eBay

As many of you know, one way in which I supplement my family’s income is by selling my thrift store and yard sale finds on eBay.  It is easy and anyone can really do it as long as you know what to look for! That is why I have decided to share with you my list of 50 things you should look for while scouting items to resell on eBay (in no particular order):

1. Silver. Look for anything marked sterling silver or has one of these silver marks. Don’t worry if it has flaws.
2. Longaberger (not just baskets)
3. Zumba anything. Zumba is a hot fitness craze right now and anything from dvds to video games sell fast.
4. Nike fitness apparel (sport shirts/ pants) for men or women.
5. Barbies that are in the box and in mint condition. The older the better (look for a date on the box). Holiday barbies are a particular favorite of collectors.
6. Wilton Cake Pans (Popular Cartoon Characters with or without insert)
7. Polaroid SX-70 Cameras.
8. Texas Instruments Graphic Calculators regardless of model are always top sellers!
9. Mens Name Brand Dress Shirts (check to make sure buttons are there)
10. Dance shoes for children
11. Cuisinart Food Processor (even parts!)
12. Camera Lenses (esp. Cannon models)
13. Disney Musical Snow Globes
14. Pet clothing (yes, I am serious)
15. Disney DVDs
16. Mary Kay ( most anything that is unused will sell, but check exp. dates)
17. Perfume Bottles (used & new). The older, the better! Even if you think it stinks, if the bottle is glass & pretty, it may be worth something.
18. American Girl (dolls, clothes, accessories)
19. Cashmere anything
20. Le Creuset Enamel bakeware
21. Fiestaware Dishes & Accessories
22. Willow Collectible Figurines
23. Hallmark Ornaments
24. Lego People
25. Ice Skates (youth & adult)
26. Vintage Sewing Patterns
27. Vintage Glasbake mugs with logos (stores, brands, etc)
28. Animal Teapots
29. Martha Stewart Copper Cookie Cutters
30. Starbucks Ceramic Mugs & Venti Tumblers
31. Dog Ceramic & Porceline Figurines (Scottie & Chihuahua)
32. Themed Ceramic Cookie Jars (Cartoon Characters, Logos, Animals, Vintage)
33. Vintage Coke-a-cola
34. Blue Willow patterned China Pieces
35. Harley Davidson apparel
36. Children’s Character Sheets
37. Cake Carriers (vintage & new)
38. Thomas The Train Wooden Trains
39. Maternity Dress
40. Spiral Rollers (even the foam ones)
41. Wall Mounted Push Button or Rotary Phones
42. Weight Watchers PointPlus Calculator & Food Companion books
43. Crock Pots and Slow Cookers (even vintage sells well)
44. Transformers (even without all the parts, some do quite well)
45. Enamel Cast Iron Cookware
46. Pyrex Amber Visionware
47. Costumes (buy now, sell in September)
48. Bakelite Jewelry
49. Rayban Sunglasses (vintage)
50. laptop bags

In the weeks ahead, I will give you more detailed explanations of these items and examples of top dollar sales!

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If you have followed my series on Making Money on eBay, you know that I am always amazed at some of the things that sell for top dollar.  For instance, after cleaning out my child’s playroom, I found all her old View Master stuff. I was hesitant to list it because after doing some research I found that only the really old vintage sets seemed to be selling for top dollar.  Nevertheless, I decided to put it up as a set to see if I’d get anything for it. To my surprise, the auction ended with a winning bid of $41!

This just goes to show that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure! Before you throw away or donate anymore toys, consider listing them on eBay! Not sure where to start? Check out my How to Create a Successful Listing post!

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If you’ve been keeping up with my Making Money on eBay series,  you know that my niche is selling name brand clothing.   While I predominately sell women’s and children’s clothes, I am now venturing into menswear.   Last week, I shared how well Collegiate apparel sells and now, I’ve added Men’s Dress Shirts to my list of Hot Items to Sell on eBay.

There are a few things to look for when it comes to Men’s Dress Shirts:

1. Look for name brand. Some of the best sellers in Men’s Dress Shirts are brands such as: Turnbull & Asser, Ralph Lauren, Brooks Brothers, Luigi Borrelli Napoli, Broini, Thomas Pink, Lacoste, Robert Graham, Burberry, Hermes

2. Look for style. Slim Fit & Big & Tall dress shirts are hard to find and men who like to wear those styles are willing to pay a bit more for that fit.

3.  Look for material. Cotton & Cotton blend dress shirts are most popular, but you can also do quite well with Linen and Silk.

When listing Men’s Dress Shirts, be sure to follow my guide for Creating a Successful eBay Listing because it can make all the difference in your outcome!  Take the time to iron wrinkles out, fold shirt as you would find it in the store, and use a clean background. You also want to make sure to measure the shirt carefully and list those measurements in the listing description and in the title (if there is room). Leaving out these details can make the difference in a quick sale!

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If you’ve been following my Making Money on eBay series, you know that I quit my teaching  job in 2009 and became a full time eBay seller and blogger to supplement my income.  Today, I wanted to share another Hot eBay Item to sell: Ice Skates.

While checking out the shoe section of my local Goodwill, I found a pair of ice skates for only $3.49. The were quite dirty and the laces were nearly gray, but I knew that with a little elbow grease (and a magic eraser), I could get them looking new again!  I also took the laces out & tried to clean them with everything from bleach to Oxyclean, but they were not salvageable.  Replacing the laces could have been an option, but I did a search and noticed that laces didn’t seem to make a difference in the rate of sale, so I decided against the added expense.   Here  was the result:

Used Ice Skates will most likely have some dings here & there, but what is important is that they are structurally sound and that there is no damage to the blade.  If you find ice skates for cheap, don’t hesitate to buy them, clean them up and list them on eBay to make some pretty good money!

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Newly added to my list of Hot Items to Sell on eBay is Collegiate Apparel. Sports fans love to wear their favorite team clothing all year long, so when you spot an item with a popular sport team logo at a yard sale or thrift store, you  need to consider purchasing it!

While team jerseys are usually a hot seller, you need to be aware that if a Jersey has a players name that no longer plays on that team, the jersey pretty much has little to no value.  Instead of focusing on Jerseys, look for other sports apparel like Golf Shirts. Golf & Polo Style team embellished shirts are a HOT seller on eBay and if you find one with a team logo, you can make out quite well.  For example, I recently picked up this Georgia Tech Polo Shirt at a thrift store for $3.49:

If you do a simple search for sports apparel, you will find that many new Collegiate Golf Polo shirts cost anywhere from $39-$60! People know that they can get a deal on eBay, so I would recommend listing any used item like this one with a BIN option at about half that price. I had this one listed for $24.99 with a Best Offer option. The buyer offered $19, which I gladly accepted to turn the item quickly. It was in my store less than a week!

Have you had luck with a particular item on eBay? If so, I’d love to hear about it and might even feature you in a post!

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An item that is easy to find cheap at both Garage Sales and Thrift Stores is Wilton Cake pans. Many people will buy these to make one cake and then get rid of it, leaving them in near mint condition. Just about all Wilton Cake pans sell regardless of theme, but some of the hottest sellers in the Wilton Cake Pan series are character pans. Here is an example:

While this Cake pan may look new, because the original owner kept the picture insert & guide book, it is in fact used. She even states that it has minor dents and scratches. Even if you find Wilton Cake pans without the insert or guide book, you can still do quite well. Here is proof:

Other HOT Wilton Character Cake Pans are:

• Anything Star Wars
• Super Mario Brothers
• Mickey Mouse

Read more about my journey in Making Money on eBay.

Have you had any luck selling Wilton Cake Pans on eBay?  If you are selling on eBay, I would love to hear from you! What are your HOT sellers?

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If you have been following my eBay series, you have already seen what I sell and how I effectively list those items. Today, I want to focus on another part of the selling and that is shipping.

Many people who have never sold on eBay always ask me how I handle shipping costs. The question I get most often is “Doesn’t it cost you a lot to ship?” The answer really is quite simple, “No.”  To begin with, the buyer pays  to ship the item, not the seller. What little the seller does have to spend on shipping supplies (if you spend any at all) can be easily factored into your listing price.

What you will need to ship from home:

Digital Postal Scale.

These run about $20-$25 and come in various weight capacities. Choose one that fits your need.  If you are planning to ship your items from your home, you will need to know what the items weights so that eBay can accurately calculate the shipping cost for your buyers.

Mailers/Envelopes/Boxes

Because I ship mostly clothing, I purchase my Poly Mailers in bulk on eBay (of course).  You can get around 100 self sticking mailers  for about $12. That makes each poly mailer only around $.o8! Since these are self sticking, you don’t have to even buy tape!  I also buy shipping labels in bulk, but you could just as easily print your labels on paper and tape them to your package.

While the Poly Mailers are great for my USPS First Class shipments, I use USPS Priority Flat Rate Envelopes & Boxes when the weight of clothing exceeds 1 pound or when my customer choose it as their preferred method of shipment.  What is nice about Priority packaging is that it is FREE! Simply stop by your local Post Office to pick up the FREE envelopes or boxes or have them delivered straight to your home.

You shouldn’t ever pay for boxes to use to ship. Next time you are at a grocery store or drug store, just ask the manager if they have any boxes you can have. Even if they have advertising all over them, it is super easy to cover them using a brown paper grocery bag.

Printer

To print your own labels, you will need a printer. When printing your labels, be sure to choose the lowest ink setting so you are not wasting money. Printing in gray-scale works well.  You can either print on white paper and adhere the printed paper to the package with tape or you can purchase labels to print yourself.  I pay $7 for 200 labels on eBay, so comes out to about .07 a label.

Postal Worker

Develop a good relationship with your mail carrier as they can make your life much easier. I have the best mail carrier in the world and feel very blessed! Simply fill out an online request for mail pickup & your postal carrier will pick up your packages at your door!

Do you have any secrets to saving on shipping eBay items?

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