Project report
A self-funded collectibles business built to learn buying, ecommerce, marketplace operations and fulfilment through real stock decisions.
Business type
Sole trader
Channels
Shopify + eBay
Focus
Collectibles
Why I built it
I wanted buyer experience before anyone had given me the buyer job title.
I learnt from my mentor and manager at Toymaster about becoming a buyer for a company. The challenge was obvious: how could I become a junior buyer without qualifications or direct buying experience?
I decided to create that experience myself. I registered as a sole trader, researched accessible suppliers, and set aside a few hundred pounds each month to buy stock, make mistakes, make good purchases and learn from bad ones.
Process
The business connected lessons from warehouse work, Toymaster and marketplace selling.
From warehouse work, I already understood picking, packing and stock movement. I bought boxes, tape and packaging, then built the basic flow for sending online orders.
I uploaded products to Shopify and eBay, researched competitive prices, checked sold listings, and set prices based on what the market actually paid.
I stuck to products I knew well and experimented with others. Those experiments taught me when to discount, when to move on, and when a product was taking up too much space.
Lessons
The value was not only the sales. It was the decision-making.
The Super Mario movie created a short sales window for Mario products. Once demand slowed, I learnt that holding stock too long blocks cash from the next opportunity.
A booster box takes far less storage space than a plush product and can sell for much more. That changed how I thought about margin, space and purchasing decisions.
I learnt to check what products actually sell for, not only what sellers list them for, then price competitively across Shopify and eBay.
Evidence
Screenshots and product photos from the business.
Continue through the rest of the work and background.