Going to spend today getting the house tidied, school work caught up, and items put up on eBay (trying to get rid of a ton of crap we've got in the house that's been living in boxes for over a year now). This weekend I've got an Advanced Medical Life Support class that should be a lot of fun (my definition of 'fun' not really fitting anyone else's, of course.)
Sometimes I think I ought to do some eBaying of stuff... but it seems like such a crapshoot. Although I did have luck selling a couple of barely worn bras in very difficult to find sizes once--for more than I originally paid, even.
I've had people buy the strangest things off eBay, and for a lot more than I list the item at. And I figure that if I'm getting a little bit of money for it, that's better than trying to donate it, because the tax write off is typically not very worth it. Clearing space out and getting money-in-pocket is something I'm always happy with, because it seems like a constant struggle to find money to pay for school. There's some other things I'm going to be throwing up on Craigslist (speaker sets, that kind of thing) because they don't tend to sell well on eBay, but overall I'm quite thrilled with the degree of things I can get rid of and make money off of. I think in the last two months as I've been slowly making a concerted effort to separate things into "Keep, eBay, Goodwill" piles, I've managed to make $75 on miscellaneous nick-nacks.
That's awesome that you sold barely worn bras for more than you paid!
A few people have suggested to me that I should try selling stuff on eBay. For some reason, though, I can't bring myself to do it...I don't know, I keep thinking I'm going to get ripped off or something. Ditto selling something on Craigslist.
I usually donate and take the write off, but I do have a few items which I could probably sell for a decent chunk of change. I've never done it before, though. Maybe that's the issue :shrug:
Craigslist is scarier for me than eBay, because eBay has a lot of protections in place for you as the seller. I had someone try to claim I didn't send them what I had described, eBay looked into it and told them they were a complete moron who couldn't read, and denied them getting a refund of what they had paid. It's a great way to have cash in pocket, and since you don't send anything until people have paid, you don't actually lose out. I've been using eBay for 7 years on my own, and longer with helping other people out, though, so I'm very comfortable with it. Craigslist and the whole people meeting you places for stuff kind of terrifies me. But if I can sell these older speaker sets for $20 a pop on Craigslist, that's better than the tax write off would have been, especially in terms of immediate gratification. I've yet to end up with $11,900 or whatever in write-off-able items, so I always take standard deductions. I still factor in charitable donations, etc., but the standard deduction is always higher so it makes more
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:nodding: Yeah, in that case it makes more sense for you. I'm not anywhere near the $11,900 in write-offs either, but I get the write-off for the property tax (one of the benefits of being a homeowner) and for my work uniform and health insurance and other bits my tax guy always finds :)
Yeah, Craigslist scares me too for those very reasons. Ditto Freecycle.
We looked into having one of of those eBay selling shops sell some stuff for us a few years ago. Their take of the percentage seemed reasonable, but evidently they weren't doing a lot of business, considering how much stuff they had in their storeroom (I'm talking near-hoarder proportions -- you could barely move in there). We ultimately decided against it.
I don't really know a lot about eBay in general. I've never bought anything off there, I don't know anybody IRL who's sold anything on there, so it's like this alien world to me. I don't even know if what I'd like to sell would even sell there...
Yeah, I'm not a homeowner, but I have plenty of work expenses (as does my husband), so we end up with around $2500 in those to write off in some form or fashion (or tweak to within the rules of the IRS). Our health insurance and all is pre-tax, and I contribute a LOT to my pension plan and my 457b so we're covered as much as I can stomach on that front!
The best way I decide on something is I do a hunt on eBay to see if the item I have (or something similar) is on there, if it's selling, and about what it's selling for. That gives me the opportunity to set a starting price. If it's something nick-nacky that I think might sell, I'll start it at 99c or 50c, and give it two runs on eBay before I toss it in the donation pile and don't worry about it again. I've honestly never had a problem with it, and neither have any of my friends who have used it. So it works for us, definitely :)
So...if you sell something, isn't it expensive to mail it? I keep thinking it's more expensive to mail something than it is to buy something on there...
(I know this is probably a very basic question, but I honestly don't know!)
The buyer has to pay for the item and the shipping! I also add in $1 or so for the cost of the boxes or bubble wrap or whatever if I don't have those readily laying around the house (as a small business owner - a photographer - I have a lot of random shipping items around the house so I don't typically have to buy them for eBay sales). The coolest part is that if you print your shipping label off of eBay, you get a discount on the cost of the shipping (more money in your pocket).
AND you just made me realize that I have a couple of bras that I barely wore and can't really wear anymore, and a quick glance on eBay shows they're actually selling - which would be awesome to get them out of my house!
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That's awesome that you sold barely worn bras for more than you paid!
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I usually donate and take the write off, but I do have a few items which I could probably sell for a decent chunk of change. I've never done it before, though. Maybe that's the issue :shrug:
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Yeah, Craigslist scares me too for those very reasons. Ditto Freecycle.
We looked into having one of of those eBay selling shops sell some stuff for us a few years ago. Their take of the percentage seemed reasonable, but evidently they weren't doing a lot of business, considering how much stuff they had in their storeroom (I'm talking near-hoarder proportions -- you could barely move in there). We ultimately decided against it.
I don't really know a lot about eBay in general. I've never bought anything off there, I don't know anybody IRL who's sold anything on there, so it's like this alien world to me. I don't even know if what I'd like to sell would even sell there...
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The best way I decide on something is I do a hunt on eBay to see if the item I have (or something similar) is on there, if it's selling, and about what it's selling for. That gives me the opportunity to set a starting price. If it's something nick-nacky that I think might sell, I'll start it at 99c or 50c, and give it two runs on eBay before I toss it in the donation pile and don't worry about it again. I've honestly never had a problem with it, and neither have any of my friends who have used it. So it works for us, definitely :)
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(I know this is probably a very basic question, but I honestly don't know!)
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I'm going to definitely look into this. Thanks so much!
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