What to Sell on eBay and Where to Get It: The Definitive Guide to Product Sourcing for eBay and Beyond (Paperback)

by Chris Malta (Author), Lisa Suttora (Author)
Key Phrases: real wholesalers, sourcing filter, breakage pile, Product Sourcing Notebook, Product Sourcing Mindset, Example Wholesale (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

If you want to build a profitable--and consistent--eBay business, you need to start with strategic product sourcing. What to Sell on eBay and Where to Get It reveals the same techniques used by the most successful e-commerce entrepreneurs and by major retail chains to determine what products will sell well and which suppliers will deliver those products for the best price.

Learn to generate product ideas, research your markets, diversify your product line, and build a direct supply of inventory. Using the proven strategies in this book, you’ll be able to find the products that will fuel your business for the long term and skyrocket your sales!

From the Back Cover

Sell them exactly what they want to buy

If you want to build a profitable--and consistent--eBay business, you need to start with strategic product sourcing. What to Sell on eBay and Where to Get It reveals the same techniques used by the most successful e-commerce entrepreneurs and by major retail chains to determine what products will sell well and which suppliers will deliver those products for the best price.

Learn to generate product ideas, research your markets, diversify your product line, and build a direct supply of inventory. Using the proven strategies in this book, you’ll be able to find the products that will fuel your business for the long term and skyrocket your sales!

• Find out how to spot trends and discover Idea Hotspots
• Document your product sourcing ideas
• Identify niche markets
• Research products to determine their profit potential
• Set your business apart from the competition using creative product selection
• Up-sell products and offer value added items and bundles
• Locate and purchase products through legitimate wholesalers
• Spot and avoid middlemen and scammers

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (January 24, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072262788
• ISBN-13: 978-0072262780
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #214,027 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

587 of 589 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars More of an Advertisement than an eBay Resource Book!, June 25, 2006

By	Andy Rosenblum (Wilton, New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Upon first reading "What to Sell on eBay and Where to Get It," authors Lisa Suttora and Chris Malta seem genuine in their efforts to provide the eBay seller with legitimate sources for items to sell on this extremely competitive marketplace. It isn't apparent until you are well into the book, that the ulterior motive behind it all, is to drive you to the two web sites owned by the authors. At first, I was so impressed with the information that I was receiving, that it didn't bother me that I might have to sign up for both websites in order to actually utilize the information in the book. After all, Chris Malta and Lisa Suttora are two of only a hand full of certified eBay providers. How could I possibly go wrong by signing up for their services.

First, I signed up for Chris Malta's, "Drop Ship Source Directory," at a one time cost of $69. While I have no question that Chris is an honest guy, and makes an all out effort to provide subscriber's with a plethora of wholesale distributors that are willing to drop ship, it soon becomes apparent that it is virtually impossible to find any drop shippers that can provide you with competitive enough pricing to make listing the product on eBay a profitable endeavor. After literally spending weeks looking through the entire list of drop shippers, and comparing closed auction prices on eBay, I have come to the conclusion that either drop shipping is not the way to run an eBay business, or the list of drop shippers that Chris Malta supplies is inadequate to help the eBay seller who wishes to use this method to run their eBay business. The web site is very difficult and time consuming to maneuver, and unless you have the patience to spend months searching for the niche drop shipper that will enable you to make money on eBay, I would stay away from this product. Malta also offers other wholesale product sourcing databases, but these are at extra cost. He now admits that it is best to use a combination of drop shippers and light bulk wholesalers when selling on eBay, however for many years, his Drop Ship Source Directory was touted by Malta as being "the source", for making a great living on eBay. Sorry Chris, but it no longer works.

As for Lisa Suttora, I got sucked into signing up for her web site, "Whatdoisell.com, as well. While she provides a ton of information on how to go about selling on eBay, when it came down to actually researching her list of wholesale suppliers, I ran into the same quandary. I compared wholesale prices from product sources on her web site with prices for closed eBay auctions. In all cases, the prices for closed eBay auctions were either lower than what I could have purchased the items for, using her list of wholesalers, or the items had not sold at all. I canceled my $19.97 monthly subscription, as I found it to be useless. In addition, and even more troubling was the fact that I emailed Lisa Suttora several weeks before signing up to her web site subscription. I had a long list of questions and concerns. When I didn't hear back, I contacted one of her employees and asked if she had received my email. Her answer was an emphatic yes, however Lisa never bothered to get back to me. Rude behavior, to say the least.

So, in review, there will be those who think this book is great, however, I am not one of them. Upon reading the book, if you are willing to look between the lines, you will discover that what you are being told is nothing more than an advertisement for the authors goods. If you follow up and purchase the goods, as I did, you will most likely be extremely disappointed with the results.

214 of 228 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a SINGLE Address...Same old vague guidlelines....and why not? They charge for their services online !!!, March 24, 2006

By	Fresno - See all my reviews

These are all my opinions and protected by my rights of free-speech. I hope you find them useful. Good Luck.

UPDATE: It is so weird that people are spending time "reviewing my review". It looks like the authors have alot of friends. Yet none of these refute my point that this "Product Sourcing" book does not have a single source. And notice that one "review" even says "I personally know both Lisa Suttora and Chris Malta (...)" -Why am I NOT surprised?

Before buying this book, take a look at some pretty obvious issues on conflicting interest:

1) The biggest review on this book is by another author of Ebay selling techniques....Hmmm, like that's a coincidence? I think not. Can you say back-scratching? Update: Now the 2nd biggest review is someone who "knows" the authors personally.

2) The Author is a "Certified Ebay Service Provider" or whatever Ebay is calling it. On the surface, that seems to be a good thing right? Not Really. Go Check Out some of the Ebay "Certified" whatever-they-want-to-call-it...Most of them CHARGE for thier services. So Ebays promotes the "certified" business and they in turn give people just enough knowledge (ussually without specifics) to THINK they can make money selling online. This is all a self-serving cycle for EBay and these "certified" people. More sellers=more sales=more commission on GROSS sales. GROSS sales is what an item sells for...not the profit you make on an item. You can very easily lose money on every sale and Ebay will still love you becuase they get a percentage of the selling price.
To put it simply: Ebay gets a piece of every sale (oh, and if you use Paypal, then Paypal gets a nice slice of the sale price too...and of course, Ebay owns Paypal). They get these listing and "Final Value Fees" whether you made a profit or not. Ebay ONLY makes money on SELLERS...so they want to encourage people to become sellers...the more the better...but make no mistake; Ebay's profitability is in NO WAY tied to your profitability.

3) The author has her own site "whatdoIsell" that charges a MONTHLY fee to connect "Product Sources" to Ebay sellers...Considering the monthly fee is about the cost of this book, what makes you think the author is going to give you any CONCRETE leads (addresses, etc) or other SOLID info that she currently charges people MONTHLY for? This book will wet your whistle enough to go to her website and sign-up, becuase let' face it, there isn't enough info in the book that is going to make her website useless right? You don't kill the cash-cow that feeds you...instead the book (however implicitly) is an advertisement of the Authors and thier pay services.

4) Let me say it again...NO ADDRESSES !!...Kind of strange for a "DEFINITIVE Product Sourcing" book to not have at least a FEW addresses in it, don't you think? Fact is, this book, like all books on "EBay Selling", gives you vague, "Guidelines" for how to find sources. Then you will be spending all day on the phone calling "Manufacturers", only to be rejected due to your small-business volume, or becuase you are an EBAY-Seller(major stigma there!)..the work is ALL still squarely on your shoulders. And should you find one? Hey, good luck on making a profit...Again, it is about fees...If you sell and fail, Ebay still makes money. There "Certified" service people still did thier job....Create Sellers !

5) Don't be fooled by "Ebay Radio" and other Ebay affiliations...Do a tiny bit of work and you will quickly find that Ebay "Certified" services is a "cottage-industry" built on the backs of hardworking people looking to strike out on there own and make a business for themselves. They promise the moon, and (charge for the help) only to give you enough confidence to try (and not necessarily suceed). Don't get me wrong, they don't want you to fail...they just want your money for the book or the services, or whatever. If you accidentally becomes successful, then hey that's great too. My point is: Once you become a successful Ebay seller and have revenue, how likely are you to keep buying books and paying for services? (think about that last question for a while !).

6) Can you sell on EBay and make money? Yes. Can you make a living? Possibly. Will it take alot more work than buying a book? DEFINATELY! Will you make as much as your current full-time job? Depends of course, but chances are your will NOT make as much PER HOUR. Fact is, two-thirds of all small buisinesses fail...and that is pre-Ebay...Ebay is a huge audience of buyers, but they all want dirt-cheap prices. The markups are slim (heck most sellers are just making money on the insane shipping fees!). Do yourself a favor and go to a "wholesale" site like Evertek (google it...and no, I have no affiliation) and compare the price you can buy to the Ebay selling price...and this is real wholesaler (or close at least)...they require a TAX-ID. And look at that, I gave you a concrete lead and I didn't need to write a book...Imagine that!

7) Frankly, there are better books out there that gives you some decent tips as well as the same (vague) sourcing ideas. Check out Secrets of Ebay Powersellers....It shows you many FREE neat little reasearch tools and when it comes to product sourcing basically states "It's alot of hard work and NO one is going to give you CONCRETE leads...but here's where to start"...hey at least they are honest. Product sources are THE MOST protected secrets on Ebay, especially by powersellers. The reason I suggest that book is that it gives you an idea of the work these powersellers have to do and the income they generate in real terms...and they are still working ALL the time. Still, I say don't even buy the power-seller book, go to the local store and check it out (and this one) and save yourself some money.

8) This author spams her own newsletter-subscribers with email promoting the sale of her book. Now why would someone paying a MONTHLY fee to her for product sourcing assistance need a book on the same subject with no concrete leads? Sounds to me like her website isn't worth the fee they are paying if they need to buy her book too !!

You want to know the Ultimate Ebay Secret??
There is no Ebay selling magic bullet or magic book. PERIOD. They are all just guides and tips. And they do sound great in theory...they give you just enough specifics to buy the book or the service, but in the end, it is just general (mostly common-sense) theory. But, to me, this book is in a whole new class...written by an author that sells the same services, and a book PROMISING to be a DIFINITIVE guide, WITHOUT A SINGLE DEFINITIVE CONCRETE LEAD. I am writing this review becuase of all the Ebay books I have read and seen, I have never found one to concentrate on one subject; "Product Sourcing" and then leave you at the end, without a single solid lead...In my opinion, this is a perfect case of false advertising. By the way, I am niether bitter, nor dissappointed. I just think a book should provide what it promises. This is not a personal attack, it is a review of a book and speculation as to why such a useless "resource" would be written by a purported expert.

These are all my opinions and protected by my rights of free-speech. I hope you found them useful. Good Luck.

62 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile but windy, March 13, 2006

By	Hubies Brother "Printmaker" (NY State) - See all my reviews

There's good information in this book, but you have to wade through a lot of verbiage to get to it. The authors appear to know their stuff, but they do tend to make the same points over and over. I found myself flipping pages to get past the stuff they'd already told me. Still, if this tome keeps you from falling victim to the many "wholesale" scams out there, it will have been worth reading. Don't look for lists of suppliers, because there aren't any. What you will get are some basic principles (sometimes spelled out rather vaguely) on how to identify legitimate suppliers on your own. The title promises somewhat more than the book delivers, but it's worth reading, anyway.