When I decided it was time to get out of debt, I quickly realized Ebay was going to be my best friend.
Use Ebay to create quick cash
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I love money. I love everything about it. I bought some pretty good stuff. Got me a $300 pair of socks. Got a fur sink. An electric dog polisher. A gasoline powered turtleneck sweater. And, of course, I bought some dumb stuff, too.
–Steve Martin
Momentum is critical when you’re getting out of debt or taking control of your personal finances. And Ebay can help you get cash quickly. In my opinion, Ebay is the best way to get fast cash.
Why do I like EBay so much? Here are five reasons:
1. It’s easy. Find stuff you already own, take pictures, add a listing, and a week later you have cash.
2. You control the entire process. You get to choose the minimum price you are willing to accept, you control how much time you want to spend on it, you control when the auctions will end, it’s all controlled by you.
3. It creates cash quickly. You can receive money for your items in 3-7 days.
4. It is a reminder that you’re buying stuff you don’t really need. The next time you think about buying something, you can remember the items you sold on Ebay.
(More on this from my post, Why We Buy What We Buy here.)
5. You find out the real value of items. All these items we buy depreciate immediately and lose much of their value. Seeing the sale price of items on Ebay is a nice reminder that our purchases retain little value.
This month I became really motivated to sell some of my stuff on EBay. I sold 19 items and brought in $493 of cash to help pay off my car.
I sold:
- old headphones,
- dress shoes,
- a day planner,
- an old football card,
- and a bunch of other items.
New to Ebay? Learn more about selling on Ebay here.
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What I learned: I don’t want to repeat this cycle of buying items, not using them and then trying to recoup their value on EBay.
It’s easier to avoid buying items that I don’t really need in the first place!
My main goal was to use Ebay to create some quick cash to help pay off my car. (Read about my last car payment here.)
However, if you have a discerning eye, it is possible to leverage Ebay into a real business by flipping items. It is a legitimate side hustle. (More on Side Hustle ideas Here.)
I am not a big consignment shopper, but if I was, there is certainly a potential business using eBay.
One woman known in the media by her brand, Girlboss aka Sophia Amarosa, leveraged her eye for fashion into a successful store, brand, and following. Her brand is worth around $100M and it all began with Ebay.
I never started a business. I started an eBay store, and ended up with a business. I never would have done it had I known it was going to become this big. –Sophia Amoruso is the founder and CEO of Nasty Gal, which has grown to a $100 million-plus online fashion retailer
Creating fast cash: Tips for selling on Ebay.
Getting started:
Make sure you buy a few small items to create a rating. Ebay keeps track of how many auctions you’ve had. Ideally, you want to have a rating above 10 before you begin selling items.
This will allow you to become familiar with the process before you sell.
Quick tip: Auctions that end on a weekend always attract the most bidders.
Lighting is very important. My advice: Consider buying a light box if you will sell more than $1,000 in a year. I believe they add about 10% to the value of an item, so it should pay for itself very quickly I really wish I had done this years ago.
Why lighting is important: High quality photos are very important and make it easier for your listings to sell. And, your items will sell at a higher price. The better lighting makes your items more attractive and they will stand out from the competition. When you sell on Ebay, there are always competitive listings.
More on lighting here.
Be Honest:
Be honest about the quality/ condition of your items. Positive feedback is important. In the long run, it doesn’t make sense to embellish the condition of your items.
More Tips for Selling on Ebay:
- The best days to start/ end an auction are Saturday/ Sunday afternoons EST.
- You want the biggest audience for your items when they’re ending.
- Make sure your item is worth selling. Check what past auctions to get an idea of what your item it worth.
- And make sure you consider the cost of shipping. It can cost up to $20 to ship shoes.
- Remember to Sell in season. It’s hard to sell running sneakers in winter.
- Having a PayPal account is very helpful. It’s worth having one even if you don’t want to use EBay.
Tools I recommend:
These are the minimum tools to get started:
Quality Shipping Tape
Label Scraper (amazingly helpful to remove price tags quickly and without danging the item)
Poly Mailer Bags for shipping
Good Bubble Wrap
Mister Clean Magic Eraser– To clean up books – Find the cheapest option
An acceptable and affordable shipping scale
A higher quality shipping scale
Quality Lights for Ebay: These were on sale ~$35 and they are great for the money.
Thank you stickers: A classy touch:
Better pictures = higher profits on Ebay. Lighting is very important.
Conclusion:
Keep in mind, EBay is a quick fix to create cash while you’re re-aligning your finances and getting out of debt.
But, for most people, it is not a long-term solution.