Anyone who used to buy something online, very likely have experience using eBay as well. eBay is a worldwide famous brand, connecting buyers with sellers, and it’s an essential tool for many businesses.
I am not an exemption, and I have used eBay to find the best deals when looking for something to buy. There are new and used items sold on eBay, and you can either “Buy now” or try your luck to be the lowest bidder and buy item by winning “Auction”.
I have sold quite a few items but never considered calling this as an income or profit. Things which were brought at full price and sold at half price, it’s not a profit for me. I am not saying that it’s not a great way of reducing the loss on items which is no longer needed. It might be worthless for me, but it can be a treasure for someone else. But I don’t think it’s right to add this money into income reports as many bloggers do.
Yet, to make this post meaningful, I will sell a few things I no longer need. I will write about them in this post and at the same time will look in alternative ways how to make money with eBay.
How to earn money with eBay
- Sell old, unused or unwanted items I have at home
- Buy something cheap and sell for a higher price
- Buy graded / raw return items in bulk and sell individually
- Dropshipping
To fully understand the potential of each way, I will have to make this multiple part post. I have never tried options 2, 3 and 4, so before I do anything, I may need to get more information or and learn something new. As usual, after accomplishing “mission”, I will write a review, and hopefully, there will be something to add in my monthly income report 🙂
Today’s post is about options 1 & 2. Both ways are similar in principle (sell to make cash) but different in the heart. The first one is to sell something you don’t need and declutter your house. The second option is to spot something no longer required for one person, find a new home and make some money for being a “middleman” in this transaction. Let’s see how it goes.
Sell something you don’t need
OK, this one seems to be a very straight forward idea, you have something you don’t need and sell it. This should come naturally when you feel that something is laying in the house with no purpose – sell it. Or you can force and search for such an item in your attic, kids cupboards, shed, etc. Use your imagination. The 12-month rule is a way to go. Haven’t used it in 12 months? Sell it.
I spent all Saturday in my loft. Great day there, it’s all clean and tidy now… but nothing found what to sell.
Looked at the kid’s toys, asked if someone is willing to sacrifice anything for my experiment and answer was very clear “NO”.
My saviour was my wife. Last year our family have grown by one more person, and whilst waiting for baby boy to arrive, we have made few spontaneous sentiment-driven purchases for him, without too much thinking do we really need to buy this. One of the items was infant trainers. Our boy has outgrown them before even started confidently walking so we have not used them at all and they are still in mint condition. I am sure it should be a good sale with these. We have paid a discounted price of £15, and I hoped to recover most of the cost.
Second item was “discovered” in the kitchen while cooking dinner. I am passionate about food and do most of the cooking at home. You noticed that all the world is talking about a healthy diet and a way to improve your cooking skills by using different gadgets. So one of the great inventions I brought last year was “Air fryer”. The idea with this fryer is that you use just a little oil (up to 98% less) and have the same result as pan-fried or regularly fried products. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for us. I love pan-fried potatoes and taste from air fryer wasn’t even close to taste from the pan. Later I tried to cook fish, then different veggies, but it was disappointed every time. Within a year I cooked food with this fryer no more than five times, and it’s taking precious space in my kitchen, so I am glad to put this fryer on sale. Original price paid £34.99, will see what I can get back.
After reading plenty of blogs about the best way, the best time and best format to sell on eBay, both items went on sale on Sunday afternoon as auction. I added plenty of pictures to show the excellent condition of each item. All this should lead to enormous profits 🙂
Buy something cheap and sell for a higher price
Upselling (buying cheap and selling for profit) isn’t something new on eBay. Thousandths of people are doing this and some even claim they have made a fortune with this. They are selling courses teaching how to increase your profits, how to make the best pictures, how to find the best deals and etc. But I am here to make money and not to spend money on the courses, so I will have to learn the hard way and try all by myself.
And again I spent all day thinking about what I should buy. I did not want to spend a fortune in risky purchase which at the end could turn out to be a loss; I limited my budget at £50. I have browsed eBay back and forwards and didn’t get any reasonable idea. Did not found any good auctions ending late night or early in the morning, wasn’t able to spot any misspells, etc.
But, the idea was born the same evening when I sit down with the family to play board games. I thought if we like to play board games, others should like it too? I’ve seen many games sold in local car boot and said I would go there the next morning to look for something good. I didn’t have to! I found one in Gumtree instead.
The game called “DiXit”. One of my favourite games and looking on eBay it seems like it has high demand. Prices vary auctions starting from £12 and buy now prices £25-32. Price on Gumtree £12 and after little negations the seller gave me for £10. Its 7 miles away from me, so I have cycled there to save every penny, and it was an excellent opportunity to exercise 😀
Sunday afternoon all 3 items listed for sale on eBay.
| Item | Purchase price | Listed price (Auction) |
| “Nike” trainers | £15 | £0.99 |
| “Tower” air fryer | £34.99 | £9.99 |
| “DiXit” board game | £10 | £9.99 |
I have a big hopes on my “DiXit”, first of all, I think, price I paid it’s an absolute bargain, second I noticed a significant demand for this game on eBay (many bids in auctions) and third, it’s the only item which will go on to my income report.
If I make a decent % of the profit from this sale, I may add this to my “To Do” list and will monitor bargain deals that I could re-sell. But, even if I will not make a profit, today’s lessons will be valuable for my further experiment with eBay.
For now, I wish good luck to myself and see you next week.