RE: Has anyone tried E-bay for making money?

[jjmom]

 NCSunshine
NCSunshine,
 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.

[tahoecampers]

 NCSunshine
I 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.[: (]

[Miss-Teri]

 NCSunshine
Can 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!  [])

[NCSunshine]

 NCSunshine
Thank 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.  
 
 

[birol]

 NCSunshine
My 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

[kathybrj]

 NCSunshine
Ugh. 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. [: (]

[jjmom]

 kathybrj
Kathybrj,
 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.
 
 

[birol]

 kathybrj
kathybrj,
 
 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

[Jeffrey]

 birol
Well 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.

[birol]

 kathybrj
Different 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 ......
 
 

[kathybrj]

 kathybrj
Yes, 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.

[birol]

 kathybrj
Oh, 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.

[kathybrj]

 kathybrj
Oh, 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.

[NCSunshine]

 Firefyter-Emt

 

ORIGINAL:  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.. [] 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.
 

[cartooncaracter]

 NCSunshine
Well 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.