Wednesday, May 11, 2011

How did I get started on E-bay??

Today, I am going to discuss how I got started on E-bay. Back when my son was an infant until he was a toddler I dabbled in selling on E-bay. I sold my maternity clothes, his newborn-toddler clothing, old toys, some of my daughter's clothing, etc. After awhile I lost interest.

Well we must fast forward 5 or 6 years. I was needing to make some Christmas money. I have a friend, Nelda who has been selling off and on for 12 years. She had inspired me to get back started on E-bay. So I hijacked my husband's e-bay account (we had long ago closed our original account) and started selling some of my daughters clothes she had outgrown, some of the kid's toys they no longer played with and other miscellaneous items I had just stored away. I was pleasantly suprised I was able to make around $500 over the course of 5 or 6 weeks plenty to provide a nice Christmas for my family.

I eventually actually ran out of things of my own to sell (which really was amazing as I have a lot of stuff!) Nelda introduced me to the local Goodwill Outlet (I will discuss this store more in a later post) and we started going thrifting at area thrift stores almost every Saturday. I was at the time working full time in Client Services for a major manufacturer of scrubs, but I had been desperate to get back home to be a full time mom. One year after I began to sell I set a personal goal of getting back home by that spring. My husband and I discussed it and knew what I had to do financially with E-bay to make that happen. When I set my mind to something I will accomplish it. Well in March 2010 I was able to leave my job and go back to the best job of all full time mom.

How do you get started?

My suggestion is to first start out selling things from around the house. This really is a win/win situation. You can make much more then you would at a yard sale or consignment store & you are clearing out clutter. Once you have thinned out your own items you should start looking at thrift stores/yard sales for things you are comfortable/familiar with. I sell mainly clothing and shoes. I was not a "connoisseur" of brands, but I discovered I have an eye for fashion (which if you knew me in person you would never guess I am a jeans and t-shirt kinda gal). I also dabble in some vintage collectables as well. What are you interested in? What do you know a lot about? These are some questions you should ask yourself if you are going to get serious about selling.

Have a great day!
Betsy :)

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