Where to source wholesale products for eBay

Hi everyone,

Where would be a good source to buy products in bulk to sell on eBay other than Alibaba? I have a eBay account with over 900 positive feedbacks from long time ago and I want to get back into the game. I have a $100k budget to purchase stock. I'm also located in California.

Maybe find suppliers on aliexpress and contact them personally and nagotiate everything yourself. I knew a guy that organize the transport himself, to have lower expenses. For $100k worth of products I think its worth it to even try and organize the transport.. at least 2/3 of it. Other 1/3 get faster so you can start selling.

*I am not experienced in what you are doing. This is just an advice to think about*

I was looking into the idea in finding branded products and reselling them. Because on eBay people usually know what they want and they come and seek the best price. Most things on Alibaba are unbranded. Would it be a good idea to contact manufacturers or distributors? And do branded products have a stable profit margin to cover eBay fees and shipping costs?

Or should I focus on picking products that are unbranded but people still search for. Are there any good tools for doing product research for eBay?

Ferrari310 said:

I was looking into the idea in finding branded products and reselling them. Because on eBay people usually know what they want and they come and seek the best price. Most things on Alibaba are unbranded. Would it be a good idea to contact manufacturers or distributors? And do branded products have a stable profit margin to cover eBay fees and shipping costs?

Or should I focus on picking products that are unbranded but people still search for. Are there any good tools for doing product research for eBay?

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I don’t think that I should give you advice and that you should listen to me. I never did what you are trying to do. Right now I am building a drop shipping business and I will make a journey here on BHW.

Ferrari310 said:

I was looking into the idea in finding branded products and reselling them. Because on eBay people usually know what they want and they come and seek the best price. Most things on Alibaba are unbranded. Would it be a good idea to contact manufacturers or distributors? And do branded products have a stable profit margin to cover eBay fees and shipping costs?

Or should I focus on picking products that are unbranded but people still search for. Are there any good tools for doing product research for eBay?

Click to expand...

The other dude said Aliexpress? That's wrong! Sellers on Aliexpress source products from places like Alibaba, 1688.com or directly from manufacturers. Aliexpress prices are higher than on places like Alibaba.

And to answer your question, Alibaba is really sufficient if you're buying bulk. As for unbranded, Alibaba suppliers can have your brand name on any product you want and send samples to you, before you bulk order. If that's what you're looking for? Building your own brand?

Most things you say are unbranded on Alibaba, why yes! If you need branded products, you don't go to Alibaba to start with. You talk with the brand itself, negotiate a contract - buy 100 units on a huge discount - ship to your warehouse. And sell under the brand's name. Alibaba suppliers can't sell you a brand product except you have legal right to - are you' trying to get sued?

I use to do eBay dropshipping - I would find brand products on Sears.com and other places - list them on ebay, when i get a sale on ebay - i would order with the customers' address on Sears ... this is one way to sell brand products. I just had to make sure i was getting $15 - $20 per sale.


As for your last question - i would agree you firstly focus on unbranded product or Amazon product as it is called than brand products. Except you get a sweet deal for a brand product, which isn't easy to come by.

Let me know if you have more questions!

Durangoal said:

I use to do eBay dropshipping - I would find brand products on Sears.com and other places - list them on ebay, when i get a sale on ebay - i would order with the customers' address on Sears ... this is one way to sell brand products. I just had to make sure i was getting $15 - $20 per sale.

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So that means your selling price on ebay is $20 higher than on Sears, even higher because you also have to add fees. Wondering why people buy on ebay for a marked up price from an unknown seller instead of buying for cheap from Sears directly.

anatho said:

So that means your selling price on ebay is $20 higher than on Sears, even higher because you also have to add fees. Wondering why people buy on ebay for a marked up price from an unknown seller instead of buying for cheap from Sears directly.

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You just have to tediously check 100s of products, sometimes you find a product with price lower on Sears than it is on eBay - not all!

Yeah, eBay is trusted! And people buy there because of proximity...

Ferrari310 said:

I was looking into the idea in finding branded products and reselling them. Because on eBay people usually know what they want and they come and seek the best price. Most things on Alibaba are unbranded. Would it be a good idea to contact manufacturers or distributors? And do branded products have a stable profit margin to cover eBay fees and shipping costs?

Or should I focus on picking products that are unbranded but people still search for. Are there any good tools for doing product research for eBay?

Click to expand...

I feel like you can make a profit on these products that aren't too expensive to ship and have a decent profit margin.

If you are in CA... Frisco, LA, San Diego... hit the ship yards...
That is where the people you need to purchase in small amounts really are ($100k).
Going overseas will cost you your cash now, good if you roll your own later, but costly upfront.

In your browser... too much risk for so little up front and tighter margins/more hidden middlemen

(not to mention $100k is a scamville target sweet spot)

Find out who is buying locally (you can touch it and they already successfully sell it,
(not on Ebay and not waiting on you to buy )

Find a non-competitive market that offers them wholesale growth (like online)...

Make money together.

Find a single location that offers this opportunity on mass and you could be
the import-export-ebay-tech guy for the local international wholesalers you know.

Its just like pounding the pavement for Dentists...
but with a local-international-web nexus instead of local-local-web.

I used to hustle lipstick (Yes lipstick) from LA center city markets and telemarket
it out to salons nationwide. All it took was a Beverly Hills PO box and a telephone.

Any reason you don't want to use Ali?

Durangoal said:

You just have to tediously check 100s of products, sometimes you find a product with price lower on Sears than it is on eBay - not all!

Yeah, eBay is trusted! And people buy there because of proximity...

Click to expand...

Yes I see. It takes much effort and time then to find products that are cheaper on Sears. And they must be way cheaper, not only $1-2. Because you have also to consider ebay fees and profit. If you sell for higher than on Sears not so many people will buy, only the ones who are not tech savvy.

anatho said:

Yes I see. It takes much effort and time then to find products that are cheaper on Sears. And they must be way cheaper, not only $1-2. Because you have also to consider ebay fees and profit. If you sell for higher than on Sears not so many people will buy, only the ones who are not tech savvy.

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yeah it's really a numbers game with ebay especially when you're not the direct supplier, if you want to make some cool profit dropshipping on ebay - you need several 100s of listings! Then you can make a profit and still cover the fees.

timothywcrane said:

If you are in CA... Frisco, LA, San Diego... hit the ship yards...
That is where the people you need to purchase in small amounts really are ($100k).
Going overseas will cost you your cash now, good if you roll your own later, but costly upfront.

In your browser... too much risk for so little up front and tighter margins/more hidden middlemen

(not to mention $100k is a scamville target sweet spot)

Find out who is buying locally (you can touch it and they already successfully sell it,
(not on Ebay and not waiting on you to buy )

Find a non-competitive market that offers them wholesale growth (like online)...

Make money together.

Find a single location that offers this opportunity on mass and you could be
the import-export-ebay-tech guy for the local international wholesalers you know.

Its just like pounding the pavement for Dentists...
but with a local-international-web nexus instead of local-local-web.

I used to hustle lipstick (Yes lipstick) from LA center city markets and telemarket
it out to salons nationwide. All it took was a Beverly Hills PO box and a telephone.

Click to expand...

Quick question. What are ship yards? Is there a directory of where to go to locate them?

Sorry I used "shipyards"... they are usually sided by side with shipping ports (where goods come in via ship)/// US Container Ports - right at the beginning they give you a list of West Coast US Ports...

Ebay used to be my game as well. I don't know any suppliers but with 100k you're options are way more open than mine ever were. No one wants to give away their niche but if you have experience, then you can work from winning products.

Search high ticket sold listings in categories you're familiar with. Look for frequency and weak competition. Make a list of winners then google and call suppliers that might be able to give you the best prices. White label, drop ship, buy bulk, all are game.

But I don't buy 1000 of something if I don't know how long it will take to move

Try sourcing from local suppliers. You can find them in sites like Doba, inventory source, wholesale2B etc

Alibaba or local suppliers. I'm sure there are many warehouses in California that are used by Chinese suppliers.

TBH it's better to find local dropshipping suppliers nowadays. The shipping time of sourcing from China is currently very unpredictable. Not only because there are unplanned lockdowns happening all the time. The air/sea freight rates are very high these months and freights are hard to book. So many suppliers in China will delay the shipment to avoid high shipment fees.

You can find wholesale companies in every country. Why not buying stuff from strong companies everyone knows? there is no need to private label stuff. Also i would think about to sell via amazon FBA when you really have this money to invest. you will make a lot of cash in no time. i do arbitrage and wholesale reselling myself and with good money to invest you can make thousands the month without your own products. check tacticalarbitrage and tacticalbucket. The market in USA is so huge.

outrage666 said:

You can find wholesale companies in every country. Why not buying stuff from strong companies everyone knows? there is no need to private label stuff. Also i would think about to sell via amazon FBA when you really have this money to invest. you will make a lot of cash in no time. i do arbitrage and wholesale reselling myself and with good money to invest you can make thousands the month without your own products. check tacticalarbitrage and tacticalbucket. The market in USA is so huge.

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can you share any secret tip or tricks for finding good supplier and distributors of amazon brands