Online selling has been a great side hustle (or even a main means of earning a living) in recent years, and the 10 coolest things to buy on Alibaba and sell on eBay might help you make a profit by taking advantage of the discrepancies in the prices of some items on the two platforms.
The emergence of online marketplaces such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) and eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) has resulted in gradual shifts in the global merchandise marketplace. Online marketplace company eBay lets people set up their own virtual shops to sell their wares, helping to eliminate the need for a physical space and allowing virtually anyone to sell products to other people. Meanwhile, Alibaba, often called the Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) of China, is an online commerce empire in the country, one which also has a slate of other merchandising- and finance-related websites, including its own version of eBay.
Given the nature of the two companies, a lot of people have taken to buying products in bulk on Alibaba, which specializes in those kinds of transactions and has a network of manufacturers that buyers can choose from, and then selling those products piecewise on eBay, hoping to make a profit along the way. However, the process of figuring out which products to sell can be daunting, so that’s why Insider Monkey is here to help you on that front.
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For the purposes of this compilation, when we say “coolest things to buy on Alibaba and sell on eBay,” we mean those things that are available for purchase on Alibaba and are selling like hotcakes on eBay. (Quick sidenote: we need an update to the term “selling like hotcakes.” I mean, do hotcakes sell like hotcakes now? I doubt it.) Anyway, for a product to be included in this list, it first has to have established adequate demand on eBay. Otherwise, the thousands of trinkets you just bought on Alibaba won’t have much purpose other than as garage filler.
To gauge that demand, we went to eBay DataLabs, a website created by eBay to assess which of the items on the e-commerce platform sold the most within a particular time. For this article, we considered the products that ranked as the “top sold” for the week ended June 3, 2017. If you’re worried that the weekly trend could change widely, don’t worry, as it tends to take a few weeks for the general trends shown on the website to change drastically, giving you a few weeks of leeway to shift your strategy based on the evolving tastes of eBay buyers. Nevertheless, items on this list are ranked according to the number of buyers for that particular product.
The next step in compiling the list of coolest things to buy on Alibaba and sell on eBay was checking Alibaba’s website to see if it’s possible to order those products in bulk from that website. Another important wrinkle to consider: the cost you incurred in buying the object from Alibaba should be way less than the revenue you stand to generate on eBay, based on the per-piece price of the object on both websites. For instance, when Alibaba lists price ranges for a certain product, we’ll list the highest value on the range, so as to give the highest possible estimate on costs. Finally, we make estimates on how much you can earn per week based on how many buyers the product had for the week (of course this doesn’t factor in competition).
If, after reading this article, you want to buy stuff on Alibaba for purposes including, or other than, reselling them on eBay, it pays to know which products are popular on the Chinese e-commerce website. Insider Monkey has a list just for that: the 10 best selling products on Alibaba.
Now then, head to the next page to begin the countdown of the 10 coolest things to buy on Alibaba and sell on eBay.
Disclaimer: the photos displayed on the following pages do not necessarily reflect the actual items. We provided links to the exact Alibaba and eBay pages, so you’re free to see the actual products for yourself and we’re free to avoid copyright infringement; phew.
- iPhone Shockproof Hard Case
Buy on Alibaba for: $0.73 per piece (20 pieces minimum order)
Sell on eBay for: $1.99 each
Number of iPhone Shockproof Hard Case buyers on eBay (for week ended June 3): 737
Potential profit before taxes and other expenses: $928.62 on 737 pieces sold
Marko Poplasen/Shutterstock.com
- Pedicure and Manicure Set with Case
Buy on Alibaba for: $2.20 per piece (120 pieces minimum order)
Sell on eBay for: $5.99 each
Number of Pedicure and Manicure Set with Case buyers on eBay (for week ended June 3): 758
Potential profit before taxes and other expenses: $2,872.82 on 758 pieces sold
Copyright: achiartistul / 123RF Stock Photo
- Peel-off Black Facial Mask
Buy on Alibaba for: $1.65 per piece (5,000 pieces minimum order)
Sell on eBay for: $6.95 each
Number of Peel-off Black Facial Mask buyers on eBay (for week ended June 3): 864
Potential profit before taxes and other expenses: $4,579.20 on 864 pieces sold
Copyright: romastudio / 123RF Stock Photo
The next seven items on this list of the 10 coolest things to buy on Alibaba and sell on eBay had at least 1,000 buyers during the week ended June 3, 2017.
- Strapless Push-up Self-Adhesive Bra
Buy on Alibaba for: $1.30 per piece
Sell on eBay for: $1.99 each
Number of Strapless Push-up Self-Adhesive Bra buyers on eBay (for week ended June 3): 1,000
Potential profit before taxes and other expenses: $690 on 1,000 pieces sold
Copyright: disorderly / 123RF Stock Photo
- Mini GPS Tracking Finder Device
Buy on Alibaba for: $1.40 per piece (100 pieces minimum order)
Sell on eBay for: $2.99
Number of Mini GPS Tracking Finder Device buyers on eBay (for week ended June 3): 1,076
Potential profit before taxes and other expenses: $1,710.84 on 1,076 pieces sold
Rasulov/Shutterstock.com
- Zero Gravity Outdoor Folding Chairs
Buy on Alibaba for: $16 per piece (50 pieces minimum order)
Sell on eBay for: $54.99 each
Number of Zero Gravity Outdoor Folding Chairs buyers on eBay (for week ended June 3): 1,190
Potential profit before taxes and other expenses: $46,398.10 on 1,190 pieces sold
fotoknips/Shutterstock.com
- Three-Prong Power Extension Cord
Buy on Alibaba for: $0.90 per piece (1,000 pieces minimum order)
Sell on eBay for: $9.99
Number of Three-Prong Power Extension Cord buyers on eBay (for week ended June 3): 1,570
Potential profit before taxes and other expenses: $14,271.30 on 1,570 pieces sold
Africa Studio/Shutterstock.com
- iPhone Tempered Glass Screen Protector
Buy on Alibaba for: $0.60 per piece (50 pieces minimum order)
Sell on eBay for: $2.95 each
Number of iPhone Tempered Glass Screen Protector buyers on eBay (for week ended June 3): at least 1,924
Potential profit before taxes and other expenses: $4,521.40 on 1,924 pieces sold
Additional note: There were three other similar tempered glass screen protector products that sold at least 800 units each during the week in question, so this general product category is in-demand.
Anna Hoychuk/Shutterstock.com
- Portable Double Hammock
Buy on Alibaba for: $30 per piece (100 pieces minimum order)
Sell on eBay for: $59.94 each
Number of Portable Double Hammock buyers on eBay (for week ended June 3): 2,544
Potential profit before taxes and other expenses: $76,167.36 on 2,544 pieces sold
Ksenia Ragozina/Shutterstock.com
- Fidget Spinner
Buy on Alibaba for: $1 per piece (2,000 pieces minimum order)
Sell on eBay for: $6.99 each
Number of Fidget Spinner buyers on eBay (for week ended June 3): at least 5,177
Potential profit before taxes and other expenses: $31,010.23 on 5,177 pieces sold
Additional note: Out of 45 items listed in eBay DataLabs’ best sellers for the week, 17 were fidget spinners, most of which recorded thousand-unit sales. This toy’s immense popularity has put it on top of our list of the 10 coolest things to buy on Alibaba and sell on eBay.
ADragan/Shutterstock.com
Disclosure: None
