So:

You’ve taken the necessary steps for acquiring rare shoes for their retail price.

Maybe you got one pair or you̵7;re an expert with the correct knowledge who gets multiple pairs of Yeezys, Jordans or Adidas Human Race NMDs.

As a small business owner, you will benefit by having multiple channels to acquire and keep customers. You’ve thought about selling them on eBay to make money, but maybe you heard some things about the company.

Before you never open a seller account for shoes on eBay, read on, so you can hopefully change your mind.

It can be overwhelming when you see many options for getting your shoes in the hands of paying customers, as there are many things to avoid like scams and fakes.

You’ve seen other legit sites like GOAT and StockX and maybe you’re already selling your sneakers there. Some platforms are better than others, and each have their positives and negatives (check out this post here for advanced pricing strategies on eBay, GOAT and StockX). We will focus solely on eBay.

eBay

Among all of the platforms that exist for shoe resellers worldwide, eBay still remains the largest.

EBay is the granddaddy of ecommerce.

The platform was around in the 90s, part of the original internet based companies. Unlike many companies in the boom and bust era of the dot com bubble, eBay stuck around to this day, one of the few survivors among many companies that lost everything and are forgotten pieces of history in today’s app-heavy world of platform kings like Uber, Instagram and Snapchat.

A lot of people don’t know this, but eBay is actually older than Google by 3 years. eBay was a business way back in 1995, and Google was not conceived until 1998.

Selling Limited Release Sneakers on eBay

Historically eBay is the platform for selling antiques and collectibles. Although there exists a large market for historic collector’s items, shoes have made their steady rise in the past few years, with a volume roughly between around $500 million annually on the platform based on these statistics and the growth rate pulled from this study on StockX in 2013.

Much press has come out warning people not to sell on eBay and to sell on other platforms instead, but as a sneaker reseller in 2018 who still uses eBay, I will argue for the case for using this platform.

It’s established

Not every sneaker buyer and seller is a young person who hops on all of the new trends and sneaker selling platforms. Just like there are still some people who like to receive snail mail and those who have a house telephone, some people just don’t like change, even if it’s better.

Even though GOAT, StockX, and others have came on to the scene, there is still a market of buyers who stick to eBay because it’s worked for them in the past.

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eBay is diverse

eBay also has the exclusive option of auctions. Many people enjoy this option, and the competitors don’t offer it. You can also sell at a fixed Buy it Now price or with a fixed price accepting offers, which you can set up when you create the listing by toggling the different options you’ll see when you begin to sell.

You can sell preorders

eBay is unique because you can sell items before you have them in hand, and you get the money up front and you can buy inventory with customer money. When you sell a preorder, you get the advantage of better cashflow. This is pretty cool, and it’s an advanced technique taught in depth in the 5 part guide.

You build a reputation

As a seller on eBay, you collect points in the form of feedback, which will help you establish a recurring customer base. eBay is known to have steady repeat buyers as it profiles you more as an individual compared to other sneaker exclusive platforms.

When you collect positive feedback, your seller rating will rise and you will show up higher in the search results for items.

Pro tip:

eBay is linked with Google so you’ll even show up in organic Google Shopping searches that will point to your listings once you have a big enough reputation.

…on both PayPal and eBay

Presently in 2018, PayPal is the exclusive payment gateway of eBay, although this is changing soon. PayPal is also a preferred method for peer to peer sales on social media and on forums, and as a new user of PayPal, they lock up your dollars until you build a reputation.

If you sell an item as a new seller, you won’t get money on PayPal until the item has been delivered, as PayPal holds on to the initial payment in escrow even though the buyer sent the money.

You need to perform transactions to build their trust and get immediate access to the money, and selling on eBay is one of the quickest ways to build this reputation. GOAT, StockX and other consignment options lack this critical advantage that helps you in direct customer sales.

You can sell things other than sneakers (and make $2000-$3000, plus tax advantages)

The average household owner has about $2000-$3000 worth of stuff that they’re not using. Many people hold garage sales, but instead of going through this hassle and opening up your property to strangers, why not use eBay for a virtual garage sale? You don’t have to only sell shoes, you can get rid of antiques, old clothes, media and electronics, and anything else that’s collecting dust and taking up space.

There’s even a tax benefit to online garage sales (check out this snippet from the IRS):

online garage ebay sales auction

eBay exclusive discounts

There are eBay exclusive discounts for both buyers and sellers.

People like to buy all sorts of things on eBay, and when they do it regularly enough, they accumulate eBay bucks, which is a rewards system that allows buyers to get exclusive discounts over time.

Many users have eBay bucks and they want to spend them, so they will go on eBay and not GOAT or StockX, which both do not have a rewards program.

eBay also has seasonal sales, incentivizing buyers with discounts like 10% Spring Sales, 15% Summer Sales, 20% Holiday Season End of Year Sales…you get the gist of this, eBay has many periods in the year that boost its sales which will be yours as a user of their platform.

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Even though fakes are flooding eBay, if you stand out as a good seller you can get consistent customers and foster relationships both on and off of eBay. Many savvy buyers are quick to notice replicas and they’ll see that you are a worthy seller and they will buy from you despite shady sellers.

You can even see this as a positive because now it will be easier to compete as a beacon of light in a market that some say is going dark.

Scale an eBay resale business on top of many other platforms by educating yourself with the best tool on the market, the highly reviewed Six Figure Sneakerhead 5 Part Hypemaster Playbook

Take your reselling game to the next level

Author

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JVG

JV was inspired to start Six Figure Sneakerhead after having more people asking questions than he could answer about sneaker reselling when they saw the success he was having. His intention is to create the top resource for sneaker resale education worldwide and loves to see when customers succeed, and he's always accepting feedback for all offerings which are constantly updated to suit the customer needs and the current times.

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