Overstock.com’s Chief Executive Patrick Byrne thinks consumers could make a buck or two by buying low-priced items on Overstock and selling them for a profit on online auction site eBay.

The controversial CEO said some of Overstock’s items are so competitively priced that some people are earning a living reselling the items.

“Our motto is buy it on Overstock, sell it on eBay,” Byrne said on a conference call Tuesday with investors.

“If you compare the prices of the stuff on Overstock, it is cheaper than on eBay for commodity goods and such.  In fact, there are people — there are lots of people who make their living buying on Overstock and selling on eBay.”

Taking Byrne up on his idea, Reuters randomly selected three items on Overstock’s “Top Sellers” page.

In a nonscientific study, none of the three Overstock items tested were less expensive than the comparative item on eBay.

1) Dyson DC 14 Full Access Upright Vacuum 
     — Overstock: $439.99 plus $2.95 s/h    ($442.94 total)
     — eBay: $300 plus $48.70 s/h                 ($348.70 total)
    
2) Sandisk 2GB Secure Digital (SD) Memory Card
    — Overstock: $25.99 plus $2.95 s/h     ($28.94 total)
    — eBay: $9.99 plus $11.99 ship              ($21.98 total)
    
3) Harry Potter and the Deathly Harrows
    Overstock: $17.49 plus $2.95 s/h     ($20.44 total)
    eBay: $13.29 plus $4.85 s/h              ($18.14 total)
(s/h=shipping and handling)

Overstock has thousands of items, and to be fair, surely a few are cheaper at any given time than on eBay. We only compared the Overstock items to those listed by eBay suppliers that had at least a 98 percent satisfactory rating and auctions that had ended or were close to ending.

Byrne cautioned that the lawyers might not agree with the “Buy it on Overstock, sell it on eBay” motto.

“I don’t think we could get permission from the legal department to actually make that our motto,” Byrne said.