You HAVE to try this!! EBAY your way to DISNEY!!

[C.Ann]

Twelve days ago I finally decided to bite the bullet - overcome my fears - and try selling a few items on eBay in an attempt to save money for a December trip to Disney World.. All total I have listed 20 items so far and have completed 4 auctions..

I am SOOOOO amazed I'm practically speechless!! I'm closing in on $100 already and still have 16 items up for auction (8 of which currently have bids on them)..

These items are NOT anything spectacular - collectors items - or anything of that nature.. The four sales were an ink cartridge, a cookbook, and two videos..

My remaining auctions are books and videos and the bidding is going very well.. This is very surprising to me because I had read that sales were "slow" - but you sure can't prove it by me!! I think the trick is in offering nice merchandise (with an accurate, detailed description), asking a fair opening bid, and charging a fair price for shipping and handling.. I purposely started off with smaller items that were easy to determine shipping on and were easy to pack, but now I think I'm going to venture on to "bigger and better"..

If you're serious about making extra money for that Disney World trip you really should try this.. On one of my videos I literally made ten times what I would have gotten for it in a garage sale.. I will never hold a garage sale again - LOL!!

And as an extra-added bonus, this is REALLY fun!! Try it - you'll like it!!!!

 

[jacksonsmom]

I have been selling on EBay just for our Disney trip since last May. I have sold lots of my son's outgrown clothes, videos that we have on DVD now (including out of print Disney ones), some collectible plates, beanie babies, etc.

Anyway we got a seperate checking account & we put ALL the money we got from Ebay in that account....I am SO happy to say with all the money we made on Ebay we have MORE then enough to pay for our WHOLE trip (including airfare, resort stay, etc)

We are now starting to save for our December trip too!

I highly recommend Ebay as a great way to make money. Yes, you may run into some 'bad' people that don't pay but the majority of the people are nice, honest people!

Congrats on making money on Ebay

 

[DiznEeyore]

C.Ann, I know how thoroughly you researched the whole ebay thing before going forward, and it's obviously paying off for you!

This week is a good week for me, too -- I have my ds' old homeschool materials up and things are selling well. I'm going to list a bunch of outgrown (nice) clothes this coming week.

I'm hoping to make enough on ebay to pay for dh and me to have a special anniversary trip to WDW in October -- I've got our ressies, now I just have to gather the cash. I'll be ebaying all summer!

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by DiznEeyore
C.Ann, I know how thoroughly you researched the whole ebay thing before going forward

------------------------

Boy - you've got that right!! Then after all that researching and agonizing - to find out it was SOOOOOOO easy - well, let's just say I could kick myself in the butt for not doing it a LONG time ago!! LOL

I'm sure there will be times when sales slow down, but I honestly believe that if you have a large VARIETY of items there will always be someone out there looking to buy what you have.. When I research some of the items I have around here (things that I would never dream anyone could be interested in) I am continually amazed at what people are willing to pay for these things..

I'll tell you - I've had a LOT of hobbies in my lifetime, but this one has to be the absolute BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kallison]

Could you do an E-bay for Dummies post? What do we need to get started? Digital camera, scanner, post office box, etc.??

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by Kallison
Could you do an E-bay for Dummies post? What do we need to get started? Digital camera, scanner, post office box, etc.??

----------------------------------

Okay - I'll try..

A digital camera would be your best option for getting photos of your items into the auctions. Unless you're selling something like antiques, collectables, or something of that nature though (where people need to see very fine details) an inexpensive digital camera should suffice.. I didn't have a load of money to spend on one so I bought a JamCam (on eBay) that runs off of a 9V battery and is fine for what I'm selling.. You could also use a scanner for flat items (books, video box covers and such) or take your photos with a regular camera and have them developed on a disc (but that could get costly and if you took a bad photo then you wasted your money having it developed..) Depending on what you're selling, I'd personally go with the cheap digital camera for now..

The next thing I did was to open a separate checking/debit account JUST for eBay.. That way there's no "mixing" of my money and no one has access to my primary checking account.. This is what I used to register on eBay as a seller and what I used to obtain my personal Paypal account so I can accept Paypal cash transfers..

You will also need a scale of some sort.. I purchased a postal scale that shows both pounds and ounces (up to 5 lbs.) at Office Max for $29.99.. This also runs on a 9V battery.. Some people use bathroom scales, kitchen scales, or baby scales.. I will use the bathroom scale for items heavier than 5lbs. and to be safe, round up the figure to the next full pound..

If you are going to ship items by Priority Mail you can order your boxes, tape and labels FREE from the on-line USPS web site but these items are to be used ONLY for Priority Mail..

You will also want to get a supply of padded bubble envelopes, assorted boxes (scrounge them from friends and relatives), bubble wrap (I just bought a HUGE roll at Office Max on sale for $14.99), strong mailing tape, etc.. Put the word out to everyone you know for them to save their strong boxes, packing peanuts, bubble wrap, etc..

That's pretty much all you need to get started.. Go through every single room in your house and look in every nook and cranny.. Decide what you can part with and get it listed!! I'm telling you - there is a market for EVERYTHING!!!!!

If you have more questions, feel free to ask.. I'll do my best to answer them for you!

 

[wdisneyaholic]

I have so many things and have been thinking about selling on ebay for awhile but just don't know how to get started. I have tons of children's clothes and shoes, I have twin boys who only last in shoes about 4 months.

I s it hard to set everything up and get started? Any suggestions on what to start with?

I would love to hear some tips on selling stuff. I am going to Disney in June and would like to make some extra cash for the trip.

 

[DisneyFreaks]

My daughter makes beautiful gift baskets for people. She always uses a theme pertaining to something of interest for whoever is receiving the basket. For example she recently did one for her mother in laws birthday. She chose a lovely basket and filled it with all kinds of bath/shower products including a beautiful set of towels. Everyone always looks forward to these baskets and compliments fly with each one. Do you think these would sell on ebay if she put pictures of some of them on there? I think it would be a great way for her to make a little extra money. She is just recently married and they are new homeowners. We haven't a clue as to how to go about doing something like this though and would love to know if any of you think this would work for her. Thanks a bunch! {sorry this ended up being so long}

 

[Lachesis00]

I buy on ebay... I wish I knew what to see for cash... we have a ton of books but i think my husband would kill me if I sold his...

Im curious what kinds of books sell...

 

[maciec]

We sell on ebay a lot. The best advice for pricing that I can give is search for the items that you want to sell, look at the average starting price, and look through the completed items to see what they have sold for. For example, it may not be worth it to sell some books because looking at the already sold items you find that that specific book has only been selling for $1. After your time, effort, and ebay charges selling something for $1 just isn't worth our time.

The only thing that I don't like about ebay is the people who charge unreal shipping. And on top of that they charge a handling fee. It infuriates me when someone is trying to sell a $3 tape and then charge $7 for shipping and handling. To send it media mail costs what $1.75 and what's there to handle? wrap it up in some plastic grocery bags real good and stick it in a box.

Please if you sell on ebay ..... be fair.

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by Lachesis00
I buy on ebay... I wish I knew what to see for cash... we have a ton of books but i think my husband would kill me if I sold his...

Im curious what kinds of books sell...

----------------------------

Go to the ebay site and click on books.. From there you can select categories.. Find the category for whatever kind of book you have - type the title in the "search" space (also check off "search in titles and descriptions") and see what comes up.. The first thing you will get is a page of active items (up for auction now) - look all the way over to the left and scroll down to "completed items" - click on that and you can see what things have sold for, how much they charged for shipping, etc..

I haven't had a chance to read your other post but I assume from the title that you're trying to earn money for a Disney World trip (aren't we ALL ?? LOL).. Ebay would be a SUPER way to do this.. As of a few minutes ago, I have made $122. - with 15 auctions still running!!

I'll just throw out some ideas here of things you could try to sell:

videos
books
music CD's or cassettes
childrens books
childrens toys
games
baby clothes
craft items
craft supplies
cookie cutters
jewelry (costume or good)
puzzles
post cards
souveniers from different areas
matchbox cars
Avon items
holiday decorations

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and on and on and on.. I'm serious - there is a buyer out there for ANYTHING!!

Go browse around the site and you'll see what I mean.. Gosh - if I've already made over $100 just goofing around with little oddball items, what's going to happen when I start listing my better stuff??

I see an awesome trip to Disney World in my future!!!!

 

[Lachesis00]

Im going to clean my garage this weekend... I wonder what kind of toys sell good. We saved a lot (too many) of DS's toys, pokeman cards ect... :/

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by maciec
The only thing that I don't like about ebay is the people who charge unreal shipping. And on top of that they charge a handling fee. It infuriates me when someone is trying to sell a $3 tape and then charge $7 for shipping and handling. To send it media mail costs what $1.75 and what's there to handle? wrap it up in some plastic grocery bags real good and stick it in a box.

Please if you sell on ebay ..... be fair.

--------------------------------

I agree with you 100%!!! That was something that was really promblematic for me when I first started listing.. I would look at some of the other auctions and a seller would list something for $1 but then charge $15+ for shipping and handling!!

I keep my shipping as low as I possibly can and also add Delivery Confirmation to everything out of my OWN pocket as an added benefit for both myself AND the buyer.. I know that sooner or later I'm probably going to take a beating because my S&H is so low, but I would much rather try to be fair than to gouge people..

My advice would be to set your beginning price at what you would be comfortable receiving and then charge a reasonable shipping rate.. If you have to PURCHASE shipping supplies (boxes, tape, bubble wrap, padded envelopes, etc.) I see no problem with adding a dollar or so as your handling fee, but SEVERAL dollars is totally uncalled for..

 

[Spirit Feather]

Originally posted by DiznEeyore
-- I have my ds' old homeschool materials up and things are selling well.

OMG!! I have tons of homeschool stuff. I never thought of selling it on ebay. I usually just give it away! Look out ebay here I come!

 

[welovedis]

You can pretty much sell anything on eBay as long as it doesn't violate their TOS. LOL-the other day someone was selling one dozen rusty paperclips & someone was bidding on it! As many have mentioned, take a look around your house or look through any items you may have already set aside for a garage sale. Then start doing eBay searches for those item and note what the starting bids are, what kind of condition the items are in and then search completed auctions to do the same.

I have been buying & selling on eBay since 11/98 and have paid for our last 2 trips to WDW plus added more than 5K to my son's savings account. I seem to go thru ups and downs with eBay and don't always have something listed, but when I list auctions I try to always have other things ready to go. Here' a neat auction forecaster that tries to recommend the good days to start and end auctions:
http://www.auctionbytes.com/Email_Newsletter/calendar/calendar.html

I would highly recommend you set up a spreadsheet or keep some sort of written records for your auction or keep them in your computer. I like my spreadsheets so I can take the info with me to my basement, where I package and prepare the items for shipping. My spreadsheet has everything from the item number, start and end date of the auction, description, seller's ebay name, email, name addy & so on. I also note when I receive the payment, when the item was shipping, when I left feedback and if they have left me feedback or not. It really helps to set something like this up before you start so you don't geel frazzled. It also helps so that if you have a computer meltdown then all your info is still available and not lost somewhere in your hard drive-lol!

I also recommend that most people think about what kind of policies they will have for the auction payments and other things as well. Some seller do not offer refunds, others do. I don't allow refunds unless the item has been misrepresented in some way. Also, some do not take personal checks, I do, but I hold the check until clearance. Another thing to consider is PayPal. I accept PayPal but from existing funds only--I don't accept credit card payments (this means no debit card payments either) since PayPal will then start charging me for every transaction if I choose to even accept one credit card payment.

Oh--another .02--I used to not charge for delivery confirmation and throw in an extra here or there but I don't anymore. I realized that I need to treat eBay more like a business so I can make the profit I should for the investment of my time and effort.

Also--I agree about outlandish shipping charges--I usually try to state a flat fee unless the item is heavy and then let the bidders know they can email me for a rate or wait until the auction ends. I only charge actual shipping and don't ever charge a handling fee, but many others do. But, if you don't like someone's shipping charge-don't bid!

Anyway--sorry to be so long, just some ideas from someone who has been there, done that for a bit.

 

[DiznEeyore]

Originally posted by Spirit Feather
OMG!! I have tons of homeschool stuff. I never thought of selling it on ebay. I usually just give it away! Look out ebay here I come!

Absolutely -- go for it!!

Everything I'm selling is A Beka -- some is brand new, some I bought used on ebay *last* year and am reselling now. I waited 'til the new A Beka materials catalog came out and the hotel meetings started so that people would be at that "ready to spend" stage before listing it. I'm really glad I didn't jump the gun and list this stuff a month ago -- I'm convinced I'm doing much better now than I would've then.

Let us know how you do!

 

[patsal]

When I factor in shipping I spend time weighing the items and base the shipping on the highest it could cost me to mail it. Keep in mind when people pay with paypal the seller gets charged for the service, often that is worked into the "handling" charge. If I find the postage is way over calculated I return cash to the buyer.

 

[Pink Flamingo]

If you have books to sell, you might also want to try & list them on Half.com, a division of EBay. I've had a little better luck selling books there. Textbooks have sold pretty well for me. Half.com charges a little more commission, but there is no listing fee & your item can stay up until it sells or you remove it. It's easier to list items & you don't have to take a picture (they supply that) - you simply list the condition of your items & set a price. When an item sells you get an e-mail asking you to confirm the sale. After you confirm, you have 48 hours in which to ship the item.

 

[wdwpluto]

Used books can also be sold on Amazon.com - I've been doing that for nearly a year with excellent results. I don't know what the commission is compared to Half.com but my thinking is this - when I want to buy a book (used or new) the first place I think to look is Amazon. I NEVER think to look at Half.com and I wonder how many other people actually think to look there? I'd venture to guess that Amazon gets more traffic and therefore, more sales. JMHO.

Lori

 

[jgates]

Just a note - if you are sending via Priority (hated those rate increases last year!) you can have free Delivery Confirmation if you create the label online. My own local Post Office guys didn't even know that. They were pretty impressed with me!