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Kim emailed me saying she is selling things her family doesn’t need to bring in extra income. I failed at selling my crap on eBay so I had to know how Kim is doing it. She writes:
My husband is recently in the job market, so the family finances needed a boost. He had been an avid dvd collector and my #1 son told me to sell off some of the dvds that we weren’t interested in watching again. I just put in the serial number on the back and the website told me whether they were selling or not, and approximately what price they would sell for. We keep about 40 on Amazon
at any given time, and have sold just over 100 in six weeks. Some of the best sellers were the older dvds. I guess they didn’t make as many back then.
I will say that I did price them to sell. For example, if the lowest price was $4.95, I listed mine for $4.75. I also added that my dvd was NOT a previous rental, which many of those for sale seem to be. Just today a friend of mine at work (I am a schoolteacher) was asking what I was selling and she told me to bring in any extras and that she would be interested in buying some of them from me – hadn’t thought about that potential market
Anyway, January netted just under $500 for us, which is a great “emergency fund” that we really needed. Actually, I am designating $100 to be our “fun fund”, which we haven’t had in a long time. Have a great Friday, Kim
Kudos to Kim and her family for recognizing they were sitting on a stash of cash! And for following through to set up an Amazon sellers account, do the pricing research, and keep customers happy. I also like her positive attitude about her husband being “in the job market.”
What do you have in your home that you’ve been considering selling for extra money? To get you started, here are seven ways to make money off spring cleaning.Or, if you prefer to de-clutter your house in one fell swoop, donate or hold a garage sale.
February 22nd, 2011 at 10:40 am
What was not mention in the blogg is that there is a 15% commision plus a $1 charge per item on Amazon, unless you join and pay $40 a month plus 15% comm.
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:29 am
@william Guess it depends on how many items you have to sell and what your long term plans are to be an Amazon seller. Kim, what worked for you?
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:36 am
I have been doing this for a long time. What was not mentioned was the cost of packaging the items for shipment (ya know, mailing envelopes, bubble wrap, tape and so forth). Also, Amazon does charge for you a couple dollars when the item is sold. So say, you sell the item for $4.75 but Amazon takes roughly $2 something out for themselves. You are left with around $2.50 now how much does it take to package, print out the invoice and get your butt to the post office? Sometimes it is worth it and sometimes it is not.
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:47 am
@Elaine True, there are a lot of small material and time costs to consider. But also consider the value of having a cleaner house and of having cash on hand. Plus, what about the value of a family working together to be resourceful?
February 22nd, 2011 at 12:39 pm
The article makes it sound ,as if you can just jump on to Amazon, and sell something for $4.75 and get $4.75 back. If you are going to tell a story of making money, tell all the parts. Don’t publish other bloggs if you are going to take them at face value, and not check their stories out. I will lose interest in your site. Have been a reader since your newspaper days.
February 22nd, 2011 at 1:13 pm
I sell my kid’s college textbooks this way on half.com. I considered selling their old childrens books but decided the small profit wasn’t worth it, I donated them. I think the commission that half charges is slightly less than amazon, but, like stated above, you have to package and mail the item. That means buying mailers, labels and tape and making a trip to the post office. They do charge the buyer for postage, but they give you less than they charge, and it never covers the actual cost even with the media mail rate. Unless it is an expensive book, it isn’t worth the work for me.
February 22nd, 2011 at 1:21 pm
That’s great that she is selling her things but please also remember that you are required to pay taxes on things you sell on Amazon. I think once a seller gets to $1200 or so, they must pay taxes on their sales. I don’t remember reading anything about the money she is putting aside to pay the tax man.
February 22nd, 2011 at 1:43 pm
@william The post was meant to inspire others to ask themselves if they, too, could make money selling old stuff sitting around their house. It was not meant to be a comprehensive look at the pros and cons of selling on Amazon. That’s why at the end of the post I offered the idea of donating for the tax write off or holding a garage sale.
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:12 pm
Everyone makes a good point. And, I guess, we are providing some of the cons (so people inspired can find out if it is for them or not).
To add, I sold my graduate text books on Amazon about two years ago and made around $1500. I obtained free packing materials from people giving them away and yes, amazon doesn’t give you your exact shipping costs but considering the items I was selling range between $50 to $100 I ate the remaining shipping costs.
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:17 pm
Jeez..what a bunch of negative nancy’s! Exactly what BargainBabe says- its a motivation to do something versus nothing. I applaud people who take the initiative to get rid of crap. People are always willing to buy other peoples crap like George Carlin said. If you are unemployed $2.00 is $2.00 you didnt have before! There is money to be made on eBaY and Amazon if you want to!
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:26 pm
@Tom It wasn’t my intention to be negative, just adding to the discussion what this entails. I am very pleased with what I have made with the textbooks, sometimes same as we paid originally. It is my choice though to donate rather than run around for lesser value books, and you are right, it might be worth it to someone else to do that even if the return isn’t so great. Sorry if I came off as negative, I didn’t mean to be.
February 22nd, 2011 at 3:33 pm
@Laura- Thanks! I just applaud when people “try” instead of those that become a social services parasite.These folks hit hard times and took some action to help themselves. I enjoy the interaction laura- thanks!
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:20 pm
I have been doing the same thing on another site. Just been getting rid of old stuff.
I have a bunch of Golden Books, some over 60 or 70 yrs old. I am thinking about listing some of them. But I will keep some for my grandkids and their grandkids.
February 23rd, 2011 at 1:17 am
@Tom ~ I agree with you about people who try vs. “the entitled.” Really liked your term “social services parasite.” Very good description/definition.
March 19th, 2011 at 12:22 pm
Nice to know that we have yet, another option. I heard you can get a giftcard for old electronics from Best Buy. I am hoping to try that this weekend.
http://on.fb.me/ij7A5a