If It’s Not Nailed Down or Breathing, It’s Fair Game

Have you heard of this newfangled thing called eBay? Where you post pictures of your stuff and people buy it? Yeah, I know. I’m a little late to the party. But if, like me, you’re slightly behind (ahem) the technology curve, I’m here to tell you – it’s so easy! And people do in fact buy your stuff! Seriously, it’s like free money.

I think I’d been avoiding it because it seemed complicated. You know, you have to take good pictures and upload them and write pithy descriptions and figure out how to take payment and myriad other super-challenging tasks that aren’t challenging at all. I also thought since I don’t have a track record as a “Top Seller!” no one would risk buying from me.

Let me break it down: It’s not complicated. And people give you their money.

I sold my first six items last week, and just listed eight more. eBay takes 9% of the final sale amount, plus there are minimal listing fees (none of my items cost more than .75 each), but beyond that (assuming you cover your shipping costs), there’s money to be made. Here’s how I did it:

Look around your house for stuff you don’t need. Trust me – there’s plenty. Even a minimalist like me was surprised to find cute tchotchkes I don’t love anymore, clothes I never wear, and a laptop bag that’s way too big for my current Mac. Tip: just because something is “nice,” doesn’t mean you should keep it.

Take pictures of said stuff. Make sure they’re as close up as possible but still clear. Take them against an undistracting background, like the back of a couch (unless your couch is a ‘60s floral, in which case you might want to consider selling that, too). Use your computer software to trim the image down so it mostly shows just the item for sale. Tip: Watch out for reflections of you in the surface of the item, unless you want a permanent record of you in your pajamas with your hair in ponytails floating around the Internet.

Start a Word doc (mine is imaginatively called “stuff for sale”) and write descriptions of your stuff. eBay says the more descriptive you are, the better, and that makes sense. People like to know what they’re getting. Include details such as color, material, dimensions, and condition (e.g. “like new” or “slightly worn”). Tip: Be honest. You don’t want to gloss the truth, then have the buyer be surprised and ship it back.

Figure out what to ask for as the starting bid. This takes some research. I looked at what similar items were selling for on eBay, and thought about what I’d pay for the same item. I may have priced a couple items too low in the first round, but think I did a better job with this second batch. Tip: Unless the item is really valuable, think of whatever you get as free money. Some cash for something you never use or even like is better than no cash and space taken up in your house.

Figure out how much to charge for shipping. This also takes some research, and it seems that most sellers ship USPS Priority Mail, since parcel post isn’t much cheaper and is a lot slower. If you’ll need special packaging (I had to buy a poster tube for $2.50 at the post office), make sure to factor that in. Tip: If you have a bathroom scale, use it. It’s much easier to accurately estimate postage when you weigh each item.

Open an eBay account. This is easy, it basically means choosing a username, password, and method of payment.

Choose your method of payment. The safest and easiest seems to be PayPal, and there are no fees to use it. Mine is linked to my Visa, which then deposits to my checking account.

Post your listing. You post your picture (the first one’s free in most cases, though it’s only .15 for extras), cut and paste your pithy description, use the drop-downs for the descriptors (e.g. “leather” or “Banana Republic”), plug in your starting bid and shipping cost/method, and any other services you want to include. I didn’t use the “buy now” feature, but I made it a ten-day auction period with a one-day turnaround on shipment, and offered a seven-day return policy, buyer paying for return shipping. Again, I just thought about it as a buyer – I’d feel better buying an item from a stranger off the Internet if I knew I could return it.

Wait for the cash to roll in. After shipping costs (I lost a tiny bit because I underpriced it) and eBay’s take, I netted about $145. Not a ton of money, but better than a sharp stick in the eye. And it’s fun to watch toward the end of the auction – buyers start bidding, and in one case (a leather jacket) I even had a down-to-the-wire bidding war. Nice.

Ship your stuff to the buyer. Like I said, I shipped within one day of receiving payment. (You can send a reminder invoice after the auction closes, and three of my five buyers paid the same day I sent it, two only a couple days later. After I received payment I emailed to thank them.) I used bubble wrap for the fragile items, included a little note, and emailed to let the buyer know when I’d shipped and how.

Selling stuff on eBay is addictive, and the potential cash reward definitely motivates you to clean out the closet. I’ll probably do another round after this second one, and have even considered scouting the local thrift stores for stuff I could resell.

Anyone have any eBay tips to share?