Thursday, January 30, 2014

Thrifty Thursday: January Ebay Review

Ever wanted to make a little extra money for your family from home?  Do you have extra things around the house that you no longer use? Got any ideas on where to start?  Set up a Craiglist account and an Ebay account!!

What gets sold where?

I sell the things that are cheap to ship on Ebay and the things that are heavy and bulky on Craigslist.  It isn't always the easiest to figure out but you get a lot more exposure through Ebay so you might get a higher price but you also might get a lower price and there is a limit to how many things you can sell on Ebay where there isn't on Craiglist.  I am sure there are some people out there who are willing to spend the higher price on shipping but it is so much easier to do those through Craiglist if you are in a big enough area.


Have you sold anything on Ebay before??

I have never done it before!  I didn't start until the middle of the January.  I decided to sell all of the extra coupons that I didn't use because I figured that if there were ones that others could use that weren't thinks that our family uses, I would sell them at a low cost to others.  Ebay changed the way that they do things from years ago when my husband sold so you get 50 free listings a month.  You pay a percentage to them and some money to pay pal so with shipping, it costs me about $1 for each shipment so as long as I make more then that, I am making some money for my family.

Did you run into any problems?

Yup! Isn't there always a learning curve?  I set the price for the first few low and did free shipping.  I would say that the best advice that I have to give is to either set the price really low or provide free shipping.  There were at least 5 transactions that I just broke even and that is not exactly worth the effort if I am not going to make money.  On anything that didn't fit into a normal envelope, there was shipping charges to be calculated and ebay doesn't provide labels printed for normal mail so I went to the post office and lost a little on the shipping but at least the pricing on the rest made up for it and I didn't end up in the negative.

My second problem was specific to selling coupons because there is a limit which had wording that I didn't understand but turns out that you only get 25 listings for the month to sell no more then 25 coupons per transaction (at least I think because it is hard to understand the way that it was written).  I got to that point and  it wouldn't let me put up any other auctions or sales.  I tried to make a few things and schedule them for February so at least I could get the work done ahead of time but that didn't work either so I guess I have to wait and see if I reset on February 1st to sell a few more.



For the most part, I got really prompt payments (except one) so it was easy to get things out to the post office every day before they took the mail.  It is hard to wait patiently for someone to pay for me to send it but I did great and didn't run into too many problems.



I also had three things that didn't sell at all but since I didn't have to pay for posting, it wasn't a big loss to put up something that didn't sell even though my time could have been a little better spent picking something that would sell better but I wasn't really sure (and I didn't know there was a limit).

How did you do this month?

 

Isn't this what everyone wants to know?  I had no money out of pocket to start on this new and interesting business plan and I was hoping to make about $50 after I made my first few sales and realizing how much time it takes to get each post up.  I figured that if I was doing something like a garage sale, it takes preparation and something to sell but I normally make about $150 so I was thinking that I would base it on an easier online garage sale so it would be a third of the sale.  The great news is that I almost made it to my goal because my calculations have my profit at $45.57.  I still have two payments that I am waiting for to get the final guaranteed tally. After I pay ebay fees, pay pay fees, postage and envelopes, I should come out pretty good for a little work.

Will you continue to do it?

I think that I will!!  I will try another 25 transactions next month and see if I can sell some of the stuff that I wouldn't use and would otherwise be recycled.  I am not sure if I am in for this every month to add to the budget but for now, it is worth the time to add a little money.  I bought three books of stamps so that should last about three months so I will try to use up some stamps to make some money in the process.  I might try to sell a few other things too since I get 50 free listings a month and haven't really figured out what I am going to do with the other posts but might as well make an attempt to clear out more stuff in the house.

Do you want to add a little more money into your budget?  Check out ebay and remember to calculate the 10% to ebay, $0.30 plus 3% to pay pal and postage into the cost so that you make sure that you make a little bit of money for all your hard work.  Good luck and happy selling!!!

12 comments:

  1. Good luck to you in the future. I sell on Etsy (handmade, vintage or supplies) Check it out! www.stuffbykim.etsy.com

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    1. I love etsy! Do you have an hints on selling on Etsy? I used to knit and I was going to sell some stuff on Etsy but it seems like one of those options if you are only going to sell long term. I will check out your store now :)

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  2. Hey, nice work!! What do you mean by "ebay doesn't provide labels printed for normal mail"? I always print my shipping labels through Ebay and they give a discount on the shipping for larger items. I just print the label out on plain paper and use clear tape to affix it to my package (rather than stick on label).

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    1. I do the coupons through either a regular stamp or an envelope and the smallest through ebay is a padded envelope. I haven't done any packages yet except the one envelope but I think that I am going to stick to the things that fit in a business sized envelope and are only one stamp...way easier for me :)

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  3. What is your ebay name? I'll look for your auctions. Reia from www.southcountrysides.blogspot.com I'm reia_beautyplus on ebay.

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  4. Alison,
    Did your auction reset Feb 1st? I too just started selling coupons on ebay, and I too can't sell anymore. I think my first sell was January 12th or so and I couldn't sell anything on Feb 1st. I am thinking it must be the full month till I can sell again? I don't understand why they limit like they do. I put up let's say "10 of the same coupon in lots of 5. So can I post 25 different coupons or does the on post in 5 different lots count as 5 postings? I think it does. So do you think it's smarter to sell in lots of 20 and I could sell more? I hope you understand what I am trying to say. Thank you so much for your thoughts on this. Your blog is very informative. Please LMK what you think if you could. And what is your ebay name? I would love to check out your ebay auctions. Thank you.

    Lisa

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    1. It didn't reset and I tried to sell on the 1st and the 2nd. I actually went to the customer service and put in a comment to ask whether it was 30 days or a calendar month because I was trying not to waste my time to keep trying to post when it wasn't working. It showed that it reset with the sales but wouldn't let me do another coupon. I read their notes at least 5 times and I can't figure it out but I think that we can only sell up to 25 coupons in one posting and only have 25 individual coupon posts a month. I have been trying to figure it out and follow the rules but they make the rules a little complicated to understand. My ebay auction id is afrugalsale but I don't have anything up because of the month issue. I guess that I should try again today. Things are going to be expiring before I get a chance to get them up. I am glad to know that it isn't just me because I was sure that I was doing something wrong. When I started, I searched for someone else that was selling the same thing and I clicked on post something similar and I copied their information. I have a form in word that I copy and paste now to make it easier. Here is hoping that you get it to work!!! I am going to check again today.

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  5. Alison,
    Thanks for answering me, I haven't tried since Feb 1st. Did you go back and look when you posted your first coupon post in January? Mine was about the 12th I think. So I don't think I could post again till February 12th maybe. Did you have a chance to see if it worked for you? Post if you could. Thank you too, I tried to watch a few people's posts on coupons and some seem to sell many coupons. I was actually wondering if the rules are different if you set up a store. I think it's $15 a month to do that. I am not sure I will do that I just started out and with all the paypal/ebay charges I think this would have to be a small business to do that and I just don't have time to do. Thanks again. Have a nice Thursday.

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    1. Tried each day and nothing working yet! Let me know if you get anything up but this seems like a lot of work for very little money so I might be giving up soon and a lot of the good coupons expire at the end of the month.

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  6. I know what you mean. Did you ever think of maybe offering them on your blog? Is that ok to do that? I just got a new computer but we didn't get a chance to get it up and running yet, I may do a blog also for people here in PA. I have been couponing/refunding/frugal shopping for over 35 years since I was married before it got to be the "in thing to do". I am not sure what the rules are for blogs, would it go by blogspot rules since that is what you are on? Maybe you could check into it and then you could save ebay costs? Just a thought off the top of my head. I enjoy your blog Alison and thank you for sharing your idea's.

    Lisa in PA

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  7. Alison,

    I was able to go on yesterday and sell a set of coupons, I sold them in 10 minutes which was good, haven't posted any yet, I want to see what is in this coming set of papers to see if I want to wait. Just thought you might give it a try! Take care

    Lisa in PA

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    1. I got on today and put up two things that I had saved and they both worked. I didn't get any farther but it would be nice if they put 30 days instead of month because those are two different things. UGH!

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