Where do the best eBay sellers get their products?
Unfortunately, the answer is less straightforward than either of us would prefer – it depends on the seller.
Choosing where to source your products is an important part of determining how you’re going to sell on eBay and make a profit. Because of this, we’ll go over 3 common ways eBay sellers source their products, the advantages of each, and how to know if it’s a fit for your particular eBay business.
3 Ways to Source Products to Sell On eBay In 2024
1) Dropshipping Suppliers
Dropshipping is a business model many eBay sellers use that enables them to run their business without having to worry about inventory. This works by the use of a dropshipping supplier who, once you sell a product, will ship the product to your customer.
The difference between a dropshipping supplier and a fulfillment center is that the dropshipping supplier also takes care of managing inventory levels from the source. Sometimes, if they create their own products, they are the source.
Other times, they’ll purchase the products in bulk from larger companies and sell them to you at a discount. Your job as the seller is to price the products at a price greater than what they sell them to you for.
This is similar to affiliate marketing except you have control over the pricing and sale of the products. The advantage of using dropshipping is that you never have to worry about inventory.
If this method of product sourcing sounds interesting to you, suppliers like SaleHoo, ChinaBrands, or Doba might be of interest.
2) Other Retailers
Many eBay sellers leverage the inventory of other retailers to fulfill their orders. There are two ways eBay sellers do this:
- Through a business model called “retail arbitrage.”
- By purchasing discount gift cards for retailers and using those to purchase inventory from them.
Retail arbitrage is a business model where you find a product selling at another retailer for less than the market price on eBay.
First, you list the product on eBay. Once an order is placed, you purchase the product at the other retailer and have it shipped to your customer.
This can be done with physical retail stores like Target or Wal-Mart by purchasing clearance products, but if you really want to scale your business, you can leverage platforms like Amazon or AliExpress for this business model. There’s even software out there like SaleFreaks or DSMTool that help automate this business if you decide to operate it online.
The only problem with this business model is that the margins are very slim. Because of this, you’ll need to make up for these small margins by listing lots of products.
If you want to start a retail arbitrage business, check out this helpful infographic from amazing.com.
3) Garage sales and thrift shops
Finally, many eBay sellers operate by finding deals at garage sales and thrift shops, then listing these products for sale on eBay.
This business model doesn’t scale well unless you can hire a fleet of buyers to find products at thrift stores, but if you want to operate in this way, make sure you know what sort of products you’re looking for before you look for deals
You need to make sure you purchase products you know will sell. eBay analytics tools can help you do keyword research in advance so that you can make educated decisions instead of going at it blind.
If this sounds like your preferred method of sourcing products from eBay, check out this chart from Practical Cash that lists the 50 easiest things to flip for a profit.
Quick Links:
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[Updated] How To Do Market Research For eBay Dropshipping
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[Updated] eBay Coupon Codes Cashback Offers: Get 70% Off
Final Verdict: Ways To Source Products To Sell On eBay
So these are the top 3 ways to source products and sell on eBay right away.
We hope this post suits your purpose well. If you have any experience in selling on eBay or planning to sell on eBay then let us know in the comment section below.
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