If so, did it work? Was it hard to get started? How do you get started?
I m looking for a way to make money from home. Did have a part-time bookkeeping job, but gave it up when I found a job. Now the job ends February 28th and I have nothing to fall back on.
With the cost of babysitting, $825 for a four week month and $1007 for a five week month, I would have to have a job making at least $13/hr just to bring something home. Not that many jobs in the area that pay that kind of money or more.
Now once again I am going to try to work from home to save the money we would have to spend on babysitting.
Any ideas? Please let me know. Thanks! Julia
NCSunshineStarting a business on e-bay sounds interesting.... something that I ve thought about myself. Right now I have too many irons in the fire, but starting a business by selling on e-bay is on my list. I just don t know what to sell yet!!! Tell me what you have in mind.
Gamecock CamperThat is one of the problems, don t know what to sell. Plus it has to be something that alot of people would like and not just a small group. I used to have a cross stitch supply store that I ran from home years ago, but that is a specialized group and not a big money maker.
My brain, as usual, is drawing a blank. Work with a lady whose husband sells classic cars on E-bay and that is all he does, makes pretty good. I had considered it before but she made me think even more about, just need to get my act together I guess.
NCSunshineUmmm,
Sure possible. It is time consuming. You have to be very concientious. It involves carrying a lot of boxes to the post office. It involves boxing stuff, packing stuff well. It involves dealing with irritable/impatient people.
The money is not that good, but sometimes one can make a decent amount. It is difficult to find stuff to sell, it always changes. What sells today might not sell tomorrow.
Expect to devote at least 3 hours of your day just for eBay on a regular basis otherwise what you make will be peanuts.
If you are good and can get good stuff You can make 1,000 a month, if not you might make 300 or 500. Please do not ask me what the good stuff is, I do not make 1,000 a month :).
Was I helpful ?
Birol
NCSunshineI ve sold stuff on eBay, but it was always just things I had around the house that I wanted to get rid of. For example, I bought a DVD player last year, so I m slowly replacing all my dozens of movies on videotape with DVDs. I sold some of the videotapes I had (some of which had never even been unwrapped) on eBay. Didn t make a huge profit, but I think I put the shipping charges too low, so some of my profit went to pay for shipping.
One of my coworkers sells her son s clothes as he outgrows them. She said she had a name-brand shirt of his that she couldn t sell for $3 in a yard sale that sold for $12 on eBay!
I think some people that sell " professionally" on eBay go to stores like Big Lots and other discount stores and buy up bulk lots of stuff. Then they turn around and sell the items on eBay.
Collectibles seem to sell well also, but it depends on what the craze or fad is at the moment as to what will sell.
I keep thinking I m going to clear out all the hundreds of paperback books I have around the house by selling them on eBay...just haven t gotten around to it.
Good luck!
birolThank you for your insight.
I might start off with the inventory that I have left over from the cross stitch store, because it would not involve putting out alot of money at this point. I get a few bunk item books and maybe if I could find something in there that would not cost a bundle I could do that.
Would that help me get started do you think? Or harm me because it would be small items and that is what they would associate me with?
I have never really been to E-bay much, maybe two or three times, how do you list something for sale or do they have good instructions?
NCSunshineSounds like you are headed in the right direction: I don t know what cross stitch supplies sell for on ebay, but I m forever checking out the scrapbooking section and see no reason your stuff wouldn t sell. Good luck!!
NCSunshineNC, my husband restored a 48 Chevy Pickup and now is restoring a 70 Roadrunner. He is always selling and buying parts on Ebay.
It s very easy to list something one it. You basically follow the bouncing ball. And if my husband can add a photo to whatever he is selling, anyone can. LOL
Good Luck!!!!!!
Mary Beth
NCSunshineIt is better to start with small items and build up a good fedback. Once you have around a 100 or so, you can start to sell big ticket items (easier).
Birol
NCSunshinehmmmm, I got some stuff that I could sell; I wonder how easy or secure it is or isn t?
NCSunshineIt is secure if the buyers are not crooks ! I had a few where they wanted to rip me off, takes some negoation skills to twarth them off without loosing money.
Best bet is to only accept MO or personal cheques, but most people use paypal which can be reversed ......
Birol
NCSunshineI only have experience as a buyer. But I have had good luck with it so far.
The only problem I had was one seller did a lousy job wrapping something, when they shipped it..... Part of it broke, I was able to get a replacement part.
It was insured, but IMO it really was poorly wrapped, it didnt have a chance.
Of course you have to be careful, I only buy things I can t find anyplace else.
The shipping costs can be a killer, plus some sellers like to slap ya with a big handling charge.
I think the key to selling on ebay, you need something that s hard to find.
I know of people that do pretty good selling antiques, but they work alot.
Spend most of their time looking for things to sell, at estate and garage sales etc.
So it s really not an " at home job" , they work more hours then I do.
But I have a bunch of things I will sell there eventually.
You can build your rating by buying things. Just buy little stuff to get a rating started.
And if you have something to sell in mind watch the others for a while.
I ve noticed there are good and bad times to sell stuff. Right after the holidays was a bad time to be a seller, nobody was bidding, And I found a few deals.
Same things are selling for 3 times what I paid.
NCSunshineI sell and buy on ebay, not a lot, but just some stuff here and there. I picked up a good digital camera and was off and running. I haven t been stiffed yet and have always received things I ve bought in the condition I expected.
I only accept money orders for payment, so that can be a problem. People like to be able to make payments quickly, but the online payment places will take a cut of your proceeds in some cases (you d have to read their user agreements).
I ve heard of people that make good money on ebay, but they are the people that go all over to garage sales, etc. and are in the car all day, dragging the kids around. That s just not something I m willing to do.
For the most part, I m happy with how I use ebay, but knowing how I am I know I would never make substancial money at selling on it.
NCSunshineJust to throw something else out there.. Have you looked into something like medical transcriptioist (sp?) My wife did that for a while, but she was too busy to deal with it.. There are lots of data entry jbs like that that you work thru a server just entering information.. (Huh, kinda sounds like my job... I have to view the damage cars first, but it is nice working out of your house..) I personaly have not been to out office in a couple months.. [:D] I do a lot on e-bay, but it is a hobby.. I could not see making a " living" at it.
And, on the flip side of things.. Have you really looked into the full cost of staying at home and not working?? You have the biggest saving in child care, but there are more.. Sit down and figure mileage, maintiance and wear and tear on your car, Then figure meals and clothing.. How about other buss. related expenses?? You may find it does not really hit you so hard when you figure it all in.. Then you get to add in the bennifit package you get from staying at home.. Your childern! It looks like you have 3 girls, I am sure the benifit package is worth a " lower paying job" [;)] Good luck, and if possiable.. cherish the time you have if you can stay home.. it goes quick and then it is gone.. [:)]
NCSunshineGo to your local library. In our library there are several books about e-bay and setting up an internet business. Good luck.
NCSunshineNCSunshine,
I have been selling on ebay for about 4 years and recently became a Powerseller (that means I make at least $1000 a month). I gather inventory from going to Garage Sales, flea markets, thrift stores and by selling toys and clothes that my boys outgrow. I also sell items for other people on a consignment basis and have been very successful that way too. I average 50-60 auctions a week, and I also have a full time office job (though I am laid off at the moment).
A couple years ago my SIL and I started teaching a class called " Beginning Selling on ebay" at a couple local community colleges. The students bring a small item to sell on the first nite of class and we show them how to take a picture and get it listed. The next week in class we watch the auctions end. We are paid $50 for each student who takes the class, and the classes have been very full, averaging up to 20 students at a time. We wrote an 80 page guide to selling that we give to our students on a CD and I would be happy to send you one (for free) if you email me your address.
Yes, it is a lot of work, someone mentioned all the trips to the Post Office and the packing, yep, all that is very true. Though on the bright side, I ve made a new friend at the Post Office from going there so often and she even took my class last semester! I ve met some great people on ebay (and some idiots) and for the most part, it is a lot of fun for me.
I d be very happy to help you get started, or answer any questions. You can email me at jjmom1@hotmail.com.
Good luck in whatever you decide to do.
NCSunshineI have bought on EBay and the stuff I received was great, but I have been stiffed twice. Interestly enough, both times involved Tommy Bahama items. Don t know what is up with that... so needless to say I am careful about what I buy now.[: (]
NCSunshineCan t help you with a regular day-to-day business, but at Christmas time you can make money on E-bay if you are able to get hold of sought-after but hard-to-find products. I was shopping at a Wal-Mart a couple of Christmases ago when a shipment of Playstation 2s came in (which were " the" thing that year, and extremely hard to find). My friend had told me to be on the look-out for one for her, so I grabbed her one plus an extra (had no idea what I was going to do with it, and didn t have the money to keep it but I reasoned that I still had the receipt so could always return it).
I ended up selling it on E-Bay, and made about $150! I can t remember if I had my cheap digital camera at the time or if I scanned it, but I had placed it for sale with a picture of the unopened box under the tree with a bow on it. Amazing what people will pay to get the latest and greatest popular Christmas present!
Hope some of this made sense - it s 3 o clock in the morning. (Hey, cool - I have an excuse for not making sense this time! [;)])
NCSunshineThank you everyone for your great information and ideas. I was unsure about posting this on here, with it being so far off from camping. But now I am glad I did, because it really is like a big extended family with everyone helping each other.
NCSunshineMy hat off to jjmom for being a power seller. If I ever become one, I will throw away my computer engineer diploma and stick to ebay !
Birol
NCSunshineUgh. I m dealing with a buyer from he** right now, with my latest Ebay item. This guy insisted on having the item packaged and sent HIS way, not the way I intended or suggested (my way would have cost him an additional $.75, but he wouldn t budge). So I STRONGLY recommended that he insure it. Luckily, he did, because his brilliant plan of how to ship it resulted in the item being severly damaged. Now he wants me to fork over what he paid for the item AND the insurance slip so he can get that much more back from the Post Office. I m gladly handing over the insurance receipt, but he s not getting the refund from me. I did what he asked, even though I warned him. His loss. Now he s freaking out.
This is one of the reasons why I don t sell more on Ebay. There are some real doosies you have to deal with and I don t find it worth my time. This guy has been trying to yank my chain since the end of December and I m thinking it s time to block his emails. I have a folder with 47 emails from him in it.
Ebay is definitely NOT for the anal retentive buyer. [: (]
kathybrjKathybrj,
And I thought all the nasty bidders only won my auctions! You might want to add this nutcase to your blocked bidders list so you never have to deal with him again! Unfortunately, there are always more bidders from _ell! I hate it when I get a buyer who tries to dictate the shipping terms when I have clearly stated my Terms of Sale in the auction text. I don t make anything extra on shipping, and I never charge handling fees, but sometimes folks still get ornery and want it their way. There s never an easy way to deal with a bidder like that - you have my sympathy and I wish you good luck and a speedy resolution!
Birol - Thanks for taking your hat off to me, but if you live anywhere in this below zero freezing cold midwest, you better put yer hat back on quick before your ears freeze off! FYI - don t trade that diploma yet, but I ll be happy to send you, or anyone at PUT, a copy of my CD and help you get started on ebay - just email me your address and I ll pop it in the mail to you.
kathybrjkathybrj,
As far as I recall, the seller handles the claim with the post office. When a few rare of my customers claimed that item was broken, I told them, that s ok, send it back, I will refund you when insurance pays me. As that is the purposes for insurance.
Stick to your guns, probably nothing is wrong with the item, and the guy wants to ahve the item, and and his money back, and whatever he/she can get from insurance.
Good luck let us know how it is going ..
Birol
birolWell I m certainly no expert.
But since I recently had to deal with a USPS insurance claim.
As the buyer I had to send a claim form to the seller and have them sign it and send it back with the receipt. Then I had to go to the post office with the form signed by both of us, the receipt, and THE BROKEN ITEM. For them to examine.
Since I wanted to repair it, actually it just needed a new piece of glass. So I also had to bring a receipt for the repair/ replacement part.
That s the only way they would pay me. So I don t see how I could have pulled anything, on the seller.
If I wasn t going to fix the item, they would have kept it, for a full payment.
kathybrjDifferent countries I forgot ... In Canada It is the seller which applies for the insurance, at least I did a couple of times .........
Canada Post might or might not want to see the item I was told ......
kathybrjYes, on the back of the insurance ticket from USPS it says the package needs to be taken to the Post Office along with the insurance ticket so the Post office can inspect the package and what was damaged in shipping.
I told the buyer I was sending the insurance claim ticket along with another Ebay invoice and he would have to take care of it. He was so insistant about how the thing was packaged, I really feel no responsibility for the fact that it arrived damaged. I even warned him that I thought it would and it was HIS responsibility.
He s not happy about it, but too bad. I m not worried about " negative feedback" (which he has " threatened" to do). I have all the emails with him telling me that if I packed it the way I intended, then I was " ripping him off" for shipping.
Like I said, buyer from he**. I m putting him on my blocked bidders list and block his emails. I ve done all I m going to do.
kathybrjOh, if he threatened to neg you, send acopy of that e-mail to eBay maybe ? I heard that that gets people naru d real fast. Or maybe, fi the negs you, you can show it to ebay and have it removed.
kathybrjOh, I m holding on to THAT email. This guy does nothing but fill my inbox. He has issues obviously.
I ve been checking my Ebay feedback every few days and nothing yet. But I wouldn t put it past him.
Firefyter-Emt
QuoteORIGINAL: Firefyter-Emt
Just to throw something else out there.. Have you looked into something like medical transcriptioist (sp?) My wife did that for a while, but she was too busy to deal with it.. There are lots of data entry jbs like that that you work thru a server just entering information.. (Huh, kinda sounds like my job... I have to view the damage cars first, but it is nice working out of your house..) I personaly have not been to out office in a couple months.. [:D] I do a lot on e-bay, but it is a hobby.. I could not see making a " living" at it.
And, on the flip side of things.. Have you really looked into the full cost of staying at home and not working?? You have the biggest saving in child care, but there are more.. Sit down and figure mileage, maintiance and wear and tear on your car, Then figure meals and clothing.. How about other buss. related expenses?? You may find it does not really hit you so hard when you figure it all in.. Then you get to add in the bennifit package you get from staying at home.. Your childern! It looks like you have 3 girls, I am sure the benifit package is worth a " lower paying job" [;)] Good luck, and if possiable.. cherish the time you have if you can stay home.. it goes quick and then it is gone.. [:)]
Have been a stay at home mom for 8 years, but three years ago I started doing bookkeeping/payroll from home. Never did make enough money to keep doing it, that is how I got the job I have now. The day care is too expensive and that is why I am trying to find something from home again. I don t think that medical transcripts are something I could do, but may still look into it.
NCSunshineWell never actually sold anything, thought about it. But boy do I buy off of Ebay. Just today I won a set of Lynx Levellers for eleven dollars. What a deal. Buy most of my camper stuff off of there from knives to a camping shovel. So if you got something to sale theres always a sucker like me out there that will buy it LOL.
kathybrjI have a deal for you !!!!!!! look :
(With the permission of the board, I won t make a habit of this ! But I can t help getting money from a good buyer :):):) )
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=16036&item=2702458736&rd=1
kathybrjNC Sunshine:
If you go to eBay and click on Community, you can log onto the boards and you ll find a number of threads dealing with different topics. There is currently a new phenomenon where eBay users get together locally in their town to share ideas at networking meeting or host eBay Parties.
Also, eBay has a travelling group that holds eBay University sessions all around the country. Check out the schedule for one near you.
Above all, you can always find a fellow eBay member on the boards that will assist you and there is always a staffer that will answer your question on the boards.
I hope that helps.
Surfcal
NCSunshineLast year, when DH was unemployed, he put an old coleman lantern on E-Bay. At that time the Japanese were NUTS over old Coleman products and were bidding outragous amounts. DH would scout flea markets and garage sales and auctions and buy the stuff cheap. He was averaging 250 to 400 a week profit. He seriouly considered going full time as an E-Bay seller, but even though the money was good at the time, the " fun" went out of it, and he wanted a real job. (Which he found). We still sell on E-bay, but just for fun. One of our best sells was an old 78 record we purchased at an auction. We paid one dollar for a stack of about 50 (actually, I bid on a redwood bench, the records were on top of it) I don t remember who the record was by, but it was blue in color and had a picture on it. Dh listed it for one dollar on E-bay and the winning bidder paid 163.00 for it!! Wish I had had a dozen!!
kathybrjThe think is, people watch what sells like a hawk and then dump it all at the same time, and the price falls so badly. Right now I have 10 barbie dolls which used to sell for around 90 usd, and because of all people who want to profit, and sell theis, each one brough the starting price down dollar by dollar, and now it harly sells for 50 bucks[>:] So I am holding onto them till people run out !!!
kathybrjWoooow, I had a Video camera which I didn t want to post the url here, and it brought me afortune. new it is around ~299, and it went for half the price but I had bought it so cheap. I hope somebody from the PUT users got it. It was a steal at that price !
Can you see I am happy :):):)
kathybrjKathy,
What happened with the buyer from hell ? Inquiring minds want to know you know [;)]
birol
QuoteORIGINAL: birol
Kathy,
What happened with the buyer from hell ? Inquiring minds want to know you know [;)]
Well, I think he went to the post office and got his money and that shut him up. No feedback, good or bad from him, so I figure he untwisted his undies.
I did sell my daughters first communion dress and got almost $30 more than I bought it for!! [:)]
kathybrjInuiring minds want to see the pics of that dress [:D][:D][:D]
birolThe dress is VERY nice, but I got a heck of a deal on it when I bought it originally(it was new), so what I got for it on Ebay was what it would have gone for retail new, at the original price.
If you really want to see it, I ll email you a pic.