Car Boot or Ebay?

smudgemanc26

Hi DFW's

Just wondering which is the best way to earn some money from things i have to sell to raise a little extra cash. I'm sure i have lots of stuff to sell - i normally give my old clothes/shoes to charity but have been finding out when i take them to my mums she riffles through the bags first and takes things out! haha So i thought maybe my things are good enough to sell as i must admit i do keep everything pristine and dont wear a single item all the time, so i thought i might make some money of them like ive read some of you DFW's do.

I am new to the whole ebay thing but dont mind learning as im sure a friend of mine would be able to lend a hand the only thing is i dont have a digital camera of my own or a pc (i use this at work ssssshhhhush!) but im sure i will be able to work something out.

On the other hand i have my own car but the things that put me off about car boots is:

a) The weather
b) The time you have to get up and stay there till!
c) Haggling with people and people that like to barter

But on the plus side once everything has been sold on a car boot its gone non of this waiting for your payment or posting of items is involved.

What does everyone think? Get over my ebay fear or go and get wet on a car boot?

Jen x

angelavdavis

Probably fair to say its 50/50.

Car Boot

Pros: Instant sale, no postage involved, cash payments, easier to shift larger stuff. Easy to do all round

Cons: Overheads (pitch costs), possible bad weather, poor turnout, more discounted prices, early morning start

eBay

Pro: Can get more for items if bidding war starts (I got £335 for two old chandeliers that my OH's parents had in their house they bought that I rescued from the bin! I seriously doubt I would have charged that much at a boot sale), wider range of customerbase

Cons: have to pack and post stuff, potential scams, mix of payment types, overheads, lulls in sale periods but still have to pay to advertise, need fairly good PC skills, etc.

Some people prefer Amazon as they don't charge to advertise stuff - you just pay once you have sold stuff.

I have used eBay and carboots. Laziness prevents me doing more carboots. I usually use carboots when I just want a clear out and aren't after getting top dollar for stuff. If you don't mind visitors to the house, you can also advertise on free ads, but make sure you are not alone in the house and don't allow them inside the property, just in case.

shell_girl

If you're in it to make money definitely eBay.

eBay everything you've got for a couple of months. If things don't sell the first time, relist them. If they don't sell the second time, THEN put them in the 'car boot' pile.

The reason I say this is that the mood in a car boot is very different- people are there to get rid of things, not SO much to make money. On eBay you've also got access to a much wider market.

I went to a car boot sale on Sunday and picked up trousers by Next and a top by Monsoon for 50p each. Not one stall was selling clothing items for more than that. I went on eBay when I got home and found that items similar to mine (same names etc) were going for at least a couple of quid.

So eBay everything first to make yourself some cash- then anything that doesn't go take it along to a Boot Sale for a bit of pocket money.

shell_girl

Ooh- also. Quick tip- if you do decide to eBay list things to finish either around 7-8 pm ish or on a Friday afternoon. This tends to be when my items have sold best in terms of last minute bidding wars- I think in the evening their are more people online and on a Friday afternoon people are bored at work and killing time!

smudgemanc26

Thanks for the info right then ebay it is!

Going to rope in my friend for help and start selling! :j

smudgemanc26

Right well ive just signed up to ebay and created my account now the fun begins quite looking forward to rumaging through my house and finding things i can sell and taking pics of them! :j

I'll keep you posted on how well im doing in my signature :T

moneymaker2

Hiya,

Best thing to do is pop your items on ebay and set it to finish before the car boot is due. Say ebay finishes on the saturday and the car boot is on the sunday. Then anything you don't sell on ebay can be taken to the carboot.

If you have any books try selling them on Amazon as well. I have sold 2 out of the 5 that I have listed this week.

Hope this helps Laura

raq

I have done both especially when I have been in complete diar straights. still selling on ebay especially baby items. I also buy from there as it is much cheaper and I have ever only had one faulty item and they returned it instantly.

When it's tough to get some money in and have a good clear out it's really surprising how much you can make and how you go about it.

all the best.

GreenNinja

Hiya, I would say sell all your best stuff on ebay and keep the bits and bobs for car boot.
I recently made 75 quid on car boot for what didn't look like an awful lot of stuff to be honest. Junk jewellery did really well indeed, I was selling items at same I would have done on ebay but without the hassle of postage etc. Also sold a load of cds and dvds that I had already checked on ebay and were only going for peanuts so priced at the same I had seen them on ebay and sold them all!

Good luck with your money making! :T

Little_Pickle

can I ask? what kind of books sell best on Amazon?
I have 3 listed but they haven't shifted. They are all novels.

Thanks,
LP
x

Curv

Does anyone have a view on 'ebay services'? I.e. there is a couple who live down my street who will sell my stuff on ebay for me... they charge 25% of the final sale price but that covers ALL costs - listing, photographing, postage etc... the lot. It seems like a lot, but then I won't have any hassle.

I've never sold anything on ebay, so I don't know how much of a pain it really is... does anyone think this service is worth it? Or not?

Cheers

Curv