Can You Make a Living on eBay?

This relates the two halves of my business life, my publishing company, Energion Publications, and this company, Neufeld Computer Services.

A year or so ago someone approached me wondering if he could get a good discount on some of our books so that he could then sell them on eBay.  He was a friend, looking for a “friend” discount.  My estimate was that he wouldn’t make any money.  Because we’re still struggling to establish the Energion Publications brand, I told him I would be happy to cut the price to the bone for him, but that I didn’t think he would make that much on eBay.

Why?  Basically there is little reason to expect strong sales of books on eBay when the sales of the same book on Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble are slow.  With books available through a major distrubtor like Ingram’s, as ours are, there are quite a number of people deeply discounting them for sale as marketplace items.  To sell on eBay you need some reason why people will be seriously looking for the item and they will plan to get it for a good price.  It’s about bargains or getting something that might not be available elsewhere.

I had great success selling ham radio equipment and some other electronics on eBay, and generally got more than I expected from an auction, but still what looked like a good price for the buyer when compared with what they might pay elsewhere.  I think you could sell some books there, but you’d need some very good way to bring people in to buy from you–rare books, bestsellers at a good price, or something similar.

Today I read an article in Newsweek that kind of confirms my idea.  There is a bit of an exaggerated idea of what one can do on eBay, and this can mislead potential sellers.  I think eBay is wonderful.  I have certainly been able to get good value from it.  But one needs to be realistic in thinking about why people will look for the product you’re offering, or how you will attract them to the site.  In the case of books in particular, there are better options, such as Amazon.com Marketplace or Alibris.