Ebay sellers thread (other platforms too)

[kork13]

disneysteve, are you still aiming for a net income target, or just enjoying whatever deals you can get & no longer care about the results?

[disneysteve]

disneysteve, are you still aiming for a net income target, or just enjoying whatever deals you can get & no longer care about the results?

I never truly cared about the results. I just set a goal for the heck of it. It seemed like the thing to do.

My outlook really changed due to a combination of Nick Maggiulli's book (The Wealth Ladder) and watching our portfolio performance. Nick talks about not taking on tasks that don't move the needle at least 1% and I wasn't bringing in anywhere near 1% of our net worth from reselling. I was putting in a lot of time for relatively minimal financial results. And I started taking notice that on a good day in the market, our portfolio value would increase by more than I was making reselling in an entire year. It really opened my eyes to the fact that while I enjoyed the hustle, it really wasn't worth my time financially speaking.

I was also relatively newly retired and looking to figure out how to spend my days. Reselling was perfect for that. Now that I've been retired for a year and a half, I've settled into it more and no longer feel I need that particular activity to occupy my time. I'm busy all the time as is without putting in all of the hours to the reselling business that I had been doing.

[disneysteve]

November 2025 wrap up

ebay:
$833.60 gross
$594.62 net

Replacements:
$577.00 gross
$375.41 net

Marketplace:
$0 gross
$0 net

Total:
$1,410.60 gross
$970.03 net

The pre-holiday period is always the best time to be a reseller for obvious reasons. Even without working at it all that much I had a solid month. I sold a number of items I bought and listed back in 2022 when I first got back into ebay seriously so that was nice. I also shipped 3 orders to Replacements. I've got another order waiting for me to pack and ship.

[disneysteve]

I mentioned elsewhere that our daughter has started selling on ebay recently. First she gave me a couple of things to sell for her, and she made over $150 from those sales. Then I convinced her she really needed to start doing it herself. So far, she has sold 4 items. She's got 9 active listings. Today we went shopping at an estate sale and 2 thrift stores and she bought 5 more items. She's hoping to make it a steady side income going forward.

[QuarterMillionMan]

After making a few sales on eBay, I got hooked on it and never looked back. It really is a good way to get rid of items and make money at it rather than donating, giving it away, or tossing it away. My mom has valuable Hawaiian heirlooms such as Niihau shell necklaces, jewelry, Kamaka ukuleles, but rather than sell it rather bequeath it away in her will which is fine too but the recipient may not know what to do with it as well.

[disneysteve]

After making a few sales on eBay, I got hooked on it and never looked back. It really is a good way to get rid of items and make money at it rather than donating, giving it away, or tossing it away.

Yep. Our daughter started by cleaning and decluttering her room. Then because her employment situation has changed, she wanted to start exploring selling on ebay as a legit income source so I've been taking her out shopping and teaching her the ropes, what to look for, how to assess value, as well as how to create high quality listings. She's watched me do it her entire life so she has a general sense of how it all works but it's a lot different when you're actually doing it.

[disneysteve]

2025 year end wrap up

ebay:
$9,146 gross
$6,117 net

Replacements:
$11,250 gross
$7,854 net

Total:
$20,396 gross
$13,971 net

I didn't tally up Marketplace sales.

I'm pleased with those numbers. I took a break for a couple of months in late summer/early fall so it wasn't as much as I had projected but that was by choice. Reselling remains a fun side gig that helps slow the burn from our portfolio.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

enough to fund your roth

[QuarterMillionMan]

Anyone use Klarna to buy or sell on eBay? If I sell a high ticket item, I’d look into Klarna to get the item sold and paying Klarna’s fees. When buying it says no interest if paid on time but I wouldn’t use it to buy.

[disneysteve]

Anyone use Klarna to buy or sell on eBay? If I sell a high ticket item, I’d look into Klarna to get the item sold and paying Klarna’s fees. When buying it says no interest if paid on time but I wouldn’t use it to buy.

Klarna is for buyers to spread out payments. I don't think it has anything to do with selling. It's on the buyer's end.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I see, so Klarna is sort of like leach which attaches itself to a seller's item. I thought a seller & Klarna collaborates before an item is listed and they come to an agreement should a buyer use Klarna. So if a buyer chooses Klarna, the seller gets the sale price immediately or does the seller have to wait for the installments to be paid?

[disneysteve]

I see, so Klarna is sort of like leach which attaches itself to a seller's item. I thought a seller & Klarna collaborates before an item is listed and they come to an agreement should a buyer use Klarna. So if a buyer chooses Klarna, the seller gets the sale price immediately or does the seller have to wait for the installments to be paid?

Seller gets paid same as with any other item. The Klarna financing is on the buyer's end. It's just like any other sort of financing really. You as the seller are not loaning out the money. You're getting paid. Klarna is handling the loan.

[disneysteve]

Our daughter started selling on ebay on 12/10/25. Today she made her 12th sale and her first $100+ sale. She sold a bottle of perfume that we bought at an estate sale a few weeks ago. She paid $8 and took an offer for $123 (she had it listed for $129.95). I had a hand in that because I'm the one that identified it at the sale but she had just started and I was still teaching her what to look for. Now she knows to pay attention to the perfumes she encounters.

[QuarterMillionMan]

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. She’s got the master to learn from. At CVS I was behind a woman buying Arianna Grande’s God is a woman perfume $55.

[disneysteve]

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. She’s got the master to learn from. At CVS I was behind a woman buying Arianna Grande’s God is a woman perfume $55.

Older perfumes, especially discontinued ones, can go for big bucks. I've sold several for over $100 each and bought them for under $10 each.

Today, she bought a Yankee Candle at an estate sale for $3 (among other things). Came home and listed it and almost immediately got an offer for $30 which she will probably accept. It's tough to complain about a 10x return in a few hours. That's why I always say ebay is the best way to go for anyone in need of extra money.