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

[DiznEeyore]

Originally posted by lalapodip
That said, thanks for the motivation and tips on shipping - I have the priority mail boxes and I am going to start slowly with a few items of clothing that the kids have outgrown. Curious - for clothes is $5.95 for S&H too much? Any thoughts (just for ideas) - I obviously don't want to buy a scale at this point in time. I just want to add a few Disney $$$ to my bank account!!

Great thread!

Laura:

If you're going to ship priority, the cost will depend on your zip code and the buyer's zip code. You can go into the www.usps.gov site and print off a Postal Service Zone Chart where you enter your zip code and then it tells you the zone every other zip code is in in relation to *you*. Then you can go to the rate chart and determine how much it will cost to ship to a particular zone.

You'll have to have some idea of how much the package will weigh. What I do is stand on the scale, then stand on the scale with the package! Sounds goofy, but it's been actually pretty accurate for me!

HTH!

 

[lalapodip]

I didn't realize (DUH) that there was an entire postage chart available. I did plug in my CT and my old CA zip, just to see what came up, and it seems that, for a package of 1 to 2 lbs., for me to charge a flat fee of $5.95 S&H is not unreasonable. It is $5.75 max for a 2 lb. package for the 8 zones. Since I want to primarily sell children's clothing (at least to start!!) I should stay within the 1 to 2 lb. limit. Thanks for your input!! I hope to start listing items this week. I just didn't want to turn potential bidders off!

 

[DiznEeyore]

Glad to help a bit! Let us know how your ebaying goes!!

 

[poober25]

Just wanted to let everyone know, you NEVER know what something will sell for. I had several auctions end tonight and 3 of them brought in over $600. This was for some cookware I had that I wasn't using and I was literally floored by what I got for a double boiler insert and a steamer insert over $150 ea. So prepare to be pleasantly surprised if you are trying to sell quality items that are hard to come by.

 

[C.Ann]

I purchased a nice little scale at Office Max for $29 or so that goes up to 5lbs.. The thing I like about it is that it gives pounds AND ounces - so I can just look at my postal chart and know exactly what the S&H will be.. Saves me any "unpleasant" surprises at the Post Office!

I just LOVE eBaying! I've been getting such WONDERFUL feedback from my customers - should help me considerably with future sales.. I go a bit overboard with careful packing - and purchase delivery confirmation for EVERYTHING - but I must be doing SOMETHING right based on the feedback that has been left for me.. Friendly, helpful emails are a good idea too..

I recently went to a part-time schedule at my job (3 days a week) because I have found that even with "slow' sales, I can make more in one day at home than I can at work.. The BEST part is getting all this CLUTTER out of my house!!!!

(Okay - the "money" is great too! LOL)

Don't be afraid - try it!!!!!!

P.S. For those afraid of someone "hacking" all your money out of your Paypal account (which doesn't really happen all that often) - sweep it out EVERY night (into a checking acct.) and only leave a small balance of $100 or so.. They can't take what isn't there!

 

[lalapodip]

The fraud that happened to me wasn't that there was money in my Paypal account "available" for taking. My balance was zero, but my account is set up for debit transfers from my checking. The hacker pretended that he was me and transferred $1600 to himself, like I was paying him for an auction. (rest assured, "unusual transactions" are put in a pending file at Paypal, but he overdrew my checking account - see tip below - with the transaction!) He first went into my Yahoo account and blocked all emails from himself and from Paypal. It took 10 days until someone at Paypal suggested that I check my blocked addresses in Yahoo! MAKE ALL OF YOUR PASSWORDS UNIQUE! It is probably a good idea to change them every few months or so, much like the computer systems at work make us change our passwords.

ANOTHER TIP (from the newbie seller - and lifelong banker):

OPEN A SEPARATE ACCOUNT WITH A SEPARATE DEBIT/VISA CHECK CARD FOR PAYPAL AND EBAY! God forbid something happens - "only" your extra account is affected, not your main banking account!! The fraud only inconvenienced my "vacation" account and the bank returned the $1600 for NSF. All fees were rebated. Sorry to ramble, but I wanted to clarify what happened to me!!

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by lalapodip


ANOTHER TIP (from the newbie seller - and lifelong banker):

OPEN A SEPARATE ACCOUNT WITH A SEPARATE DEBIT/VISA CHECK CARD FOR PAYPAL AND EBAY! God forbid something happens - "only" your extra account is affected, not your main banking account!! The fraud only inconvenienced my "vacation" account and the bank returned the $1600 for NSF. All fees were rebated. Sorry to ramble, but I wanted to clarify what happened to me!!

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

This is exactly what I did before I started my ebay selling "career".. I opened an entirely different checking/debit account strictly for this activity.. Every night I "sweep" my Paypal acct. (if there's over $20 or so in there) into my special "ebay" acct. Then - as soon as my on-line banking shows that the money has been deposited into that acct. - I go thru the drive-thru on my way to work in the morning and take it out with my debit card.. I NEVER keep more than $100 to $125 in the checking/debit acct. that is set up for ebay.. Makes it difficult for a hacker to grab the money because I usually have it out before THEY can figure out a way to get to it!! LOL

I would also NEVER do any transaction on-line that had to tie into my everyday account because my DH's SS is automatically deposited there every month and if someone were to get into that we would be in a whole HEAP of trouble!!

Better to keep all these activities seperate - and get the money OUT of your Paypal and special ebay accounts as soon as possible..

 

[cinlee3]

You all have given me some great information. I just went and changed all my passwords.

I am going tomorrow to open a new checking/debit account. Ready to get started hopefully this week.

 

[C.Ann]

Okay - fess up! Lots of you said you were inspired by this post and you were going to get motivated once and for all and actually start selling but.....................

How many of you actually DID it???????

If you haven't already, you're missing out on a great opportunity!!

 

[lalapodip]

I did add an "about me" page! Still working on actually getting something up for sale.... Thanks for keeping after us - I really NEED to do this. There are four Rubbermaid barrels filled with outgrown clothing outside my office door.

 

[barbnbrian]

Well I actually did list some things. Two didn't sell, so I lowered the price and relisted them. One of the items does have one bid on it now.

Of the books I sold, one lot of 8 books sold yesterday for $11.00 and a set of 4 sold for $5.00. Definitely more than I would have gotten at my tag sale where they would have been priced at .25 each!

Also sold two of my daughters' Pooh dress yesterday for $4.00 each. They wore them once!


But I'm still not ahead and definitely not making enough to finance a chunk of my July trip. Sure seems like a lot of work writing up the listing, taking the pictures, and then with the shipping costs and listing fees, I still feel like I'm not making much. At least with your tag sale, when it's done, its done and over with. Ebay selling goes on and on. I'm constantly checking my Ebay to see if anyone has bid and what the going prices are. It's just as addicting as these DisBoards!

But, I'll keep listing more items since I've got a box sitting here with more books and things I planned to sell at my tag sale.

 

[PatriciaH]

Well, I'm one that has been selling for a while but just to let you all know my auctions this week are at $9.99 for an old VHS- A Day in The Magic Kingdom and $49 for my old Game Boy Color with 5 games.

 

[melk]

Glad to hear your ebay selling is going so well, C.Ann. I haven't sold anything in a while but it does get addicting, doesn't it? My best sellers have been kids videos and nursing (breastfeeding) clothes!!

 

[mowsie dreamer]

Ok, all of you E-Bay'ers have got me thinking about this!
Do paperback books do well on E-Bay? I've got a ton of them! I was thinking I could put books by the same author together and sell them such as The Lord of The Rings series.

Has anyone here had success with that kind of thing?

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by mowsie dreamer
Ok, all of you E-Bay'ers have got me thinking about this!
Do paperback books do well on E-Bay? I've got a ton of them! I was thinking I could put books by the same author together and sell them such as The Lord of The Rings series.

Has anyone here had success with that kind of thing?

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

I have done very well by grouping my paperbacks in lots of 4 - of the same subject.. (With me I have tons of true crime books and they do very well when grouped in catergories such as "husbands killing wives", etc.) I don't think I will ever get over the fact that 4 books that would draw MAYBE a dollar in a garage sale could sell for as much as $15 PLUS shipping and handling.. I don't understand WHY, but if folks want them, then I'm more than happy to supply them.. Same goes for videos - why would someone spend $30 plus shipping and handling on two videos that are nothing special?? I'll be darned if I know, but it sure looks good in my bank account!!

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by barbnbrian
Well I actually did list some things. Two didn't sell, so I lowered the price and relisted them. One of the items does have one bid on it now.

Of the books I sold, one lot of 8 books sold yesterday for $11.00 and a set of 4 sold for $5.00. Definitely more than I would have gotten at my tag sale where they would have been priced at .25 each!

Also sold two of my daughters' Pooh dress yesterday for $4.00 each. They wore them once!


But I'm still not ahead and definitely not making enough to finance a chunk of my July trip. Sure seems like a lot of work writing up the listing, taking the pictures, and then with the shipping costs and listing fees, I still feel like I'm not making much. At least with your tag sale, when it's done, its done and over with. Ebay selling goes on and on. I'm constantly checking my Ebay to see if anyone has bid and what the going prices are. It's just as addicting as these DisBoards!

But, I'll keep listing more items since I've got a box sitting here with more books and things I planned to sell at my tag sale.

------------------
If I have an item that doesn't sell I always relist it immediately - and never change the price.. If anything, I may change the main category and that's it.. Nine times out of ten the item WILL sell the second time around..

I try to keep a MINIMUM of 20 auctions running at all times - more if time allows.. My eventual goal is to have auctions that are ending every single day - not just on Friday, Saturday & Sunday.. I've purchased large lots of supplies for packing at very reasonable prices and now pack things as soon as they have ONE bid on them.. I have also pre-printed return address labels on my computer so I don't have to fuss with that either.. Got a bunch of Delivery Confirmation forms at the post ofice and make them out as soon as I know who has won the auction... I stop at the post office on my way to the work in the morning and due to my prior preparation it probably takes the clerk less than 6 or 7 minutes to ship out 20 packages for me and give me a receipt..

After awhile you will find little short cuts, better ways to do things, and it won't seem so overwhelming..

As for constantly checking to see if you have any bids - yes - that can become addicting - but once you realize that ebay only "refreshes" your selling page a set number of times per 24-hour period you'll find that you aren't doing it quite so often.. It IS exciting to watch those bids though - isn't it?

Hang in there - list more items - get yourself organized - and pretty soon it won't feel like "work" at all - rather more like a very profitable "hobby"..

 

[Luv2Roam]

I have sold quite a few books through half.com. They make it easy, because they get the $ for you.
I stopped though because half.com royally screwed me over on a book sale. I literally lost money -- the buyer tried multiple times to pay -- Neither of us could get through to half.com or anyone to listen. (You might as well write a letter to a brick wall.)
All we kept getting was HOW ARE WE DOING? (Aren't we fabulous?) e-mails. Both the seller and I were complaining and never got a response.
So half.com is great, when everything goes as it should. Otherwise, hang it up.
But I was selling books for $2 - $8 each that I would be lucky to get 50 cents to $1 each at a garage sale.

 

[DMRick]

"refreshes" your selling page a set number of times per 24-hour period you'll find that you aren't doing it quite so often.. It IS exciting to watch those bids though - isn't it?

I don't understand what you mean..my selling page is refreshed everytime I refresh it. If I get a couple of bids within minutes of each other..my selling page (as long as I refresh) shows that.

C-A..you are using the on lone dlivery confirmations for your Priorotiy mail, right? I also use them on first class, since it's so cheap if I print it myself. If I'm mailing something too skinny for it, I usually throw a packing peanut in to "thicken" it up so I can use DC on first class.

I put up 140 or so auctions today, since I've been down in Dis..had them all ready to go. I've heard it was slow again this week (tax week)..so we'll see.

If you are selling 9 out of 10 on your second put up..you are doing wonderful indeed..that is a GREAT sell through rate, even for the second time it's up, without changing the starting price! My sell through rate is much lower..however, I sell off eBay often to people who have seen my items on eBay in the past, and may be too late for the auction, as well as to the next higher bidder since I have multiples..so my actual rate as far as money goes is much higher, without the fees.

 

[DMRick]

One other thing..just so people don't get discouarged by a lower sell through rate. It really depends on if you are selling $2 items, $10 items, or $25 items. You may make more with one out of 5 or even 10 items selling, if it's higher priced. Lower items get eaten up with fees really quick. If I had lower items, I would bundle if possible..same size clothes, same author book, etc. When I did my income tax, I couldn't believe all my fees. Although I have a spread sheet, I seldom look at the bottom figure..so it was really a shock LOL! However, the area that shows the profit was still up there, and enabled 4 trips to Disney within the past year plus lots of other extra's, so I'm not really complaining.
Someone mentioned trying the Disboard Auciton. I love how easy it is to put stuff up there, and I love the cost (free!)..but without people to buy, it's really a discouraging place to sell. Not enough categories..really more for selling Disney stuff IMO. I know we have asked for more categories, but when they didn't come, a lot of us gave up. I felt I was really wasting my time. Maybe they'll start adding some...but I think it should have been right off the bat. I also didn't get responses when I wrote for help.

 

[dturner]

I'm so excited I just had to share this with all of you who have been responsible for me finally getting my act together and putting things on Ebay to sell (for upcoming trip to WDW of course). I just got my first bid and I'm so excited. Can't wait to get home and go through all of DS fisher price toys and list them as well.

Thanks to all of you for lighting a fire under me.

Donna