Spent $3.25 and Made $29.85 on eBay

I have to say I really LOVE selling on eBay. But you have probably already figured that out if you have read any of my other posts. I have so much fun finding things at thrift stores and reselling them for a profit. And the most fun I have is when something sells at a price that surprises me. That's what happened recently.

Selling Wallpaper Border

I had read on an eBay Facebook site that I belong to that wallpaper borders sell well on eBay. Huh, really? I didn't think anyone used wallpaper borders anymore. But when I saw some at a great price at a local thrift store, I decided to give it a try.

I found a plastic bin filled with packages of old wallpaper borders at the thrift store I go to quite often. I didn't really believe they would sell well, so I bought a set of four packages blue Marimekko 4 inch wallpaper borders, and then an extra one that was partially opened so I could show what the design was. There were plenty more, BUT I wanted to just proceed cautiously in case they didn't sell after all. The rolls had been around awhile and the UPC stickers on them were yellowed. A couple had rips in the plastic wrap but they were scrubbable and washable so I figured they would clean up well. I listed the 4 rolls on eBay, with the opened one displayed on top. I was very honest about their condition in my description. At first, I listed them at a price of $14.95 for the 4 rolls. I had no bites for a couple weeks so I started playing around with the price lowering it until it sold. The 4 rolls sold for $10.95 a few weeks after I listed them, and I threw in the open roll as well because it was still usable. So for that sale, I spent $1.25 on 5 rolls and sold them for $10.95.

List, Sell, Repeat!

The other day I happened to be in the same thrift store and found the same bin. There were another 4 rolls of the same blue wallpaper border in the bin, again each for 25 cents. There were only 4 this time so I could open a roll and show the design but I was hoping people would get the idea of what it looked like from my pictures. I also found a set of 4 rolls in the same Marimekko design, but in a putty color. I decided to give those a try as well.

I listed the 4 blue rolls for $10.95 again on a Saturday night. I woke up Sunday morning and checked my eBay site to see they had already sold. That night I listed the 4 putty colored rolls and...you got it, they sold within 24 hours as well! So all together I spent $3.25 for 13 rolls of wallpaper border and earned $29.85. Not a bad turnaround if I do say so myself!

Research and Learn

One of the most important things I have learned through my experience selling on eBay is that in order to do well and increase sales, a seller must always be willing to learn. I spend a lot of time on YouTube watching videos of successful eBay sellers. I also belong to a couple of eBay Facebook groups and people post questions all the time and we all learn from each other. What makes you a successful eBay seller?

My Life as an eBay Seller

I have been selling items on eBay on a regular basis for 21 months now, and I must say I am having a ball. It has been a roller coaster of ups and downs, but the longer I sell on eBay, the more I learn and the better I get at it. At first, I only sold items that I had around the house to get rid of them and earn some extra money. I found some Facebook eBay groups, and have been coached by a friend I met online and learned how to increase my sales slowly but surely.

In March of 2015 I decided to open and eBay store. Initially, my sales dipped a bit for a few weeks after I opened my eBay store and I thought maybe I had made a mistake. But after a few weeks, things started to pick up, and have been doing well ever since. Even though we are currently in summer which is traditionally a slow eBay season, I am doing better than ever. Am I rich because of eBay? No, but I earn money each week. Some weeks I surpass what I earned weekly as a substitute teacher. And let me tell you, being an eBay seller is a lot less stressful than substitute teaching, or working a 9 to 5 job that I don't like.

Once I decided to sell on eBay as a way to earn regular money each week, I knew I had to find sources for what to sell. I started going to Goodwill stores on a regular basis and added thrift store shopping to my repertoire. I love going to thrift stores and finding almost new, and sometimes new with tags clothing that I can pass on to my customers. People have called me "addicted to thrift stores" but what they don't see is the bigger picture. I shop at thrift stores as part of my job. It is fun, and I can make my own hours. Here's a picture of my favorite thrift store. It's local and most clothing items sell for $2.00 each with vintage and household items selling for 25 cents to $5.00.

Right now I have only an eBay Basic Store which allows me 150 free listings per month in any category, and 100 free listings in the collectible category as auction style. I may go to the next size store in the future but this works best for me personally right now due to a lack of storage space. My goal was originally to have 150 items listed at all times, but because I have been able to take advantage of eBay's free listing offers periodically, for the past month I have been at 200 items and my sales show that the increase has helped a lot. My goal is to always have 200 items per month listed, and when autumn hits, I will try for more since that's the best period for eBay sales.

Here's a little glimpse into my life as an eBay seller:

Monday: Wake up and check my eBay store to see the sales I had Sunday night. Sunday night is traditionally the best time of the week to get sales because people have had the weekend off and have been scoping out eBay and usually make purchases on Sunday nights before they go to bed. I get excited when I see I have sales. I spend the day packing sold items from Saturday afternoon and evening and Sunday and head to the post office Monday afternoon to send off my packages. I live 10 minutes from a post office so it's convenient. Monday night I list a few thing on eBay and also revise a few more items that I already had listed as I have learned constant daily listings/revisions keep my items active within the eBay system and are more visible to buyers.

Tuesday: Check my eBay sales from the previous night. Head to the local thrift store that is closed Sundays and Mondays and they restock all of their items on Mondays which means the best choices of items are on Tuesdays. This is especially true on the last Tuesday of the month because the previous Saturday they had a pick up in a local community and have lots of great items to choose from. I come home and wash the items in baking soda as that takes any thrift store scent out, then in a regular wash. My birthday is at the end of July and once I turn 55 I will be eligible for 1/2 off all items at Goodwill in my part of Georgia so I will be going shopping at one of the area Goodwill stores each Tuesday starting in a few weeks. Tuesday nights, I take pictures of the items I purchased and list them on eBay.

Wednesday: Check eBay sales. Go out to lunch and grocery shopping with my husband. Come home and put groceries away before checking my eBay sales. Had a sale while we were out to lunch...yay! In the afternoon I pack any sold items and go to the post office to mail them. At night I list a few more items and revise a few. Watch a You Tube video of a guy named Raiken Profits who I have learned a great deal from in terms of what to sell. I check sales before going to bed.

Thursday: Check for eBay sales in the morning, email either of the 2 clients I am now selling items for if they had a sale. Go about my day and pack and ship any items that have sold before the post office closes. At night, list a few more items and always revise a few. Check for any sales before going to bed.

Friday: Hit any nearby yard sales, estate sales or thrift stores to get more stock to resell. I usually do this every other week as I don't have enough storage room to go weekly and store all my bargains. I come home and wash all clothing in baking soda then in a regular wash. Hang all clothing so I can spend the weekend taking pictures and listing and revising items that are already for sale. Go out to eat with my husband. Check eBay sales and get excited when I see I have had 1 to 3 sales. Friday nights have now become my second best sales period. I have heard it's because people get paid on Fridays and like to buy on Friday nights. I list or revise a few items before bed.

Saturday: Check eBay sales and pack everything that has sold from that morning and the night before to get them mailed before the post office closes at noon. Saturday night I usually list a few more items and always revise. I check for sold items before bed, and there are always one or two that happened while I was out with my husband or just watching TV.

Sunday: This is my biggest listing and sales day. I usually check for sales after church and get extra happy when I see one. I have an enjoyable and relaxing afternoon and list and revise at night. I check sales before going to bed.

And there you have it: an average week in the life of this eBay seller. I currently only list 1 to 5 items a night and revise 1 to 3 a night as well. I like to spread my listings out over the week and it takes an hour of concentrated time to list 4 items. It's about 15 minutes each to do it right, which includes:

*Taking pictures of the item (I try for a minimum of 4 for each listing)

*Researching how much the particular item has sold for in the past and what similar items are currently listed for so I know what I should list it for.

*Putting a well-worded listing on the eBay site and including pictures.

About once per month eBay offers a special deal where you can list an incredible amount of item for free for a 5 day period. They decide if the listings will be an auction, which is limited to 7 to 10 days or Buy It Now for a 30 day period. During those times, I shop and extra time and spend the whole 5 days of the offer listing as much as I possibly can.

Over the 21 months I have been selling on eBay I have done a lot of research into which niche works best for me. I have found it to be men's shirts in sizes large through 5X. I do sell other items as well, including coats, shoes, belts, ties, women;s clothing and some antiques/vintage items. But I am happy to have found my niche and am starting to get repeat customers.

I love finding nice items that I know my customers will enjoy. And I am not an eBay seller that has extremely high prices on their items because I'm a bargain hunter and love to share savings with others. Here's an example of a great deal I was able to pass on to a customer. The Chaps shirt in the picture was for sale at Christmas in Kohls for $60.00. I know that because I saw it and loved it but am too frugal to pay that much money for a shirt. I found one at a thrift store that was a size 3X (not my size) for 75 cents and sold it to a customer who absolutely loved it for $11.95. She raved about how nice it was in her feedback, and that made me feel great that I could pass it on to her at a reasonable price.

I love selling on eBay because it allows me to have time at home with my husband (and my dog), have a flexible schedule, and to still earn money. I probably average 2 to 3 hours per day on my eBay business and can put my eBay store on vacation whenever I need to. If I want to earn more money, I just need to put in a little more time. If I can't get to the post office one day, I will ship 2 days of purchases the next day because I have the flexibility to do that. It's a great way to earn a living.

By the way, I just checked and in the 40 minutes it took me to write this and add pictures, I made an eBay sale! Can you say,"Ka-ching?!"

If you are an eBay seller, how does my schedule compare to yours? If you aren't an eBay seller but have been thinking about it, what's holding you back?

List Every Day for More eBay Sales

These bike bib shorts did the best of all my items in May. They were new with tags, and the price tag was $100. I sold them for $52.

I had heard that listing every day increases sales ever since I started on eBay. Even if it's only one or two items, that action gets picked up by Google and eBay and generates a higher viewing slot when people are searching for items.

Auction Listings

But originally when I first started selling on eBay, I only sold items by auction only. And I was told that items sold the most if they ended on a Sunday night auction. So I listed items each Sunday for a seven day listing, to end the following Sunday night. That worked fine for me. And for any of you who are doing that, I have also found that ending an auction on a Friday night works well too. People that get paid on Fridays are shopping on eBay Friday nights and I have had a lot of success with listings ending on Fridays as well as Sundays. The trouble with having your auctions ending on only certain days means you can't list every day. You can only list items 10 or 7 days, etc. before you want your auction to end. But that was when I was only dabbling on eBay to make some extra money.

Show Me the Money

But now that I have decided to branch out and start an eBay store to earn more money as part of my regular income, I have learned it is true that listing items every day really works to have consistent sales. During the month of May, I had an opportunity to list up to 2,000 items as a "Buy It Now" listing. I had been trying out the "listing every day" method, and found it to work well. Then when I got the 2,000 listings offer, I went to town and just kept listing items. I had to go out thrift store shopping twice to add to my inventory, but it has truly worked. I am selling and average of 1 to 2 items each day of the week now and it is very exciting. I have heard that as long as you go in and revise a few items on a day when you can't list , that works well also to keep the eBay activity going on your account.

Comparison Chart

To show you the financial difference, here's a chart to show you how much better I have done since I started listing every day:

March Sales: $247 with 16 items sold

April Sales: $262 with 23 items sold

May Sales: $433 with 35 items sold

What a difference listing every day has made. It is clear to me that keeping my eBay account active makes a huge difference in my sales. Are you listing every day on eBay? What technique has worked best for you to improve your eBay sales?

What's in Your Closet That Could be Earning You Money on eBay?

Ralph Lauren Wool Vest

About three months ago I bought this wool Ralph Lauren vest at a thrift store for $2.00. For some reason I hesitated to list it on eBay and it just got hung up in my spare closet with all the other items. Last week I was going through the closet and found the vest again. I looked it up on eBay and saw that the same vest had sold for $34.95 in January! Wow, and it had been sitting in my closet. I could have had some money in my pocket instead of a vest hanging in my closet!

Ralph Lauren Men's Shirt

Next to that vest in my closet was a Ralph Lauren button down men's shirt. I really liked this shirt and hung it in the closet, figuring I would list it someday soon. I forgot about it and also last week saw it hanging in my closet. So I pulled it out of the closet too, and listed it on eBay.

Items Can't Sell if They Aren't Listed

Both of these items sold within one week of my listing them. I started the vest as an auction and a bit low because I felt like since it is not the time of year to wear a wool vest, I would start it at $19.95 and maybe a few bids would come in. Only one came in halfway through the week, but I sold the vest for $19.95. That money is better in my pocket than hanging on a hanger, don't you agree?

The Ralph Lauren Shirt sold for $13.50, and the starting bid of $12.95 came in for it within two days after I listed it. All told, that is $33.45 that I made in one week, on items that had been hanging in my closet.

What items do you have in your closet that you could be earning money on right now?

Every Sale Counts on eBay

I had a certain monetary goal I wanted to reach by this week from my eBay sales and from freelance writing. I really wanted to meet that goal yesterday but I didn't make it. But that's okay, I really have till Monday to reach it. I decided to list as much as I possibly could this week, said a prayer yesterday morning, and hoped for the best.

Within 2 hours, I had a sale. I have had this Hard Rock Cafe Jacket listed for two months. I got it for $2.00 and was optimistic it would sell right away. I tried it at all different price points as an auction starting at $19.99 all the way down to $9.99 at one point, considering similar jackets were going in that range. Finally I decided to list it as a "buy it now" or BIN as it called in eBay lingo, and hope it sold at some point. That was my sale yesterday, for $13.95. I certainly did not make a killing on it, but after I took out my initial cost, I still earned $12.00 toward my goal this week.

This morning I woke up and was checking my email and saw I had another sale. It was for this LL Bean jacket that I have also had listed as an auction for a few months. I just recently dropped it to a BIN status, and raised the price from $12.95 to $15.95 and it sold! Again taking the $2.00 off for the initial price I paid, and I still earned $14.00 for it.

In less than 24 hours, I earned $26.00 toward my goal. And actually I still have 148 items listed in eBay and since the best selling time is usually on the weekend, I have high hopes that I will hit my goal by Monday morning. Even small sales periodically all add up to making financial goals through eBay. If you have wanted to start selling on eBay, what are you waiting for? You too could have earned money in the last 24 hours!

Great Sellers on eBay: Ralph Lauren Men's Clothing

I have had great success selling used men's Ralph Lauren shirts and jackets on eBay. To pay for these items straight from the store now seems quite ridiculous to me when I have seen that they are plentiful at thrift stores. Most of the items I see in thrift stores are in fairly good condition too. I wish more people would take advantage of being able to get bargains at thrift stores on brand name items. They could save money AND dress nicely.

For instance, this Polo Sport jacket, a division of Ralph Lauren, was hanging on a Salvation Army thrift store rack. As soon as I saw the label, I got excited about it. I checked it over well and didn't see any rips, tears or stains. I was quite excited to only pay $2.49 for this jacket. Once I got it home, I did notice some dark marks on it, but one wash with Tide and Biz (great for getting stains out of clothing) and the jacket was like new.

I listed the jacket originally for $29.95 after comparing it to similar jackets online. It didn't sell for a couple weeks. Because I am impatient and don't want to wait for a long time for buyers to decide they want my items at a premium price, I marked it down to $24.95, as a "buy it now" listing. Within one week of the markdown, it sold at that price. I was thrilled to say the least! After I took out the amount I paid for the jacket, plus the approximately 15% I had to pay in eBay and Paypal fees, I still earned a profit of $18.72. Not bad in my mind for something I am having so much fun doing. Not only do I get a thrill from finding these bargains, but it's also a thrill to sell items and know I have helped someone else find something they want on eBay at a fraction of the price they would have to pay in a store for the same thing.

Although long sleeved Ralph Lauren dress shirts can easily bring in $12 to $15 each, I am currently doing well with Ralph Lauren short sleeved button down shirts which I sell for $9.95 each. Here's one of my favorites that was recently purchased.

Now I could ask for more, and I would probably get it too, especially on the long sleeved shirts. But I am a bargain hunter by nature and the fact that I wouldn't pay exorbitant prices for brand name items means I am not going to charge others really high prices just because I have paid a small amount for something and it has a brand name on it. I have only recently opened an eBay store and I am hoping that I will have repeat customers once they buy from me and realize my prices are not really high. I think people shop on eBay to find bargains anyway. What are your thoughts on pricing items on eBay?

The Larger the Size The Better it Sells

When I first started selling items on eBay I started with items around my house that I had no use for, or that were collecting dust. After that pile started dwindling down, I started researching what else I could sell on eBay which would actually earn money for me. I read that you should have a certain niche in order to do well. Having a niche helps bring back customers who will repeatedly buy from you because they have bought similar items from you before. I couldn't figure out what type of niche to have.

Finding My eBay Niche

I joined a few eBay groups on Facebook which I found very helpful. Some of them suggested you sell anything you can get your hands on that will make money. Others were still recommending the niche category. I stumbled upon selling men's clothing as a niche because I watched a video on YouTube about it. The guy recommended selling men's clothing because it's easy to store (you hang it in a closet) and it sells well. The clincher here is that he suggested finding the larger sizes of men's clothing as they sell best. Apparently men who are very large find it hard to find their size in clothing they like, and it's also hard to find stores that are easily accessible in person so they often shop online. I decided to give it a try.

Great Shirt, Great Sale

For the next few weeks I bought every 2XL, 3XL, 4XL and yes, even 5XL sized men's shirt I could find that had no stains or tears. I listed them, and within a few weeks they all sold. I was thrilled. Although I try to sell brand names, in these really large sizes, design and size count so they don't have to be brand names. I loved this Hawaiian shirt that I found in a thrift store near me for $2.00. I thought the color blue would look great on most men, and with a size 4XLT, how could I go wrong? In the is case, the T on the end means Tall so it was 4XL AND tall, for a really big guy. I was right...I listed it for $14.95 on eBay, with a "buy it now" or BIN price of $21.00. After 3 weeks, it sold for the $21.00. Apparently whoever bought it didn't want to wait for an auction to end, and swooped it up before someone else could grab it. Now that's the kind of eBay buyer I love!

Feedback is important as an eBay seller, so I shipped it right away, and I got great feedback from the buyer, stating what a great shirt it is. I do sell women's clothing as well, but I sell all sizes of women's clothing, including petite and haven't noticed one size selling better than others. So, larger sizes, especially in men's clothing, sell quite well. What do you sell on eBay? Please feel free to leave a comment below.

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