A couple months ago, inspired by the blog
My Dear Trash, I decided to try Ebay selling. It has been a great fit- I love the excitement of the hunt at Savers' dollar day. I already make multiple weekly trips to the post office with
Sorella Bella, so combined with my love of shopping- Ebay selling makes sense.
Here is my experience for those of you thinking of selling on Ebay. In the first 60 days I made, net, about $1000. The first few weeks you don't make much and posting items seems to take forever. As time goes on, you learn to be selective about items to post for sale, and you learn tricks to post more quickly. My goal is to get up to $250/ week.
1. Buy a postal scale. I got the Escali for $20.00 on Amazon (certain colors are less expensive). It has paid for itself multiple times. When an item is paid for, I find it and weigh it. If it is 13 oz or less, I package it in a poly bag and send it first class. If it is over, I try my hardest to stuff it into a flat rate envelope ($4.75).
2. When you want to put a bulky item into a flat rate envelope, it helps to prepare the envelope by using your fist to flatten the bottom.
3. Always ship through Ebay. You save a little on postal costs, but the real plum is the free or (for first class) discounted delivery confirmation. In the 2 months I have been doing this, I have had 2 buyers claim to not receive packages. One was an expensive BCBG Maxazria suit I had paid more than $1 for... plus the shipping! Lesson learned- always ship online through Ebay, and you never have that problem. Delivery confirmation is always applied and Ebay automatically gets the tracking number.
4. The reason I didn't use Ebay shipping at first is because I thought it would be complicated. It's not! You just need a scale (for first class or parcels, not flat rate envelopes), and a printer.
5. I purchased 2/sheet labels from an
ebay seller- 200 for $10.40. They are ok, but you still need to trim them and put tape over the edges and address. In the future, I will just print on paper and use a handy dandy tape gun.
6. Like they say at My Dear Trash, price the item at what you want to get for it (using completed listings for reference). Oftentimes, you only get one bid. If that doesn't sell (but had several watchers), I'll list it at the same price for a second week. If it STILL doesn't sell, I'll lower the price a bit. The fourth week I lower even more- to as low as $2.99. I charge 6.95 shipping, 14.95 International.
7. Get to know brands. If it sells at a middle or lower range department store, avoid. You want brands that have followings. My top sellers so far have been anything BCBG Maxazria or J.Jill, and NWT Ralph Lauren and Jones New York items.