Hey everyone. I need extra money to pay for MORE medical bills, so I tried selling some things on ebay as an experiment. I gained a lot of knowlege, but lost money. The advice y'all gave earlier was extremely helpful, but I pay too much for the stuff I sell and can't make a dime. Where do you all get the stuff to sell? At yard sales? Everything seems to being going dirt cheap on ebay, and I wondering if I'll ever make anything. Selling is something I enjoy and won't interfere with my medical treatment. I just need to know where the best place is to buy things. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks! Windy

-- wendy godfrey (windyz@aol.com), January 25, 2002

Answers

I have a cousin whom has a room full of yard sale, auction, rental storage unit auction collectables. The older they get, the higher the price she asks and has been doing this for about 6 years, her income is about $30,000.00. Roomful means stacked to the ceiling in a large room, sorted, cleaned and gaining value; anything that comes in sets. You buy it now, sell it lader. What would a set of Starwar McMugs be worth today?

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), January 25, 2002.

I get all of mine at yard and estate sales; however, I have bought some on Ebay! Often, someone will mis-categorize an item and will recieve no bids. In all fairness I have always emailed that person to let them know that I am sure they mistakenly put an item in obviously the wrong category to give them the opportunity to relist it under an appropriate category; but very few ever do. I can slide in at the end of the auction and pick it up for next to nothing and resell it for 2-3 times the amount paid. I only do purchase the item if I am certain I will make a profit after shipping costs.

-- Karen (mountains_mama@hotmail.com), January 25, 2002.

So far, a lot of mine has been from decluttering the house. Other stuff has been items I have made (scrapbook related). I think yard sales would work- perhaps used book stores? Never tried it though. One place my dh and I had luck with was half.com DH decided to get rid of a lot of CDs he had from college- we made over $300.00 doing that (he had a lot!)

Are you artistic or crafty? With searches I have done, it seems that there is EVERYTHING on ebay- to me, one key is how you word the title! Good Luck!

-- briches (vesely@webtv.net), January 25, 2002.

A friend of mine makes a lot of money selling used books. Check on www.booksalefinder.com for booksales near you. Do some exploring on eBay on what books have sold for high prices. Homeschoolers go for certain books - old readers, certain classic kid's fiction. Condition is important. Have fun!

-- Christina (introibo2000@yahoo.com), January 25, 2002.

I sell surplus. Any Governmental agency that buys stuff; sells stuff. Police depts, cities, counties, states, universities all sell their old stuff. The best buys are 'sealed bids' you put your bid in the hat and maybe you win. It is a hassle and few people will bother, all the better for you

-- mark (toymeister@hotmail.com), January 25, 2002.

If your going to buy for resale on ebay you need to buy in bulk. You cant go to a garage sale and pick through for a few things that might sell. Because it might now sell as well. You need to do bulk buys. Offer $$$ for a table of items, off low ball on something but offer to take them all at a price. Go to auctions and bid on boxes of the stuff and resell as singles.

-- Gary (gws@columbus.rr.com), January 25, 2002.

Yard sales,auctions,Goodwill. Goodwill is my most reliable source right now.Yard sales are difficult to attend with 2 children(5 and 3),and I occasionally spend too much at them.Auctions are great-especially BOX LOTS. You never know what'll turn out to be valuable to someone. By far,however,Goodwill is my favorite.Old books,new books.Nice vintage clothes.Pewter.Even sumptious mohair yarn(30 50g balls for $1.49!).Some paperbacks sell especially well(I'm thinking of Trixie Belden-in particular the harder to find upper numbers(30's)I sold a lot of four (that cost me all of 40 cents )for $40.00!). I give all the glory to the Lord as He's helped me numerous times. I pray you may do better!

-- Tracy Jo in SE OH (tntneff@ifriendly.com), January 25, 2002.

OOPS! I always seem to forget to mention something!!!!! Sometimes we have all day long special yard sale/flea markets at the fire station hall in our community.If you show up during the last houryou're bound to get great deals!Also,many people leave things that they don't want to cart home.Usually there are several tables full of free items.I've picked up loads of lovely fine china (Franciscan etc.) there for free! Hope some of this helps!!!

-- Tracy Jo Neff (tntneff@ifriendly.com), January 25, 2002.

Just about a year ago, I sold my Raggedy Ann and Andy from my childhood, a large Paddington Bear from England, Josette's Music Box (if you ask you ask, you're too young!). Well, Ann and Andy brought about $600, Paddington $185, and the music box $150. Plus some other things that sold in the $30-$50 range. I have a bunch more stuff to list, but haven't had the concentration to do it. There is some software out there to help you so you can do all the listing information offline, then upload the listings. I have a lot of books I want to sell, but was considering putting them on half.com instead.

-- Joyce Dingman (joycedingman@yahoo.com), January 25, 2002.

Every year our little church has a Harvest Festival fund raiser in October. The festival includes an auction, the sale of miscellaneous items (everything you can think of), breakfast, lunch, homemade food items, firewood, etc. The auction is for big and more expensive items. The auction starts around 10:00 and goes until finished. Church members and other community supporters put aside stuff throughout the year and donate (read that tax deductible in-kind donation) all kinds of things, including a brand new motor scooter last year. Well, by 07:00 the day of the festival folks are lined up ready to buy and at 08:00 the church parking lot is jammed with people and merchandise. A lot of stuff is new, mint or in excellent condition. Almost never any junk. Numerous boxes of items sell for a few dollars. I saw an entire book carton loaded with all types of Christmas decorations that sold for $5. Tons of children's clothing. Church bazaars and rummage sales like this, plus other fund raisers bring together a lot of nice stuff suitable for eBay to one location. Sure beats running all over for yard sales.

-- Ed (ecpubs@lynchburg.net), January 25, 2002.

See the thread on "Garbage pickin' - free stuff" (will be in the Reduce/Reuse/Recycle category). I recommend you consider my comment on having business cards made up saying you haul away garage sale leftovers and then handing them out in upscale neighborhoods during garage sale weekends. Rational on upscale is they likely have better stuff and people from other neighborhoods may feel intimidated going to garage sales in them.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), January 26, 2002.

THANKS! THANKS! THANKS! You all are great! I was getting kinda down about how to make extra money-- I'm on disability, and after 14 surgeries, and one coming up, I need all the help I can get--and you all are wonderful! I wish I could be of some help. I'll keep looking in for something I know about. If anybody has any questions about joint replacement surgery-- I'm an expert! ; ) Thanks again!

Windy

-- wendy godfrey (windyz@aol.com), January 26, 2002.

I know that when I shop on e-bay - I have a hard time finding good prices... And I think that's because the things I am shopping for are hot items. In the past - I was looking for a baby bjorn - (a front pack carrier) They were selling for prices that were almost as high as the new cost! I checked again recently - they still go that high.

Now I'm looking for some Jenn-Air parts for a cooktop I picked up at a garage sale - and I am also seeing that Jenn-air stuff goes for a lot of money.

What's kind of fun is to just browse around there - I think you will find that the stuff that you can imagine people really wanting - tends to go for more money and it's hard to find a deal... but miscellanious collectibles and books often go by with no bids at all. I guess my advice really boils down to - be sure you research what similar items are going for - spend some time at it. The more you know - the more effective you'll be at turning a profit.

Also - the comment about garage saling on the last day is a good one - especially if they had things over-priced. Early on the first day is good too.

-- Taunya (thedbor@hotmail.com), January 27, 2002.

I have been noting the TV ads for Quick Chop. They are two choppers plus two cutting mats for $19.95 plus an undisclosed S&H charge. Out of curiosity I look them up on eBay. They were going for about $18.00 EACH. One guy wanted $8.00 per for S&H. He probably bought them from the TV ad or site (www.smartinventions.com) to resell at close to twice his money.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), January 27, 2002.