Ebay sellers thread (other platforms too)

[Off-Grid Lover]

That's great. Glad you're feeling better and congrats on the new job.

Thank you, I've been off work for almost 2 yrs.
Hours and Medical/Dental benefits are really good, free for me and $20 for my DH. 4k yr Dental. Mon-Fri 10am-4:30pm.$21 per hr so a pay cut but with eye disabilities, I can't be picky.
Discounted Safeway stocks and I hear Kroger may buy them out, so it may be worth it. I worked in Mental Health before so this has to be easier though I'd go back to my old job if I could.
Except the Company re-located all the clients to 5 hrs away so that isn't feasible. Now they hire without offering Retiree Health benefits so I think COVID was the excuse to re-structure to save $

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Steve, How do you sell lego and china? I have a ton of that to sell. What do I need to do?

[disneysteve]

Steve, How do you sell lego and china? I have a ton of that to sell. What do I need to do?

The same way as selling anything else. Take pictures. Post on ebay. Pack and ship when it sells.

This bulk buy is way more than I've ever tackled before, though, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around the best way to approach it.

With the china, it is mainly tea cups and saucers and tea pots. I started sorting the other day and matching up cups and saucers and photographing and listing them as I did. I think I've listed 10 patterns so far, some with multiples. Tonight, I went through a few totes and made a couple of large stacks of saucers that I'll work on matching with cups. A couple of nights ago, I went through 2 or 3 totes of tea pots and pulled out a bunch that aren't of much value and listed them on Marketplace for $10 each. I've gotten a couple of "Is this available?" messages but nobody has responded after I answered them, which is pretty typical for Marketplace.

With the LEGO, that's a much bigger challenge. I have many large complex sets. What I did the last couple of days was pull out some smaller sets that I could easily determine were complete. I've listed 3 and already sold 1 and I have 2 more ready to list.

The monumental task will be getting the big sets organized and making sure they are complete, which might involve taking them apart.

Another option which I'm toying with, though don't seriously want to do, is to sell all of the mini figures first. I easily have 100 or more of them. Those go for $10 or more each so I could make a relatively easy $1,000 from that and then worry about selling the sets later. Of course, the sets don't go for as much or sell as easily if they don't include the mini figures so I could be shooting myself in the foot if I went that route.

I'm honestly feeling a little overwhelmed by the LEGO. I just need to pick one smaller set to start with and do my best with that. The good thing is the overall task gets gradually easier with each set that gets handled. No matter what, it's going to take me months to get through it all.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

what sort of sets do you have?

[disneysteve]

what sort of sets do you have?

The LEGO sets are pretty much all Ninjago, Chima, and Monster Fighters.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Sold this laptop started at .99 cents, sold for $132, mouse on touchpad doesn't work but fully disclosed.

[james.hendrickson]

Sold this laptop started at .99 cents, sold for $132, mouse on touchpad doesn't work but fully disclosed.

Good work QMM!

[disneysteve]

Sold this laptop started at .99 cents, sold for $132, mouse on touchpad doesn't work but fully disclosed.

Nice.

[disneysteve]

I bought a huge lot of Lego yesterday. It will probably drive me a little nuts making sure all of the sets are complete but I'm willing to take my time

I've been steadily working on the Lego. So far, I've completed and listed 10 sets and sold 3 of them for a gross total of $100. I finished another small set last night that I'll list for $20 or $25 and I just finished a large set tonight that I'll probably list for about $95. Still a long way to go to break even and then to make a profit but it's a fun challenge putting everything together. I love puzzles.

Fun story about the china. Someone posted in our Buy Nothing group that they were looking for tea cups and saucers to be used in a display at the upcoming Philadelphia Flower Show in March (the oldest and largest indoor flower show in the world). I responded and told her I had all she needed. She and her husband came over a couple of days ago and took several sets. She was super excited and I am, too, because my daughter and I have gone to the show every year since she was 6. It will be really neat to go this year and see a display that I actually contributed to in some way. So not an ebay story and no money involved but a neat story to tell that came out of my ebay activities.

[disneysteve]

I made a nice sale today. A set of 8 MCAT exam prep guides. I got them free from the Freebie Alert app a month or so ago. They sold today for $108.80. Can’t beat flipping free things.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Free MCAT guides for $108, that's an incredible score.

[james.hendrickson]

Free MCAT guides for $108, that's an incredible score.

hehe, I chuckled at that.

[disneysteve]

I got my 1099 from ebay today. I didn't realize I was going to get one since the IRS delayed implementation of the new $600 income threshold. I only found it by accident while helping another ebayer. It turns out that a number of states have a 1099 threshold lower than the IRS and NJ is one of those states with a $1,000 threshold (which I guess will become $600 next year).

The 1099 didn't exactly match my own records but it was only off by $158. Odds are my records are wrong since they consist of a spreadsheet that I manually maintain. It's entirely possible that in the course of the year, I failed to record a sale or two. My accountant said, and I agree, that I need to report the number on the 1099 or else there's a mismatch which is a red flag to the IRS. Worst case scenario is that I'm taxed on an extra $158 which is pretty insignificant.

[jenn_jenn]

I honestly have no idea. I really don't track it and it varies from week to week. On average, I sell 1-2 items per day so I have to pack them and take them to the post office. Packing an item can take just a couple of minutes for something simple like a DVD or video game or a bit longer for a multi-piece fragile thing. Our post office is only a mile away so round trip only takes a few minutes.

I go to at least one estate sale almost every week so that takes 2-3 hours in the morning (any time Wednesday through Sunday). Some weeks I go to 2 or 3. In season, I'll go to yard sales on Saturday mornings. I try to focus on community sales where I can hit 20 or 30 sales in one neighborhood rather than driving all over the place. I occasionally go to thrift shops but that's a very small portion of where my inventory comes from.

I have to research the items, take photos, and list them. I try to list at least a couple of items per day. Some days I do more. Some days I do none. Even on days I don't list, I may still take photos or do some research on items waiting to be listed.

The great thing about selling on ebay is you can do it totally at your own pace and find a routine and rhythm that works for you. Some people like to work on it for a couple of hours every morning. Some do it while their kids are in school or their spouse is at work. Some do it in the evening. Some go to the post office daily. Some only ship on certain days. Some have their carrier pick up packages at home and never go to the post office. Some list every day. Some only list on the weekends. There are as many different methods as there are sellers doing it.

Don't let any YouTube channels or blogs or podcasts or Instagram feeds fool you, though. Reselling isn't as easy as some of them try to make it seem. There is a lot of work involved but if it's something you enjoy doing, it's a great way to go.

I’ve been off the forums for a bit and missed this response. Thanks for the thoughtful response and taking the time to detail this out!

I used to resell clothes in high school and have inadvertently flipped some FB marketplace finds recently (bought a few furniture items that didn’t work out like I hoped and then sold for more than I paid) so it’s something I might consider doing a little more just for fun.

[disneysteve]

I’ve been off the forums for a bit and missed this response. Thanks for the thoughtful response and taking the time to detail this out!

I used to resell clothes in high school and have inadvertently flipped some FB marketplace finds recently (bought a few furniture items that didn’t work out like I hoped and then sold for more than I paid) so it’s something I might consider doing a little more just for fun.

Yeah, that's how it starts. Next thing you know you've got a 10x20 storage unit.

I have not gone down the storage unit rabbit hole yet but I have thought about it. My ebay business is definitely outgrowing the house.