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What you will find in this post:
- Step-by-step instructions on getting started with eBay
- My income in 2019
- What items I have found that sell (or do not sell)
- Where I have looked for inventory to resale
Step by step instructions
- Download eBay to your phone (easiest)
- Register (or sign in if you have an account)
- Research similar products to see what they are selling for
- Click sell one like or from Selling Icon, choose List an Item
- Describe what you are selling
- Select New, Used, etc
- Give Item a Title – Be descriptive
- Add photos
- Choose category
- Type details – expanded description that does not fit in the title
- Choose format (auction or fixed)
- Enter fixed price or auction starting price
- Select shipping methods
- Set payment and return preferences
- Continue, then list. You can also setup to auto relist eight times if it doesn’t sell
That’s it to sell. Once you sell you need to invoice, give feedback and ship.
This post is for the most beginner of eBay users, like myself, and intended as an option to earn some extra cash. Currently, I am mostly selling items that I already have at my house.
My Goal is to Make $1,000 in Profit for 2019.
March 1st I spent an hour listing 13 items I had around the house with my phone. I listed everything with a 30 day buy it now, instead of auctions. Everything I initially listed was at least $17.99 and I offered free shipping. Since, I have listed a lot more lower priced items that fit in my mailbox that would not require me going to a post office.
I listed things like accounting books I no longer use and a bunch of VHS tapes. The tapes were listed at $17.99, I did in 3 lots of 10.
eBay allows you to list 50 items monthly for no insertion fees. Additional items start around $0.30 to list, more if you want the extra features. Once the item sells, eBay will charge you a 10-12% final valuation fee for most categories. They include the price of shipping on the fee, which is why I go ahead and adjust the price to include free shipping.
eBay also took notice of my first month, and gave me 200 additional listings without insertion fees. I just don’t have time to list that many within the 72 hours they gave me!
I had heard on a Scavenger Life podcast that you needed to list 500 items upfront and another 20 per day (100 per week) to make eBay a full-time income. I only want to make $1,000 this year profit, so approximately $1,250 should get me there.
Everything that doesn’t sell in 30 days will be automatically renewed up to 8 times.
If you have an iPhone, iPad or Android phone, listing new items is extremely easy with an app. I look for similar items, select “sell one like” and add my own pictures and information. It takes less than 5 minutes to list an item.
Everyone has items around the house they rarely use and do not need. This is much easier and less time consuming than having a yard sale. Comment below if you have questions or share your successes on eBay.
2019 Income to Date
Started in March.
Listed – 74 items (2 purchased)
72 Fixed Price 1 Auction
Of the listings, I have promoted 1 so far to test.
Sold – 18 items
Income generated (after PayPal fees) – $365.21
Postage – $76.43
eBay Fees – $43.72
Mileage – $56.26 (18.56 from taxable items)
Supplies – $15.64 (taxable)
Cost of Sales (for resell items) – (to date, $3.14, but not an expense until sold -Cost of Goods Sold)
Net income (loss) to-date: $173.16
Taxable portion (purchased items): $(34.20)
Hours spent in 2019 – 17
Income per hour – $10.19 so far – not great, but better than minimum wage. A lot of the work is in the listing, so this should get better. On the plus side, I have gotten rid of items around the house I no longer need.
October 15th, I decided to deactivate my listings. I will try eBay again in 2020, but it’s not the most effective use of my time.
For 2020, I listed 10 books. I do not plan on concentrating on eBay, but I would like to make about $200 profit.
So far in 2020, I have sold 1 item, spending 2.75 hours in listing and selling of the items with a profit of $3.65. That’s $1.33 per hour, but this should improve if the other listings sale.
From my personal experience, I will grade items/locations below A-F, like in school.
Items that do not sell on eBay (or poor performing) from my experience.
Baseball Cards (F) – I wasted all of my junior high earnings from raking leaves and mowing grass. All those rookie cards I collected (over 500 from 1987-1992) are nearly worthless by the time you ship and pay PayPal and eBay fees. I wish I had just saved in a Vanguard Mutual Fund. My football and basketball cards are just as worthless. It’s sad, I typically paid $5 per rookie card, some as much as $28.
Books (C) – I have sold a couple, both fiction (hardcover) and nonfiction (paperback.) I have only sold books listed at $1.99. Coupled with media mail shipping, the buyer gets a used book for about $5. eBay fees are 12% on books and 10% on the shipping, so I barely make $1 at that price.
Girls Clothing, used, size Baby-12 (C) – This one has very low resale unless a popular brand and comes with a lot of competition. The plus side is most can be shipped in a poly bag and sent without having to go to the post office. I typically make about $2 per used item from my daughter’s used clothes after final value and shipping fees. I will resale what we have at the house, but I won’t spend much time sourcing outside. Maybe later for adult clothing.
Lawnmower Blades (D) – I bought 2 to test from ASC on clearance for $3.14. They average $21.49 with free shipping on eBay, but get very little views per day, 0-1 views. With what I listed them for, it will not be worth holding the inventory for sale. I will not do these again.
Scandinavian Collectibles (C) – I had one 6″ Vintage Horse and it sold within 12 hours. These go for about $20 including shipping, but are small enough to ship from your house. I wouldn’t seek out for the small profit they generate, but there is interest. More expensive collectibles could do as well.
VHS tapes (D) – I have a lot of used children’s VHS tapes. I sell used tapes for 17.99 for a lot of 10 with free shipping or 3.99 if new with buyer paying shipping. I have sold 1 lot and netted less than $6. This one is not worth the time, since I would be better served working PT somewhere to save money. I have only sold 1 of 3 lots listed. 12% final valuation fee.
Where I have looked to source inventory for eBay.
1st place is right in my own home. I have 4 kids and they grow out of stuff quickly. Unfortunately, they also use their stuff hard.
Agri-Supply ASC (C) – ASC has potential, but not great.Most clearance items are on sale for about what they go for on eBay. I would lose money by the time the final valuation fee is factored. The lawnmower blades mentioned above were marked down 90%, but with an average of less than a view per day, I could sit on a long time. They did have a couple items that I could net $30-40 dollars on, but would have cost me approximately $120 on clearance and had low sales volume. I’m going to put ASC on the schedule to visit every 60 days.
Big Lots (D) – Big Lots is supposedly already marked down and I did not see anything that I could make a profit reselling. This may be better buying in bulk for FBA by Amazon, but I don’t think it would be too profitable there either.
Habitat ReStore (C) – I have only gone once. I believe you can find a “diamond-in-the-rough”, but it will take a lot of digging. For the smaller items that are easier to ship, everything was priced at a break even amount. Some value in the larger items, but not for a reseller. Better for personal use.. I was told they will negotiate, but even at half off, most items would not be worth the hassle. The Re-Store will also go on my 60 day schedule.
I’ll keep testing for what sells and update this post often. My goal is to find a good niche I can make at least $20 per hour doing.
Books available on Amazon that advise on selling on eBay:
Some popular videos on YouTube that help you sell on eBay:
My favorite podcast on eBay selling is ScavengerLife. They also have a forum where you can ask their large community questions.
Please comment if you have a profitable niche right now and where you source your products.
If you are a reseller that needs help with their taxes, email me at ValdostaCPA at Yahoo.Com. My typical fee for Form 1040 and 1 State preparation and efile with a Schedule C (for the business, even if you have a LLC) is $300. You can also find me on Fiverr.
