. I heard today that someone bought Justin Bieber's hair--for $40,000!

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  15. I buy books because books are typically more expensive in Canada than in the US. With the dollar at par, I hate paying the Canadian price.

    I also buy t-shirts from Threadless, I love the design. Oh, and sometimes I make stuff with my pictures on Flickr (such as business cards). I don't think I ever bought something on Ebay though. Certainly not condoms :-D

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  16. foongpc
    I haven't started selling yet.

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  17. KS, btw, I think there is an eBay community here in which members share their experiences and such. They also organize sessions on getting started. Try googling it.

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  18. Hey, it's good to be reading this...it gives a new idea to me...how about start selling on eBay? I'll think about it...nice post!!

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