As I read through posts on social media lately, I have run across a lot of people looking for help earning extra money. Some are in need of extra money on an ongoing basis so are looking for a part-time job. Others are in need of extra money fairly quickly to pay an unexpected bill. I always want to shout to them, “Sell your stuff on eBay to earn some extra money.” It makes perfect sense to me and I don’t understand why everyone hasn’t jumped on the eBay bandwagon yet.
My eBay Story
Here’s a little about my own experience so you will see where I’m coming from. I was fortunate to be able to be a stay-at-home mom when my children were growing up. This was in the mid-1990s and people had just started to talk about eBay. I have always been an entrepreneur in my heart and did things like selling Avon, selling Silpada jewelry and teaching classes through Adult Education programs in my town. Although I had heard great things about eBay, I didn’t understand how it worked and didn’t even know how to load pictures from my camera onto my computer. By 2010, my financial situation had changed and I was a single mom in need of some extra money. I decided to learn how to sell a few things on eBay. With a quick tutoring session from my teen-aged daughter about loading pictures onto my computer, I listed two pieces of jewelry that I never wore anymore. I was amazed that within the first week a bracelet that I had listed on eBay sold for $27.00 and a necklace for $45.00. Granted, eBay and Paypal took a small percentage out of those amounts, but that was still a nice chunk of money for not having to do very much and get rid of some items just lying around my house.
By 2010, my financial situation had changed and I was a single mom in need of some extra money. I decided to learn how to sell a few things on eBay. With a quick tutoring session from my teen-aged daughter about loading pictures onto my computer, I listed two pieces of Silpada jewelry that I never wore anymore. I was amazed that within the first week a bracelet that I had listed on eBay sold for $27.00 and a necklace for $45.00. Granted, eBay and Paypal took a small percentage out of those amounts, but that was still a nice chunk of money for not having to do very much and get rid of some items just lying around my house.
This “Julia” Barbie doll that I had in my basement from the 1960’s sold on eBay for $29.95
But life got busy and I didn’t list anything else on eBay until the Fall of 2012 when my daughter headed off to college. I definitely was looking for some extra money for college tuition, and so I started looking around my home for other things to sell. I sold everything from my old dolls to my daughter’s student clarinet from her first year of high school. I sold a lot of items stashed away in closets and in the basement but my best sellers were my old Barbie dolls from the 1960s, that clarinet ($149.95!), American Girl Dolls, brand name clothing I didn’t wear anymore, Christmas tree ornaments and small antiques that I had picked up over the years but no longer wanted.
This student clarinet that had been my daughter’s in high school sold on eBay for $149.95 just 19 minutes after I listed it!
I had so much fun selling on eBay that I continued to sell and started shopping for items to sell on eBay that I found at thrift stores. I currently have an eBay store with between 350 – 450 items in it at any given time. I love going to Goodwill stores and thrift stores looking for treasures to resell for a profit. In fact, I enjoy it so much I started a blog just about thrift store shipping for eBay!
eBay Seller Stories
Now not everyone that sells on eBay has to start a business like I did. There are many eBay sellers who still just sell what they have around their home and earn extra money. Here are a few examples of people I know who sold extra items around their house that they were not using anymore.
Christine S. from Massachusetts
Christine had two porcelain animals sitting in her guest room that had been passed down from a relative. She decided to see how much they were worth on eBay and were surprised they were selling for such a large amount. She listed them on eBay and within one month, one with a crack in it sold for $20.00 and the other one sold for $100.00, for a combined total of $120.00. Not too bad for items that previously had just been sitting on her shelf collecting dust.
Christine says, “…I was excited at how well I was able to showcase the two items so that buyers could get excited about wanting to buy them. I am inspired to go through our treasures and sell some on eBay to make room for our new purchases which now reflect where we are at this point in our lives. It would be great for others to continue to enjoy items that have meant so much to us in earlier years and know they are going to people who truly value them…”
Arline C. from Connecticut
Arline first got started on eBay a few years ago. She says, “The reason I got started on eBay was because I was having a yard sale and using eBay to check how to price some items. I noticed that cookie mold (below) was actually selling for over $30 and knew I could only ask a couple bucks for it at a yard sale, so I finally tried eBay. Once I realized how easy it was, I kept going from there.”
Here are a few examples of items she has sold just from around her home, and as you will notice in Arline’s case, she was quite successful with her husband’s vintage toys from the 1960s:
Fireball XL5 Space City (bought in the 1960’s for $4.50): sold for over $400
1961 Matchbox Station: $78.80
Several 1960’s metal Tonka trucks that sold for between $60 and $120 each
A set of four vintage Tom Swift books: $26.00
A Bose radio with a broken am dial: $65.99
A Vintage authentic New York Mets jacket: $137.00
A 1980’s Laura Ashley sweater with a winter pattern: $43.00
The cookie mold mentioned above: $38.00
An old charm bracelet: $33.00
Judy D. From Missouri
You know that old saying, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure?” Well after looking around on what was selling on eBay, Judy says, “I realized I had one man’s junk!”
She started listing things from her home on eBay. Her list includes extra clothing her boys had outgrown, linens, kitchen items, Christmas decorations, and collectibles. She feels she did well on eBay that first year because she studied a lot to see what was selling, and she learned how to style pictures of the items she was selling in a way that attracted buyers. Judy says using a good camera also helps.
In her first year of selling items on eBay from around her house, Judy made $3,000!
Ready to Get Started Selling on eBay?
Now I know a lot of you reading this could use some extra money. Why don’t you stop reading this and head to your basement or attic and find some junk just lying around that you don’t need or use anymore? Someone is waiting to buy your junk because they consider it their treasure! eBay will give you 50 free listing each month so it costs you nothing to start selling on eBay.
If you need help getting started selling on eBay, here’s a link to an article that should help:
How to Sell on ebay – Make money by Selling on ebay – How to Guide – Part 1
If you want to tell your story about how you started selling junk on eBay to make extra money, please leave it in the comment section below!
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