“My girlfriends’ father bought a Jaguar over eBay,” says Murray. “That’s when I got the idea to start getting rid of some stuff. When I sold my Playstation, I sold the memory card separately, which made me more money than if I’d done a package deal. That’s what gave me the idea for my business.”
Murray now sells mobile phone and digital camera accessories through his firm BMC Digital. The company was incorporated in April 2007, and 80 per cent of sales come through eBay.
“There’s no comparison between eBay and the other auction sites,” says Murray. “We have a few listings on Amazon and we also have our own website, but eBay’s definitely the best place to sell our kind of products.”
Murray’s firm turned over £2m this year, and is growing at an annual rate of 25 per cent. Changes to the eBay listing system have boosted business: “eBay has switched its focus to seller performance,” says Murray. “The better your ratings, the higher you appear.”
With 99.6 per cent positive feedback and full marks for postage, packaging and description, Murray has seen a 50 per cent boost in purchases since September.
“I’m not worried about competition,” he adds. “It’s tough getting the deals with suppliers when you’re starting out. You’re not buying significant volumes. It’s taken us a while to build up a reputation with our ratings too. There were some new players around a few years ago, but they’ve all gone. It’s just the veterans now.”
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