Ebay was a great way to earn some extra money. I was quick to use it in the beginning to subscribe to Hulu, netflix, amazon and disney plus last summer. I learned that is a way to watch your paypal account disappear quickly. By, February I cancelled all of my subscriptions. I then concentrated on saving for this Christmas and using any extra on Trades of Hope. Which was great and was able to buy some birthday gifts with the earnings there. This summer I learned the most. I bought a light box to take better pictures. We started to get the house ready to show to sell. So, I had to pack away all of my listings. I worked really hard getting up to 110 listings only to take them all down. I donated everything I made since October including all the boxes and all of my shell art. That felt really good! Then I had a shelf in a closet cleared. I was able to list a few lots with an auction lasting a week. Auction listings end up costing a lot if they are constantly renewed. So, I had switched to Buy it Now in the beginning of the year. The last two weeks have been the most successful! I got through a lot of what had been just hanging around for the last year. I am mailing out six packages this morning. I hope to list this week. I won't be closing shop, but this will be my last opportunity to list this week.
Best Lessons:
1: No light box needed. Just find a table against a wall with good lighting.
2: More listings doesn't neccessarily mean more sales
3: Definitely group in lots to sell as much as possible in one sale
4: Always research with Ebay what sells at auction. You'd be surprised sometimes what has the most value
5: I have sold many magazines for an average of $10-$15 EACH! I would never get that at a garage sale
6: I always ship USPS priority. It is easy to use free shipping boxes or envelopes. $50 insurance and tracking. It is the most consistant and will get to your customer within 3 days no matter where they live in the country.
7: I LOVE auctions. I price it the lowest I would take for an item with no offers. (I found offers annoying most of the time) But, I took a few I couldn't refuse.
8: I would list early in the morning when I felt I could focus the best. I would do most of my research of pricing at night and write down pricing and description suggestions.
9: As soon as I was paid I shipped the item out. In the beginning I always wrote a personal note to get positive feed back
10: Make sure it is fun and you enjoy doing it. I am taking a break and never got to sell my Christmas items. So, hopefully in a few months I will be ready to start selling again. But, I am pretty sure I am putting Ebay to rest for awhile.
I feel really accomplished in the amount of "stuff" I have purged during this time of Covid. I had a habit of buying things to use for a rainy day. And, I could have had 100 rainy days and never used all the scrapbooking, card making and art supplies I had collected over the years. I have put together the supplies I use and will use to keep. I am super excited for what lies ahead for me. Just, getting through all of this is going to take some time.
Quote of the Day: William Morris "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Song of the Day:
Stop Making This Hurt The Bleachers Bus ride through Asbury Park
I have to say the more I purged this year, the better it felt. It was really hard in the beginning. And, yes it actually hurt. But, the more I got rid of, the more I felt lighter. I have donated, and sold and it has taken a LOT of time. Time I could have spent at the beach. So, I am making sure I am keeping my purchases to an extreme limit. Use it or lose it! Looking forward to taking some bins to the dump and, books and videos to the library this or next week.
My Ebay:
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