Extreme eBay challenge-pay off credit cards £4000

Broke_Kitty

Oh wow you're doing amazingly well! I really need to get my a$$ into gear and hit ebay, I have heaps and heaps of clothes that I've been meaning to sell for the past few YEARS. I need to get my debt down asap so my wage can be freed up for ME, so I think this is a great challenge, I may join you!

I spent last night and a bit of this evening tidying my mess of a room, there's still a fair bit to go, but I have freed up some space and thus don't feel so overwhelmed all the time! It was pretty much all clothes that don't fit in my drawers/clothes rail, so shame on me for owning so much stuff! I'd rather have the cash

chickennoodle

Join me broke kitty!!! We are the same clothes everywhere- actually enjoying going through and getting rid of things.
So this week I have 56 items. Half are unsold from last week so fingers crossed a few of them go!
I now have a dedicated eBay crate so I can put everything selling away. Going to have another look through tonight hoping to get another 10 items ready to go on at the weekend.

So to reach my goal I would need to make £334 a month. That seems like an awful lot. Maybe a bit less as I will continue to pay the same amount off my credit cards as the interest amount decreases. Any which way I am still determined to get rid of those cards this year.
I know freeing up the wage would be so nice, instead of firefighting every month just trying to get through.

hummingbird

Hi chickennoodle,I am subscribing to your diary!! I do ebay and am also stepping it up at the moment!


I had never really thought of setting targets like you are doing, so thank you for inspiring me!:j


It's strange how sometimes you relist something several times and then it suddenly sells!


Make good use of all the free listing weekends!


I find I'm still making mistakes occasionally regarding postage costs - trying to minimise these and am getting better. I've just started to try my hand at shipping worldwide instead of UK only.


Also does anyone have any tips on photographing jewellery? Particularly rings? Mine always look out of focus although photos I take of other items are usually ok! I see other peoples sharp clear photos of their rings and bracelets etc and wonder how on earth they do it??!!


The thread you need I think is "Things you never thought you could sell" which is brilliant at giving you ideas! And there is another one called "Make me rich this year ebay or else!" If anyone could post the links that would be great as I don't know how to do it.


There is also lots of info/help/advice on the "Up your income" board and there is one of my most beloved threads of all time, "Make an extra £10 a day"


Hummingbird x

chickennoodle

Thanks Hummingbird, I know with the postage!! I sent my first lot out today, was about a pound out. I set up another 11 items tonight to put on at the weekend and have been a little more generous with my postage. It's when people ask for combined a get myself in more of a muddle. Wonder if you can get, make one of those size checker things they have at post office?

Been saving up used envelopes and also used some Christmas gift boxes to send in so no spend on wrapping material. Might have to get some soon though- any tips to keep costs down?

I sold a Bracelet, found it hard to photograph, but think as it is such a well known style/ brand buyers knew what they were getting anyway. I use my iphone for all my photos, find lighting and good clean background most important.

Thanks for subscribing- you should join me and set a target- it's really motivating me at the moment x

Buffythedebtslayer

As I have the same amount of debt I am really tempted to do this - raise 4000 by selling stuff.


so tired now. will think some more at the weekend. Good thread tho


xxx

jojitsui

What a fab idea. Best of luck to you all. I might give this a go too. If you are on f@cebook you could try selling bits on there too as there are no fees x

hettiecarro

Hi Chickennoodle.
Definitely up for joining you. I've been an avid ebayer since starting to get to grips with debts about 5-6 years ago.
Couple of things I think are important:
1. Make sure clothes are freshly laundered and ironed. (may seem a waste of time, but gets more views than creased garments) & also builds a good feedback score.
2. If not possible to launder, pop items on line in fresh air for a few hours.
3. Be honest about any faults in items (many people don't care - but will pick you up on it if you don't mention it).
4. Remember postage costs include your time as well as packaging - don't sell yourself short.

Some family and friends (who can't be bothered to ebay) give me items they no longer want. DON'T OFFER TO PAY THEM FOR THEM.
I simply buy the odd bottle of wine or flowers as a thank you (when I've made enough from selling them.
If items don't sell after numerous free listings I put them in my 'Cash4clothes' bags until I've got enough to get some cash for them.
I've also got a cash 'float' of £50.00 which I use to browse the charity shops (remember to add your postage etc when deciding if something is a good buy). There are lots of spendaholics (I know 'cos I WAS one :rotfl:) who buy things which sit in the wardrobe complete with tags and eventually get given to the charity shop.
I recently bought a coat BNWT for £2.00 and made over £16.00 after fees etc. So if you have the time it's worth a look. It also satisfies that little bit of me that still loves shopping
Will follow this thread with interest - thanks for getting us all fired up!

kizkiz

hettiecarro wrote: »

4. Remember postage costs include your time as well as packaging - don't sell yourself short.

Whilst technically true, if you start inflating your postage costs above the actual cost then your feedback will suffer and you won't have much luck selling for long. It's a big thing with buyers.

hummingbird

Thanks chickennoodle, I think I will set a target. I'm visiting my Dad for a few days so won't be back on this thread until the weekend - in the meantime I'll be having a good think on targets/ more things to sell etc etc.


Yes I was going to say as well there are other places to sell as well as ebay - Gumtree, FB selling pages ( although I haven't looked at that myself yet), local ads, car boot, etc etc etc!! I may think about some other ways to sell to avoid fees! I guess it's working out which items are best for ebay and which are better placed elsewhere!
:money:

hettiecarro

[QUOTE=kizkiz;64364855]Whilst technically true, if you start inflating your postage costs above the actual cost then your feedback will suffer and you won't have much luck selling for long. It's a big thing with buyers.[/QUOTE]



You're right of course and I wouldn't for one minute suggest you over inflate your postage costs.
For sending clothes I tend to use black bags which are cheap and quite sturdy and I try to post about twice a week to avoid unnecessary trips to post office.