The eBay way...

So it’s judgment day for eBay and I’ve earned a whopping $59.47. Not exactly as much as I had planned.

There are, however, a few things I have learned from my eBay experiment:

Shipping Charges – Make sure you get your shipping charges right. Nothing cuts into your profits more than charging $5 for shipping and actually having to pay $15 for an item you sold for $2. GRRRRRRRR!!!!
Wait for a Sale – eBay offers sales from time to time so if you are not in a hurry, get your photos ready and write out your descriptions in word, then when 5 cent listing day arrives you can go nuts for a whole lot cheaper.
Second Chance Offers – If you happen to have duplicate items to sell, take advantage of the second chance offer. You might be able to sell two for the effort it took to sell one. This enables a lower bidder to buy the item from you for the price they bid, even if they didn’t win the original auction.
Beware the Lowball – If you lowball your prices to start a bidding frenzy, BEWARE. Too many times I have put a lowball price on an item that wasn’t being bid on, then BOOM!!! seconds before the auction closes someone swoops in and makes the minimum bid, which is less than I really wanted for the item. Now I’m stuck for the low price. I don’t like reserve bids as it makes bidders upset, but make sure you are willing to take what you have listed.
Not Everything is Saleable – Whoever said one person’s junk is another person’s treasure forgot to mention that sometimes one person’s junk is just junk. I put a lot of time and effort this month (not to mention insertion fees) into items that just will not sell.

Overall, I thought the eBay experiment went alright. I made some money and I learned some lessons, but all in all it was relatively easy to do once I got the hang of it. I think I will keep my eye out for other items to unload, but I don’t think this will be a significant source of income for the rest of this project. However, a dollar is a dollar – especially when that dollar has a 19.5% interest rate attached to it.


Debt balance – same as last time
Credit cards to pay off – 3
“Extra Money” this month - $69.47