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Old 04-04-2005, 06:37 PM   #1
staceyv
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Ebay

I got the idea to go to yardsales this summer and buy things really cheap, then sell them on ebay for profit. Do any of you guys sell on Ebay? Is it worth the hassle? What do you think I'd have the best luck selling? Any other comments/ ideas are welcome!
Is it true that some people actually make a living doing this? How hard would it be to make $300 week?...
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Old 04-04-2005, 07:37 PM   #2
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eBay has become flooded with wholesalers selling crap. You will literally see hundreds of auctions for the exact same brand new item. Unless the item is unique or very underpriced at the yardsale, I seriously doubt you'll even sell your items, let alone for a profit.
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Old 04-04-2005, 07:58 PM   #3
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You should answer your own question. Spend a few hours a day over a couple weeks watching items on E-bay. Look at what actually sells, not what is for sale. See what it sells for. Then ask yourself if you have a local source that is significantly cheaper. Is the profit large enough to pay your wage for the time to post the shit and pack it up for shipping?

You would want to make more than you would at your waitressing job, right? Do the math. Unless you are selling high priced items, you are going to need to move a lot of merchandise each day. It will start to feel like a job. You will need space to store all the boxes and merchandise. Have a spare room?

The nice thing is that you can start small for basically zero cost and see how it goes. Be honest with yourself about what you are making and how much time you are putting into it. You may find that McDonald's pays better. You may find that you have a knack for finding things people want and getting them for a good price. Who knows? If you live in a wealthy area, you may be able to find good stuff for cheap at thrift stores or church sales etc.
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Old 04-04-2005, 07:58 PM   #4
staceyv
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well, I made $37 while I was sleeping last night, selling crappy old books on Amazon.
I know I said just Ebay, but I think Amazon is better for books.
At a yardsale, you can buy hardcover books for less than $1 each, you can buy a baby carseat for $3, a bread machine for $5, clothing for $1 per item, etc...
My strategy is to find the exact item and sell it for the lowest price (even if it's only 2 cents cheaper).
With this in mind, are things really as dim as you say?


I make way more than $300 a week waitressing- but I CAN live off of that.
Space isn't too much of an issue, and I honestly woudn't mind spending 35 hours a week of my time for $300 if I don't have to work for someone else!
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Old 04-04-2005, 08:02 PM   #5
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i buy @$200 worth of books and cd's from amazon every month, there is a lot of business going on there. that being said, i can't see where the profit is for the guy who sold me the whole Shift discography for $.01 + $2.50 shipping.
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Old 04-04-2005, 08:14 PM   #6
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Yeah, I noticed that too! Fiction books seem to be absolutely worthless, too. I have a bunch of hardcover Stephen King books that I wanted to sell, but people are selling them for less than a dollar each. I think they're making a tiny profit from the shipping credit that Amazon gives you. For standard shipping, that's $2.26, Amazon takes a dollar plus 15% of the sale. If they sell something for a penny and the shipping costs less than a dollar, I guess they could make some money if they have a very high volume.
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Old 04-04-2005, 08:37 PM   #7
staceyv
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one more thing-
I personally shop on Ebay and they really do have good deals. Yes, there is a bunch of crap, but you can find what you're looking for, too.
I found the exact bread machine on Ebay that I wanted for a lot less than in the store- even after shipping costs. I found halloween costumes for us, we also got a rear view mirror for the car on Ebay. I really can't be bothered with the auctions, though. It seems like someone else always overbids me. I look for the lowest "buy it now" price.
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Old 04-04-2005, 09:27 PM   #8
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What have you got to lose? Go for it. You would be amazed at what people will buy and how much they will pay for something.

And its kind of fun. I've never actuallly sold anything on eBay but my wife is nearly a power seller(tm).
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Old 04-04-2005, 09:34 PM   #9
Clodfobble
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I agree, if you're a buyer, you can find great deals. I love buying stuff on eBay. Selling, on the other hand, has only ever been worth it for us when selling computer equipment (which we have sold lots of, for reasonable amounts of money.) But, for example, a quick search on eBay for some of the items you mentioned:

There are only two used baby carseats currently listed. One starts at $5 and has no bids, and the other starts at $1 and has one bid.

There are several used bread machines listed, start prices ranging from $0.99 to $25.00. None have any bids--except for one. There is a particular used bread machine, a DAK brand model FAB-2000, which is already at $26.51 with multiple bidders. So it would seem if you could find that particular model at a garage sale, you might have something. But are you prepared to do that kind of research for every item you might find at a garage sale?
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Old 04-04-2005, 09:56 PM   #10
lumberjim
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Quote:
Originally Posted by staceyv
I got the idea to go to yardsales this summer and buy things really cheap, then sell them on ebay for profit.
drat! why didn;t I think of that!?

you could ask dycamore how his cd club/ebay scheme panned out.

real advice:

find an outlet store that is unique to your local area. sell the stuff no one can go out and buy locally. specializing in one type of thing is best. you need to be able to recognize a bargain, and when to sell certain things. and.....and....make enough profit to cover the ever increasing fees ebay charges!

the easy ebay bubble has popped, i think.
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Old 04-04-2005, 10:19 PM   #11
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go to a $1 store , buy a lot of those fru -fru bullshit thingees , sell them on e-bay for $5 plus shipping , suprising but folks will go for it .
My wife worked at one of those places for about a year , she mostly got payed in these bullshit fru-fru thingees , i have considered clearing out the back bed room ( where they ALL are stored ) on E-Bay .
It may even make up for the fact that the sand nigger ( sorry on SO many levels ) she worked for didn't deduct enough taxes and we had to PAY this year
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Old 04-04-2005, 10:29 PM   #12
Bullitt
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I'm currently trying to get rid of some textbooks from my two previous college quarters on Amazon. Once you get the hang of it it is really easy to use and quite convenient. You also get alot more for your item than if you left it up for bidding or selling somewhere else, like back to the store or to a friend.
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Old 04-04-2005, 10:43 PM   #13
SteveDallas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by staceyv
well, I made $37 while I was sleeping last night, selling crappy old books on Amazon.
You did better than I did! I put about half my old book collection that I wanted to get rid of up on amazon and made exactly ONE sale of an Anne Rice paperback that I probably netted about 25 cents on (if you don't count my time for posting all the stuff, and then taking the book to the post office & mailing it). (And I would probably have just sent it for free if I had know prior to the sale that the buyer was in the army stationed in the middle east somewhere.) ABE Books is even better, I think, but their fee structure discourages somebody like me who just has a couple or three books he wants to dump & isn't really interested in starting up an ongoing business.

But I think you're right, people go to Amazon looking for books. In most cases they don't come to ebay. I've also bought a CD for $0.01 plus $2.49 shipping. Seems pretty cutthroat.
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Old 04-04-2005, 11:08 PM   #14
Bullitt
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Don't want to put you to shame but I've netted about $83 from two books so far off Amazon. Still got a couple more left to go. I think the trick is selling books that are few and far between and books that are in high demand, like my textbooks for example.
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Old 04-05-2005, 08:34 AM   #15
staceyv
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I sold two more books overnight Books about petcare are really in demand! I also noticed that depression is a hot topic...
I'm going to wait until may or june to try out the whole ebay thing. There is a little shop on the island that will actually do it for me and keep a percentage of the profit, so I don't have to go through all of the packing, shipping, posting, etc. I wouldn't mind losing some profit if it was that easy.
I went to yardsales all last summer and saw SO many books that I wish I would've bought then. I think I could probably make more on books than anything, since I am clueless about antiques and colectibles...
These stupid bubble mailing envelopes are 50 cents each at Job Lot (discount store). Is there a cheaper way to pack stuff?
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