Longtime eBay seller and educator Skip McGrath operates the Online Seller's Resource site. Created in 1999, McGrath says the site is the oldest and largest site serving eBay sellers. It provides eBay tips and tools both for new and experienced merchants.
McGrath is a former antique shop owner, who discovered eBay way back in 1997, when his son found eBay was a great place to sell comic books online. He's been a PowerSeller for more than nine years and has more than $1 million in eBay sales.
Find the right niche for you
Schepp: When did you start selling on eBay, what did you sell and what do you typically sell nowadays?
McGrath: Karen and I started selling on eBay in 1999. We started by selling antiques we had left over from an antique shop we used to own but closed when we moved out West. Today we sell a bit of everything. Most of our items are in the Home & Garden category, but we have recently started selling in a small jewelry niche.
Don't try and compete with the big boys in hot consumer products. Find a niche where there is less competition
Schepp: What advice do you have for people who would like to start an eBay business?
McGrath: Don't try and compete with the big boys in hot consumer products. Find a niche where there is less competition.
Don't aim for the lowest prices
Schepp: eBay is much more competitive now than it was when you started selling. What are some crucial keys for success selling on today's eBay?
McGrath: There are several:
Work in niches that are not highly competitive.
Learn how to source products correctly that you can mark up at least 100 percent, and preferably 200 percent or more.
Don't be anxious to sell at the lowest price. If you create really good quality listings the market will come to you.
Learn how to create unique products by bundling several products together. For example, I sell an espresso barista toolkit that consists of cleaning brushes, thermometer, steaming pitcher and a couple of other tools. I can sell it for more than the sum of the parts because I am the only one selling the complete kit. Another example is a guy I know who sells digital cameras. Since that niche is so competitive, he creates kits that include a camera, bag and tripod. He does quite well and makes far more profit on the kit than he makes when he sells an individual camera.
Make sure your listings are mobile friendly. Almost 30 percent of eBay sales today are from mobile devices.
When you find a good source, cultivate it. I make it a point to be friendly with our sales reps, doing email chats, asking about their families, even sending Christmas cards
Schepp: Sourcing is always a challenge for sellers. What have you learned about sourcing over the years?
McGrath: Sourcing is probably the biggest challenge we face. We are starting to source directly from overseas as a way to get better prices. Contrary to popular wisdom, you can buy in small quantities from overseas. We have several products where we buy as few as 24 at a time.
When you find a good source, cultivate it. I make it a point to be friendly with our sales reps, doing email chats, asking about their families, even sending Christmas cards. This paid off recently when my sales rep called me and said, "Skip, since you are a good client we are going to extend another 5-percent discount on our products to you."
Look for sources that enforce Minimum Advertised Pricing. This is a policy whereby no one is allowed to discount the product below a certain retail price. This keeps competitors from undercutting you.
Always move forward
Schepp: What advice can you share about keeping an eBay business thriving and always moving forward?
McGrath: I have three key pieces of advice:
Never stop learning. We have been doing this for 14 years now, and I still seek out and learn new things every day.
Avoid negative people and negative influences. My wife's brother got very upset when I quit my job to sell full time on eBay. That was eight years ago, and he still thinks we are going to starve and lose our home. But we are making more money than he ever did working in the corporate world. Had we listened to him, we would not be doing what we do today.
Perfect is the enemy of good. You will make mistakes, but folks who plan and never do anything until they are 100% ready rarely accomplish anything
Remember, perfect is the enemy of good. You will make mistakes and screw up. Even with all our experience we still do that. But folks who plan and plan and research, and never do anything until they are 100-percent ready rarely accomplish anything.
Schepp: You've managed to broaden your eBay business to include e-commerce education and consulting services. Is leveraging expertise something you'd recommend to other sellers, and if so, what have you learned about how best to do that?
McGrath: I only recommend that to folks who have a talent to do something. For example, I was already skilled at writing from my years in the business world, so it was natural for me to start writing books about eBay. But there is a danger of losing focus if you start trying too many things. Make sure you have really mastered one thing before you try something else.
Jump in
Schepp: What other advice do you have for new eBay sellers?
McGrath: Just start! As I said, you will make mistakes, but you will learn as you go. Learn the very basics; then start listing things you have around the house or you find at thrift shops and garage sales. While you are doing this you will be learning, building up your feedback, and during this time you can research what niche you might want to sell in and start researching wholesale sources for that niche.
Schepp: Similarly, what other advice do you have for more experienced sellers?
McGrath: Scale your business up and go multichannel. We now use Fulfillment by Amazon, and it actually exceeds our eBay sales. We even use FBA to fulfill our eBay orders, so we are not shipping dozens of packages every day. Look at Amazon, Sears.com and Rakuten as three channels to expand to.
Schepp: We thank Skip McGrath for his great advice.