Well, this past month (or so) I have finally gotten around to selling items on ebay (ok, just 2 things - but still...), had a yard sale, and have sold things through craigslist. Not that I needed to make money, but I couldn't just throw out perfectly good items.
So how did it work out? Well the ebay items had cost me $2.50 and sold for $30, the yard sale brought in over $240 (and maybe 2/3 of that was pure profit from items I got free at CVS/Rite Aid/Walgreens!), and I sold four items (two child toys, desk, and coffee maker) using craigslist for a total of $45 (my cost was $25 for the same items in the past 5 years at yard sales). Total revenue of over $300, and mostly profit. And I am now organized to have another yard sale before winter comes. And some extra space is now free in my house! Now if I could figure out how to sell all these books my wife left with me to make some reasonable money on them.
I guess I am bad though, in that I have probably spent about the same $300 this year on my hobby. Oh well, I guess I have to take the glass is half full view - at least my hobbies cost nothing this year!
Yard sales, and ebay, and craigslist - oh my.
September 9th, 2008 at 07:57 pm
September 9th, 2008 at 08:11 pm 1220991110
For several years, unbeknownst to me, an employee in our accounting office was reaping the benefits of all the office supplies ordered by our company's many different offices. I'm quite sure it totalled hundreds of dollars worth of checks each quarter that could then be spent at their stores. She paid the Staples bills, so she signed up for their Rewards program. It must've been quite the bonanza, though i never confronted her about it.
Once i discovered this Rewards program existed, i signed my own office up so i could benefit from our office's office supply spending, not her! I got a few nice checks up to about $100, but since i'm not a big user of office supplies, i stocked up on essentials i knew i could use, like (boring) toilet paper, tissues and the like. Another way to get free stuff there is if you order X amount of office supplies, you get a free-whatever-they're featuring. So it made sense to start consolidating your office supply orders rather than just doing it for smaller amount, on an as-needed basis. Some of this stuff i got i plan to sell at a tag sale, too.
September 9th, 2008 at 08:25 pm 1220991907
September 9th, 2008 at 08:36 pm 1220992618
I did sell a book using half.com this year. I looked at the Amazon listing fee structure recently, and was very discouraged. However, if it is that or having them take up space for nothing... perhaps I should look into it again. Once the weather starts to chill, I'll have to make that a priority.
September 9th, 2008 at 08:40 pm 1220992821