One of my best sales from the challenge is “Bill the Cat.” I bought him for $.99 at the thrift store and sold him for $99.99 out of my store. Recent auctions for this plush have ranged from $30 to $67. You can learn all about him if you type in his name in a Wikepedia search. I think mine sold for higher than average because he is wearing the “For President” ribbon.
Categories: Diane
I think it’s time to start looking for Christmas items when you’re out hunting and getting those Christmas items listed!! I just sold four Christmas items out of my store this weekend.
Diane
Categories: Diane
Okay, I must confess, life and my other job have taken over (excuses, excuses), and I am really behind on my paperwork, so I don’t have a chart to post yet.
On to the highlights: I have actually had several challenge sales this past month, and sold them from my ebay store as well as auction. I thought I’d list some of the highlights…. (more…)
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Can anyone tell me the cheapest and safest way to ship breakable china, plates, dishes, etc.
I have been shipping priority mail, but the cost seems to be high.
Thanks a bunch,
Diane
Categories: Diane
Diane’s challenge sales for week ending 5/18/08:
I only listed 2 additional challenge items and this week I sold three challenge items.
The non-challenge items I listed were things I already had in my garage that I had procrastinated about listing and some cigarette lighters that were my father-in-law’s.
| Ended | eBay Sold | Amazon Sold | Cost | List Fees | FV Fees | PayPal Fees | Incid. Fees | Miles | Net Profit | Total |
| 5/11 | $183.47 | $59.99 | $35.35 | $6.30 | $18.04 | $8.65 | $0.00 | $24.75 | $150.37 | $150.37 |
| 5/18 | $77.98 | $12.85 | $1.93 | $6.55 | $1.32 | $5.05 | $50.28 | $200.65 |
My best sale was the Debbie Mumm penguin. I bought him for 5.35 and sold him to a United Kingdom buyer for $49.99. (At least I hope I did, I haven’t heard from the buyer yet.) These penguins are almost always a good-selling item, especially to overseas buyers. When I have more time I hope to post separately about them and what to look for if you see them. There are three large “Mummford” penguins to be on the lookout for.
(Well, I just heard from my penguin buyer, and he will not be buying the item, so I put him up in my store. I’ll have to adjust the chart.)
Categories: Diane
| Ended | eBay Sold | Amazon Sold | Cost | List Fees | FV Fees | PayPal Fees | Incid. Fees | Miles | Net Profit | Total |
| 5/11 | $157.98 | 0 | $19.43 | $3.05 | $9.55 | $3.75 | $3.25 | $5.05 | $118.95 | $118.95 |
Categories: Diane
I had 5 sales this week, 3 that qualify for the challenge. All 3 sales helped me reach my challenge goal for the week ($100 net profit a week or $400 a month). (more…)
Categories: Diane
I have been garage-saleing for years and should have known better, but I guess some lessons you just have to re-learn the hard way. But two lessons in one day at one sale!!
I had checked Craig’s list early in the week for local garage sales because my time on Saturday was going to be limited I found one right in my neighborhood. She was selling American Girl items. I even emailed her early to see if she would do a pre-sale, but she said no. She emailed me back and said that they would be selling the clothes and accessories for about 30 to 40 percent of retail because they were in “like new condition.” At that point I knew I couldn’t make much of a profit on Ebay, but I decided to attend the sale anyway to see what else might be found.
Promptly at 8:00 a.m. , I lined up with several other American Girl collectors, spied an American Girl armoire and bed on the American Girl table, and once the sale opened, rushed to the American Girl table to grab the doll furniture as others quickly snatched the doll clothing. (The whole table was empty in a matter of minutes.) I did not take the time to inspect my items, asked the price, quickly put my items into my “buy” box, and went on to peruse the other garage sale items, happy that I had found items that combined would sell on Ebay for almost $300.
LESSON #1: Always check your items to make sure they are authentic and carefully check condition. Yep, you guessed it, the items I grabbed were generic Target items, part of the American Heirloom Collection. They are not in mint condition, several scratches and dings. I will probably not recoup the money I spent on them. I am not even sure they will be listed on ebay.
On to Lesson #2. Somtimes it’s cheaper to buy things individually than in lots. You notice I’m not calling them “Mistakes.” I consider every mistake a learning experience (at least it sounds better, doesn’t it?)
I went over to the book area to see what I could find. There I spied a box full of books, looked to contain a wide variety of popular girls’ paperback book series. Instead of individually buying them, I thought, heck, I’ll ask for a “box price.” After a small bit of haggling with the mom seller, we agreed on $15 for the whole box. Meanwhile the daughter seller told me she would sell the books for .25 a piece. Even though I came home with more than 60 books (I haven’t finished counting yet), I would have done better to hand-pick my books and paid the individual price. Would have probably spent a lot less money because my “treasure box” didn’t contain that many treasures.
The upside to this is I’m learning a lot about what children’s book series sell for, which is an area I haven’t sold in before. I am listing all of the books this week, so take a peek if you’d like. Many of them will be listed by this evening. My ebay name is bunniesrgreat.
Would love to hear if anyone else has any “learning experiences” to share?
Diane
Categories: Diane
Hi, my name is Diane and my ebay id is bunniesrgreat. I have been selling on Ebay part-time for almost 10 years, off and on.
My goal for this challenge is $2,000 ($400 a month).
I can’t wait to get started!!
Categories: Diane
