I started selling excess belongings online in July and with the start of a new month have calculated the proceeds minus fees and postage. I have also learned some pointers that I’ll share.
Ebay and Half.com I had mixed results with my five free listings on Ebay as I mentioned in an earlier post. I sold two of the items at the end of the five day auction period with a net positive dollar amount of $36.32.
Instead of relisting the items that didn’t sell on Ebay again, I decided to give Half.com (which is owned by Ebay) a shot. The difference is you set your price and wait for buyers to select your item versus other seller(s) with the same item. Half.com determines the media mail shipping rate and collects it all upfront from the buyer. You only have three business days to ship the item after purchase.
Results. There was a learning curve in using these two websites, but it didn’t take too long to get my inventory listed. Half.com is easier and I would recommend it for books and DVDs unless you have an unusual offering.
I have learned that healthy cooking and fitness books sell. I also sold two exercise DVDs in addition to a couple of popular books. In total I sold nine books/DVDs in 10 days with a net result of $34.24 after expenses.
Overhead. It’s important to factor in comission/fees and shipping costs when pricing your items. Shipping costs does not just include postage. I had to stock up on padded envelopes for shipping the DVDs and books and these can be pricey. In researching future purchases, I realize that Costco is the best place to buy them if I continue selling onine. I had a large package of labels already so haven’t had to put out extra money on this part of the packaging yet.
Future Plans. At least for the near future I plan to continue selling on both Ebay and Half.com sites. My strategy is to post non-media things on Ebay (up to five free listings a month) and then use Half.com for books and DVDs.
Just so you know, I do not have an unlimited amount of books and DVDs in my home, but I am glad not to have to store all these items we’re not using. I am looking at garage sales for new inventory and two of books I sold were a result of spending 75 cents at a garage sale.
Online sales has been a fun, positive experience. So far, I’ve paid for this blog’s domain and first year of hosting with the proceeds. What about you? Are you already an online titan or will my experience help you think about sticking your toes in?
{ 2 comments }
I just started using Half.com and sold 1 small business book w/in 24 hours. I have yet to sell the other 10 books and I have them set at a really good competive price (just want to get them off my shelf).
I really enjoyed that Half.com has the multiple listing option. Made it real quick to list my items.
So fitness and healthy cooking. Well, I love my cookbooks. So that is not going to happen, but I think i have some fitness DVDs laying around. Might have to try that. Thanks.
Good luck with the DVDs and the rest of your listings. Thank you for your comment.
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