Xtra Cash for Xmas: Ebay

As we head into the holidays, most Americans could use some extra cash.  Thankfully, the internet provides ways for us all to make some money while making use of things we already have.  Most everyone has heard of Ebay, but not everyone has used the site.  Who wants to go through the trouble of signing up, creating listings, taking pictures, and going to the post office to ship the item if it sells?  It seems like a lot of work just to get rid of something that could just as easily be left where it is.

Its time to stop thinking like its 1999.  Back then things were good:  jobs were plentiful, wealth was abundant, and gasoline cost just $.98 per gallon.  It was easier to let unused items sit around collecting dust than to do anything with them.  Why go through the effort of selling something when you have plenty of money already?  Bob Kraft doesn’t have an eBay account, does he?

Well, the year is now 2010, and things aren’t so good: its time to be honest with yourself.  Cash is king, and if you can turn your old Karate Kid headbandKarate Kid headband into $15, you probably should.  You will never wear that headband again, but if you’re worried about that fleeting moment of nostalgia and that twinge of regret you’ll feel when you sell it, don’t be:  when times are better, you can always buy it back.  That headband may not be worth much on its own, but if you have five or ten or twenty items worth that much, it can add up quickly.

eBay was built on the old adage, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.”  Just because certain items have fallen out of favor in your home doesn’t mean there isn’t a nice place for them in someone else’s.  Go downstairs to your basement right now, or upstairs to your attic.  Hawk and Animal from the Legion of Doom have been in storage for too long..it’s time to set them free.  That vintage neon Busch beer sign from your college days?  There’s a 20-year old sitting around a dingy frat house right now wishing he had it hanging on his wall.  And if you happen to be the proud owner of a collection of Garbage Pail Kids? I’ll put a bid on it today.

[revenueshare id=”13″] eBay isn’t limited strictly to old junk you don’t want anymore.  What about the stuff you bought years ago because you had the extra cash?  You don’t need those things anymore.  Yet there they are, sitting around the house taking up space.  Or maybe you still use them.  Whatever the case, perhaps you could unhook that $2,500 Bose sound system you bought and go back to your old receiver and speakers.  Instead of having two sound systems, you could have one, plus a pile of cash.  Even if you only get back 40-60% of the original price, its money you wouldn’t have otherwise.

If you enjoy reading books, you probably have a book case filled with them.  If you play video games, you might have five or ten video games laying around.  People’s personal libraries hold great potential for earning some extra money.  Besides, how many times will you actually go back and reread a book you’ve already read or play through the same video game twice?  There’s always someone out there in the world who hasn’t read the book or played the game, and they want to, but they don’t want to pay full price at a store for it.

Selling books individually is an option, but it involves more work for you to sell and ship each one individually.  Why not bundle them together with other similar books?  Putting together a series of books can yield more money for you all in one shot.  If you have all seven Harry Potter books, you can package those together.  Perhaps you have a bunch of novels by the same author, or even three or four books on a certain topic, like cook books.  You can put them all together in one listing. And it isn’t just limited to books; it could be dvd’s or cd’s or anything else you have several of.  The bottom line is: bundles give you more money at once, and there is less work involved on your part.

eBay charges you small listing fees, as well as a percentage of the winning bid.  Unless you are selling cars or really expensive items, the fees are negligible and definitely not a deterrent to selling through the website.  Ebay is really easy to learn how to use, and you can buy and sell with confidence because they have a great resolution system.  They protect not only sellers from being ripped off, but buyers as well, ensuring a comfortable situation in which to do business.  Their partnership with PayPal makes receiving and sending out payments so easy that this is easily the best place sell your stuff.

From now until January 7, eBay is promoting its ‘List Free Holiday,’ which means free listings for up to 100 auctions.  If you list before December 13, you can include a ‘Buy It Now’ price in your listings for free as well.  With the holidays coming up, people may not have the time to bid on auctions, so they will be more apt to use the Buy It Now feature.  That means faster sales for you, and extra cash for Christmas.