How do you make money on ebay?

[Mickey527]

I have sold some pins on ebay but after the fees to list, shipping and pay pal fees I barely break even on what I paid for them.
I am in the process of cleaning my attic of 30 years of stuff, mostly Disney. I buy stuff and keep it out for a while then up to the attic it goes. I thought I would either bring it down again or give it to the sons when they moved out but they do't want Disney stuff, they said they got enough when they lived here.
I have things like the monorail, lots of extra track, Spaceship Earth and TTC, statues of Mickey and friends, stuffed characters, hats, and lots of woman's clothing (I went from a size 18 to a size 6 and can't fit any of it YEAH!)
Is there a way to sell lots of stuff without paying the higher fees? How do some of you do it and still have extra money out of it?

 

[jayally]

I am in the same boat. I used to be a power seller and haven't listed stuff for a few years. I moved and cleaned out the garage and now have a family room full of stuff to list on ebay and I am procrastinating. I told my daughter to keep reminding me so I can get motivated. I haven't done it yet because I have to teach myself all over again and the fees and shipping are so high. I hate they make you use paypal. I have always offered to meet people and charge the least amount of shipping I could. I have lot's of dollhouse stuff, baby items and misc toys to list. I need the money to pay for our upcoming trip so I look at it that it's just taking up space and I bought it all a long time ago so I can handle not making a ton of money but I don't want to pay someone to take it!!

My Son would love the monorail stuff and I wear and 18. Maybe we could work something out.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

List right now! There is a sale going on for sellers that do not have an ebay store - list up to 100 items for zero listing fees (just pay final value fees and paypal fees).

Search completed items and see what is worth listing. Some things may do better in a lot of like items than by selling them individually.

Good luck!

 

[jayally]

Only if you start the auction at .99. That might be ok for some things I know are worth money but for the majority of stuff might sell for .99 and then ebay fees and paypal fees make it a negative and I am not willing to make money off of shipping/handling. I hate that as a buyer.

 

[Planogirl]

How high are the fees now? I did my research on ebay a few years ago but then never followed through. I was thinking of getting into it soon but people tell me that it's much harder to do than it once was.

 

[jayally]

How high are the fees now? I did my research on ebay a few years ago but then never followed through. I was thinking of getting into it soon but people tell me that it's much harder to do than it once was.

Me too but I have to get rid of some stuff for several reasons. I am just going to bite the bullet and hope for the best. Ebay is NOT what it used to be. I used to sell on ebay to help pay the bills but it got to the point I was not making much anymore because someone always had a better item than I did.

 

[disneychrista]

At this point I say you CAN'T really make money on ebay...

 

[heatherleigh]

I've always said that unless the items you are selling are free (or you do not need them anymore), you will not make a cent on eBay. I only use it to get rid of or sell items that are useless to me. I do make quite a bit when I'm active, but I haven't listed anything in mos. I really need to take some photos and get back into it again. I have several things I can list.

 

[aceys_h0ney]

We sell off and on on Ebay, sometimes we do ok but sometimes shipping and the fees eat up any profit. We are not looking to get rich but it would be nice to make a few bucks. I also don't buy much anymore. The shipping fees some people charge is rediculous, even on items that are not selling cheap. If I pay $20 for an item worth that much I don't want to turn around and pay $15 for shipping when the real cost is much less.

 

[taximomfor4]

op, I have procrastinated as well. I am swimming in little gymboree clothes. It was how I supplemented our income till several years ago, and since then it has been stacking up. Just can't make myself do it. They aren't high-enough priced items to make anything. And if they sell for .99, bummer for me!!

Anyway, maybe you can consider Craigslist? I am thinking of putting the gymbo clothes into boxes by size and season, list them per box on Craigslist, and see what happens.

I actually let some go at a garage sale dirt cheap (my neighborhood is a quarter-price neighborhood, nobody cares about name brand here). Just couldn't let ALL of it go that cheaply.

Beth

 

[nunzia]

Only if you start the auction at .99. That might be ok for some things I know are worth money but for the majority of stuff might sell for .99 and then ebay fees and paypal fees make it a negative and I am not willing to make money off of shipping/handling. I hate that as a buyer.

There is actually a sale right now for ANY starting bid amount for free. I can't remember how long it goes, June something..5th, 6th?

 

[jayally]

There is actually a sale right now for ANY starting bid amount for free. I can't remember how long it goes, June something..5th, 6th?

Where do you find this? I got motivated to write some descriptions up last night and hope to finish today and list tonight but I can't put some things up for .99 and hope to start a bidding war. I did some searches and found there are items that are worth more than the .99 opening bid they sold for and I would be really disappointed it that happened to me.

 

[StephMK]

List right now! There is a sale going on for sellers that do not have an ebay store - list up to 100 items for zero listing fees (just pay final value fees and paypal fees).

Search completed items and see what is worth listing. Some things may do better in a lot of like items than by selling them individually.

Good luck!

Thanks so much for posting this!! THAT has inspired me to list the stuff I have gotten ready & taken pics of but haven't taken the time to list.

OP - when I logged into ebay, a message appears about the no-listing sale until 6/1. I agree, I'm not willing to list & let stuff go for negative amounts, that defeats the whole purpose of selling.

That adds another item to my to-do list today but hopefully it'll be worth the effort. I'm doing everything I can to save "extra" money for a Disney trip next year.

 

[LexiC123]

There is actually a sale right now for ANY starting bid amount for free. I can't remember how long it goes, June something..5th, 6th?

Actually, it ends tomorrow...June 1st.

Where do you find this? I got motivated to write some descriptions up last night and hope to finish today and list tonight but I can't put some things up for .99 and hope to start a bidding war. I did some searches and found there are items that are worth more than the .99 opening bid they sold for and I would be really disappointed it that happened to me.

It was sent to me via email, and was also on the ebay home page for most of the week:

Seller Special
1 week only: May 26-June 1
Get free Insertion Fees for all Auction-style listings--regardless of start price*
List even big ticket items--start the bidding where you want
Pay only if your item sells

* Promotion does not apply to eBay Store subscribers

 

[Luvchefmic]

I am in the same boat. I used to be a power seller and haven't listed stuff for a few years. I moved and cleaned out the garage and now have a family room full of stuff to list on ebay and I am procrastinating. I told my daughter to keep reminding me so I can get motivated. I haven't done it yet because I have to teach myself all over again and the fees and shipping are so high. I hate they make you use paypal. I have always offered to meet people and charge the least amount of shipping I could. I have lot's of dollhouse stuff, baby items and misc toys to list. I need the money to pay for our upcoming trip so I look at it that it's just taking up space and I bought it all a long time ago so I can handle not making a ton of money but I don't want to pay someone to take it!!

My Son would love the monorail stuff and I wear and 18. Maybe we could work something out.

I used to sell and buy alot of things on eBay too (not a power seller by any means) but registered since 1996 I think...anyway I HATE the PayPal only thing and I haven't done a thing there in over 2 yrs. I used to find alot of the things I collect and its really too bad....they killed a great thing IMHO

 

[DisneyHardin]

I have to disagree with the poster who said there is no money to be made on eBay. Sell around $2000 worth of items per month and am paying for our entire Disney vacation (plus lots of other bills) with the profit I make selling on eBay.

 

[CBoysMomLovesDisney]

I have to disagree with the poster who said there is no money to be made on eBay. Sell around $2000 worth of items per month and am paying for our entire Disney vacation (plus lots of other bills) with the profit I make selling on eBay.

What type of items are you selling? Clothes, toys, collectibles?

 

[DisneyHardin]

I sell mostly clothes with some shoes, purses, etc.

 

[Jennia]

I'm still making money selling on ebay, but some stuff is definitely hit or miss. At the moment, I'm selling retired American Girl items (things I bought on sale when they were being discontinued) and those are going well.

 

[jayally]

I think what the previous poster meant is it is not as easy to make money on ebay like it used to be. When I started selling in 2002/2003 I made money on everything but then as it got more popular people would have new in box items of my vintage toys or offer items with free shipping or undercut my price, businesses started selling, ebay stores opened, BIN started, fees increased, paypal took off and ebay got greedy. In doing my research this weekend there are a lot of things that sell for .99 that I used to be able to sell for at least $9.99. Take into consideration the listing, final value fee, Paypal fee and not charging enough for shipping or offering free shipping and you can't make any money and if you start the price higher you risk not selling it at all.

I am going to list items I need to get rid of that I bought a long time ago so I am not out the money to buy merchandise. This month has been tight so any money I make will help pay the bills and put funds away for our trip that is fast approaching! I know a lot of people do make money but not the small sellers anymore.