I've heard a lot of ebay-bashing lately on a couple of different forums due to the fee changes and feedback changes. People are saying they will stop selling on ebay and switch to Craigslist or have a yard sale or just give the stuff away and take a tax deduction.

I've been selling on ebay since 1997 so I've seen lots of changes over the years, but I still think they've got the best deal in town.

I had taken a break from ebay for a while, but started selling again at the end of December. Since then, I've listed 25 items. 22 have sold, so an 88% success rate. Last week, I was 5 for 5 with all items selling.

I listed another 5 items last nite. I had 1 watcher within 15 minutes. By this morning, I had 1 item with a bid and a total of 7 watchers on 4 of 5 items. By this afternoon, I had 3 bids on 2 items and still had 7 watchers. So odds are good that at least 4 items will sell this week.

I don't know of any other venue where I can get that kind of exposure and that type of response to selling my stuff. Yes, fees have gradually increased and it isn't as lucrative as it once was, but it still beats everything else out there.

My latest auctions ended last night and 5 of 5 sold for a total of $39.97. Not too shabby and that's 5 more things not taking up space in our home. That makes 22 sales so far since I started selling again at the end of December. Total sales have been $171.85. And, more importantly, 22 items are gone from the house.

I actually didn't list anything last night. We had been up since 3am to get my daughter to her ski trip and then we were in Atlantic City all day. I was exhausted and was in bed just after 9:00 which left no time for ebay stuff. I'll prepare auctions during the week and list again next Sunday.

I realized it has been a week since my last post. Not a whole lot has happened financially, though earlier tonight I transferred $1,000 from the money market in one of my Vanguard IRA accounts to purchase more shares of the international fund. I've been gradually doing that and had forgotten the past couple of months. I want to build up my international exposure which is much too low currently.

DW and I are going to Atlantic City tomorrow. DD is going on the youth group ski trip - her first time. She'll be snowboarding, not skiing. Hopefully, she'll let the instructor work with her and take instruction well (not always her best attribute). I'm looking forward to the day as I haven't been to the casino since the day after Thanksgiving. We're also meeting friends for lunch while we're there. They spend most weekends down there.

Our portfolio has recovered a bit from it's low point a couple of weeks ago. I'm hoping that the market will stabilize, though I'm still taking advantage of buying opportunities so staying flat isn't such a bad thing.

I'm still doing my doctor surveys - just did one tonight for $100 and got a check for $30 on Thursday from one I did last month.

Haven't done my taxes yet. I've pretty much got all the paperwork together. I just need to tally up my ebay sales for the year. Then I'll give my accountant/cousin a call to make an appointment.

Speaking of ebay, I have continued to list 5 items/week except for the week before and week of the Superbowl. Of my current auctions, 3 have bids and 1 other has 4 watchers so will probably sell. Only one looks like it may go unsold as it has no bids or watchers. They all end tomorrow evening.

I guess that's all for now.

It has been one month since I started selling on ebay again. I listed my first items on December 27 when they had a listing fee sale and my most recent auctions ended a short time ago. I figured that was a good time to tally up how I'm doing so far.

Just to review, I've been a collectibles dealer since 1986 and sold actively on ebay from 1997 until a few years ago. I even sold full-time back in 2000 when I was between jobs for a while. Then I got away from it but still have a basement full of stock to sell. So one goal for 2008 was to start selling again, mainly to get rid of stuff and free up space. Any money made will just be a bonus in the process.

So after one month, I have had 17 items sell and 6 items not sell. My sales have totaled $131.88. I haven't totaled up the net profit yet, but as I said, the main thing is that there are now 17 fewer items taking up space around here. I'd say that was a good month.

I normally do my listings on Sunday night, but I'm going to skip listing today because I don't want things ending next Sunday when everyone is tied up watching the Superbowl. I may list tomorrow night instead.

I currently have 6 items listed on ebay. Between them, they have 14 watchers but only 2 bids. Folks, if you are interested in the item, place a darn bid. Don't wait to see what everyone else is going to do. Be bold. Take action. Make the first move.

My latest auctions just ended a short time ago. So far, in my efforts to get back into doing the ebay thing on a regular basis, I have listed 11 items and sold 7, so about a 64% success rate thus far.

As per my plan, I also just listed 5 more items. I also opted to relist one of the items that didn't sell today with a lower starting price. It is a very nice piece, but happens to weigh about 4 pounds so postage is costly. I'm hoping the lower price attracts a buyer.

My first batch of 6 auctions ended today. 4 of 6 items sold for a total of $13.31. It isn't much, but 3 of the 4 items that sold are things that cost me nothing, so that's not so bad. Also, I do add a small handling fee to my shipping charge to help cover materials and auction/Paypal fees.

I did screw up one of the auction listings, though, and didn't discover my error until today. I somehow listed the wrong postage amount, undercharging by a few dollars. I'm going to try and repackage the item more compactly so it won't cost as much to ship. It will still be more than what I charged, but hopefully not too much over.

I have 5 remaining active auctions that end on Sunday. As of right now, 1 has a bid, 1 has 2 watchers and 1 has 3 watchers, so they'll probably sell. I plan to list 5 more items every Sunday.

I also used ebay to purchase some shipping supplies today. A lot of my items get shipped in 6x9 bubble mailer envelopes. I bought 12 at Staples a while ago but I'm going to need more. I checked Staples.com and they charge 13.98 for 25. I searched ebay and was able to get 25 for $10.10. For all you ebayers out there, anytime you need supplies - envelopes, bubble wrap, tape, etc., check ebay first. The prices can't be beat.

As I posted earlier, one goal for 2008 is to start selling on ebay again, something I used to do a lot and have gotten away from.

On 12/27, I took advantage of the 10-cent listing sale and posted 6 items. Then on Sunday, 12/30, the day I traditionally do my ebay listings, I added 5 more items. So I now have 11 auctions going - 6 end on the 3rd and 5 end on the 6th.

As of right now, 3 items have bids. A couple more have watchers. So I'm up and running and on my way. I haven't really set any monetary goal for my sales. I'm really more interested in decluttering and freeing up some space in our basement. The money will be a nice bonus, though.

As per my earlier post, one goal for 2008 is to start selling on ebay again, partly to make a few bucks and partly to declutter the house.

I was going to wait until after the first of the year to start, but then I saw on one of the boards that ebay had a 10-cent listing fee sale today, so I figured I should take advantage of that. I listed 6 items. Normally, the listing fee would be $.40. Today it was $.10. So I saved $1.80 by listing those items today.

Now I just have to sit back and watch and hope they sell. Anything that doesn't sell will either go in the yard sale pile or to Goodwill. No matter what, it will be gone soon.