Snow Globes and Disney: A Winning eBay Combination!

I am excited to share with you today how selling snow globes and Disney items on eBay can bring in good money. Last week I was fortunate enough to find an item that was so awesome, it combined both Disney and snowglobes to show me the money!!!

Treasure Hunting at Goodwill

I was at a Goodwill in Dawsonville, Georgia and happened to be near the end of my treasure hunting experience for the day. This is the time I start getting a bit weary. If you source items to sell on Bay at thrift stores you probably know what I am talking about. Your brain is filled with the many items you have been searching through to find just the right treasures that will boost your eBay income. Your eyes are a bit blurry. You've accessed your phone so many times to check comparative eBay listings that you hope you have enough to get you through the end of the month...

The Day's Best Treasure

And there it was...a Disney Princess Jasmine picture frame with a snowglobe just sitting on a shelf with the other knick knacks and doo dads...the creme de la creme of Disney items. But guess what...I didn't even realize it when I saw it. I just picked it up because I had heard Disney items and snowglobes sell well on eBay. And I noticed the snowglobe after I picked it up.

When I looked it up on the eBay app on my phone (and please tell me that when you are shopping for eBay treasure at thrift stores and Goodwill that you DO search for comparable listings on eBay BEFORE you buy them???) I was amazed at what I saw.

This particular version of this item was listed at, and sold for anywhere from between $21.95 to $75.00!!! Crazy don't you think? Below is a list of some of the reasons it was commanding so much money:

*It's a Disney product

*It also has a snow globe on it

*It's been discontinued so that means there's a limited amount of these items available

*It's in very good condition

Always Shop on Discount Day to Save Money

I took it to the register with the rest of my purchases and because it was Senior Day (55 and over here in GA), instead of paying the $6.98 marked, I paid $5.23. Once home I was unsuccessful in wiping the price off the bottom of it. So, rather than face rude comments about how much I paid for it and how much I was selling it for, I crossed the Goodwill price off with a permanent marker. When listing it, I would describe it as "price on bottom blacked out with marker." In the listing, I wouldn't say I had personally done this so chances are no one would complain.

Take the Middle Price on eBay

I don't know if you have heard but as far as listings go, if you want to sell an item on eBay, it's best not to be the highest price, not the lowest price...the highest price is probably not going to sell your item if buyers can see they can get it less expensively from someone else. And pricing your item the lowest will often not result in a sale either because people think there must be something wrong with it if you are selling it dirt cheap.

And so I decided to list it at auction for a price of $34.95 to start. If it didn't sell in the first round, I knew I could always drop the price the next time I listed it.

Auction Results

Since this auction was a 10-day listing, I honestly did not pay much attention to it for the first few days. But 48 hours after listing it I saw that it had a bid at $34.95! I was thrilled and would have been very happy with that price for it. BUT the next few days brought in a flurry of excitement as 12 more bids came in and it ended up selling for $51.00! Plus, they paid for shipping so all together, the buyer paid $63.95 for a Disney Princess picture frame with a small snowglobe on it.

Here's a breakdown of how much I earned in profit:

Paid $5.59 (includes sales tax)

Sold for $51.00

Minus the $5.59

Minus the 15% for eBay and Paypal fees equals a profit of $35.82

eBay Buyer's Motivation

Would I ever pay this much for a Disney picture frame snowglobe? No. Would you ever pay this much for this same item? Probably not, but you never know what a buyer's motivation is. Someone out there may have a daughter who had this same item and lost it and is heartbroken. Or maybe they had this item as a child and loved it but it broke. You know what they say, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." And here's a case that proves it.

Make Sure to Check Item Prices on Your Phone Before Buying

So the next time you are at Goodwill, the Salvation Army, Savers, or any local thrift store, keep in mind that Disney items and snowglobes sell very well. Don't forget to check the current listings and sold listings on the eBay app on your phone before buying the item, though. It can save you a lot of money and anquish because you don't want to spend money on an item and then get it home and look it up on eBay and find it's not worth anything. After all, the reason to sell on eBay is to make money, not to lose money.

Have you sold anything on eBay lately that surprised you because it sold for so much money?

Happy thrifting,

Karen

Making Money With EBay While on Vacation

Making Money While You Sleep?

I have always dreamed of making money while I sleep. Being an entrepreneur at heart I thought it sounded like a great way to earn money. I wanted to set up a business and figure out how I can have that business make money for me while I am sleeping. Not only did I find that with eBay, but I also found out how to make money while on vacation! If you are an eBay seller, or you would like to be, pay attention here because eBay can make you money while you are on vacation!

Making Money With eBay in Vacation

Recently my husband and I went on a two-week vacation. Normally when we go away, I put my eBay store on vacation, and make sure that none of my items are visible to customers while we are away. I also make sure all of my auction items have ended. My feedback score is at 100% with a score of almost 600 and I didn’t want to mess that up by having people buy things while I am away and my not being able to send their purchases out if we were away from my eBay items. But I recently found a way to circumvent that problem.

If you have an eBay store, and you are going to put your eBay store on vacation, you can bulk edit all of your listings to lengthen your shipping time. This means if you have something sell while you are away, and you set the time to allow you to have time to ship it when you return from vacation, you are covered by eBay and people can’t give you negative feedback scores because you shipped late. In fact, under your listing, it even says how much time it will take for the item to ship. And did you know that the shipping time counts business days only? That’s right, Sundays and holidays aren’t included in eBay shipping time. So here is what I did: I set my shipping time to 15 days on all my items. Because we were gone 2 weeks, which is 14 days, and there were two Sundays included in that time period, that allowed me 3 days to pack any items that sold and get them to the post office and shipped out after we got back.

The First Week of Vacation

The first week we were at a hotel where we had internet access. I was thrilled to sell three items that week and after each sale. I sent the buyer a message thanking them for their purchase and telling them I was away and would ship the item when we returned and gave them a shipping date.

The Second Week of Vacation

On the second week we were on a cruise and due to the high expense of purchasing internet minutes on a cruise, I decided not to check my eBay store while we were away!This also gave me a much-needed break from selling on eBay. If you are like me, sometimes eBay can seem to take over your life! You can imagine my surprise and excitement when I checked my eBay store when we hit dry land…

Total eBay Sales While on Vacation

With 425 items listed, I sold 8 items with a total purchase price of $198.96!

And I didn't do anything to earn it except sleep and enjoy my vacation! I did have to take shipping and eBay costs out of that total, but I still cleared approximately $125.00 while I was on vacation. And part of that money was earned while I slept. So not only did I learn to make money while I sleep but also I earned money while on vacation!

If you don’t have an eBay store, and you are taking a short vacation, you can still set the shipping times on your items to the longest amount eBay will allow that will cover your time away. Otherwise, you will have to make sure all of your listings have ended before you leave in order to keep happy customers and a good feedback score!

Do you make money while you sleep or when you are on vacation with eBay?

Anxiously Waiting for the Auctions to End on eBay

Tonight I am waiting for 2 auctions to end on eBay. Well, I am actually waiting for 45 auctions to end, but 2 in particular. I wrote a few posts ago about a pair of Allen Edmonds men's shoes that went at auction for $113.50. I have two more pair that have active auctions going on right now.It is so exciting to watch the auctions as the bids come in.

The first pair I have for auction are black Allen Edmonds tie oxford shoes that I started at $34.95. With three minutes left to go on the auction, the highest bid is $46.00. Not as good as $113.50, but I am very happy with that.

The second pair is in excellent condition, except for one deep scratch that will be covered by pants and can probably be filled in with shoe polish. The auction on that one will end in 57 minutes. I started these shoes at $39.95 with the buyer paying shipping. Right now, the highest bid is at $82.00. I can't wait to see if that is the final bid of if they will go even higher. These shoes are in even better condition than the ones that went for $113.50.

I really enjoy selling on eBay, as you may have figured out by now! But I especially enjoy the thrill of an auction and how much more money it is possible to make at an eBay auction as opposed to a "buy it now" listing on eBay. It truly is best to have a combination of items listed some as "buy it now" and some as "auction." The auctions bring potential buyers to also look at your "buy it now" items as well. And that can earn you more money on eBay through more eBay sales.

I will update you soon on how much each pair of shoes sold for. Stay tuned...

Would You Pay $113.50 for a Pair of Used Shoes?

Well, I had a buyer on eBay that did just that! The shoes I am talking about were a pair of men's Allen Edmonds shoes. This pair of shoes goes for hundreds of dollars, new. The perplexing thing is that these were not new and I paid $4.25 for them at Goodwill. And I said in the description that they had been resoled and re-heeled.

Listed for Auction

I listed the shoes for sale on eBay through an auction format for 10 days. A few days after I listed them, I received a message from a potential buyer asking if I had any plans to add a "buy it now" price for these shoes. I thanked him for asking but told him that no, I didn't have any plans to add a "buy it now" option. You see, a few months before, a buyer had suggested I end the auction early on a book I had for sale because he wanted to purchase it at the price I had listed. I did do that, but decided not to do that in the future. I was thinking after the fact, that maybe that book could have sold for more money if I had let the auction ride.

Riding it Out

As far as these shoes were concerned I didn't want to change anything at the request of a buyer because I was thinking I might be able to get more for them if I let this auction ride. And in the end, I was right to do that. Had I put a "buy it now" price on the shoes, I probably would have asked only $50 and been shortchanged by $63.50 by the ending price which was the $113.50...plus he paid for shipping.

The Morning After

I went to bed on the Sunday night the auction was ending, and there was only one bid on these shoes. It was at my original starting price of $34.95. I assumed that was what they would sell for. Imagine my surprise when I woke up the next morning, checked my eBay account and saw that they had sold for over $100...and by the buyer that had asked me about the a"buy it now" price. Before I shipped the shoes, I decided to make sure he understood that they had been re-heeled and re-soled. I didn't want to take a chance that he would receive the shoes and want to return them because he hadn't realized that. He sent me a message back right away stating that yes, he had seen that in the description.

Holding My Breath

I sent the shoes, and then held my breath (not literally!) because there was still a chance that the buyer could receive them and not like them and want to return them. I have a 30 day return policy so it could have been a long wait. Fortunately it was not. Just a few days after I sent them, the buyer gave me glowing feedback about the shoes, and I breathed a sigh of relief!

Would you pay that much for used shoes on eBay? Do you often sell things on eBay that sell for more than $100? I am sure my readers would love to know so please share your comments below.

Returns Are Just Part of the Game With eBay

I had a return yesterday. I find returns SO annoying, and especially when a buyer is returning an article of clothing. In all of they years I have been selling on eBay (since 2010) I have had only six returns, and five of them were on clothing. Now I would be a bit more understanding if the size and the measurements were not listed in the description. But I am very careful to always include the size in the title AND also in the description, but also I give specific measurements which include at least the armpit to armpit, shoulder to shoulder, and length of each article I list. I usually sell shirts, sweaters, vests and jackets so I don't need to include inseam measurements such as on pants. That's one of the most challenging parts of selling clothing on eBay is all the measurements that need to be included to help an item sell more quickly, but I do well selling clothes so I just deal with those pesky measurements.

I Started Off NOT Taking Returns

When I first started selling on eBay I didn't even take returns. They seemed to be too much trouble. After doing some research and reading about the value of offering returns on an eBay Facebook page, I decided to offer returns. It seems many people are reluctant to purchase an item if they know they can't return it. After all of this time though, and the fact that I don't get many returns, I have come to just accept the return, refund the buyer only after I have received the item back, relist it and move on. I know if the buyer gives a reasonable explanation for the return, the best thing to do is just roll with it and move on. The funny thing is, I almost always resell the item within 30 days of relisting it. So that's good news.

Yesterday's Return

My most recent return was on a Levi Strauss denim jean jacket. These are highly sought after and so I didn't think I would have any trouble selling it when I picked it up at Goodwill. It sold at auction the second week it was listed. But the buyer never paid. I relisted it, and it sold again fairly quickly. This time within a few days of my shipping it, I had a return request. The buyer said it didn't fit right...it was too big? Apparently she hadn't paid any attention to the measurements I had listed. Those are important.

This is a really nice jean jacket so I am hoping that the third time is the charm. I will relist it again as soon as I get it back and hope that this next time it sells it sticks for good.

How about you? Do you get annoyed with returns on eBay? Do you even take returns?

Missing eBay While I Was on Vacation

Last month my husband and I went on a long awaited 14 day cruise. At the end of the cruise we stayed a few extra days in the port we ended up in: Copenhagen, Denmark. We had waited for seven months for this cruise. Every few days my husband would ask me how many more days till the cruise. At first it was a total guessing game on my part. When you start planning for something approximately 210 days in advance, it's easy to be off a few days or even weeks.

But finally the long awaited day came and off we flew to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to catch our cruise ship, the Regal Princess. We headed out to sea on Sunday, April 17th. I was finally able to relax. No more worries about how many items I sold on eBay the night before, or the week before. No more totaling up my sales for the week, or for the past month. No more planning my next thrift store shopping day and bringing home my purchases and soaking, washing, drying and listing them all on eBay and hoping for sales. No more logging into eBay each morning and revising 5 items. No more stressing out over trying to get the sold items packaged up and mailed out to my customers as quickly as possible. At least no more of this for 18 glorious days. But a funny thing happened at the end of my first five days on the cruise:

I MIISSED eBay!

I was quite surprised. I have never before had a job that I missed while on vacation. But here I was, off on a wonderful romantic cruise with my husband, exploring the world, and I missed my work. I missed logging into eBay to see if I had sold any items overnight. I missed going to thrift stores and hunting for treasures that my eBay customers would enjoy. I missed logging into my Paypal account and seeing the money that had accrued there thanks to eBay. And I was quite surprised by the fact that I missed it so much.

There are a lot of positives about having an eBay business. I am able to plan my day according to whatever schedule I want. I LOVE going bargain hunting, a trait my mom instilled in me from the time I was a child. I love the fact that sometimes I find something on a thrift store rack that is so beautiful I can't believe someone discarded it. And I just can't leave it there because I know someone will find it in my store and be as impressed with it as I am. I love getting reports from happy customers.

So, while it is nice to get a little bit of a break from my everyday routine, apparently, I love my work as an eBay entrepreneur and really miss it when it's not available to me. So here's to eBay and running my own eBay business. Can you say you miss your job when you go away on vacation?

Here's a picture of me enjoying my last day of vacation in the harbor of Nyhavn, in Copenhagen, Denmark:

Guard Your Cart While Shopping at Thrift Stores

You might think that guarding your cart is not that important while shopping at thrift stores right? I mean it's just a bunch of other people's junk? Well if you, like me, believe that, "One man's junk is another man's treasure" as the saying goes, you will want to guard your cart when shopping at Goodwill and other thrift stores. Recently I have had two bad experiences happen to me because I wasn't guarding my cart.

The Cashmere Sweater Incident

The first instance happened when I was shopping in a Goodwill store. I had all of my items in my cart and was headed to the check out area when I decided to just stop by the men's sweater area to see if I could find any cashmere sweaters. I had recently been doing research on what types of clothing sells well on eBay and I read that cashmere sweaters always sell. So you can imagine my excitement when I found a camel colored men's cashmere mock turtleneck sweater on the rack, with absolutely no holes or flaws. I excitedly put it into my cart and because it was the last item in my cart, it was on top of a pile of clothes. When I got in line, I realized that I had forgotten my wallet in my car, so I had to run out to the parking lot to get it. Wanting to keep my cart in a convenient area, I asked the cashier on the end of the line of cash registers if I could keep my cart near her while I ran out to the car to get my wallet. She said, "sure" and I parked my cart between her and the jewelry counter, at the front of the store. How long does it take to go out and get a wallet? Not very long. I imagine it was actually less than five minutes. I came back in and retrieved my cart and headed to the end of the line. As I was standing there I looked down and it seemed to me that something was missing. I counted all my items, and knew I had found 12, but only 11 were in the cart. Then I realized it: the cashmere sweater, my prized purchase of the day, was missing!

I got up to the counter and the cashier, trying to make conversation, said, "Hi, how are you today?" I am sure she didn't expect a real answer but I gave her one anyway because I was so annoyed. I said I was not doing very well because someone had taken a cashmere sweater out of my cart. She looked at me a bit wide eyed and asked very quietly, "Was it tan?" I was surprised that she asked this and I said yes. She told me she checked out a woman, and while she was checking out the next customer, a younger woman that she assumed was her daughter, the lady came back, threw a tan sweater onto the pile and told the younger woman to pay for it and she would pay her back. I was really annoyed and told her where my cart was and that I had asked the cashier on the end if I could leave it there. She must have gone by, saw the sweater, grabbed it and headed back to the cashier. I was so upset that day and felt I had actually been robbed. The cashier felt badly too, as though she was somehow part of this injustice! I assured her it wasn't HER fault. BUT then someone mentioned to me that the woman might have thought that was a cart of items to be re-shelved and that they were up for grabs. That was the only way that was emotionally healthy enough for me to resign myself that the sweater, my very first cashmere treasure, had been taken, and so that's what I will assume. BUT from that day on, I always head first to the men's department of the thrift store I am in, find a very large shirt, or coat and hook it to the seat in the cart, so that my treasures underneath will be concealed from prying eyes. Then before I go to the checkout, I put the shirt or coat back on the rack I got it from. Here's a photo so you can see what I mean.

The Potty Break Incident

The next time something happened because I wasn't guarding my cart was just a few days later. I went into a thrift store outlet (my favorite place to shop for eBay items) and I had put four items into my cart and realized I had to use the rest room. I parked my cart at the end of an aisle not far from the rest room, and was in the rest room for only a few minutes. When I returned, my cart was GONE! I thought at first that I just didn't remember where I had left it, so I wandered around a few aisles to see if I could find it, but it was nowhere in sight. Although it wasn't a full cart (thank goodness) those four items had taken me a half hour to find, so it was wasted time. I looked around at the carts nearby shoppers were using and my items weren't in them, so I decided to check a few of the racks and see if my items had been put back. Sure enough, there they were all hanging back on their original racks. The store was fairly busy so I was surprised the clerks had had the time to discover my unguarded cart and put the items back! I think I will make up a sign on an index card stating not to touch the cart and that I will be right back and keep it in my purse for just such occasions in the future. I mean, when ya gotta go, ya gotta go, right?!

After these two back to back incidents, I have certainly learned my lesson. When you have shopped at thrift stores, either for yourself, or to sell on eBay, have any of you had any trouble with items disappearing from your cart when shopping?