Bill Stacy
1st February 2009, 10:09 AM
Success Story:
$4.5 million selling motorhomes on eBay from home office
***************************************
It's true - you can still earn a great living selling on eBay, if you focus on selling what people with money to spend, want to buy. Here's the inside scoop
As mentioned in a previous article (http://www.onedaywealth.com/forum/showthread.php?t=340), my brother recently purchased a motorhome via an eBay auction, and I volunteered to help him drive it the 1,500 miles from the seller's location to Miami Florida.
http://www.bmyers.com/members/images/1572a.jpg
This required my brother and I to fly to Dallas, meet the seller, inspect the motorhome, pay for it, prep it for the trip, and then drive it back.
During the time we were in Dallas, I had an opportunity to talk to the seller about his business of selling motorhomes on eBay, and what I learned might be inspirational to those looking for ways to generate income from home.
Here's the seller's story.
Out of work, but not out of ideas
The seller's name is James.
He is a middle-aged man living in Dallas, with a wife and three children.
Until 18 months ago, James was employed as a car salesman at a Dallas car dealership. But as business as the dealership declined, James, along with many others, was laid off.
Since James had a family to support and dwindling job prospects, he decided to try his hand at selling things on eBay.
As a former car salesman, James knew that to make real money, you needed to sell higher priced items, and in order to make a profit, you also needed to buy the item right so there would be a good spread between what you paid for it and what you sold it for.
With that in mind, James figured that buying motorhomes at low prices, and then selling them at a higher price on eBay, might be a good business to try.
Of course, the first problem would be acquiring a motorhome to sell.
Finding motorhomes to sell
Since James didn't want to spend his own money to purchase a motorhome to resell, he decided to call used car and motorhome dealers in the area to see if any of them were interested in letting him try to sell some of the motorhomes they may have taken in on trade.
It took a few calls, but he eventually found a dealer who told him, 'come on down, and we'll work out an agreement where you can try to sell a few of our motorhomes. If you can sell them, we'll pay you a commission'.
James went down to the dealer, viewed the motorhomes, and found the one that seemed like the best deal.
He and the dealer agreed to a minimum price, above which James would keep all the profit.
With that done, James took 26 photos of the motorhome, wrote the eBay auction listing, and set it up for a 7 day sale.
And to his surprise, the motorhome sold, the buyer flew in and paid in cash, and James earned his first profit - of over $4,000.
He definitely liked this kind of business.
Finding more motorhomes
James knew that the weak link in his eBay motorhome selling plan was the availability of motorhomes to sell.
Because he had done his research on eBay, he wanted to be sure to buy the kinds of motorhomes that people were buying on eBay.
That meant Class A and Class C coaches, no older than 2000, with at least one slide, fewer than 30,000 miles, and in excellent condition.
He knew if he couldn't buy them right, he wouldn't be able to offer them at a price which would attract eBay bidders.
With that in mind, he decided to contact his local bank and arrange a line of credit, just in case he found a good deal on a motorhome, and needed cash to buy.
His local banker agreed to offer him a 'floor plan' credit line, where the motorhomes would be collateral, but the bank wouldn't take title - making it easier for James to transfer bought motorhomes to new buyers.
His local banker also suggested James attend the car dealer auctions, because that's where the bank sent their repossessed motorhomes to sale. And usually they sold at auction for far below the book price.
So James made arrangements to attend the dealer car auctions, and he was able to purchase a motorhome there for far below the wholesale book price.
It seems that in this economy, car dealers weren't interested in buying used motorhomes, especially since they had a hard time selling the used cars they already had.
Often James was the only bidder on the motorhomes that appeared on the lots.
Since the bank had agreed to cover the purchase price of these motorhomes with their 'floor-plan financing', James was able to buy them without spending any of his own money.
Profit made in quick turns
With floor-plan financing, James knew that he had to start making payments within 30 days of purchase, so his goal was to sell a motorhome within 15 days of purchase, and then pay the bank back before the first payment was due.
To do this, he would get the motorhome cleaned up the day after he bought it, then shoot at least 26 photos of the motorhome, and then write an eBay auction listing, and get the eBay auction going.
He would describe the motorhome in great detail in the listing, show any flaws (because that actually builds trust), and include photos of everything.
To get bids, he would price the motorhome well below the book price, but always a little bit above what he had paid.
It is important to note here, that to be successful, you must buy right. That means buying at a price far below what the market expects to pay.
If you don't buy right, you won't do well in this - or any other business where you resell items you buy.
Back to the story . . .
By offering the kinds of coaches people wanted, and including photos that gave them enough confidence to bid, and by setting a starting price low enough to get the bidding going, James has been able to sell all the motorhomes he has bought, in 14 days or less.
This has kept his bank happy, and has helped him make a good profit on each 'turn'.
The only people who might be unhappy are his neighbors - because James often has 3 or 4 motorhomes parked in his yard - and James lives in an upscale neighborhood.
My personal observations
When I visited James, he had 5 motorhomes in his driveway and parked in his back yard.
He had purchased these coaches all within the past three weeks, and all had already been sold - he showed me the eBay auction page for each unit, which indeed showed they had been sold on eBay within the past 5 days.
James also showed me the 'repo' paperwork on the motorhome my brother had purchased through one of James's auctions.
The paperwork showed that when the bank repo'd the motorhome, the previous owner still owed $80,000 on it.
James said he bought it at the dealer auction for $21,500, and my brother paid James $24,995 for it - meaning James earned $3,500 profit on that coach.
James told me that he usually earns more than that on each sale, but since he was selling 5 motorhomes that week, he was able to reduce his profit a bit on each coach.
Even so, he was still going to earn close to $20,000 in profits for the 5 motorhomes he had sold that week.
I asked him if he ever had problems with non-paying bidders, and he told me that of the 140 motorhomes he had sold in the past two years, only two had failed to pay. There was no way I could verify that, but that number is pretty amazing.
Perhaps the low non-payer rate is due to James selling something that people dream of owning, at prices below what people expect to pay, and because he sells his coaches in clean 'everything works' condition, his buyers are very happy to win his auctions.
That may be also why James has a 100% positive feedback score.
Conclusion
Selling motorhomes on eBay is not a business for everyone.
But as James has proven, if you concentrate on finding out what people with money want to buy, and are able to find those items and buy them far below what people expect to pay, you can do well reselling them on eBay.
***************************************
For more stories and tips like this visit Bill Myers Online (http://www.bmyers.com/index.cfm?affID=1daywealth)
$4.5 million selling motorhomes on eBay from home office
***************************************
It's true - you can still earn a great living selling on eBay, if you focus on selling what people with money to spend, want to buy. Here's the inside scoop
As mentioned in a previous article (http://www.onedaywealth.com/forum/showthread.php?t=340), my brother recently purchased a motorhome via an eBay auction, and I volunteered to help him drive it the 1,500 miles from the seller's location to Miami Florida.
http://www.bmyers.com/members/images/1572a.jpg
This required my brother and I to fly to Dallas, meet the seller, inspect the motorhome, pay for it, prep it for the trip, and then drive it back.
During the time we were in Dallas, I had an opportunity to talk to the seller about his business of selling motorhomes on eBay, and what I learned might be inspirational to those looking for ways to generate income from home.
Here's the seller's story.
Out of work, but not out of ideas
The seller's name is James.
He is a middle-aged man living in Dallas, with a wife and three children.
Until 18 months ago, James was employed as a car salesman at a Dallas car dealership. But as business as the dealership declined, James, along with many others, was laid off.
Since James had a family to support and dwindling job prospects, he decided to try his hand at selling things on eBay.
As a former car salesman, James knew that to make real money, you needed to sell higher priced items, and in order to make a profit, you also needed to buy the item right so there would be a good spread between what you paid for it and what you sold it for.
With that in mind, James figured that buying motorhomes at low prices, and then selling them at a higher price on eBay, might be a good business to try.
Of course, the first problem would be acquiring a motorhome to sell.
Finding motorhomes to sell
Since James didn't want to spend his own money to purchase a motorhome to resell, he decided to call used car and motorhome dealers in the area to see if any of them were interested in letting him try to sell some of the motorhomes they may have taken in on trade.
It took a few calls, but he eventually found a dealer who told him, 'come on down, and we'll work out an agreement where you can try to sell a few of our motorhomes. If you can sell them, we'll pay you a commission'.
James went down to the dealer, viewed the motorhomes, and found the one that seemed like the best deal.
He and the dealer agreed to a minimum price, above which James would keep all the profit.
With that done, James took 26 photos of the motorhome, wrote the eBay auction listing, and set it up for a 7 day sale.
And to his surprise, the motorhome sold, the buyer flew in and paid in cash, and James earned his first profit - of over $4,000.
He definitely liked this kind of business.
Finding more motorhomes
James knew that the weak link in his eBay motorhome selling plan was the availability of motorhomes to sell.
Because he had done his research on eBay, he wanted to be sure to buy the kinds of motorhomes that people were buying on eBay.
That meant Class A and Class C coaches, no older than 2000, with at least one slide, fewer than 30,000 miles, and in excellent condition.
He knew if he couldn't buy them right, he wouldn't be able to offer them at a price which would attract eBay bidders.
With that in mind, he decided to contact his local bank and arrange a line of credit, just in case he found a good deal on a motorhome, and needed cash to buy.
His local banker agreed to offer him a 'floor plan' credit line, where the motorhomes would be collateral, but the bank wouldn't take title - making it easier for James to transfer bought motorhomes to new buyers.
His local banker also suggested James attend the car dealer auctions, because that's where the bank sent their repossessed motorhomes to sale. And usually they sold at auction for far below the book price.
So James made arrangements to attend the dealer car auctions, and he was able to purchase a motorhome there for far below the wholesale book price.
It seems that in this economy, car dealers weren't interested in buying used motorhomes, especially since they had a hard time selling the used cars they already had.
Often James was the only bidder on the motorhomes that appeared on the lots.
Since the bank had agreed to cover the purchase price of these motorhomes with their 'floor-plan financing', James was able to buy them without spending any of his own money.
Profit made in quick turns
With floor-plan financing, James knew that he had to start making payments within 30 days of purchase, so his goal was to sell a motorhome within 15 days of purchase, and then pay the bank back before the first payment was due.
To do this, he would get the motorhome cleaned up the day after he bought it, then shoot at least 26 photos of the motorhome, and then write an eBay auction listing, and get the eBay auction going.
He would describe the motorhome in great detail in the listing, show any flaws (because that actually builds trust), and include photos of everything.
To get bids, he would price the motorhome well below the book price, but always a little bit above what he had paid.
It is important to note here, that to be successful, you must buy right. That means buying at a price far below what the market expects to pay.
If you don't buy right, you won't do well in this - or any other business where you resell items you buy.
Back to the story . . .
By offering the kinds of coaches people wanted, and including photos that gave them enough confidence to bid, and by setting a starting price low enough to get the bidding going, James has been able to sell all the motorhomes he has bought, in 14 days or less.
This has kept his bank happy, and has helped him make a good profit on each 'turn'.
The only people who might be unhappy are his neighbors - because James often has 3 or 4 motorhomes parked in his yard - and James lives in an upscale neighborhood.
My personal observations
When I visited James, he had 5 motorhomes in his driveway and parked in his back yard.
He had purchased these coaches all within the past three weeks, and all had already been sold - he showed me the eBay auction page for each unit, which indeed showed they had been sold on eBay within the past 5 days.
James also showed me the 'repo' paperwork on the motorhome my brother had purchased through one of James's auctions.
The paperwork showed that when the bank repo'd the motorhome, the previous owner still owed $80,000 on it.
James said he bought it at the dealer auction for $21,500, and my brother paid James $24,995 for it - meaning James earned $3,500 profit on that coach.
James told me that he usually earns more than that on each sale, but since he was selling 5 motorhomes that week, he was able to reduce his profit a bit on each coach.
Even so, he was still going to earn close to $20,000 in profits for the 5 motorhomes he had sold that week.
I asked him if he ever had problems with non-paying bidders, and he told me that of the 140 motorhomes he had sold in the past two years, only two had failed to pay. There was no way I could verify that, but that number is pretty amazing.
Perhaps the low non-payer rate is due to James selling something that people dream of owning, at prices below what people expect to pay, and because he sells his coaches in clean 'everything works' condition, his buyers are very happy to win his auctions.
That may be also why James has a 100% positive feedback score.
Conclusion
Selling motorhomes on eBay is not a business for everyone.
But as James has proven, if you concentrate on finding out what people with money want to buy, and are able to find those items and buy them far below what people expect to pay, you can do well reselling them on eBay.
***************************************
For more stories and tips like this visit Bill Myers Online (http://www.bmyers.com/index.cfm?affID=1daywealth)