had any luck with this?

[singinjeannie]

I've tried so many ways to make money from home.

+Did transcription for a while via digital transmision over internet... Company stopped outsourcing and then couldn't find a replacement job.

+Tried selling air purifiers that were great products, but I'm just not a good salesperson...

+NOW I'm trying ebay. A friend of mine says she's making $800 - $1000 a month selling mostly books on ebay. Hmmmm. I don't know what she's selling, but the many books I'm putting on aren't going for much, if they're going at all.

Anyone ever have success with ebay?

Is there another auction site I should try out?

Thanks!
Jean

[jeffrey]

Re: had any luck with this?

Ebay can be a great way to earn extra money, but it takes a lot of work to make full time income at it. The key is finding the right niche to concentrate on. Can you make $1,000 a month selling books. Yes, but they aren't going to be the everyday ones you have lying around the house. You will have to find sources and learn a bit about collector books and limited editions that can bring in nice sums. Our Online auction guide can give some helpful hints.

My basic opinion is that the other auction sites are not worth the trouble. They just don't have enough buyers to make it worthwhile, at least for the collectible items I sell. Others may have a different opinion.

[Tree0164]

Re: had any luck with this?

Jeanne,
I find books go better on amazon or half.com rather then ebay. With Half.com which is an ebay company you don't pay any lisitng fees. They take the commission out on the back end.

[singinjeannie]

Re: had any luck with this?

Great! I'll look into these sites!

[PennyPincher]

Re: had any luck with this?

I came across a very informative site regarding selling books on ebay. I hope you can take away something new from it: http://www.fadedgiant.net/html/ebay_selling_tips_.htm

There are tips that relate to selling just about anything on ebay, but more specifics about books. Some people charge for this information, but this site provides it free. Let me know if it helps. Good luck!

Re: had any luck with this?

HI Jean,
I actually purchased an ebay business on ebay ) I bought over 3000 craft patterns from a lady who was selling them on ebay. She was selling the business because she moved and even the money from the business couldn't support the cost of living.

I tried it for a while. I just couldn't sell enough to cover my listing fees. I quite during the summer while my kids were out of school and tried again to see if it was worth it. It wasn't (

I do know there are a lot of people making money on ebay. I guess it's just finding the right product and having a little bit of money to invest for listing fees until the business takes off.

[mbhunter]

Re: had any luck with this?

Getting past the selling fees can be tough. Usually it's at least $0.35 if you sell a 99-cent item with the cheapest auction you can get. Then 40 cents from PayPal, and it's hardly worth it.

One seller around here does re-selling both in an antique store and on eBay. A lot of her inventory comes from estate auctions. She will do research on certain items, and then also bid on the "junk" that people don't want. I saw her get a couple DOZEN boxes of things -- including an entire beer can collection -- for $4! The beer cans alone probably could go for $50-$100 to the right collector.

I did the same thing with building material and bags of recycling. I got probably 3-4 dozen bags of paper recycling and stacks of scrap wood all for $2. Turns out that the seller was a Harley owner. I dug through the recycling, and came up with 5-6 HD catalogs and some magazines. They sold for over $50 on eBay.

I recommend going to an auction and trying this out. You may get a lot of junk, but it's a small risk to pay a few dollars to carry off someone's trash that might carry a treasure. It's hard to go wrong if you can get something cheaply enough.

Food for thought!

John