Selling On Ebay

Discussion in 'Self Employment' started by Yvonne Smith, Jan 22, 2015.

  1. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I tried selling on eBay before, and with mixed results. Some things are just such a pain to properly wrap and ship that it just is not worth selling them, at least to me, it wasn't.
    One of the things that I had the most success with turned out to be something that I don't even like------cook books !
    Some of the older Betty Crocker , Pillsbury, and similar cookbooks are actually worth fairly good money, considering that I got the books at the thrift store for a dollar or two, and sold them for $10-15. Since I like browsing at thrift stores anyway, this seems to be something that fits my style, and I can have fun amd make some money, too.
    I discovered that some of the older sewing patterns sell for $20-$50; but it is hard to even find sewing patterns in thrift stores anymore, let alone the older ones from the 50's and 60's that people are looking for.

    The weather seems to be looking a little more like Spring; and I like driving better then, so I will probably try looking for some good possibilities of things to sell on eBay again this year.
     
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  2. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I used to sell a lot of stuff on eBay, mostly books that I picked up for next to nothing at library or yard sales. I've sold books that I paid a nickel for sell for more than thirty dollars on eBay but when they didn't sell, the fees were a problem, plus the time involved. My wife has a store account on eBay and does a lot of selling there. Our neighbor is an auctioneer so he gives us a lot stuff that didn't sell at auction, like vinyl records and old stamped envelopes. We got a few boxes of envelopes, many of which had been mailed in the 1800s, including several that were sent during the Civil War, some with letters included. These are selling very well. Plus, she picked up a large number of cast iron pans that are selling well; one just sold for $95 today, which is more than she paid for the whole bunch. Personally, I think the vinyl records are a pain in the butt because they seem to sell slowly and they take up a lot of space.

    I also buy stuff on eBay. I have several websites on small towns in North Dakota, for example. Since I've never actually been to any of these towns, I look for out-of-print books on these towns, often published during centennials, and get the information that I need from them, as well a scanning whatever photographs I want to use, and then re-sell the books on eBay, sometimes for more than I paid for them. I'll also buy photographs or post cards from these towns, in order to add content to the sites.
     
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  3. Allie Seay

    Allie Seay Veteran Member
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    There are kids (teens) in the church my husband and I attend who regularly make profits on ebay. They can take twenty bucks to a yard sale and multiply it two, three and sometimes more times on ebay with such regularity that the pastor has been known to spot them a few dollars just to see how they can multiply it for the church.
    (He's big on trying to show people on small incomes how to bring money into "the storehouse".)
    Neither I nor my husband, on the other hand, seems to have the knack for knowing what sells on ebay. It could also be that neither of us knows exactly how to word our ads, though I doubt that. Ken can sell ANYTHING on craigslist.
    Me, I just can't sell and would surely starve with no roof over my head if I had to do it for a living.
    I can't even sell things that I know well and hold dear--like horses. Not that horses are selling well these days. You can hardly give one away in this economy, but I was unable to sell them while the market was still good.
    I have managed, however to bumble out a few sales on ebay. A very few and each one purely by luck, too, I would think, having nothing to do with any skill on my part. And not a single one of them made me enough to be worth the postage and handling--a dollar here or two there, though mostly less.
    I have been glad to see, though, that the fees for posting alone on ebay have been dropped, so that now if you have a no sale you don't get charged for it. I think they now charge ten percent of the total amount received per item (sale price plus shipping) on most things, which is somewhat better for me.
    So now, when I feel like a bit of punishment, I'll put something out there on ebay just to watch it being ignored; still thinking, I suppose, that even a dog has his day.
    It sounds like the two of you, though--Ken and Yvonne, have a bit of skill in selling on ebay. That's great for you both and I hope it continues for as long as you want it to.
    I am envious.:)
     
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  4. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Allie, there are some excellent eBay tutorials on Youtube, and they will help you get started. I am kind of haphazard with mine, and actually need to watch more of the tutorials if i am going to do ebay and make some money on a consistanct basis.
    But, here is what I have been doing, for what it is worth.
    First, I wanted to find something that is durable and easy to ship. NO china teapots for me. I love teapots, but not shipping them.
    Books, purses, and some clothes seemed like they would work, and are in good supply at thrift stores.
    I did a search on books (as an example), and ran the search by price, from high to low, to see what kind of books people were getting the most money for. Then, I did the same search; but this time , only for completed listings. This way, I could see what people actually SOLD the item for, or if it was overpriced (or simply unwanted) and didn't sell for the price they were asking.
    Once I had this information, then I was able to search productively for that item at the thrift store, have an idea what price it might bring, and how well it was likely to sell; so I knew what I could afford to spend on an item, and still make some money when I sold it.
     
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  5. Pat Baker

    Pat Baker Supreme Member
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    I have been selling on Ebay a few months now. During Christmas I made a little money by purchasing items locally and lisiting them online for sale. It has taken awhile to get the hang of what will sale and what will not even after I have done research for good selling items.
     
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  6. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    My wife just made more than $200 on two cast iron skillets that she bought at a yard sale for just a few dollars.
     
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  7. Harrison Greenberg

    Harrison Greenberg Veteran Member
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    I have given eBay a few tries and I have made a few extra bucks for my wallet. Especially with staying at home most of the time, I really like the thought of walking to garage sales, or op shops to buy things for a couple bucks and selling it on eBay for a nice little profit. Usually my profits are mostly donated to my church, and I'd keep some for myself for whenever I go for walks with my grandchildren to buy them an ice cream.
     
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  8. Richard Lee

    Richard Lee Veteran Member
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    EBay is a learning experience - the best sellers learn what does and doesn't sell. Records and books only sell selectively, are heavy and bulky to store/send - they can be very hit and miss. Pottery/crockery/etc is bad - it is difficult to pack and store and sells poorly. Electronic stuff can be difficult too - hard to compete with the bulk of stuff shipped direct from China for pennies - also get a lot of returns. Strangely enough clothes can sell well - and old shoes (in good condition) - tools and parts too, especially for older/rarer cars/bikes. I used to buy job lots of car and bike parts and sell them as individual parts. Buying old bike wrecks can be good too if you have the garage space - I once bought a wrecked bike for a few hundred - it had a Harley King/Queen seat which made half the money back on its own! Pipes, carbs and tank put it in profit - and sold the rest as scrap/rebuild project :). Fun if you enjoy tinkering with old bikes.
     
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  9. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    One lady that I know of seems to do really well just by going to yard sales and thrift stores and picking up things and then re-selling them on ebay.
    She was telling me about an old doll that she found at a yard sale for $10 and it sold for over $2500 when the bidding had stopped. She ended up delivering the doll halfway, and the buyers drove the other half to meet her, and I think also gave her extra money for gas to meet them. That kind of thing probably does not happen very often; but it does happen.
    I found a set of Franciscan Red Apple dishes at a thrift store, and they were only asking $5 for the whole set of dishes. When I priced them out online; I had over $500 worth of dishes !
    I love Franciscan ware, and I have an old , old set of the Desert Rose pattern. Some of it I collected at thrift shops over the years, and some my mother bought back in the 1920's when she lived in southern California, and Franciscan was actually made there.
    The set of Red Apple Franciscan, I gave to my daughter, Robin, and she likes it better than the Desert Rose pattern.
     
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  10. Harrison Greenberg

    Harrison Greenberg Veteran Member
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    Oh man, who wouldn't want that to happen. That's a huge payday for something that was bought for such a low price. I really depends on the type of things you buy in thrift shops now. If it looks vintage and you pay a low price you could expect a pretty good payout on eBay. But that woman who had to travel halfway seemed a little risky though, should've just sent it by mail. (But free money is free money).
     
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  11. Von Jones

    Von Jones Supreme Member
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    I had gotten away from selling on Ebay and thinking about starting back up since I got laid off last year. I've been hearing a lot about how bad the fees are charged by Ebay which makes me hesitate. I guess I'll only know if it's bad or really bad is if I go ahead a list a couple of items.
     
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  12. Herbert Jennings

    Herbert Jennings Veteran Member
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    I have read multiple times that the worst part about ebay seems to be paypal. Apparently, the buyers can get away with anything like saying that the item wasn't shipped or damaged and they get their money back. Paypal is also notorious for freezing people's accounts without any warning. Is there a way to use ebay as a seller without having to use paypal?
     
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  13. Dave David

    Dave David Veteran Member
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    the worst thing about eBay and Paypal (actually one and the same, now adays) is that a buyer, can come back to the seller for a full refund for up to 180 days AFTER the sale. The seller doesn't even get a say so. Paypal takes the money back and you, the seller are now out the item, its' shipping and are expected to "reship or replace".

    Read the fine print. I used to sell tons on eBay and did quite well, but the scam buyers who tell you to ship one place, and then place a claim because you shipped it there, are out of control and have ALL the power.
     
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  14. Von Jones

    Von Jones Supreme Member
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    If that would be the case, then I would pay extra to have the buyer actually sign for receiving the item especially if they paid a decent amount of money for it.. That would be my verification that they actually received it should a request be filed for a refund.

    In any case I wouldn't feel comfortable knowing that PayPal could freeze my account when I have other funds being deposited. Definitely something to think about. I'm beginning to lean more and more towards setting up a booth at a flea market this year.
     
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  15. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I won't deny anyone else's experiences but, other than one or two people who insisted that the item had arrived damaged, I've never had that kind of problem, nor has my wife, and we've been selling on eBay for quite some time now. Maybe we've been fortunate.

    Then again, since we earn our living online, most of our money is in our PayPal accounts. I've even taken out and repaid a couple of loans from PayPal.
     
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