Looking for Extra Money? - Selling on EBay Part 4 - Stuff that Kids can Sell

It is amazing what you can find for sale on eBay. Which means the reverse is also true: It is amazing what you can sell on eBay!

Help your kids think out of the box and together you can sell many things on eBay. Remember, that you must be of a certain age to have an account on eBay. However, working as a team, you and your kid can learn a lot about money by selling a few items that you may already have.

There are many people who make selling on eBay a business. This usually involves making or buying items on the cheap and then selling them for a profit.

Other people sell on eBay merely as a hobby, or as an occasional means to get some cash. This usually involves finding items from around your house and then selling them rather than storing, yard selling, or merely giving them away.

Here are some ideas of things you may already have that you can sell:

• outgrown clothes


• out grown shoes


• out grown coats


• Toys


• books


• DVDs


• CDs


• Collections


• Costumes


• Backpacks/bags


• Games


• Computer Games


• New Stuffed Animals


• Baby Gear: Diapers, bottles, cups, blankets, etc.


• Coupons


• Gift Cards


• Knick Knacks

If you find that you have a lot of low value items, you can group them together into "lots." This saves you time in listing, and it creates a better value for your customers. Here are some good examples of "lots" that may not sell very well by themselves, but do great in a group:

• Used clothes


• small books


• used movies


• small toys


• art/craft supplies


• seeds


• coupons


• Learning Kits

You, of course, will have to look around and see what you have available to sell, and then compare it with what is selling. Just because nobody else is selling it, doesn't mean nobody wants. That may make it more valuable.

Why I give - The Summons

This is part of the Why I Give series, originally published as A Call to Offering. This post is from May 2004.





I got something in the mail the other day, that I have been waiting for for awhile. Years actually. Yes, I finally got my first jury summons in the mail. Of course, I still have to be chosen, but I honestly can’t wait to go for a variety of reasons.



I am really interested in the legal process, I’ve seen it on TV, but I’ve never been in a real courtroom before. Another reason is that I recognize that my community has asked me to serve, and I am excited to be able to answer that call.


In a similar way your church has summoned you to serve. It may be with time, prayer, or money. Recently I have noticed that many have really taken up the call with their money. At our church, which is quite small compared to many, their is sometimes a record of recent giving. Now I tend to watch these numbers as closely as I watch gas prices and I have noticed some things. A few months back, our giving was way down. Ten thousand dollars down. Each month we were giving less than our budget called for.



However I think that God has been working here in this church. Many had been praying about where to give money, and how much to give. Look at the effects that prayers have had. For the past several weeks our weekly giving has exceeded what was budgeted for. We are actually getting ourselves out of debt. Way to go.



Jesus talks about this in his parable of the talents in Matthew 25 “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”



You have been summoned.





This has been linked in at Beautiful Calling.

Looking For Extra Money? - Selling on EBay Part 3 - Is it Worth the Energy?

After you have considered the potential time and money invested in selling an item on eBay, you still have to ask yourself

Is it worth the energy?

You may have the perfect item but things still might not go as you plan. Consider these ideas before you invest the energy:

A. What if it doesn't sell? - Are you ready to re list, and invest the listing fee again?

B. What if it sells for less than you were hoping?

C. Do you have enough positive feedback to be a trustworthy seller?

D. Can you afford to refund the money back if something unfortunate happens during shipping?

E. Do you have the patience to deal with many emails from potential buyers?

Selling on eBay can be a great way to make extra money. Many people have work at home jobs based on eBay selling.

I strongly recommend anyone who is considering selling on eBay to at least buy something first. That way you can be familiar with the process. You will know from your experience what to do to make buyers more confident in the sale, and hopefully comeback for more!

Selling eBay can also be a great practice for teaching kids about money. From the safety of your home, your kids can learn about customer service, investment vs. reward, and value.

Looking For Extra Money? - Selling on eBay Part 2 - Is it Worth the Money?

Investors every where will tell you that you need money to make money. So you have to ask yourself, how much money am I willing to invest, in order to make money selling on eBay?

Is it worth the money?

Similar to the time issue, you need to be aware of the costs involved in selling on eBay:

A. Listing fees- eBay charges a basic fee for listing, plus more for any extras

B. Final Value Fee - eBay also charges a small percentage of what your item sells for after the auction closes.

C. Paypal - by far the easiest way to receive money, there is often a charge to the seller from paypal

D. Packaging Costs- If you have to buy boxes or packing materials you should subtract that from your profit to get a true feel for the costs

E. Shipping costs- Yes, the buyer pays for this but you still have to get it there, and many buyers may decide that it costs more to ship something than the item is worth.

F. Insurance costs- The buyer usually pays for this, too, but if something goes wrong during shipping, they will look to you to solve the problem. Many times this may require you to refund the money which equals a loss of item, plus a loss in listing fee.

EBay sends out a monthly invoice that is charged to a credit card (maybe they can do bank direct, too). You have to register this information up front, which may be why they require you to be of a certain age. It is possible that you won't have to put out any money up front, because your sale may cover the costs, but be aware, in case they don't.

EBay has also added a selling bonus. The first five items listed every month are free. you only pay a final value fee if your item sells. This definitely reduces the risk of losing money if your item does not sell.

Looking For extra Money? - Selling on Ebay Part 1 - Is it Worth Your Time?

A common place for people to turn when looking for extra cash, selling on eBay could solve some cash flow problems. Now, you have to be of a certain age to sell on eBay, but this could be a great place for you to help your kids get some extra cash.

If you have not yet sold anything on eBay, but want to, here are some things to consider before you jump in:

Is it worth your time?

This is a big one, because it takes time. There are many steps to selling, that can make the whole process cumbersome:

A. Preparing your item for sale - washing, gathering, etc.

B. Taking good pictures - pictures are super important

C. Downloading pictures onto computer

D. Researching potential value of your item (really you should do this first)

E. Describing your item -check it over completely for ANY possible flaws

F. Listing Your item - decide starting value, shipping, payment options

G. Packing - over pack items especially breakables

H. Check messages often - good communication is crucial in keeping positive feedback

I. Shipping

Each of these steps may take only a few minutes, but all added up, you may decide that it is not worth your time. I personally don't like to list items that I don't think will sell for less than $10. I only have so many free moments in the day, that it seems a shame to spend them all on eBay.

However, if I have several lower dollar items that are similar, I can do many of the steps at the same time- taking pictures, down loading, researching, describing, etc. eBay makes it simple for you to use one listing as a template to sell other things, so this can make it a snap if you plan to sell many of the same things.

Feeling Rich - #1 We Actually Have a Budget

And yes, we look at it and compare our spending.

Having a budget doesn't really matter if you never look at it, its not adjusted regularly, or it doesn't match your lifestyle. Here are some basic ways to make budgeting work for you.

Make It Easy. We like to use Quicken software for managing our budget. It is easy to set up, easy to download credit card transactions, and easy to make adjustments. If it is not easy to do, you know you aren't going to stick with it. So start easy, you can always make your budget more complicated later.

Start Right Now. The great thing about a budget is that you can begin immediately. Don't wait for debts to get paid off, the new year, or life to get easier. As you start tracking your spending, you will see patterns. The more information you have, the better.

Make it Flexible. As you notice patterns, it is okay to change your budget. If it doesn't fit your life, you know you won't stick to it.

Review it Regularly. It is good to watch for categories that are out of whack. Sometimes it will have too much money allocated, and sometimes it may not have enough. Know this before it is too late.

Build in a Cushion. Allow for spending to fluctuate each month. Add a small percentage more to each category to allow for any extras. At the end of the year, you can always use that surplus to buy something special or give it away.

Prepare for Long Term Savings Categories. Putting a little bit in a category, like new car, each month will let you afford things before you need them. This way you can track how much you have saved up for an item.

Have some Blow Money. This comes from Dave Ramsey. Everybody needs to have a bit of cash that they can just spend as frivolously as they want. You don't have to track it and you don't have to defend it. You don't even have to spend it.

Miscellaneous Category. This is great for those times when you need something that really doesn't fit into any other category. Like an umbrella. You don't really need an umbrella category, but its not food, or clothes or gas.

Combine Categories. We buy diapers, shampoo, and Dog food at the grocery story. It seems silly for those to have their own category, so we just lump them together in a single grocery category.

Separate Categories. We knew we could cut some money by not eating out, but we wanted to know how much. So we put eating out into the entertainment category instead of a food category. Now we know how much is left for when date night comes along.

Your Budget means Freedom. When you are trying to save money, it is easy to get into a rut of being a tightwad. But having a budget means saying yes to buying what you need and even want, saying no to what you can't afford, and knowing the difference.

Having a budget has meant peace of mind for our family. We have a zero balance budget, which means we write down how much our income is, and subtract all of our expenses until we get to zero. Using a computer program helps us play with the numbers easily so that we can add or subtract here or there to make it work. Because we have a budget, we can prove that it is possible. We know how much we can spend on each thing, and we DON"T HAVE TO WORRY!

Not having to worry about money is the number one thing that makes us feel rich. You don't have to make a lot of money to know that you have enough.

Your kids will learn about how budgeting works by seeing that the family has one and follows it.

Why I Give - Coat Pockets...

This is the first in a series of Why I Give. Originally published as a call to offering. Some of these posts date back as far as 2004, but I thought they would be interesting to revisit. This is from October 2009.

There are so many reasons to love the fall. The changing colors, autumn harvest, fresh baked apple pie, and, of course, breaking out the winter coats.

What? You ask. Why would anyone love to get their winter coat out?

Well, it’s not the coat exactly. It’s the surprises.

Let me show you. This week in my coat pockets I found:

• some Hot chocolate flavored chap stick,
• an old grocery list,
• a baby pacifier,
• a coupon,
• a book of matches,
• a pair of gloves,
• my library card,
• a plastic spoon,
• a pen, and
• $5.
  
  What’s even more amazing, is that I didn’t even pray to find any of this. It was just there. Before I even asked.
  
  I know that God blesses us in so many ways that I don’t even notice. I don’t want to wait all year wondering if I am receiving blessings. I want every day to feel like that first cool day of fall. When I reach into my pocket and find something special. I want to notice all the ways that I am blessed every single day.
  
  And I want to be able to share those blessings.
  
  Please think of all the little or big ways that you have been blessed, just this week.
  
  This has also been linked up to Things I Love Thursdays at the Diaper Diaries, and Tune- up Tuesdays @ Beautiful Calling.