This is going to be a fun little experiment.
I’ve spent many years working in marketing and ecommerce, and I’ve sold bits and pieces on eBay, Amazon, and Etsy before. Not recently though. It’s been a long, long time since I properly listed things, packed orders, watched prices, and tried to make a small margin.
So I’ve been wondering something.
From virtually a standing start, how easy would it be to make £1,000 on eBay, starting with as little as £5?
That’s the experiment.
The idea is simple enough. I buy something cheaply, sell it for more, then reinvest the money back into the next purchase. No big stock buy. No pretending this is a business empire. Just a small rolling pot, a few sensible buys, and a bit of patience.
There is one extra wrinkle, though. I’m not doing this with a brand new eBay account, but I’m not exactly starting with a fully active seller account either.
The account I’ll be using has been dormant since October 2021, so eBay is treating it cautiously and at the moment, I’m restricted to 18 items and no more than £190 in sales each month. In practical terms, that means I’m pretty much starting from scratch.
I’ve already slightly broken the £5 rule because I spent £6.50 in Tesco this morning on some hosepipe connectors. They feel like the sort of product that could work well on eBay: useful, small enough to post, not too fragile, and the kind of thing someone might search for when they need one rather than when they’re just browsing.
From previous experience, there are a few things worth remembering about eBay. It isn’t Amazon. The buyer mindset is different.
eBay buyers are often looking for value, something specific, something a bit unusual, or a replacement part they can’t easily find elsewhere. They’re also more aware of the individual seller. Feedback matters. Photos matter. A clear description matters. And I think interaction matters too. A quick, human reply can still make a difference.
Another key thing for me is postage. I’ll be offering free postage wherever possible because, rightly or wrongly, listings with free postage often feel simpler and more attractive to buyers.
Of course, free postage isn’t really free. It has to be built into the selling price, along with packaging, tape, envelopes, fees if they apply, and the original cost of the item.
That’s the part I want to track properly.
If I spend £6.50 and sell the items for £10, that doesn’t mean I’ve made £3.50. I need to take off postage, packing materials, and any selling costs. Only then do I know the real profit.
The challenge is to see whether I can grow a tiny starting pot into £1,000 by buying carefully, selling clearly, and reinvesting the profit rather than taking it out.
It might work. It might crawl along painfully slowly. I might discover that hosepipe connectors are the new Bitcoin, although probably not.
Either way, I’ll keep track of what I buy, what I sell, what I spend, and what the running pot looks like each month.
How I’ll Track It
I don’t want this to become a vague “I think I made a bit of money” sort of challenge. If I’m going to do it, I might as well track it properly.
The important number isn’t sales. It’s the running pot after all costs.
That means recording the original item cost, postage, packing materials, envelopes, tape, any selling fees, and what’s left after everything has been paid for.
For each item, I’ll try to track:
- Date bought
- Item bought
- Where I bought it from
- How much I paid
- How much I listed it for
- How much it sold for
- Postage cost
- Packaging cost
- Any fees or promoted listing costs
- Actual profit
- Amount reinvested
- Running pot
Because the account is restricted to 18 items and £190 of sales a month, I’ll also need to keep an eye on how much of that monthly limit I’ve used in the first month or two. That makes each listing more important. I can’t afford to waste too many slots on products that sit there doing nothing.
Now let’s see what happens.
Monthly Tally
| Month | Opening Pot | Stock Bought | Sales | Costs | Profit | Closing Pot | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2026 | £6.50 | £6.50 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | First stock bought: hosepipe connectors from Tesco. Account currently limited to 18 items and £190 monthly sales. |
Lessons Learnt
Small, light, useful, non-breakable, easy-to-post items feel like the best place to start.
In eBay postage, exclude the following areas as they increase postage costs (Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Scottish Highlands / North Scotland, Scottish Islands / West coast, Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly
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