eBay Neutral Christmas Savings Challenge

newmrslockwood

Just had one sale this morning. WOW grand total of £2.37 profit. few more bits i've got on have bids so hopefully that lot will sell well.
I have loads of prezzies to buy yet. God only knows how i will reach my target, but i am off now to find some more listables.

bigpaws23

Thanks for setting up this excellent challenge; you're such an inspiration, Vicky. I love the enthusiasm and support on here.

lindab15 I so hear you about being torn between binning your clutter and thinking 'what if?' in regards to value.

I have a serious procrastination disorder when it comes to listing things on EBay, it just seems to darn hard compared to sticking in an ISBN on Amazon, but with you lot posting all the time I think I shall find the motivation.

I'm also putting things on Amazon as sometimes you can get better prices on there.

I haven't bought any presents yet, but will get a list up together during this week and work out an approximate total. Actually, I have a box of stuff upstairs for 'last minute emergency invites to partys' kind of stuff. I need to have a rummage and see what I already have - Perhaps I'll be in credit LOL!

How dispondant to people get on eBay? - what is the most number of times you have relisted something before giving it up and thinking it will never sell? Or do you just keep relisting and paying the fees?

I've just remembered that I have some Quidco money and Texaco card with points on too - so I'll have to see how much is in the kitty from those two sources as well.

Luckily I don't have many people to buy for, but because of that I tend to spend more on them - doh!

Anyway, I've rambled horribly, but I'm so glad to have found this thread and now I feel like I am more organised just by thinking about things a bit more.

I've put 3 things on eBay today, so that's a start

and I think I'll aim for 50% of my total initially as I'm not very confident about eBay sales

Bigpaws x

jamtart6

Hiya! I usally give the "what if's" a try. I couldn't believe what sold... half bottles of eyemakeup remover (low prices of course, but they would hav eonly gone in the bin!!) id say give it a go and if you think you have the market for it probably relist it up to twice, then give up, then perhaps list it in 6 weeks time again and if it doesnt sell, THEN give up.

I've had an item listed 4 times now but i KNOW i have a market for it. This itme 3 people are fighting for it, when last week it was unsold for 99p. Very hit and miss. I always list ALL my things in the spreadsheet, and every 15p insertion I get charged comes off my total profit, so i tend not to relist too often.

Hope that helps and good luck!!

bigpaws23

Thank you jamtart6,
Does this mean then, that you never start something at 1p in case you don't cover your fees with a sale?

Thanks for your encouragement and helpful reply; I'm really looking forward to this challenge.

I PMd you with my details for your spreadsheet this afternoon; I don't know whether it came through ok?

Bigpaws x

vickym

:T Well Done :T newmrslockwood on your sale as tesco say "every little helps" good luck with your other items. You will soon see it starting to mount up and just remember every little bit you sell is less clutter in your home.

BIG Welcome Bigpaws23 :beer: I have to agree with you Amazon is much easier to list on and I do tend to put any books I have to sell on Amazon rather than on ebay - and my sister gave me a couple of my nieces old games to sell (well I say old because thats how she described them to me - one still had the cellophane on it :eek: old indeed - so I have put them on Amazon - its best to compare what items are selling for on Amazon and Ebay that way you can decide which you will get the best price on.

I dont get despondant any more on ebay - like Jamtart6 says its very hit and miss one week you have no bids and the items ends 99p not sold and then 2 weeks later you can get £10 for it. I try to list items so that they are ending towards the end of the month/first few days of the next month as most people get paid monthly so they start looking for goodies during this time - knowing that by the time it ends they will have been paid from work - so they can pay you - hope that makes sense.

50% is a great amount to aim for and I am sure I can speak from us all here on this thread and wish you all the very best in achieving your goal - when its getting you down finding things to list or listing them or worrying about not having any bids or sales - just think of all of us we will be here cheering you on and encouraging you. Do let us all know how you get on - try to list things in small batches that way it breaks it down a bit and if you do a few a day then all your listings wont end on the same day so you will always have a couple of auctions on the go. The lowest I have ever had my starting bid is at 99p as you need to recover fees etc if the items does end up selling for the opening bid.

Another tip. I downloaded turbolister from ebay and I have inputted all my items for sale on there - what it means is that when you list directly on ebay the item starts straight away unless you schedule it in and that costs 6p - so not worth doing. On turbolister you input all your items for sale and then when you are ready to list you download them to ebay so during the day you can list things in turbolister then say about 7.pm you can download a one or two or all of them if you wish - I tend to stagger my auctions so I download one at 6.30pm then every 10 mins download another one that way they are not all ending at the same time - by listing them at night more people are at home - so more chance of someone buying your item and by staggering the end times of your items , if someone wants to bid on a couple of your items they have got a reasonable amount of time to bid on one item then wait a few minutes and bit on another. If you need any advise regarding turbolister just post your questions on here and either myself of someone will be along to help you out.

Also if you list your items in turbolister you can then always wait for a free listing day then download all your items - this is a great way of saving money on fees.

Anyway sorry for rabbitting on - Good luck with your listing of the gifts you need to buy and putting your items on ebay.

Best wishes
Vickym xxxxxxxxx

jamtart6

I'm gutted because my turbo lister ALWAYS crashes (ive deleted it and treid re-installing but crash crash crash!)

I tend to take all pics in one go, stick them in different folders ie. clothes/books/beauty and write descriptions for all, then when the time comes to want to sell them, i have the description typed up and pictures all categories. same as turbo lister - but just a tip in case yours crash too!!!

i do sometimes list for 1p but not often - i actually only made 7p profit on an item last week which wasnt very clever but i put postage way too low cos didnt think about the shape of the parcel oops! learnt that lesson!!

very best of luck to you all - i think we're all doing great and its so nice to have motivators too!!

jamtart6

meant to ask - is amazon easy to list books on? not that I have that many. i had a few schooly type books - a few sold on ebay such as revision guides etc but struggling with "teach yourself tai chi" and a biology dictionary!

vickym

jamtart6 wrote: »

meant to ask - is amazon easy to list books on? not that I have that many. i had a few schooly type books - a few sold on ebay such as revision guides etc but struggling with "teach yourself tai chi" and a biology dictionary!

Amazon is really easy if you do a search find the book for sale on amazon that you want to sell then on the left hand side of the page there is a option to "have one for sale - list yours" - then you just click the link input what condition its in - then a very brief decription for example " New condtion ideal gift" or something similar - then your price and whether you will ship to uk or uk and domestic - then confirm it really is straight forward.

I had the same problem as you a few months ago with turbolister but it all seems to be running ok now (fingers crossed - touch wood) but yep thats also a great idea to take all photos and do a description - you can always do it in a word document then copy and paste it - it will save loads of time like you say and a great idea as a back up just in case turbo lister fails or if anyones not sure about turbolister.

I saw your note about totting up the total for your pressies you still have to buy its amazing how they mount up isnt it. good luck with your auctions ending tomorrow.

Keep up the good work everyone I think we are all doing brilliantly - anyway off to watch a bit of tele and have a cappuccino

Bye for now Vicky xxxxxxxx

Sallys_Savings

jamtart6 wrote: »

I'm gutted because my turbo lister ALWAYS crashes (ive deleted it and treid re-installing but crash crash crash!)

I tend to take all pics in one go, stick them in different folders ie. clothes/books/beauty and write descriptions for all, then when the time comes to want to sell them, i have the description typed up and pictures all categories. same as turbo lister - but just a tip in case yours crash too!!!

i do sometimes list for 1p but not often - i actually only made 7p profit on an item last week which wasnt very clever but i put postage way too low cos didnt think about the shape of the parcel oops! learnt that lesson!!

very best of luck to you all - i think we're all doing great and its so nice to have motivators too!!

Mine always crashes too...I haven't actually managed to use it without it crashing
I spent hours once listing it all up and then lost all the items when trying to download them

I've got to get round to listing a few more items tonight (everything is nearly finishing)..I really want to keep a decent amount up at the same time as I think many people look at what else you are selling.

vickym

:rudolf: Vickym's Official 20 day update:rudolf:

• how much have you spent on pressies? £ 265.93 includes £115 that I still need to buy remainder of pressies
• how much have you sold? £ 107.78
• What % is this towards your target? at the mo 40.5%
• Have u reached any level of the challenge yet? 25% Bauble
• Are you listing your first box this week? no aiming to list last half of 2nd box
• Are you still sorting stuff to be put on eBay?? yep and asking all relatives and mates if they have got stuff they dont want too - Sister had a few old games of my nieces - so I gladly took them off her hands for free - one is brand new sealed & on amazon the lowest prices is just under a £10

Pressies still to buy
£30 Wine to go in gift baskets
£20 God sons pressie
£30 Sisters main pressie
£20 approx for wrapping paper, cards, cellophane & bows for baskets etc
£15 Forgot all about my Grandfathers pyjamas I still have to buy

So now the amount left to buy is £ 115 ( which I have now added into my total spend)

Good news this week I have sold
2 Mobile phones that have just been sat around doing nothing My husband and I treated ourselves to newer ones earlier in the year using a terrific code for money off from Littlewoods catalogue. After Fees £ 43.28

One of the Mobile phones has sold but not been paid for yet - so I havent included the selling price for this one yet as I dont consider it sold until paid for in full.
3 Dvds sold (one for only 99p :eek:) but the others did better Total £17.28


Update:- My hubbie and I have now decided that as we have loads of Tesco vouchers that we are going to cash in £50 worth for Goldsmiths vouchers and £20 worth for Bella Italia vouchers and we are going shopping one day nearer to Christmas to have lunch at Bella Italia and buy a little something for ourselves each with the Goldsmiths Vouchers up to the value of £100 each. I think its a great way of money saving and we both get a nice bit of jewellery or similar for nothing (in effect) and a delicious lunch.

Hope everyone is doing ok

Have a great relaxing Sunday xxxxx
Vicky xxxx