What should I sell on ebay?

February 3, 2006 2:13 AM

I need to make a little extra cash this year, and to do so I'm thinking of selling stuff on ebay. But what should I sell? I live in Paris and would like to sell French things that aren't readily available elsewhere.

So far I've thought of selling fabrics as I can get good prices on high-quality stuff. But I'm not sure fabric is such a great idea, as it's hard to know from a photograph what you'd be getting and I'm afraid people might not be satisfied after paying loads of money for shipping.

I could also sell books in French but I think people would be better off ordering books in French from Canada as the shipping would be cheaper.

Does anyone have any other, better ideas? I hope this question is ok. I searched for and found some other good threads about selling on ebay that will be helpful, but none asking for specific ideas on what to sell.

posted by hazyjane to Work & Money (28 answers total)

Would French label leather goods (purses, wallets etc.) be attractive to US customers? How about stationery, the French version of Hello Kitty and so on?
posted by ceri richard at 2:16 AM on February 3, 2006

How about catering to french ex-pats, selling french foodstuffs (that keep well enough for posting to far-away places, that is) to people in places where you can't get them?
posted by slater at 2:48 AM on February 3, 2006

People sell EVERYTHING on ebay, including things it's hard to judge by distance. Look up other fabric sellers and see how they quantify quality. Options include:

a) placing a link in ads to a personal webpage that has huge photos of the fabric weave etc

b) sell fabrics from a high reputation maker or firm and include links on personal webpage establishing veracity of relationship between you and original vendor

c) find just the right audience for your sales. People who will pay the discount and accept a slower ship. Establishing minimum order sizes to maximize your returns.
posted by By The Grace of God at 3:27 AM on February 3, 2006

Oh, and focus on the UK market. Or focus on people who are new to these fabrics - home crafty types, MAKE magazine types, whatever.

Marketing, marketing, marketing! Be creative about it, it's fun. :)
posted by By The Grace of God at 3:29 AM on February 3, 2006

Seconding the suggestion to focus on the UK market - and rest of Europe. Shipping would be a lot more convenient than to the US (if that's the target you had in mind) or of course elsewhere in the world. Also, there are probably customs fees on certain items (if it's the same EU-wide, then fabrics are probably one of those items) which would not apply to buyers within the EU.

Books may not be a bad idea, but as well as Canada, the competition would be Amazon France.

Foodstuffs on the other hand would be a sure bet.

Also, cheap-ish jewellery, clothes, vintage items, antiques, and why not, cosmetics from French brands that may be cheaper there?

Anyway, you can get some more ideas by searching on Ebay for all items located in France - go to Advanced Search, don't enter anything in the search field, scroll down to "Location", and select "France" for "Items located in". Here are the current results.
posted by funambulist at 4:45 AM on February 3, 2006

Monogrammed French linen and/or antique lace can be picked up at flea markets. It's unusual, light and easy to parcel. I read an article about a woman in the UK who makes simple cushion covers out of these and sells the cushions for £59 each. This months Eve magazine carries it. She has also just started making skirts out of antique lace.
Good luck
posted by Wilder at 4:52 AM on February 3, 2006

My partner is the person you'd be marketing to (UK Ebay fabric buyer, crafter). Email in my profile.
posted by Leon at 4:58 AM on February 3, 2006

Sell Phildar yarn. There are a lot of knitters out there.
posted by chelseagirl at 5:15 AM on February 3, 2006

Based on a sample size of exactly one, I suggest cookware. Specifically, I had a hard time finding a 12 cm Opinel folding knife on the 'Bay
posted by mojohand at 5:42 AM on February 3, 2006

You might be surprised how much people would pay for basic stuff you get in the supermarket that we don't. For example, last time I was in Paris I picked up a very common jar of herbs for salad and would pay through the nose for more. I would advertize your stuff heavily as "direct from Paris" or similar.

(Off topic - I've always wondered about the viability of a business that offers to go to a given store in another city and buy specific items for a customer. Like Boots, in London, has this great mud mask I want and they won't ship it to. I have to rely on waiting for friends to go on trips and loading them with requests.)
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:33 AM on February 3, 2006

Absinthiana. Scour your antique shops for spoons, glasses, saucers, caraffes, etcetera from victorian-era cafes. That stuff sells for top dollar.
posted by kaseijin at 7:04 AM on February 3, 2006

My wife pines for French linen water and some kind of English body lotion (a better husband might remember) that we bought on trips to Europe. But these strike me as having a poor weight-to-value ratio. Have you looked into shipping rates from France to the UK and USA? That might have a huge impact on what is and is not profitable.
posted by LarryC at 7:05 AM on February 3, 2006

My friend's boyfriend would make money on eBay in the US by selling copies of the free weekly entertainment newspaper when it would feature cover stories on particular bands that people are interested in. He paid nothing for the material and could sell it for $10USD. He'd even get international orders for it.

He's also buy random clothes from Goodwill [a charity used articles store] for a dollar and sell them on eBay to some wanna-be hipster for 20x as much.

You'd be surprised what people will be willing to pay for things you might just have around the house. Or, as listed above, everyday items that others might find exotic and willing to pay a premium for.
posted by birdherder at 7:06 AM on February 3, 2006

When my friends went to France, I begged them to bring me back a traditional Breton fishermen's shirt. Sailors love these and you can't get them anywhere in the US. If you sell those, definitely tag them "boat", "sailing" etc.

When my Mom went, I loved the really simple supermarket things she brought back. Sea salt, lavendar in a pharmacy package, cool notebooks. Just a nicely-designed label on a common product, because it 'looks French', is desirable here.
posted by Miko at 7:23 AM on February 3, 2006

I'm for fabric and Phildar yarn.
posted by kmel at 7:27 AM on February 3, 2006

When I'm in France, I always stock up on those Clairefontaine notebooks. I can sometimes find them in the States, but they're not the same ones as are sold in France.

(I've even tried ordering them from various websites, and have yet to get the kind I like - with the crazy graph paper inside.)

I definitely think there's a market for French paper and things. Oh, when I'm in France I also always buy those fountain pen effaceurs, too. (You know, the pen which erases blue ink on one side, and then has a blue felt tip pen on the opposite side for writing over your erased spot?) You can't buy those in the States either.
posted by peppermint22 at 7:42 AM on February 3, 2006

I bought those white on blue enamelled house numbers when I was in France, and have gotten lots of envious comments. French linens are a good idea, as well as dishes. The "buy specific stuff for people" is a good idea, too.
posted by theora55 at 7:55 AM on February 3, 2006

eBay has a What's Hot link--check it out.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 8:03 AM on February 3, 2006

Response by poster: These suggestions are really great. My plan now is to start with paper products and fabric, and I'll do some looking around this weekend to see what I can find in terms of cute labels, etc.

Antique linens sound interesting but it might be tough for me as I don't have any specialized knowledge, and it seems like it could be a very involved subject.

I may also set up a personal shopping website - that sounds like fun, anyway.

Shipping costs are going to be a major factor in this. Express mail shipping is about 20 euros a kilogram, and slow mail is around 12 (the per kilo prices go down significantly as the weights go up). However, paper products can go at letter rate which is significantly cheaper. I'm not sure about fabric and I'll need to look into that.

Anyway, please keep the ideas coming, and I really appreciate all the help so far!
posted by hazyjane at 8:11 AM on February 3, 2006

Another idea related to the cosmetics department - keep an eye out for sales or gift bags and free or complimentary kits and other promotional stuff in stores. Even if it's brands you can find in other countries, promotional initiatives are often different in each country so that particular set may not be available elsewhere. Or not be discounted etc.

(and I don't know if this is true in general or only for specific brands, but I did read somewhere that even globally available French cosmetics brands are cheaper in Paris -- see also for instance here - search "cosmetics" in the page)

CunningLinguist's idea is brilliant. It would be cool if some sort of international network could be put together for that purpose...
posted by funambulist at 8:27 AM on February 3, 2006

Phildar!!

And yes, seconding the pens that erase blue fountain pen ink on one side, and have a fine-point blue marker on the other side, for fixing. There was an AskMe about this not too long ago.
posted by librarina at 8:29 AM on February 3, 2006

I love those faience coffee bowls--they are usually white with blue and yellow decoration and have two small handles, and often have the name of the user painted on the side. They're in every cupboard in France but damn near impossible to find in the States.

They look like this.
posted by padraigin at 8:36 AM on February 3, 2006

I agree that you should check out the "What's Hot" section on eBay -- and then you should avoid selling anything that you find there. Those will be the items with the most competition and you are almost certain to be unable to sell them at a profit.

Ideally, you want something that buyers are looking for that few people are selling on eBay. For example, I sell CDs on eBay. The eBay What's Hot list will tell me that the hot CDs are the current releases from the most popular singers -- not only is this not particularly informative but there's no where that I can buy these CD's and make a profit selling them for $10 on eBay. What I need to know is which CDs (that I might find for $1 at a garage sale) get listed on eBay only once every six months and sell for $75. Any CD that gets on any list of hot collectibles ceases to fall into this category.

What it comes down to is what do you have or know or do (or have access to) that few other people have or know or do? If your chosen product is not a correct answer to this question, then you probably won't succeed.

If anybody can do it, then anybody probably already is (or will be once they see that your initial auctions are successful) -- and then the supply/demand balance goes the wrong way.
posted by winston at 9:00 AM on February 3, 2006

Lingerie. The crappiest, cheap French lingerie always struck me as a thousand times nicer than the stuff you get Stateside.
posted by astruc at 9:22 AM on February 3, 2006

Response by poster: For those that are interested, you can buy phildar directly from www.phildar.fr and the delivery fee seems to be 29 euros regardless of the quantity (I tested up to 50 balls of yarn). It's better to buy directly from them because they don't charge you the French sales tax that I'd have to pay if I ordered. If anyone needs help with the French ordering on that page (their English site doesn't seem to be ready), just email me.
posted by hazyjane at 9:42 AM on February 3, 2006

The personal shopping service sounds fun and very useful! I wish there was a UK version of that for me. I would suggest caution with the food idea, since there tend to be lots of import restrictions on food items - particularly meat and cheeses (which tend to be the things I would like to import most!)
posted by Joh at 8:01 PM on February 3, 2006

I second the UK thing. In addition to the cheaper shipping and lack of tarrifs within the EU, the UK is an expensive place, and people are used to paying more for things here than in the US.

When my wife and I go to Paris, the main thing we stock up on is food and kitchenware. As others have noted, canned or storebought food that the French take for granted is often much better than the stuff we foreigners can get at a similar price range. And, while Joh is right that there are some restrictions, I'm pretty sure you'd be able to find a product that isn't restricted. A little googling turned up this government page as a possible starting point.

One possibility nobody has mentioned: chocolate. It's lightweight and easy to ship, and the phrase "French chocolate, direct from Paris" is enough to make anybody's mouth water. You could probably charge a premium, even for stuff you buy in supermarkets. If you want to get a rough sense of the price difference, one starting point might be a place like Maison du Chocolat, which has branches in both Paris and London--you could see how much more they charge in London.

If you do decide to go this route, and you want to ship chocolate to somebody in London just as a test to make sure it gets there on time, feel free to e-mail me. (Address in my profile.) It's far too generous of me, I know, but I am happy to eat as much French chocolate as you care to send me, purely as a favor to a fellow MeFite.
posted by yankeefog at 3:50 AM on February 6, 2006

Try french comic books or other similar ideas
posted by weiler63 at 1:03 PM on August 14, 2006