Man made £250,000 on eBay before age of 20 and bought a Porsche

Joseph Holman started turning a profit from the age of 12 on eBay, and shared his advice as Vinted and Depop start to challenge the site

Joseph Holman took his first entrepreneurial steps at the age of 12 when he decided to try out a strategy on eBay to make a quick profit. Little did he know this decision would change his life forever and see him living out his teen years with the nickname “The eBay King”.

Shortly after turning 12, the Luton-based entrepreneur used his dad’s eBay account and his birthday money to purchase a bulk order of magnetic stick and ball games. Once they arrived, he started selling them individually for a bit of a markup and, noticing his success, quickly developed a budding empire on this strategy.

Joseph shared: “I ended up netting a profit of around £2,000 in just six weeks and, from then on, I was hooked on buying and selling anything I could. I had around £30k saved up from my eBay profits before I was 16. At 16 I was making around £20-£30k a year, just from the side hustles. I was selling everything and anything from soaps to statues, baths to bikes, you name it.”

To cut the costs of his thriving business, Joseph invested in a moped to make deliveries and collect some items before upgrading to a car at 17, when he was reportedly making around £50,000 a year. The car allowed him to widen his work radius and by the time he turned 20, Joseph had made over £200,000 from eBay and had been able to buy a Porsche with the profits.

As an adult, Joseph couldn’t quite shake the call of entrepreneurship and ended up starting his own upcycling company, Green Door, but he has always kept an eye on his first favourite and the stark challenges with for the first time ever. eBay has rarely faced the level of competition it’s now up against with the likes of Vinted and Depop, even forcing the company to downrate its seller fees recently.

Looking back at his eBay days, the Luton-based businessman shared some of his top tips for others looking to make the most of the platform, and potentially turn a quick profit too. This all starts with some background checks: “Always do some research into the product you're selling. Try to find the highest original Recommended Retail Price (RRP) online, take a screenshot of this, and add it to the eBay photos. This way, the customer can see how much they are saving.

"Search completed listings on eBay to see what similar items have sold for. Auction prices tend to sell for around 30% less. Always list items as ‘Buy it Now/Best Offer’ on eBay so you can get the highest possible price and see how much interest you get. This allows customers to quickly purchase your product, rather than waiting for an auction to end, which they might forget to bid on.”

Arguably one of the simpler tips that might often slip sellers’ minds is a quick clean. Joseph urged people to ensure their products are clean and looking in as good condition as possible in the pictures, ideally with good lights, angles and potentially a video as he encouraged people: “Take the maximum number of photos you can upload, highlight and describe any defects to demonstrate that you're an honest seller, and provide a clear and engaging description.”

Explaining a bit of the science behind eBay, Joseph noted that the first four words in a listing’s title has the biggest sway on the algorithm so these should be your most relevant ones. He also recommended adding multiple postage options but also warned people that even the most perfect eBay post may take a while, particularly with unique items, as he declared: “If it sells instantly, you've most likely listed it at too low a price.”

Joseph continued: “Everyone should try to sell their unwanted items as it takes little time and you can earn extra cash. From selling unwanted goods you can make per hour considerably more than the average hourly wage. So it’s the quickest and easiest money you will make.

Commenting on eBay’s drop in fees, Joseph, whose company saved 3,000 items from landfills last year, noted: “It’s a quick and drastic step and will have a big impact. I think it will be easier for people to make a profit and to sell newer items. This might be good news for some sellers but isn’t great in terms of sustainability. It should have just made all used items categories on eBay free to list and charged fees for new items."