Do you even eBay bro?

So, I've spent most of my professional life in the medical field, mainly in forensics.

Due to being laid off, my dad passing away and medical reasons with my health, I decided to no longer look for work in medicine again.

I applied for entry level positions at different places i got a total of 3 interviews. Basically I was over qualified for these positions . I never landed a job.


I got this bright idea. I'm going to sell some crap on eBay. I sold stuff rather quickly and for things I thought was crap.

So I took those earnings from selling my personal items and went out to the thrift store and bought more crap to sell on eBay.

Holy crap! I discovered I'm actually really good at finding things to sell on eBay.

I got so good at it i thought about renting a storage unit to hold all my eBay crap. I started to think how big of a pain it would be to take photos of these items and have to haul them back to the unit then pick them up when they are sold.

I just don't have room at home to store my eBay stuff.

It costs about 100 bucks for a storage unit.

I came up with a better idea. I decided to rent an office.

I got one for 125 bucks a month. I can store all my crap in it and take photos. Plus free WiFi!


If you don't have a job and you don't know what to do, eBay bro, eBay.

I make it a goal to make at least 7.50 for every dollar I spend. I average around 10 dollars for every dollar.

I'm having the most fun in my life right now working for myself.

Do any of you ebay?

a reply to: galaga

Thanks for this. You're the only one who I've ever heard say this so it's good to know it can happen.

Great luck to you!

God Bless!

Yard sales for me...Get the ebay app. You can buy, list it, sell it and have the money in your paypal acct. before you get home. Concentrating on musical instruments for the time being, some jewelry.

a reply to: olaru12

The biggest thrill for me is finding something and knowing it's going to sell for a huge profit.

I found a watch that will easily sell for $150 +. I found it for 99 cents.

I have also been getting into selling vintage clothing. Found some vintage Adidas sweat pants from the 80s for 3 dollars, I plan to sell them for 30 or more.

It's crazy. And the hunt is the best part.

Why, yes. Yes I do.

a reply to: galaga

Ever tried the storage unit auctions. Risky...but sometimes $$$$$$

eBay is a tedious potentially nasty beast. As long as you realize what it is youre dealing with its not so bad, maybe. Critical to realize all the hidden costs before hand (in particular the shipping how ebay slaps that percentage on the shipping too no matter what). No widgets for less than $5. Avoid having to call in the best you can. And expect about one bastard per month who will try to extort you into giving them another units for free sort of thing, or else they'll give you a negative feedback (the angle is how much time to do you have waste going back and forth with them versus what you would have made sort of thing). And when they say it never got there despite tracking be sure and go read every single ebay forums thread / post on that subject before even responding to that claim.

I used to flip all kinds of stuff online. Ebay sucks imo. Too many middlemen. All you need is an Amazon store now.

Too many scammers on ebay. Bad seller protections.

I would make a website, set up an Amazon store and get a free wells fargo biz account and take payments directly from website purchases.

I would try all those routes, see which moves the most junk.

Good luck!

If you are like me then you will play this in your "office" whilst you ebay...lol..

I don't sell on e-bay, but I have purchased from them for years. I find the most amazing bargains ever! Love that place!

a reply to: galaga

Do any of you ebay?

Yup, for about 20 years now. I've sold everything from Rolexs to bulldozers.. I prefer small things that are easy to ship...

originally posted by: intrepid
Why, yes. Yes I do.

how do you say ebay in Canada, aye?

originally posted by: galaga
If you don't have a job and you don't know what to do, eBay bro, eBay.

And a history of medical profession work and all the items that come with it bro, all the items that come with it.

You have me hooked...

Just sold the missus for a great price...

Right. Where are my pet dogs!?

Warmest

Lags

originally posted by: Lagomorphe
You have me hooked...

Just sold the missus for a great price...

Right. Where are my pet dogs!?

Warmest

Lags

Man why didn't you offer a bundle before I purchased?

originally posted by: intrepid

originally posted by: Lagomorphe
You have me hooked...

Just sold the missus for a great price...

Right. Where are my pet dogs!?

Warmest

Lags

Man why didn't you offer a bundle before I purchased?

Bundle of wives or pet dogs?

Errmmm... the buyer of my missus has just asked if he can return her, even offered me the triple of what he paid plus transport costs...

Glad that my wifes english isn't that good and that she doesn't come on Eba... Erm ATS...

Kindest respects

Lags

I'll echo the advice of an Amazon store. We are currently liquidating our tack shop inventory....(closed it, as a) we no longer have anyone there to man it, b) never made much from it anyhow, and c) want to do something else with the space....

Currently, just being available on a weekend day, we're selling through a lot of it, making hundreds on those days....so worth it.

Once we get a lot gone though, probably going to do something like the Amazon bit, to get rid of the rest of it.

I do like buying from E-Bay, but that's about it.

Like olaru, I focus on musical instruments. Mainly guitars and bass. And some watches.

As for selling, I think a lot depends on what you are selling and how much its worth.

Most selling sites take their cut, but tend to do it in different ways. So, eBay likes to double dip with PayPal, Amazon is pricey per month but IS a standardized fee, and sites like reverb have fixed limits on their % that are lower than eBay (but have a smaller market).

Really, my personal annoyance is.. err.. *idiots* bidding on eBay. The amount of times I've seen bidding wars that bring the item WAY beyond what it should cost is astonishing. Likewise, it seems like folks feel they must be getting a good deal if, say, the headstock is broken on a guitar.. so will spend whatever is necessary to win. Frequently equal to the cost of a brand new one..

I think the trick in buying is finding the items that have somehow fallen through the cracks, as there is a dedicated audience for every market. Conversely, the trick in selling is ensuring your items never fall through the cracks using everything from nice, artistic and informative shots to proper titles/description.

As long as your items don't escape notice, you are likely to get a good price selling them in my experience. When buying, its all about the opposite, which can take weeks of looking as well as the seemingly rare ability to walk away when the deal isn't right any more.

ETA: I also think trying to find a niche can be helpful, though not at all necessary. In my case, I do work on the guitars before reselling. So, ill do a proper fret level, general setup, some body work, new strings (Elixir, always), and pack them with a cable, picks, sometimes a gig bag or hard case.

The proper setup and fret work alone is a pretty nice selling point.

Really, my personal annoyance is.. err.. *idiots* bidding on eBay. The amount of times I've seen bidding wars that bring the item WAY beyond what it should cost is astonishing. Likewise, it seems like folks feel they must be getting a good deal if, say, the headstock is broken on a guitar.. so will spend whatever is necessary to win. Frequently equal to the cost of a brand new one..

Wouldn't that make you happy? I mean, if they're spending too much, and YOU are getting it....

Me, I put in a bid, and then set a "max" bid when bidding on an item. If it goes over that, oh well, I'm out, and don't even ever have to check it again, just my notifications. Pretty handy feature.

a reply to: galaga

I've made a few bucks on ebay before. I sold some money, stamps, toys, an old camera and postcards. The postcards were the most surprising as they brought the most money. One sold for about $75 USD. That was amazing to me and I easily could've gotten the bug for selling online.
There are some facebook groups for buying and selling, locally, that are easier IMO then ebay although you don't reach as many potential customers, obviously.
I like the 'give away' or 'pay it forward' groups to get rid of unwanted items that generally wouldn't fetch much money and may be a gift to someone else.
So glad that you are finding success.