What can't you sell on ebay?!?!

I felt like writing about some ebay stories today, rather than my ranting and raving about a particular company. I have always been one to buy things online over buying things in the store. Just ask my brother. I am always telling him about the prices of something at buy.com, or bestbuy.com or some other place. Recently though, I realized that ebay is a great place to start for almost any item. Especially ones that wouldn't bother you if they were used (books, movies, games, light bulbs, parts, accesories). I have had great luck in the past selling basically anything and everything on ebay. I have sold used bowling balls, books, movies, CDs, old routers, old computer speakers, old computer monitors, old car magazines, a portable refrigerator, fans, and more. Basically, I think that any item you are staring at one weekend, thinking about replacing or just tossing entirely, it is worth it to post it up on ebay first. For your basic item, it is about $1.00 to post with some pictures, and for books it is even less (free to post if you use half.com or amazon over ebay). Sure there are some closing fees, but only if the items sell. If it doesn't sell, you are just out the posting fee. But if you do sell it, you make a little money for something that you were just going to discard.

Sometimes it is a bit disappointing to not sell an item. However, I can think of several times I did post something that I did not expect to sell and then it would go for a profit of maybe $5, $10, or maybe more. No it is not a fortune, but it helps offset the next item you do buy.

As to selling tips that I have observed, think of the same things that entice you to buy something from a particular online store. Free shipping is huge. Free shipping has made all the difference in selling items on ebay. However, you need to be sure that you get a good estimate of the shipping costs and figure that in to your price. The best thing I have seen is to take advantage of the Post Office. In particular, any media item should be sent media mail. It is dirt cheap. But, you have to make sure your item qualifies. It can't have any advertisements in it, that is the main rule. But there are others. Also, for larger items, the USPS has flat rate Priority mail boxes. These are great. No matter the weight of the item, the boxes are a flat price. Perfect for things like old magazines that weight a lot, but aren't large. Also good if you were to sell barbells, or something similar that is heavy but small. If your item does not fit into a flat rate box, and is not a book, then FedEX or UPS is the way to go. USPS has other options for large items, but their prices typically don't compare, and often times will be twice as much.

The other major thing that ebay has going for it is the lack of taxes. Some of the big time ebay stores have taxes depending on the state, but most do not. Free shipping, no taxes, sounds just like Delaware.

As for buying things on ebay, I have had great luck buying things like dress shirts and books, but also most recently compact fluorescent and LED light bulbs. These things are pricey to buy in the store, but there were some nice deals on larger lots of bulbs on ebay. Especially for a homeowner, you could get 20 60 Watt Compact bulbs for less than $20, and with free shipping. Sure these bulbs probably fell off a truck, but just don't think about that when you are enjoying cheaper energy bills.

Until next time...