Do you know these rules about selling on eBay?

By Sharon Fussell, October 13, 2016

xmas_opt

Now is the time to get on with considering Christmas products, as discussed last week. There is no doubt about it – the Christmas period is the most prolific retail time of the year.

Buyers are on the look out for both traditional gifts and wacky gifts, that little something out of the ordinary.

It isn’t always easy to source likely products, but if you can then it is always a good time to list items you consider will be popular at this time of year.

Here are some examples:

Books
DVDs
CDs
Games
Jigsaws
Toys & Games
Electronics*
Perfumes*
Jewellery*
Health products*

Toys & Games is another area where there is high demand.

Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to just have the eureka moment and start selling toys and games on Amazon – you do have to be eligible to sell these types of products.

To establish if you are, go to your seller account and access the ‘Help’ link in the top right of the page and email the Seller Central Team.

When you check your inbox, Amazon should have sent you the following email:

Dear Seller,

We are writing to let you know that your seller account currently meets the following Holiday Selling Guidelines for the Toys & Games store this holiday season:

•Your first sale on Amazon.co.uk must be prior to September 19 of the current year and need not be specific to Toys & Games store.
•You must have processed and shipped at least 25 orders between September 1 and October 31 of the current year and the orders need not be specific to Toys & Games store.
•Your short term order defect rate must be no greater than 1% as of November 1 of the current year.
•Your pre-fulfilment cancel rate must be no greater than 1.75% between October 1 and October 31 of the current year.
•Your late shipment rate must be no greater than 4% between October 1 and October 31 of the current year.

The other product areas I have marked with stars also may not be accessed unless you have permission to sell them on Amazon.

This also applies to photography and electronics, too.

So if you want to sell products in these categories I do suggest you contact Amazon and establish if you can have permission to do so.

If you want some ideas where to purchase products wholesale, then first establish if you are able to sell the product you wish to sell.

Then go to sites such as eBay and check out wholesale pallets of goods.

Personally I would avoid shop returns – you might be lucky and the goods will be boxed and in A1 condition but you might also pick up a pallet of returned broken products. They will be of little use to you and it is unlikely you will be able to shift them.

What you are really looking for is brand new, nicely boxed products.

Try and avoid massively popular products that attract lots of competition from several sellers.

It is extremely likely you will be undercut on price meaning only one direction: a race to the bottom. Needless to say, this is no good to you!

Remember, you won’t be able to sell goods such as e-cigarettes, medicines, guns or other dangerous goods.

Good luck and happy hunting!

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