I started my EBay listing adventure in May of 2013. I don’t remember exactly what made the light bulb turn on that I could buy items strictly to resell, but once I sold that first item and made a profit, I was hooked. The first couple of months, buying to resell was something that I did nonchalantly. If I was at a flea market or a thrift store and I saw an item that I thought I could flip, I would purchase it. I have been going to flea markets since I was little, so the picking aspect wasn’t anything new to me.
It wasn’t until I had multiple sales that I decided that with more knowledge and time, I could turn this buying to resell into a part-part-part time job. Gradually month after month, I would spend more time looking at sales on ebay, reading blogs, and joining reselling and ebay Facebook groups to increase my knowledge and train my eye on what items to buy. At the end of 2013, I walked away with $1,067 in pure profit. To some resellers, they make that much in one day. For me, this was an accomplishment and an acknowledgement that if I put in more time and more research, I could bring in even more money.
Having the extra cash is something that helped me out this past year. Whether it was for unexpected car maintenance or even helping with Christmas gifts, my wallet didn’t feel the pinch as much when my PayPal funds provided some cushioning. I envy those that are able to be full time ebay sellers and not have to work in the corporate world. There is money to be made from thrifting and that’s my goal in 2014.
So what will it take? Have you made your New Year’s Resolutions? Most will commit to healthier eating, spending more time at the gym, less gossip, and more real interaction. All of these are attainable if one puts in a solid effort. However, I haven’t made resolutions as much as I have made goals.
My main goal is to at least double my profits from 2013. $2,000 is a drop in the bucket for most, but for me to sell that much would be great. If I can triple my 2013 profit, that would be even better – but, let’s start small and work our way up!
How will I do this? I’ve already taken two steps in order to make my EBay “business” easier. I have purchased a photo studio light box. I’ve gotten tired of dragging items outside to set them up on my deck. I don’t want to have to deal with shadows or pictures that need excessive touch ups. With the light box, I have different backdrops to choose from and now I don’t have to worry about making sure that the picture background is okay. The second step is I have finally ordered a scale to weigh items. Finally! Though I have gotten pretty good at estimating the cost of a package shipped out priority, I have lost money by underestimating the cost to ship. I also am looking forward to printing out postage at home and scheduling pick ups of the items I sell. While there are a few local post offices in the area, it will definitely be a real time saver to just put the boxes on my porch and have the mailman take them away.
The third thing that I did was join The Appsters. This is a private group run by Danni Ackerman of The Danni App. If you are new to reselling, you must check out The Danni App! There are old podcasts on Itunes but also check out her website and join her Facebook group. The amount of information that is posted on a daily basis on the Facebook page is unbelievable. A whole new world of reselling is opened and you won’t believe what can sell on EBay! I started listening to the podcasts over the summer and really enjoyed hearing about the “Score of the Week” and the adventures of going to yard sales.
On the Facebook group, I kept hearing about the Appsters and having access to webinars and all sorts of other information not available in the regular Facebook group. This is a pay subscription group, with the cost of either paying by the month or paying for a year. The price per month is $29.95 and the year subscription gives you twelve months for the price of eleven. I thought about joining for a few days, tossing the idea around in my mind. For someone just starting out in reselling, I thought that the money that I paid per month could be used instead for buying merchandise or even for other necessary things like gas and groceries. For me, that $30 could be used in so many other ways. But, then I thought of it in reselling terms: I had to sell one item – just one item – at $30 a month to cover the cost.
I said yes to signing up to the Appsters. I took a leap because I want to double, triple, quadruple my EBay sales and gain more information about the world of reselling. If I would just stay stagnant, sure my sales might increase a little but I want to be even more profitable and more knowledgeable about the world of thrifting and reselling.
Good luck with all of your goals and resolutions - make it happen!
Here's to 2014 - eBay & Beyond!
