I was one of the early folks to get involved with ebay. I registered and started selling in May 1997, just 20 months after ebay came into existence. It was a natural next step for me as I had been selling collectibles since 1986 through a mail-order catalog and at antique and collectible shows in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Virginia.
Ebay was great from day one. It lowered my overhead tremendously and gave me a worldwide audience for my items. At my peak, in early 2000 when I was between jobs, I was running 100 auctions at all times. That year, I grossed nearly $14,000 in sales. My best month I took in over $2,600.
After getting back to work, I gradually drifted away from ebay. I've gone through spurts where I've gotten back into it for a couple of weeks, made some money and then stopped again. Not for any particular reason. Mostly just because I'm busy with other things. My total ebay sales in 2007 were under $1,000 and some of that was things I sold for my mom when she sold her house.
The problem is that I still have a TON of stuff that was bought for resale. Thousands of dollars of merchandise that is dead money sitting in my basement or garage. At this point, I'd be quite happy to regain the space and get whatever I can get for the stuff, even if some things sell for less than I paid for them. I'd rather have some money that I can spend or invest than have a bunch of unwanted stuff sitting around.
So with that in mind, my goal is to start listing on ebay again after the first of the year. I don't want to go nuts because I know that ebay can be time consuming. I figure if I can list a minimum of 5 items/week, that would be good. Anything that doesn't sell, goes either in the yard sale pile or the give-away pile. I'd like to have a yard sale in the spring, maybe late April or May. Then if it doesn't sell, it goes to Goodwill and I take the tax deduction for the stuff. At least we'll be rid of it in the house.
Once I get started, I'll be sure and post about how things are going and what kind of progress I'm making.
One 2008 Goal - Ebay, Ebay, Ebay
December 23rd, 2007 at 11:21 pm
December 24th, 2007 at 12:17 am 1198455457
I enjoy reading your blog and especially your well thought out comments in the forums. I have also made Ebay a goal for 2008. I have never sold anything on it and don't know the first thing about it, but I'm hoping it's not too complicated. I'm going to make it part of my "challenge" and put whatever money I can toward my HELOC. Good luck!
December 24th, 2007 at 12:56 am 1198457791
December 24th, 2007 at 01:36 am 1198460168
December 24th, 2007 at 02:51 am 1198464687
December 24th, 2007 at 05:39 am 1198474797
How is eBay today as a means of continual reselling? How about normal eBaying vs. eBay stores?
December 24th, 2007 at 01:24 pm 1198502675
I have no personal experience with ebay stores so I can't answer that part of your question.