Problem kolega - Logistics

Hello everyone,

I used eBay Seller Cockpit to research the market and found a product that sells on eBay.de for around €7. I found the same product on Alibaba for €2, so I ordered a sample to my location in Bucharest, Romania. I'm currently waiting for it to arrive before listing it on eBay.de.

My plan is to sell it for €6. Shipping costs around €5, so I don't expect to make a profit at the beginning. My goal is to build a stable business over time, not to make quick money.

The shipping time is only 3–4 days, which is pretty good. However, I know that the shipping costs won't be sustainable in the long run, so I'm already thinking about finding a better solution as the business grows.

Is anyone here running this type of business remotely? I'd love to hear how you make it profitable and manage shipping costs. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for reading, all the best!

Your math is the problem here, not really the product. €6 sale with €2 cost + €5 shipping + ebay/paypal fees + returns means you are paying people to test your listing. That can be fine for learning, but dont call it scaling yet.

For eBay.de I’d first check if anyone is selling the exact item with German stock and free shipping, because buyers will compare delivery + total price, not your supplier price. If you want this to work remote, you probably need either bulk stock in Germany with a small fulfilment place, or ship batches to someone/warehouse and pay per order. Sending single items from Romania at €5 kills most cheap products.

Also dont ignore VAT/packaging/returns. Cheap items get refunded easily and one return can wipe 20 sales if the margin is tiny. I’d test it, but I wouldnt scale anything under maybe €3-€4 clear profit per unit unless volume is crazy and returns are almost zero.

yeah shipping single cheap items from romania is going to kill you. even if you just want to build account authority, ebay fees and return costs will put you in a hole fast. instead of selling one unit for 6 euro, you should bundle them. sell a 3-pack or 5-pack for 15-20 euro. your shipping cost stays basically the same but the math actually starts to make sense. also keep in mind german buyers expect easy returns, so you need a local return address in germany or you'll have to pay for return shipping back to romania which is a nightmare.