eBay for a living?

A certain tall guy is considering his employment options and said something about doing an at-home self-employment business.� Which, incidentally, would probably mean selling sh....tuff on eBay.

Being a seasoned buyer online, I can only suggest the things that I liked about postings, communication, shipments, etc.� I suspect it would involve being aware of a lot of things, like the costs of merchandise, packaging, and possibly the average going price of different items.

Anyone have any experience doing this?� Suggestions?� Warnings?� Start up costs?

Try eBay's boards:

http://pages.ebay.com/community/boards/index.html

This option came up since several of my former coworkers told me that I should try my hand at running my own store, especially as a music or game reseller.� I like the idea, but the problems come with acquiring an inventory, maintaining a storefront, and the simple fact that my musical taste isn't very marketable to the masses.

I wouldn't do it for a living but have been thinking about ways to turn junk into money for an iPod.� Heh heh heh.� I'm planning to run a garage sale but ebay is an awesome idea for things that wouldn't sell to just anyone or things you could get a higher price for on there.

It depends. On lots of things. Like what it is he wants to sell. If it is the same stuff lots of other people are selling then margins are likely to be tight and ebay's cut may hurt. If we are talking�one of a kind stuff�like custom furniture then the margins are likely to be better, as long as the stuff appeals to people. Then the only question is can you�make enough to make it worthwhile, but that is a problem no matter how you sell things. I doubt if Ebay should be the only marketing channel.

What he needs to do is a business plan, work out all the numbers, research like crazy, get a strategy (ie. maybe --better quality for the same price-- would be a better strategy than --same quality for cheaper--)

This is just like Applied Economics from HS.