Thursday, March 1, 2018

Did You Know You Can Shop at Antique Stores for Items to Sell on eBay

When most people think about shopping for items to sell on eBay, they think of going to thrift stores like Goodwill, Savers, the Salvation Army and various independent thrift stores. But did you know you can also take a look in antique stores to find items to sell on eBay?

Many antique stores have inflated prices, especially those that are in high traffic tourist areas, but there are often items that fall through the cracks and a profit can be made on them. Also, sometimes the sellers are just tired of things hanging around too long so they put certain items on sale. If you hit it right, you can find some really great bargains. In order to make a profit on these items, you have to know your antiques and collectibles or have your phone with you so you can look up the items on your phone, to see what they are selling for on eBay.

I love to peruse antique stores and when I do, I am always looking for that treasure that will bring me a profit on eBay. Of course, overall you will do better shopping at thrift stores for eBay items in terms of pricing, but antique stores have some unusual items of which you may not be aware.

Here are some examples:

This is a sculpture by Michael Garman. His sculptures are expensive and my husband has one that reminds him of the city he grew up in. One day we were browsing in an antique store and he found this sculpture. He immediately recognized it as Garman's work and checked the price. It was originally marked as $70.00 but it was on sale that day for $35.00. While it is not exactly the style of our home, he was thrilled and purchased it. It is currently on display in his office (as his the cityscape sculpture) and when we looked it up on eBay, this same sculpture that he paid $35.00 for is listed on eBay for $165.00 so he did well with that buy!

Now we are not going to sell it on eBay because my husband loves it and is proud of the deal he got, but we COULD list it on eBay someday and even if it doesn't sell for that much money, he would at least get three times the money he spent on it. My husband looks for Garman sculptures in every antique store we go to now!

Another example of items that one might find in an antique store to sell on eBay is this Disney Hallmark snow globe. I had read recently that snow globes and Disney sell well on eBay. So when I came across this snow globe at an antique store for $16.00 I checked the comps on eBay and they were selling for $30 to $45. I bought it and listed it on eBay and within one month, I sold it for $34.00. Once I took the percentage out for eBay and Paypal costs, I still made a profit of $14.00.

If I had found that snow globe at a Goodwill or thrift store, I probably wouldn't have had to pay as much for it, but to me, a profit is a profit and $14.00 is nothing to sneer at! So don't overlook antique stores when you are searching for items to sell on eBay.

Have you ever found anything at an antique store that you sold for a profit on eBay? Please leave a comment below and explain what it was and how much you paid and sold it for so others can learn what to look for.

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Monday, January 29, 2018

Get Support for Your eBay Business to Make More Money on eBay

Are you an eBay seller who is frustrated because you aren't making the kind of money you had hoped to earn from eBay? Well, I have the perfect answer for you: Get eBay support for free on the internet.

You may not realize it, but eBay sellers for the most part, are a great group of people who are very happy to help other ebay sellers out by answering questions and making suggestions as to help you be a better eBay seller.

eBay Sellers on Youtube

I have been an eBay seller for eight years now. When I first started I didn't know anyone else that sold on eBay. But I met someone at a writer's site that coached me. I started selling a lot more with his help. Then he suggested I start following some people on YouTube that are very successful eBay sellers. So I did, and wow, what an amazing amount of information I received by following those people. Three of my favorites to follow on Youtube are Raiken Profit, Suzanne A. Wells and States Place.

eBay Sellers on Facebook

From some of those people on Youtube, I learned about some Facebook groups. eBay Facebook groups are free to join and people in these groups can ask each other questions, and offer each other support and suggestions. One of my favorite things about these facebook groups is they often post BOLO (be on the lookout) items that they have found and recently sold for great prices. My favorite Facebook eBay groups to join are: ebay selling basics nothing but ebay basics and Camp eBay. Suzanne A. Wells has a nice facebook page dedicated to eBay sellers under her name and she posts items people paid very little for and sold for a nice profit on eBay.

eBay Sellers on Instagram

I recently have been having fun on Instagram as well. When I was looking for people to follow on Instagram, I decided to try to find some people that were selling on eBay and follow them. Searching for people to follow on Instagram is easy because all you have to do is fill in words on the top search bar. Words like "eBay," "thrifter," "thrifting," and "reseller" will bring up many others who are also selling on eBay. You can click on their profiles and see if they are eBay sellers. I have found that it is much better to follow Instagrammers who have more than just a few posts on their profile page. You can learn more from those who have been selling for awhile and are active on Instagram. These frequent posters often post great finds from thrift stores so that you get ideas of things to look for when you are out thrifting for eBay. I find following eBay sellers on Instagram very motivating because they often post encouraging phrases that helps keep us all motivated. I also recommend following States Place on Instagram well.

Some of the Instagram eBay sellers also sell on Posh and Mercari, so if you are interested in either of those, Instagram is the place to be to learn from each other and encourage each other in terms of selling online.

Okay, I have given you MY recommendations for people to follow on social media to help you make more money on eBay. Do you know of someone I forgot? Please post their name in the comments below so we can all learn more, and earn more on eBay!

And if you are just getting started selling on eBay, I just gave you a lot of ideas of people to follow and learn from. You can also head over to this post I wrote awhile ago about how to get started selling on eBay if you are new to the whole eBay thing.

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Happy Selling!