What should I import from China to sell on eBay as a side-job?
A friend of mine sold knockoff bags and purses imported from China on eBay. However, to make a profit on it, you’d really need to have some connection to a bulk supplier and stay on top of trends. Luckily for him, his girlfriend was a maniacal shopper. In general, I’d think the only way to make money from Chinese imports is to purchase cheap goods in bulk and sell them for a markup domestically. China isn’t known for premium goods. With the rising affluence of a select group of China’s citizens, you’re probably better off exporting American goods to China and selling to connoisseurs of uniquely American products like clothes.
If current eBay pricing is any indication, American Girl doll clothes and accessories (non-name brand). They’re small (very little shipping), they don’t need to be particularly well made, there’s high demand for them on eBay from what I’ve seen and providing a lower cost alternative to $47 doll outfits to moms and grandmoms who want to spoil little girls for a relatively short window in their life could be seen as doing a good thing (assuming they’re not produced in sweatshop conditions, etc).
