Getting rid of extra stuff around your home is a great way to improve your living space as well as get you a little extra cash. When you decide tosell your stuff there are many good ways to do this, one great place to go is to ebay. Like I mentioned in my previous article selling your used stuff, I will try and document some of my sales to try and see what worked and what didn’t.
Today I am going to talk about a recent sale I made on ebay. What I ended putting up for auction actually wasn’t a used item but an item that was purchased for me as a gift that never left the box.
A few years back I received a digital photo frame as a gift. I actually remember at the time being pretty stoked about the gift and I was all geared up to load a bunch of cool photos that I had on my computer onto the frame.
Well, over 3 years later the box was still laying in the corner of my office collecting dust. For months I told myself I was going to put it on ebay or try and sell it to a friend, but procrastination would always get the best of me and I would do nothing with it.
Well that was until a few weeks ago. During the holidays I took some days off and was doing some picking up around the house and finally decided that I would put it on ebay right then and there.
I decided to enter in the UPC number instead of taking a picture of the frame. Since it was new I didn’t think a picture of the actual box would help the sale all too much and the stock photos they associate with your auction usually look pretty good.
I also started the auction of at $15.99. I know many folks say start it at 99 cents so the fees are lower and it gets early bidders but I wasn’t worried about that. The reason I started it out at $15.99 is because I truly did not want less than that for the frame. If the frame never sold I merely would have found what friends and family have birthdays coming up and gave it to one of them. I kind of like having the idea of a set price that I won’t go under, and if I cannot get that price I will give it away on my own terms.
I also used ebay’s built in description of the photo frame. I figure these descriptions were already professionally made and probably hit on many points of interest to buyers that I might overlook. I did add a bit of a description at the beginning but basically let the built in description do all the heavy lifting.
So what happened?
It sold for $60! Woo Hoo!
Needless to say, I was pretty pleased with receiving $60 for something that had been collecting dust in my office for years. I know this is only a fraction of the original price but that is besides the point. If I hadn’t used it for all these years I highly doubt that I would use it anytime soon. Besides, I don’t really want to spend any more on electricity, which the digital photo frame would surely add to.
So what are some pointers that we can take away from this that may help you sell your used stuff online?
1. ebay has some pretty good stock photos. Use these if optional and if your item is used add your own for transparency.
2. Use ebay’s descriptions. These descriptions can give details about your item that you may miss in your own description. Don’t forget though that personalization is still important and you may want to add something yourself.
3. Have a price limit. I would have felt pretty burned if my photo frame would have sold for $1 or something very low. I would much rather had given it as a gift to a friend.
4. Quit procrastinating. I did it for years. Who know what I would have gotten for this item a few years ago when it was a much newer product. Also, in that time the purchasing power of my money probably has gone down (you get the idea) not to mention the potential opportunity costs.
(Obviously follow this advice at your own risk. I believe these aspects helped my item sell for a decent amount but I suppose what I did was completely wrong and I could have gotten $200 for my item. You be the judge.)
By no means am I an expert at selling your used stuff on ebay. All I can do is document how I went about it and try and figure out what I did right and wrong. Maybe I should have put it up before Christmas? Maybe I should have coupled it with some other crap in my house. Who knows?
Overall I am happy with my experience. I got to throw a couple of extra bucks into my bank account and un-clutter my home office. I also picked up a few things that I think worked pretty well this time.
Undoubtedly, I will learn more about selling my used stuff online the more I do it.
Hint…I recently made my first sale using Craigslist and it went equally as well. More on this coming soon.
I hope you are able to take something away from this and maybe use a technique I tried to your own advantage.
Do you have any suggestions of techniques you use when selling your stuff? Let us know!
Ian
The 30SS
We sell stuff on Craigslist from time to time, usually several times a year. It’s a nice way to make a little extra money and de-clutter at the same time. Our biggest lesson learned is pictures are a must to get serious bidders.
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Definitely. I have yet to buy anything on Craigslist, but any time I have looked for something I filter out the results that don’t include pics.
I’ve sold on Craigslist before, but I need to conquer my ebay fears and get on there. It seems to be a much better place to sell some collectibles and other things.
It’s handy to know about the UPS features on eBay. That makes life a lot simpler! Thanks!
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Ha, I was basically the opposite, a little nervous of Craigslist.
Yes, eBay has a wider reach, so you can get your item in front of more interested people. I think that is better like you said for collectibles and smaller, cheaper goods in general.
Glad to know I could help Alex!
I usually just opt for Craigslist unless it is computer parts. Then I sell on eBay. I’ve had pretty good luck at moving items on Craigslist. I find that you really need to be patient, diligent at re-posting, and making sure to price your item correctly.
Once, I dragged Brian out of bed at 5am to go pick up a free guitar. I researched it, put an ad up on Craigslist at about 70% of the asking price on eBay and promptly sold it on Craigslist later that same day for a nice chunk of $$
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Nice! That’s pretty sweet that you were able to make a few bucks like that. What kind of guitar was it? I like the idea, sounds like it could be fun.
I think I got totally lucky with my first sell on Craigslist. I put it up on Thursday evening and had a buyer by 9 am Friday. They also didn’t try to negotiate the price at all, just said “If you still have it, I want it.” I know I will need to lower my expectations for my next item but it is nice to start hot out of the gates!
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