Here are some figures for the category "personalised mugs" for ebay .Originally Posted by logobear
Top seller (in terms of turnover) £969.00 (7days) price per mug £2.40 free postage
2nd seller (in terms of turnover) £833.00 (7days) price per mug £4.99 buy 3 get 1 free free postage
Its very tough, by the time fees postage and other expenses have been paid + manufacturing costs raw material costs, wastage etc etc its not looking good is it?
Personally I am not thinking of selling on Ebay, I want to sell on my own website. Making website is easy I can set up everything within in couple of weeks. Marketing is the hardest part I think. I am thinking of instagram and FB. idk I see how it goes
Also I have been doing a lot of research about Amazon FBA thinking of doing private label. There is lots of opportunities available. Only if I had £15k of spending I would invest invest
Considering the cheapest way to post a mug in the UK (without factoring the cost of a smash proof box) is over £2.50 (Royal Mail 2nd class parcel) then I think selling a mug for £2.40 isn't the wisest price point choice. Although the majority of eBay sellers use low prices as a form of marketing hoping to retain customers and loyalty for good service.
I sell mugs on etsy for £9.95 plus postage and I am doing ok, its been slow over summer but I hope to be busy again this Christmas. good luck!
I dont wish to come across as negative with my posts, but for someone new entering sublimation because the "sales" reps tell them how much money they can make I think a more realistic view based on real figures may help redress the balance.
Online marketplaces are saturated with sublimation sellers, the volume marketplaces such as Amazon and ebay are extremely price sensitive. There are 1000's of product listings so how do you get your product seen by potential buyers? Etsy, Folksy etc etc have higher price points but the volumes are much lower. So fixed costs eat away most of the improved margin.
A website, easy to create, but the cost isnt in the site itself (although it can be expensive depending on how its created) the cost is in "the cost of acquisition" a decent website converts approx 4-5% of its traffic. By the time you have factored in the costs in acquiring a paying customer sometimes you may be losing money on your £9.95 mug + £3.95 shipping fee.
Its a very tough marketplace now, gone are the days when you could earn £1000's a week sat in your pyjamas in your spare bedroom. There are sellers who do well, but they are set up to handle numbers, have their specific niches etc etc.
Unless you can bring something unique to the table its gonna be really tough as an online trader. If I offered you a job working 40+ hours a week for £50 would you take the position? For most people entering the sublimation business as an online trader that is sadly the reality, there are exceptions but not many IMO.
That said, opportunities are there, but they are getting much harder to find, and easy to copy so they don't stay niches for very long.
I've did my sums yesterday as I'm probably going to upgrade my studio space. I was paying out serious money for an advertising and promotion campaign which I gave almost a year almost to do it's magic. It didn't half eat into the profits! If I had been selling cheaply, I'd have been working for nothing. You are in a business where copyright infringement is rife, your designs are copied within days if it looks popular. How to keep ahead is what you've got to work out.
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