Erasing Our Debt

JW over at Need to be Debt Free left a comment wanting some tips for selling on eBay. There have probably been a million tips posted on other sites, but I will let everyone know what has worked for me.

First some of my recent success for selling on eBay comes from me making a money mistake. While when I made the money mistake, I did have the full intention of making my money back by selling some of it, I could have done without buying them. What is it, you ask? Texas Rangers season tickets. Yes I purchased season tickets to the worst team in the Major Leagues. Reason for buying my two seats was that it was buy one get one free. I am happy to say I have already made my money back by selling on eBay(thanks to the Yankees and Red Sox coming to town) and to friends.

Now on to why I've had some success...

1. Research what you want to sell
   If you want to sell widgets on eBay, then search eBay to make sure widgets are selling. If you put something up for sale and it doesn't sell then you still have to pay eBay seller's fees. That would be a waste of money. Use eBay's advanced search feature for auctions already ended.
2. That stuff WILL sell
   You may think you have a lot of junk just laying around your house that has no chance of being sold. But you never know. Search for it. It may just be something that someone is looking for. I used to umpire baseball games, but no longer have the time for it. I put most of my equipment up on eBay and it was getting bids within 10 hours.
3. Garage/Estate Sales
   One of my friends has always wanted to start his own eBay business. He's shown me websites that sale a lot of things(junk in my opinion) that you can buy wholesale. While I think this may be a ridiculous idea for someone looking to make a quick buck. However, he did tell me about something one of his friends was doing.
   He was coming down here to Plano, TX, where the great affluent people live. He was coming on Saturday and going to garage sales. He found a kayak for about $30 and sold it on eBay for about $200. So check local garage sales to turn a profit.
   Estate sales may be risky. I've never been to one, but you'll probably pay a higher price for something you'd find a garage sale.
4. If you build it, then sell it
   If you do something that you're good at, then sell it. If you make great birdhouses, then sell birdhouses. If you make jewelry, then sell them.
5. Lastly----Be Truthful and descriptive
   In your title be sure to put exactly what you're selling. USE CAPS for the main part. If someone is search for a blue baseball cap with flowers, then Title it something like "Blue BASEBALL CAP flowers tulips rose". Always put as much as you can that will direct someone to your auction instead of someone else's.
   Always be clear to your customer what they are bidding on. If that iPhone has a scratch on it's screen, you better put that in the description. Don't cheat people on the shipping costs. If it costs $5.50 to ship don't charge $10. $6 would suffice. That should cover costs for envelopes, boxes, etc.

I hope this has helped.

// posted by Ryan @ 12:13 PM