How much can I realistically make in 1 year?

[05ChristmasSurprise]

I want to try to surprise my DH with another trip...if I've got a year, how much can I realistically make on ebay? We've recently cleaned out old books and things, so it would primarily be with outgrown clothing from the girls (mostly Old Navy stuff) as well as maybe some handmade items (like diaper bag/totes).

How much do you think I could realistically make over the course of a year and what would you invest your time in selling, primarily?

Thanks!

 

[kfeuer]

I wish I could answer your question, but there's no way anyone could really give you a definitive figure. I'd suggest looking on Ebay to see what similar items are selling for and that should give you an idea of what your items might be worth. As far as time goes, I don't use any shortcuts and it takes me about an hour to photograph and list 5 things. Getting things ready to ship can be time-consuming, too.

 

[ceecee]

In my experience the name brand clothes bring better prices (LLBean, Lands End, Limited Too, Gymboree) I haven't done well with Old Navy or Gap. Really it depends on how much you have and of what.

 

[madelyn]

I've done some Ebay selling but never thought selling clothes was worth it since photographing and listing a single clothing item, unless it was a more expensive item like a coat or fancy dress, would be worth my time. If I had to photograph, list, pack and mail a single clothing item that sold for maybe $3, it wouldn't be worth it. But then if you had 10 items that sold for $3 each and you were only making 1 trip to the post office to mail them all, then that might be worth it. Or you might lump your items in lots of clothing, grouped by size and season. You might make less per item but it would take less time and might be the better way to sell items that aren't top designer names. I have taken clothes to resale shops but sometimes the earnings are only $1 or $2 per item and I feel better about just handing off the clothes to someone who can use them.

 

[sphere99]

In my experience the name brand clothes bring better prices (LLBean, Lands End, Limited Too, Gymboree) I haven't done well with Old Navy or Gap. Really it depends on how much you have and of what.

How suprising! I make the most on GAP. Old navy no way, but Gap for sure! I keep that in mind while buying my son's clothes.

 

[LisaRay]

Well i have been selling my DD's 13's outgrown clothes. I sell them in a lot of about 27- 30 items and while i do spend $19.99 to make the listing me a preferred item ( gallery featured or something like that. It makes it show up at the top of the page) i don't spend for the extra pics since i use photobucket. But in aug/sept. I sold 3 seperate lot's for $127, $142, $197!! So even though i have to subtract $20 in the fee for listing it i still think i have done ok. Much more then i would have made at my garage sale.

This past spring is when I started doing it and i sold one lot for $179 and another for $165. The ones in the spring had some new with tags items like maybe out of 30 items 6-7 were new items that she either didn't like or never wore or didn't fit. But the ones i have sold this aug/sept were fall clothes and none of them were new items all were worn. Yes, they were name brands. This is how i have been paying for our trip on Nov. 6th!!

 

[kilee]

I sell almost 95% clothing. I sell all sizes, makes, and models--- . Actually, we have gotten so busy with our ebay sales, and have so much outside merchandise, we're in the process of opening a consignment shop. (Which by the way all started with my reading the ebay your way to disney thread-- amazing how things can take off).
Anyhow, I have many single clothing items sell for only $1-3 each, I also have many sell for $7-10, and still a good 25% go for $10-40 each. I also charge $5.00 shipping for most items-- and most single items are only costing me $3.85. So, I make my handling fee there. I can't tell you how many $0.25 garage sale clothing item's I've made a decent profit on. If you have some spare time, give it a try. You really don't have anything to lose.

 

[bettyann29]

I went to a garage sale a month ago and found a childs dallas cowboys jersey shirt for $1 and it sold for over $13.. I bought a JNCO pair of jean shorts and JNCO tshirt for $1 each.. They each sold for almost $4 each.. I made a good profit on these.. I try to go garage saleing and look for namebrand clothing.. Lizzue Mcguire clothing sells good too.. My daughter had some tshirts, skirts, etc and those sold really well... I agree that LTD2 sells well too.. Old Navy not so well..

 

[rockin_rep]

Can some of you give me an idea of how much *time* you spend on selling? Just an approx. number of hours per week.

Also, do any of you ebayers also work outside of the home?
While I would like to ebay, between two kids, a part time job, and everyhing else etc, i'm not sure it i can fit it all in.

 

[Brian Noble]

An alternative for clothing is to consider donating it to a worthy cause. It's easy, but only worth doing financially if you itemize deductions. We do this, and each year deduct a surprising amount from our taxes. Not enough for a full trip, but certainly a day or two of it. Given the amount of time it takes to garage sale/ebay, and what your time is worth, you may find that it is more efficient to donate. It gives you nice warm fuzzies, too.

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by 05ChristmasSurprise
if I've got a year, how much can I realistically make on ebay?

If you really want to put some effort into it, I'd suggest expanding beyond clothing. Go to yards sales, ,thrift shops, auctions, etc. and buy items to resell.

Just to give you an idea of what is possible, at my peak a few years back I was taking in $2,000 - $3,000 per month in sales on ebay selling all kinds of household items, knick-knacks, collectibles, Disney items, etc. I was listing 10 items/day for 10-day auctions so I always had 100 auctions going. I probably spent about 2-3 hours each nite doing the listings and packing and shipping orders. I also spent about 3 hours every Saturday morning going to yard sales, a few evenings per month going to auctions, and other assorted buying trips. So if you want to put in the time, there is money to be made.

 

[LisaRay]

As far as money amounts go I have made about $1,400 or so since Feb.! These were the clothing lots i mentioned earlier and many other household items and toys. It was enough to cover our passes and 7 nites at Pop Century.

As far as time spent...... i didn't sell anything in june or july or the 1st 3 weeks of aug. This was all done in Feb, march, april, may, end of aug, sept, and 1st 2 weeks of Oct. I don't work outside the home but I do have 2 kids. I only list about 5 or 6 auctions every other week! this gives me time for them to end and payment to be recieved and item to be shipped then i start over again with another set of auctions. I just find it easier and I since I am not supporting the family with it just our vacations I try to keep it easier. Also i would say that I spend about 2 hours on the sunday that i am listing maybe 3 hours if I am doing a clothing lot as they take more time with the taking pics and writing things up for listing. I could do this at another time in the week and put them in turbolister so that I wouldn't have to do it on sundays but this way DH is home in case I have problems or questions. Then on the sunday that I am not listing anything just having the auctions end I spend just a few minutes sending out invoices. And my DH does all the packing for me! So that helps alot! He watch's sports in the garage and packs. I then make a couple trips to the post office during the week to send items out but it has just become a regular errand run and doesn't take that long.

Hope some of this helps. Bacically everyother sunday when i am listing it does take some time. The sunday that they end my DH packs ( and as i said it's only 5 or 6 auctions) and then trips to the post office. Of course there is also a little time spent dealing with emails from people from time to time but for the most part we have gotten very lucky and not had much trouble from buyers!

 

[MamaCrush]

Generally speaking, what percentage of your all's auctions actually sell? Do you have to relist items very often? Thanks for the info... I'm about to dip my toe into this ocean!

 

[patsal]

I work full time and I e-bay--mostly kids clothes and toys, for a profit of about $500.00 per year. I only list one day per week and only ship one day per week. If payments come between ship day, I just email the customer and have had no problems. I keep my pmaterials set up for shipping in the basement so that it is as pain free as possible. I think it is worth it. I list when the kids are in bed and I pack out after they have gone to bed. Since I am in control of when I list and ship it isn't any problem for me.

 

[MamaCrush]

For those of you selling children's clothes-- have you found a good way to photograph them? I've seen where they are laying down on a blanket or table, but I think the picture angle is kind of odd. Any tips?

 

[disneysteve]

The percentage of auctions that sell varies a lot. It will depend on a lot of factors: time of year, type of merchandise, starting prices, etc.

As for photographing clothing, I usually either hang them on the wall or lie them on the floor and stand directly over them so the photos aren't shot on an angle.

 

[LisaRay]

As far as money amounts go I have made about $1,400 or so since Feb.! These were the clothing lots i mentioned earlier and many other household items and toys. It was enough to cover our passes and 7 nites at Pop Century.

As far as time spent...... i didn't sell anything in june or july or the 1st 3 weeks of aug. This was all done in Feb, march, april, may, end of aug, sept, and 1st 2 weeks of Oct. I don't work outside the home but I do have 2 kids. I only list about 5 or 6 auctions every other week! this gives me time for them to end and payment to be recieved and item to be shipped then i start over again with another set of auctions. I just find it easier and I since I am not supporting the family with it just our vacations I try to keep it easier. Also i would say that I spend about 2 hours on the sunday that i am listing maybe 3 hours if I am doing a clothing lot as they take more time with the taking pics and writing things up for listing. I could do this at another time in the week and put them in turbolister so that I wouldn't have to do it on sundays but this way DH is home in case I have problems or questions. Then on the sunday that I am not listing anything just having the auctions end I spend just a few minutes sending out invoices. And my DH does all the packing for me! So that helps alot! He watch's sports in the garage and packs. I then make a couple trips to the post office during the week to send items out but it has just become a regular errand run and doesn't take that long.

Hope some of this helps. Bacically everyother sunday when i am listing it does take some time. The sunday that they end my DH packs ( and as i said it's only 5 or 6 auctions) and then trips to the post office. Of course there is also a little time spent dealing with emails from people from time to time but for the most part we have gotten very lucky and not had much trouble from buyers!

 

[LisaRay]

OH, Jeez!! How did i end up with that double post!!!

Sorry!!! Just ignore me !!

 

[cinamin27]

MamaCrush,
I've only been selling for the past 3 weeks or so, mostly my daughters outgrown clothes from last fall/winter. For the pictures, I lay them on the floor & stand on a step stool (2 steps high, standing on the highest step) & take a picture directly down over top of them. Before I started using the stepstool, I kept getting shots of my foot or toes in the picture
For her Halloween costume, I did hang it up on a door & shot the picture standing in front of it. Honestly, when I see other ebay auctions where people hang the clothes, they look so messy & wrinkled & sometimes 1/2 hanging off the hanger & I usually pass those by. Actually, when I look at clothes & they look all wrinkled, I pass those by as well. (I have bought 80+% of my daughter's fall/winter clothes this year off of ebay, selling her old stuff has paid off this years clothes almost dollar for dollar!)