Have You Tried Selling Items Online?

[_Cathy_]

Is it safe? Is it profitable? What is the best method of transaction?

I have been seriously considering selling items through facebook or sulit. I plan to sell make up, nail polish and other personal care products. I figured I should start with items that are my interest.

As an example, the nail polish that I plan to sell would cost me P150 to P200 in the US and plan to sell it for P300. It sells for P350 at the mall but I see sellers from sulit selling it at P300, P350 and P500. It costs USD65 to ship a box from the US to Manila so I am thinking is a 100 to 150% mark up enough for me to make money? But I am surprised that people are buying it for more that the cost at the mall! The problem is I feel guilty to have such a high mark up. I have never really tried selling stuff in my entire life since I am bad at singilan and I feel guilty to mark up with my friends One example of what I thought was a high mark up would be the Cookie Butter which sells for less than USD4 but sold here for P450. But then when I calculated it, assuming that it is shipped for USD65, the mark up isn't as immoral as I previously thought SO better na to sell online so no guilt for me.

What I want to find out is if it is worth the trouble to sell online? What are the usual challenges of selling online?

I'm a regular at a monthly bazaar in Manila and I know some sellers that only started with buying stuff in the US and selling it on bazaars. Now most of them have brick and mortar shops already! I used to go direct to their houses so I get first dibs and no crowd but now I just go to their stores. Galing nga e

[[archie]]

Safe? 90 percent of the time. Hindi maiiwasan yung mga loko. But it's a risk... Set meeting place near your area and crowded. Don't post your mark up here Para hindi malaman puhunan. Do shipping and earn the trust of people the transact with you.

Don't feel bad to sell with a big mark up since May risk ka rin in trusting online sellers. It's just business, wag ka rin magpapadala sa tawad kasi patigasan yan (who wants it more). Ika nga, meron right buyer for all products.

Start from that and see where it takes you. See your market, adjust to their needs, wag pakipot, and remain ethical.

Edit: o ya deal with cash only and deposits. Never on utang or gives. Kahit gaano mo kakilala, cash lang lagi. Mahirap na ma123 ng con artist.

[_Cathy_]

Oh no. I cannot edit my post na Buti na lang hindi naman dito sa board ang market ko. Hehe.

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"Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future."

[beni23]

Tried it a couple of times, itinigil ko na kasi binabarat ako lagi at ako naman nagpapabarat din.


#Retzing

[jhnkvn]

Is it safe? Is it profitable? What is the best method of transaction?

There's no "best method of transaction", this always boils down to what are you selling. Are you selling electronic gadgets? Then your preferred method would probably be meetups at your nearby mall. Are you selling chocolates? Then food bazaars might be a good start. Profitability depends on your decisions. It's really not a magic word but it's simply cost-analysis. Is the expenses less than the revenue earned? For example, doing meetups might be a bad decision if you're selling Php200 worth of items. You have to factor in transportation, time, etc. expenses. For far-away orders, meeting up would simply eat away the expenses and at times, downright impossible. so it's best to have a middleman such as a courier to deliver it.

As Archie says, always deal in cash. You can deal with invisible "cash" such as GCash and their equivalent if you're savvy enough but don't take credit unless you know the buyer (ex. he's your husband's sister) and even if you know them, it's only polite not to rack up the credit so always feel free to turn them down.

And why the frown upon mark-ups? It's the lifeblood of a buy-and-sell business. Your markup dictates your profit margins. You should have seen me playing Diablo III in the first week. I was literally buying NPC items then selling them at a 400% markup... and they sell out within minutes. You're not doing something unethical.. you're simply being business-savy. Of course, selling lethal drugs as "safe to use" is another thing completely

[romeocharlie]

If you would sell it online lower your mark-ups because you would also have to consider shipping fee that the buyer would shoulder, plus payment dues na sila din ang nagbabayad.. If its just 50-100 difference sa mall and sa online, i would still go to the mall.. Kase mas secured ako because i can see the item personally.. Kung single item lang bibilhin, yung price difference mo sa mall eh balewala kase may additional expenses din ang buyer..

If you are keen enough, source items na wala or limited ang sellers dito saten, in that way you can dictate the price or atleast be competitive about it.. Kung ang ititinda mo eh madami sa mall or madami din resellers mahihirapan ka pa din magbenta.. Pwera na lang siguro kung rock bottom prices ka..

Madami na din established online shops kung tutuusin kaya dapat ready ka din mag all-out.. Saturated na ang online market, kaya dapat yung diskarte sa pag outsource ng item na ikaw lang ang meron at mabebenta mo sa magandang presyo, yun ang magiging success mo sa larangan na yan..

Plus, hinde porke online store ka lang wala ka na display, dapat maconsider mo din magtayo kahit maliit na stall where you can showcase your items. It can act as a meeting place na din if your customer prefers meetups.. Trust me, mas mabenta ang walk-in kesa social network orders..





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[Syuryuken]

nasubukan ko na medyo matagal nga lang ROI maraming kalaban pag online nandun yung duda ang mga buyer sayo at hindi mo rin pwedeng taasan ang presyo. bank to bank lahat transaction ko para panatag ang loob ng buyer.

[jansky]

meron kami ganyang small business we only use FB , Sulit

so far so good as long as the money transaction is done thru bank deposit.. sa dami ng bogus ngayon mahirap na mag meet sa places at doon ang bayaran
either hindi ka sisiputin or pag andon na eh tska ka babaratin ng sobra

[1D4LV]

yes, lots of times din.
via sulit.... tama sila..... merong risk, pero its up to you to mitigate the risks.
bago mo i ship, ask for the full payment muna via bank deposit.

[romeocharlie]

I also don't prefer meetups, hassle sa time... Minsan maghihintayan kayo, parehas pa kayo sira sa oras.. it just happens na yung tindahan namin may bakante na istante for some of my display, if the client wants to see the items before hand i just ask them to visit my display.. Hinde ko pa kailangan mag adjust ng time to meet the client..

Personally, ang online selling dito saten eh much more of advertising a certain brand or market that you wish yo carry.. Taking advantage of social media for the free ads.. But if you wish to go fulltime business, mas maganda pa din may pwesto ka tapos may online shop..


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[ghosthunter]

I have sold items online like the ff:
-used laptops/netbooks
-used computer parts
-used mobile phones
-cars
-car parts

For smaller items, usually its cash upon purchase. Although I used to do meet-ups at malls, I tend to prefer to have the buyer come to my office. This avoids the issue to wasting my time if the buyer is a "no-show".

As for cars, its full 100% payment, either manager's check or cash.

[Phoenix67]

I sell, toy RCs (hobby grade na 1/24 to1/32 scale)...para maging safe I only give three payment options: paypal, pay-before-delivery through bank transfer, at last option (which is also seldom) ay meet-ups.

NEVER send items unless they are paid for.

NEVER send items sa mail or courier service na unverifiable no matter how cheap it is.

ALWAYS follow up on your client if they got the items

It is only profitable if you put a good margin and if you don't stock up much on stocks that won't move fast...lalo na kung perishable (or merun yan expiry date).

Be aggressive in promoting your products. Happy selling!

[foresterx]

i have, used to sell gun parts and accessories. i was making minimum of 90k a month up to 150k mostly on november to december. now i stopped since dami na kalaban and it's becoming harder and harder to deal with customs especially since they know na may gun parts/accessories ang laman ng box or container mo, also since i buy all the things i sell in the states medjo na hirapan na din kumuha don since their gun laws became stricter. anyway i only sold my products on the forums i frequent to since it's a lot easier that way. trust can be built up easily since i've met some of the well known members in person and hang out with them. it helps a lot when well known people in the forum can vouch for you, makes it easier for buyers to trust you. some of the repeat customers i have already paid me for their orders even before the items arrived here in the philippines.

kaya ganon ka laki kinikita ko kasi what i did was yung mga items na meron locally binenta ko ng walang tubo so compared sa mga gunstores almost half the price siya, pero binawi ko naman sa mga items na di pa available locally. so yung mga may gusto nung binebenta ko na walang mabibili locally kahit mataas presyo ko no choice sila kung hindi kumuha sa akin.

yung sister in law ko nag bebenta din ng mga make-up at kung ano ano pa online pero i doubt she's making that much money. since yung binebenta niya dami na locally tapos dami din nag bebenta online, ilan beses ko na sinabihan kung gusto niya talaga kumita ang ibenta niya yung di available locally at wala pa gaano kalaban sa market.

[Mguy]

I just sell just to get rid of my old stuff. And I price them cheap just to get rid of them ASAP. I just sold a used bathtub for 1k this weekend. No need for me to ask for a high price kundi naka-tambak lang yun sa bahay eh and it eats up a lot of space.

Now to get rid of 9 golden retriever puppies.

[yebo]

Now to get rid of 9 golden retriever puppies.

pa-pm naman ng name and number ng stud owner. may dalaga ako na naghahanap ng papa. sana qc area. how much bayad sa stud?

[Mguy]

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[foresterx]

I just sell just to get rid of my old stuff. And I price them cheap just to get rid of them ASAP. I just sold a used bathtub for 1k this weekend. No need for me to ask for a high price kundi naka-tambak lang yun sa bahay eh and it eats up a lot of space.

Now to get rid of 9 golden retriever puppies.

pwede din ba sa 1k yan para lang matulungan kita ma bawasan ang tambak sa bahay mo.

[[archie]]

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I'll take one for free.

[glenn manikis]

most probably sa sulit ka mag post ng ads?

if yes... maganda dun pero madami din kalaban...


then advice ko lang, 1. kung madami kang kalaban you need to update or delete your ads in the morning and post it as a new ad, almost everyday para nasa first page ka...

2. malaking bagay yung primary photo mo... much better kung meron kang model na maganda, kung maganda ka naman MUCH BETTER ikaw mismo nalang ang model ng product mo...

3.then your price... post mo ang price mo dun na medyo mababa sa market price....

4. contact nos. mo.. dapat meron kang sun, globe at landline no.- yahoo and gmail...

5. kung talagang cheaper ang products mo sa kalaban, I-BLOCK MO SILA...

[Retz]

I usually sell my stuff sa mga kakilala ko. They are buying my 'used' items. If it's a great deal then I buy online.