Should I start a designer clothes business on ebay?

**CharlieB** · 06-01-2008 08:14 AM

Hi

Yeah I know nothing about fashion but have found some suppliers of discounted designer clothes. Would I be wise to start an ebay business with this based on the grounds that I could buy low and sell (hopefully) high, despite knowing nothing about fashion/clothes?

Also does anyone know how successful selling designer clothes is on ebay?

Thanks

**matt_15** · 06-01-2008 01:23 PM

Hi, have you found devilwear.co.uk ? devilwear is a dropshipper that has been online for 5 years. They are the most efficient and professional dropshipper, that deals with home based businesses, I have seen so far.

And yes, it would be fine starting a clothes business, even if you dont know anything about clothes. You wont have to write the descriptions (presumably) because there will be a description of the clothes on the website that you are buying from.

You have clearly not even looked on eBay yourself. You havent done any market research. It is almost like you are expecting other members of YE to go and research the ebay clothes market for you. I think you should start with some desk research, and decide yourself
"how successful selling designer clothes is on eBay"

**Tom Milan** · 06-01-2008 03:06 PM

Do the research mate,
Analyze Ebay and its sales to do with fashion items.
What type of items are you selling? analyze if people are buying these items, and at which prices...can you compete with these prices?

**Yiie** · 06-01-2008 08:54 PM

You definitely need to have an interest in fashion and know what's going on in the industry to know what would sell. Just because it has a designer label, doesn't necessary mean it would sell, especially the impractical pieces. You would also have to know about the item inside and out as a lot of customer would be asking you questions.

Also, know who you wish to target and read the glossy fashion mags to be up to date on the trends. It sounds easy if you have a passion for it, but pretty gruelling if have no interest in fashion at all.

**rejoice** · 06-01-2008 10:37 PM

should i jump off a cliff? NO! ......... you are asking a personal question that only you can answer as only you will determine your success on eBay or any other business .......... what do you know about eBay?

**wackoo_jackoo** · 06-02-2008 02:02 AM

I think selling anything on eBay which is going to make you a few more dollars at the end of the day is worth a shot.
It may not lead to a major source of income but you will learn valuable lessons from doing so.
I sold home brew kits on eBay for around a year and taught my self the ins and outs of eBay. now i can use these skills to sell other products and do other things.

**CharlieB** · 06-02-2008 09:30 AM

O.K thanks for your help. I've just got a couple of questions though:

How can I find out the demand for a product on ebay? Should I just go by the number of bids on each page?

Also I currently don't have an ebay account, as im under 18 I can't use paypal so I just use my dad's account. Would it be worth setting up my own account and following the sales of some products as my research?

Thanks

**Yiie** · 06-02-2008 06:54 PM

You can find out the demand by looking at how many views the item has and also the bid as well. Look at items that are about to close and see if there's a bidding war, that's usually a good indication of how popular it is.

If your target market are females, look into fashion forums (such as the vogue.com forums). You'd get an idea of what female buyers are looking for and wanting (usually something hot off the catwalk). You can also take a risk by stocking up niche brands that could be the next big thing.

**Aletheides** · 06-04-2008 05:15 AM

Try it out and see. You're not looking at a huge investment.

**kh82791** · 06-04-2008 03:32 PM

The best research thing I ever used on eBay was searching and then doing advance search and clicking on ended sales (or something like that) it basically tells you what you can sell it for.
Also, selling on eBay is incredibly hard to turn a profit, BUT it gives you INVALUABLE experience.
It might be a little bit easier to turn a profit now because I think they recently lowered the eBay selling rated.

**matt_15** · 06-04-2008 03:43 PM

( I am 15 )

**Aletheides** · 06-04-2008 04:55 PM

Originally Posted by matt_15

If youre under 18, you should do what i'm doing. I was in debate for atleast a motnh, with my dad about setting up a business in his name for me, and the whole paypal thing and all the under 18 scenario. I now understand that it would be a far wiser choice for me to do exceptionally well in my gcse's (I wouldn't of cared about my exams if I was operating a business) . I'm going to college, doing a course in business, when I get out, Ill have more knowledge in business, and I'll be 18. So i'll be free to make alot of money. You should copy me. If you aren't going to listen to me, then you should research the implications of running an ebay business illegally.

When I was under 18 I didn't let my age stop me from starting my own businesses. It's really easy to do this online.

I guarantee you will learn more from real world experience than you will from a business class taught by a professor who has never started a business in his life.

If you want more knowledge when it comes to business, read a book depending on what you want to learn. Marketing, Sales, etc...