Ebay sellers thread (other platforms too)

[disneysteve]

That's great, QMM. Ebay pays me every Tuesday and I refer to it as my 2nd job paycheck at this point.

$340.24 today
$294.90 last week
$210.06 on 11/15
$301.06 on 11/8

It's not super consistent week to week but I've gotten it to the point where it's pretty steady in the $200-400 range.

I'm trying to get away from the $5 sales but I still do them, especially if they are easy to list and ship. In fact, last night and tonight I listed a bunch of old Disney pin back buttons for $5-10 each. I've had them for a long time so the cost was sunk many years ago. I only need one photo per listing and then just wrap them in cardboard and stick them in an envelope to mail. I already sold one today that I listed last night for a $2.95 profit. It's not much but it all adds up.

Reselling is definitely a mindset, seeing value in things that other people don't, or even things that you didn't used to see value in. I still donate plenty of items to charity - just took a trunk load to Goodwill the other day - but it's generally things that either I've already tried to sell without any takers or stuff that is too hard or costly to ship.

[disneysteve]

November 2022 wrap up

43 sales
$990.38 gross
$654.79 net

I didn't have any big ticket items this month. My highest sale was $99.

I easily met my goal of $500/mo profit. I ended the month with 241 active listings. I actually had to stop adding items a couple of days ago because I had reached my 250 free item limit and ended up paying listing fees (35 cents each) for about 6 listings before I realized it. My plan is to subscribe for an ebay store starting in January. That will run me about $22/month but increase my listing limit to 1,000/month, get me about a 1% discount on sales fees, and get me a $25 coupon toward shipping supplies every quarter. Between the supplies and the fee discount, that offsets a decent amount of the monthly charge. Having a store also give you more functionality in managing your sales.

December will be an off month for me. I'm having a procedure on Monday and my wife is having surgery on Wednesday and will be hospitalized for about a week so I put my store on vacation mode until 12/10 for now. Hopefully if everything goes smoothly with her, I can get back to business soon. I'll be missing much of the last minute holiday shopping but the timing couldn't be helped. Obviously she comes first (as do I).

[Off-Grid Lover]

I earn about $525-$550 per month profit on EBAY

Actually the value is much more since we go into Reno anyhow 2x a Month for BIG SHOPPING such as groceries, home depot, etc

Getting things for our house- Hokey things that make life so much easier. We found a Vita-Mix for $5, almost brand new. Sadly I just bought one at Wallmart for $65

Now we have a replacement since I use it every other day. So the value is probably closer to $600-$625 a month in items we find for our house, etc.

Odd to see some little knick knack in the bins then see a reason to use it. Cuts minutes to hours in the day.

We visited a Goodwill Outlet in Sacramento and it was AWFUL, Crappy as heck. They definitely vary


I will not be transferring the EBAY balance to the checking account. Teir new way of keeping the money to be used to buy items has came in handy

A screenshot, since I am new

https://ibb.co/8Yhg4Lp

I buy most everything for $1.75 a pound. So Caps are about 20 cents.

So almost every item averages about .25-50 cents (taxes included)

I also sell on Mercari.

Sales are EASY peasy on Mercari compared to EBAY. Postage even easier. Never had one problem with a Mercari customer in 4 years

I'd do pretty well making this full time but I must drive 1.5 hrs to RENO where the Amazon, JCPENNY, CHEWY many warehouses are and they donate to it.

So it's not worth the time. And we have a family business, though very small and part time, it pays well. So it's easier to save money than it is to make $

[Off-Grid Lover]

November 2022 wrap up

43 sales
$990.38 gross
$654.79 net

I didn't have any big ticket items this month. My highest sale was $99.

I easily met my goal of $500/mo profit. I ended the month with 241 active listings. I actually had to stop adding items a couple of days ago because I had reached my 250 free item limit and ended up paying listing fees (35 cents each) for about 6 listings before I realized it. My plan is to subscribe for an ebay store starting in January. That will run me about $22/month but increase my listing limit to 1,000/month, get me about a 1% discount on sales fees, and get me a $25 coupon toward shipping supplies every quarter. Between the supplies and the fee discount, that offsets a decent amount of the monthly charge. Having a store also give you more functionality in managing your sales.

December will be an off month for me. I'm having a procedure on Monday and my wife is having surgery on Wednesday and will be hospitalized for about a week so I put my store on vacation mode until 12/10 for now. Hopefully if everything goes smoothly with her, I can get back to business soon. I'll be missing much of the last minute holiday shopping but the timing couldn't be helped. Obviously she comes first (as do I).

That's wonderful. Someone on Youtube showed to where it is wise to get an EBAY Store since the final value fees are less. I just signed up a few weeks ago so it may benefit you. It's slightly more organized thus slightly easier and the photos are larger so easier to find an item that sells on Mercari, to remove it from EBAY. You have multiples which is great, that was all I used to do a few years ago. Vitamins I bought for $1. We did about $750 per month and it was much less work. The companies realized what was happening, donating them to the Reno Thrift Stores so pulled them. I still have many multiples so it can look like I am selling an item for under $10 yet it really, over 50% of the time, sells at more than 1 at a time.

I think my highest sale was just $55 or so for a contour pillow. That I got for $2 but the shipping, golly, was $21.50!!! $22.50 thru USPS so I went with them.

I prayed for both you and your wife, your procedures to go smoothly.

Steve do you get tracking for your under $10 sales? I am considering starting to buy a few things which are flat and shipping could be about $1.60 each

[disneysteve]

Someone on Youtube showed to where it is wise to get an EBAY Store since the final value fees are less. I just signed up a few weeks ago so it may benefit you.

I will be getting a store sometime in the next month as I've gotten up to the 250 listing range where it becomes beneficial.

I think my highest sale was just $55 or so for a contour pillow. That I got for $2 but the shipping, golly, was $21.50!!! $22.50 thru USPS so I went with them.

Be sure you are buying your postage through ebay or through another online service like Pirateship or ShipStation. Don't ever buy postage at the post office (except for Media Mail) or at UPS. Ebay sellers get a significantly discounted corporate rate. For large items, UPS is almost always cheaper than USPS.

I prayed for both you and your wife, your procedures to go smoothly.

Thank you!

Steve do you get tracking for your under $10 sales? I am considering starting to buy a few things which are flat and shipping could be about $1.60 each

I send everything with tracking, so at least either first class package rate or media mail which starts at $3.49. My sales metrics are at 100% and I'm a Top Rated Seller. Using non-tracked postage would negatively impact my metrics and seller rating. If I've got stuff that isn't worth buyers paying postage for, I don't sell those things. I just donate them. Or if possible I lot them up so that it is worth selling with tracked postage.

Welcome to the site, by the way.

[disneysteve]

Regarding tracking, if you ship something without tracking, you have absolutely no proof that you sent it. If a buyer files an INR (item not received) claim, you will lose every time. It's not worth the risk. Ebay just isn't the right place to sell items that aren't worth paying postage for.

[disneysteve]

I'm not one to complain about postage. It is what it is. But occasionally it just annoys me. I just printed the postage label for an item I sold. I realized after I put the label on the package that I had accidentally entered the weight as 3 lb 1 oz instead of an even 3 lb. That can't make much difference, can it? I went back and checked and that 1 oz difference raised the price by $1.31, for 1 ounce on a 3 pound package. I immediately voided that label and bought a new one for the correct weight. I'm not paying $1.31 more than I have to.

Always make sure your weights and measurements are accurate to the ounce and to the inch. A difference of one ounce or one inch can make a big difference in the postage cost.

[Off-Grid Lover]

I'm not one to complain about postage. It is what it is. But occasionally it just annoys me. I just printed the postage label for an item I sold. I realized after I put the label on the package that I had accidentally entered the weight as 3 lb 1 oz instead of an even 3 lb. That can't make much difference, can it? I went back and checked and that 1 oz difference raised the price by $1.31, for 1 ounce on a 3 pound package. I immediately voided that label and bought a new one for the correct weight. I'm not paying $1.31 more than I have to.

Always make sure your weights and measurements are accurate to the ounce and to the inch. A difference of one ounce or one inch can make a big difference in the postage cost.

Yes, I've noticed 1 ounce can make a huge difference. . Ebays postage is usually higher, or it was when I checked. I use Stamps.com. Most everything I sell is either First Class or a flat rate envelope of some sort.

[disneysteve]

I've had my ebay listings on Time Away (vacation mode) the past week because I had a procedure and then 2 days later my wife had surgery (she comes home tomorrow hopefully). I haven't listed any new items for well over a week. Still, I've sold 14 items in the past 8 days. I love how the sales just keep rolling in once you have things established even if you're doing literally nothing for a period of time. Of course, the fact that it's a couple of weeks before Christmas helps a lot, but even when we've been on vacation other times this year, the sales continued.

Once my wife is home and settled, I do need to seriously get back to listing new items. It's just about too late for Christmas shopping but people don't stop buying stuff after the holidays. In fact, there's often a bump in sales in January from people who got money for gifts so I want to be ready for that.

Last night, I sold a pair of LEGO Bionicles. These were part of a tote full of Bionicles that I bought at a yard sale in October for $20. I think there are 20 or 21 figures in there. I previously sold one for $42.95 and just sold this pair for $79.95. Not bad to have already made $123 on only 3 items and have another 17 or 18 still to sell.

[disneysteve]

This is a Facebook Marketplace post, which is even better than ebay because it's a cash deal with no fees. A couple of months ago I responded to a "curb alert" post in the freebie app. The folks were giving away a ton of stuff. I think they had a yard sale and everything that didn't sell went to the curb for people to take for free.

One thing I got was a vintage blow mold nativity set - Jesus and the manger, Mary, and Joseph. I had them listed on Facebook for a while but wasn't getting any interest. Then someone reached out the other day and asked if I would just sell Jesus and the manger. I said sure and we just met up. I got $20 for the two pieces. It's worth more than that, but really it's only worth what I can get someone to pay. I'm happy taking $20 for something that I literally got out of the trash. And I will relist the other 2 pieces.

[Off-Grid Lover]

This is a Facebook Marketplace post, which is even better than ebay because it's a cash deal with no fees. A couple of months ago I responded to a "curb alert" post in the freebie app. The folks were giving away a ton of stuff. I think they had a yard sale and everything that didn't sell went to the curb for people to take for free.

One thing I got was a vintage blow mold nativity set - Jesus and the manger, Mary, and Joseph. I had them listed on Facebook for a while but wasn't getting any interest. Then someone reached out the other day and asked if I would just sell Jesus and the manger. I said sure and we just met up. I got $20 for the two pieces. It's worth more than that, but really it's only worth what I can get someone to pay. I'm happy taking $20 for something that I literally got out of the trash. And I will relist the other 2 pieces.

That's wonderful! I am glad you recognize those Bionics toys. I see re-sellers grabbing some lego type stuff, clearly they collect it and put in in a lot.

I remember when Craigslist was hot. I'd put stuff on there for $10-$15 and leave it out by back door. People would leave the cash under the door mat while I was at work.
We lived in a large enough town so it was easier to sell back then. Less than 100 people in our current town and it's 1 hr to the next town which is the wealthiest area in Northern Ca.
No one up there would likely even want to meet up to buy when we are up grocery shopping. I miss that extra $ that went to the retirement account.
Never had anyone stiff us.

Last year I was doing about $800 profit per month selling vitamins & supplements but that dried up. This yr it only averages about $550 per month, after Dec sales it appears that is the amount but it could be a bit more. . Marcari I do around $100-$125.

[Off-Grid Lover]

This is a Facebook Marketplace post, which is even better than ebay because it's a cash deal with no fees. A couple of months ago I responded to a "curb alert" post in the freebie app. The folks were giving away a ton of stuff. I think they had a yard sale and everything that didn't sell went to the curb for people to take for free.

One thing I got was a vintage blow mold nativity set - Jesus and the manger, Mary, and Joseph. I had them listed on Facebook for a while but wasn't getting any interest. Then someone reached out the other day and asked if I would just sell Jesus and the manger. I said sure and we just met up. I got $20 for the two pieces. It's worth more than that, but really it's only worth what I can get someone to pay. I'm happy taking $20 for something that I literally got out of the trash. And I will relist the other 2 pieces.

That's fantastic! And no shipping those fragile pieces

[Off-Grid Lover]

You're probably at the hospital right now. I hope your wife's surgery went smoothly. I prayed God keeps you both in good health

[disneysteve]

I remember when Craigslist was hot. I'd put stuff on there for $10-$15 and leave it out by back door. People would leave the cash under the door mat while I was at work.

I still do that with Facebook Marketplace. I leave things by the door and they put the money in the mailbox. Marketplace has been pretty dead though. This was the first sale I had on there in months. I'm not sure why it died out. There are still a ton of things listed so people must be making sales. There are just so many scammers on there I think it's scared off a lot of legit business. I also think when they started offering shipping that killed it. The whole point was that it was a local service. If I wanted to ship, I'd sell it on ebay.

[disneysteve]

That's fantastic! And no shipping those fragile pieces

True. Shipping Jesus wouldn't have been bad but Mary and Joseph are much larger.