Day 33
Like most people I can always use a little extra cash, especially around the holidays. It's not the gifts so much as my truck and car insurance is due at the beginning of December, then the license plates come due in March and a few months after that the truck and car insurance is due again. Of course, all of the holidays and events. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, college bowl games, Super Bowl, Valentines Day, and tax day. All require money and spending. I'm not required to spend the money (except the taxes) but I like to celebrate and a little extra cash is helpful.
This is were the allure of Ebay comes in. Selling used castoffs in my case. I started like most ebayers selling items found around the house that I didn't want anymore. I simply read a book about selling on Ebay, opened an account and started selling. Soon my own personal treasure trove was empty so I went in search of more quality used goods I could sell. First I tried estate and garage sales. Most people have a high regard for what their used items are worth, often asking near new prices no matter the condition of the item. Next and foremost I went to thrift stores buying garage sale donations at more reasonable prices.
Shopping was good until thrift stores started asking Ebay prices for some of the high quality and not so high quality items. Even placing hand made signs quoting Ebays asking price (silly since Ebays selling prices are very fluid). I have even found items with labels destroyed to devalue them to discourage resellers. Thereby also discouraging their intended buyers from purchasing. Bad business. But this is not a lesson in business practices.
After some trial and error I settled on clothes as the best for availability, cost of goods, demand and shipping costs. There are always plenty of quality items available at low prices, since clothing is the life blood of most thrift stores. Travelling from place to place perusing, haggling and sometimes purchasing was actually the fun part and I hate shopping.
Then came the dull drudgery of listing the items for sale. Setting up a small photo studio with lights and a half mannequin. Examining the clothes under harsh lighting for flaws I may have missed. Holes, tears and missing buttons. Also odors undetectable in the store. Lost inventory goes into a pile off to the side. Sizes mean nothing, you have to measure each item and include in the body of the listing. Take lots of good pictures of each item in front of a pleasing background, thus the small photo studio.
Sit down in front of the computer, load and check the photos, adjust for brightness and clarity. Think of an eye catching title that will get a buyer to look at your item. Write a description that accurately describes the item and gives it purchasing appeal. Research asking and actual selling prices to set your price either for maximum profit (higher) or quick sale (lower). Most sellers start out asking the former but end up accepting the later. Listing quickly became a chore. So you'll understand that my shopping far outran my listing and selling.
Only a small number of your items will sell at a profit and much of that is eaten up by Ebay fees, the cost of goods sold and (my favorite) shipping costs (my largest single expense is shipping). Remember each listing costs 30 cents, not much until you have a couple hundred listings, a bare minimum to make any money. And that is just a quick synopsis.
I had bags of unlisted clothing stashed in every closet. Soon they overflowed into my living room. My home became an obstacle course of trash bags filled with used clothes. I was on the verge of becoming a reality TV show on hoarding. My little project to make a few extra dollars became a job of long hours (listing) with little pay (profits) to show for my labors.
A few days ago I decided I had had enough and began to "clean house". I have gone through countless bags and gleaned the best possible items with the most potential to sell. The rest have been returned to the local thrift store for resale or donation to the needy. Either way they are out of my house. I must go to work and list these items now during the selling season to squeeze the profit out of what I have left. Come summer whatever is left goes to the thrift store.
I haven't given up on making money online from my home, I have just moved on from clothing. Now I have an item I can readily acquire from my home at minimal cost, shipping is very low and I can sell on more than one venue. The best part is these items take a mere fraction of the room the clothing did. My new idea? Well that's for another time.
I'm getting my home back and that's the main thing.
Until tomorrow,
Ken
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