Join the 2009 Ebay Challenge!

[disneysteve]

A while back, I had blogged about my ebay sales and goal for 2009 and someone suggested I post it as a challenge to encourage others to do the same.

Here's the deal. Set a personal goal for how much you'd like to generate each month in ebay sales. I would also include half.com and craigslist in the challenge. Where ever and how ever you want to sell your stuff is fine. You can even throw in your yard sales if you'd like.

My goal for 2009 is sales of $100/month average for the year. I've already had one half.com sale this week ($18.99). I haven't listed anything on ebay yet. I plan to start tonight.

Let's hear everyone else's goals and keep updating us regularly on your progress.

ETA: I remember on another site, what we used to do was put "Proud member of ..." at the end of our listings. Then we could look up each other's auctions. If you'd like to do that, just add, "Proud member of SavingAdvice.com" to the end of your listings.

[mommyof4]

Disney Steve, I have a question for you: are you selling items that you already have, and you're just getting rid of the extras, or are you one of those people that goes out and scouts for cheap items, and just resells them for a better price on ebay? I've done both, but I definitely have a lot of "stuff" in my house that I need to/can get rid of.

Mary

[jIM_Ohio]

Can cars be sold online at ebay? I have a used accord I want to sell for $13500. 2006 with 58k miles.

I was probably going to list it on cars.com or similar for $60 unless someone advises a different place to list it.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by mommyof4

Disney Steve, I have a question for you: are you selling items that you already have, and you're just getting rid of the extras, or are you one of those people that goes out and scouts for cheap items, and just resells them for a better price on ebay?

Mary, I do both. I've been in the collectibles business since 1986 and have been selling on ebay since 1997. I used to buy a ton of stuff to resell. I no longer do that very much but still have a large stock of things to sell that were bought over the years. I also sell used household items and items that I get for doing work-related surveys. Most of the books I sell on half.com come from surveys. And I do still occasionally pick something up at a yard sale or outlet store to resell.

Originally Posted by jIM_Ohio

Can cars be sold online at ebay? I have a used accord I want to sell for $13500. 2006 with 58k miles.

I was probably going to list it on cars.com or similar for $60 unless someone advises a different place to list it.

There is a site-within-a-site called ebay motors where you can sell cars and car-related items. You can also sell cars on craigslist, which is cheaper, I believe.

[poundwise]

Originally Posted by jIM_Ohio

I was probably going to list it on cars.com or similar for $60 unless someone advises a different place to list it.

I would try Craigslist first and possibly Auto Trader, as opposed to cars.com, next.

[MonkeyMama]

Best way to sell a car is Craigslist. (Eliminates the expensive middle man, but is generally easy and fast. OF course, I have never sold a car for more than a few thousand dollars. Cash. With bigger dollar amounts it may be worth the middle man - as far as payment goes. May be worth paying more to make sure payment is legit - using paypal, etc).

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

My personal goal is also $100/month. I think we already made it for January. We sold a couple of Game Cubes on Craigslist, & some controllers and games.

(We sell things around the house, particularly toys as the kids outgrow them. But my dh also buys and sells used video games and gaming systems).

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by MonkeyMama

Best way to sell a car is Craigslist. (Eliminates the expensive middle man, but is generally easy and fast. OF course, I have never sold a car for more than a few thousand dollars. Cash. With bigger dollar amounts it may be worth the middle man - as far as payment goes. May be worth paying more to make sure payment is legit - using paypal, etc)

That is a good concern. Really, the only acceptable payment is cash. You can't take a personal check, money order or cashier's check because any of them can be bogus. I guess you could arrange to meet the buyer at his/her bank and stand there while the bank cuts the check, so that you know it is not counterfeit.

[Wink]

On December 31st I placed an ad on Craigslist selling a used treadmill for $175. I sold in on 1/1/09 for full price! I figured a lot of people would be making those New Years resolutions to get in shape and this would be a good time to list it. This was the first time I have attempted to sell anything on-line and it was super easy and free. Now I'm looking around my house for anything else I might be able to sell. The $$ went right into my EF.

[kork13]

Originally Posted by Wink

On December 31st I placed an ad on Craigslist selling a used treadmill for $175. I sold in on 1/1/09 for full price! I figured a lot of people would be making those New Years resolutions to get in shape and this would be a good time to list it. This was the first time I have attempted to sell anything on-line and it was super easy and free. Now I'm looking around my house for anything else I might be able to sell. The $$ went right into my EF.

LOL bravo, Wink... You can't really time the market, but you can definitely time "get in shape" resolutions! hahaha

[disneysteve]

Ok, I'm up and rolling. I just finished listing 6 items on ebay. I'd like to list at least 5 items each week. I'm home alone on Wednesday nights so that is typically my listing night. Then I'll do some more on the weekends if I can. If I can list 20 items each month, I should have no trouble taking in at least 100/month.

Actually, if I can keep up that pace, and sell an occasional book on half.com, I should be able to do even more than $100. Plus I'd like to get off my butt and have a yard sale this year. That's usually good for at least $300 alone.

ETA: I discovered while listing that there is a way to share your ebay auctions with your Facebook page. Since I'm now on Facebook, I set it up to do that, not that any of my friends would want what I'm selling, but you never know.

[Goldy1]

I've sold on craigs and e bay. I have sold a lot of my used items on craigs, but it is unreal how many people e mail an don't follow thru on the sale on craigs or repsond after I e mail or call to follow up.

[disneysteve]

I just sold a book on half.com for $21.95. That's $40.94 so far in January.

I listed 6 items on ebay a couple of hours ago and 4 already have watchers. I hope that's a good sign though I know sometimes watchers don't become bidders.

[cptacek]

We are selling a 1963 pickup we listed on a local classified board for $700. Delivering Saturday.

I tried to sell a beer bottle that had a crooked neck on ebay this month, but got no bidders.

Also, I've been giving away books on paperbackswap.com, but now I'm going to try to sell them on half.com. Thanks for the push!

[SnoopyCool]

Steve - I have an Epcot Center guide book from 1993 and Walt Disney World tickets dated from 1993 that I just wanted to get rid of (cleaning out the hope chest). Are they worth anything? If so, I'll put them on eBay.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by SnoopyCool

Steve - I have an Epcot Center guide book from 1993 and Walt Disney World tickets dated from 1993 that I just wanted to get rid of (cleaning out the hope chest). Are they worth anything? If so, I'll put them on eBay.

The very first item I sold on ebay back in 1997 was a pre-opening guidebook for Disney-MGM Studios from 1989. It went for over $17. I just checked ebay and an Epcot pre-opening guide has a bid for $14.99.

Your guidebook, unfortunately, isn't particularly valuable since Epcot opened in 1982 and was well-established by 1993. Even so, things change in the parks each year and the guidebooks change. And there are folks who collect the guidebooks and someone might be missing the one you have. If you are willing to risk the listing fee, put it on for $.99 or maybe $1.99 with shipping included and see what happens.

I don't think the tickets are of any value alone. I wouldn't bother listing those unless you combine them with the Epcot guide into one auction. That might boost your odds of finding a buyer.

[Pitman]

If I was selling my sneakers through eBay, I would join in on this eBay challenge, but I sell my sneakers through forum/buyer listings sites, which allows me to sell numerous sneakers with no charge at all. I just sold two pairs of sneakers for $540 shipped with absolutely no finance charges against me.

Good Luck to everyone.

[Investing First Steps]

I wish I'd done this challenge when I moved 2 years ago. I gave a TON of stuff to the Salvation Army because I didn't want to move it. I'm sure I could have gotten a fair amount of money for it on E-Bay.

Steve, do you find that E-Bay sales are as easy as they were a few years ago? I had heard the shops on there were doing well, but the auction craze was dying down.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Pitman

If I was selling my sneakers through eBay, I would join in on this eBay challenge, but I sell my sneakers through forum/buyer listings sites, which allows me to sell numerous sneakers with no charge at all. I just sold two pairs of sneakers for $540 shipped with absolutely no finance charges against me.

Good Luck to everyone.

Join in the fun. I included ebay, half.com, craigslist and yard sales because that's all I could think of. If you want to include the site you deal with, that's fine, too. Do you have a goal for the year?

Originally Posted by Investing First Steps

Steve, do you find that E-Bay sales are as easy as they were a few years ago?

Definitely. In the early days, ebay was a gold mine for sellers. I used to get crazy prices for many of my items, not that I was complaining. Initially, ebay was mostly populated by people like me who were already dealers. I used to sell by a mail-order catalog and at antique and collectibles shows in several states. The problem is that ebay made it easy for everyone to become a dealer. So what used to be rare and hard to find became commonplace. If a collectible is issued in a limited edition of 100, the day after the release, at least 50 of them are on ebay. Gradually, the live shows dried up. There are only a handful that remain. Everything is done online now. The sheer volume of buyers and sellers has brought down prices.

Still, it is a relatively easy way to make money so I'll keep at it.