A big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in their Personal Savings Stories and photographs. I hope by sharing other people’s money savings tips here on One Hundred Dollars a Month we can all find new ways to save rock our budgets this year.
~Mavis
This week we are featuring Heather from Texas.Hi Mavis! Last year I showed off our pantry – the “College Dorm Indian Pantry” story. We changed jobs and moved over the summer so I thought I’d update you and also chime in on your Personal Savings Stories Series…
So we ditched the “dorm” and moved into a much larger house, my husband changed jobs and is working long hours these days – the raise in salary has been one way we’ve been saving money. But I actually wanted to tell you about my hobby-turned-business, which allows me to stay home with our kids and still put extra money into savings each month. My “real” job is a freelance graphic designer. It is great because I have flexible hours and can work from home, but I wanted a way to earn extra cash to supplement my freelance business.
Like you, I have an eBay store, but instead of selling handmade items, I sell thrift store/garage sale items. The name of the game is buy low and sell high. Though I had sold random things on eBay (mostly from around our house) for several years off and on, I got serious about a year-and-a-half ago, after reading an ebook, Amazon Mom. I also joined some eBay seller’s Facebook groups, which were a tremendous help knowing what kinds of things SELL on eBay (the group calls them BOLOS, “Be On the Look Out”). I bought this “shootsac” lens bag at a thrift store for less than five dollars – I found it among the purses and you can see, the bidding ended at $132.50!
The first time I went “thrifting” to look for items to sell, I was totally overwhelmed! I soon learned how to use my smartphone to look up items on eBay while I was in the store and check the “sold” listings to get an idea what it will sell for. I also learned that pricing your item much lower than the others listed doesn’t really help you (or the other sellers much!) I also learned “best practices” for ordering supplies, organizing my inventory, handling returns, customer inquiries, etc. I would say the first year was definitely the learning curve, and I am still building my store to where I want it to be… but I have had some great success so far.
In fact, I had one JACKPOT sale, that was totally unexpected, I sold a discontinued cross stitch kit for over $4,000! Two buyers got in a bidding war and drove the price up from around $80 within the last 2 hours of the auction. I will have to say, that was probably a ONCE in a LIFETIME event, and I would never expect that kind of return again (even if I found the exact same item). It was really just two people who had the money and had to have it and it was the only one listed at the time. However, it taught me to be more selective about what I buy.
As I buy things now, I try to find items that will earn me at least $20-$30 profit each but occasionally I’ll sell something that is highly desirable and get $100 or more in profit. And you do sometimes get a “bidding war” going which is a blast to watch! I still have some lower priced items for sale, sometimes those items are things I found around the house to sell, but I try to be careful to factor in costs, including paypal and eBay fees, so I find that generally things under $15 aren’t as profitable to list, because you still do the same amount of “leg work” per item…photographing, listing, packing, shipping.
The other advantage to hitting the thrift stores every week is that I find things which our family can use as well, and I never have to pay retail price. You’d be surprised how many “new” things you can find in these stores, for example, I needed a humidifier for our daughter’s room this winter, and I found a crane frog new-in-the-box for $5 (right now, listed for $37 on amazon!). One of my favorite thrift stores is the Goodwill Outlet, where things are dumped in bins (see photos above) and you pay by the pound. My husband jokes that it is one step above dumpster diving – but I have found some great things here!
In other thrift stores (which are a bit more organized), I also find great deals on clothes for our kids – I always check the clothing section in their sizes since I’m there anyway, and I often find name brand clothing (sometimes with the tags) for $1-$5 to supplement their wardrobes. And once they outgrow the clothes, assuming they are still in good shape, I can sell them as a “lot” on eBay and get some or all of my initial investment back. Its basically like clothing the kids for “free” or “nearly free!”
My husband and I decided a few weeks ago to save my eBay profits up for a new mattress, ours is totally shot and we don’t like to go into debt for those kinds of purchases, so it has been fun to watch the balance go up after each sale – we are almost to our goal! We also plan to use eBay profits for our kid’s college fund and for family vacations. We go to India to visit family every 2-3 years so we add to that fund continuously, and in the “off” years, use a small amount for a less extravagant trip, last spring break we drove to Reynosa, Mexico. We love giving our kids “experiences,” Our daughter just turned 6, and in a recent kindergarten project, we shared about all of her “travels.” She’s been from coast to coast in the USA, including Yosemite National Park, Niagara Falls, Vancouver Canada, Hawaii, Mexico, all over India, France, Belgium, Holland, England, etc. Traveling with kids is not only doable, but also extremely rewarding!
If any of your readers have questions about eBay or how to get started, I’m happy to answer questions! It’s not a “get rich quick” scheme, and it does take work, but I’m able to spend time with our kids and take them along on thrifting trips with me, and I am able to photograph and list items during naps/or after their bedtime, and they love to “help” me packing and shipping items. I have the postman pick up the packages, so I rarely have to make a trip to the post office. And it gives me something to do in-between graphic design jobs.
I really love that I can be “off duty” from eBay, doing something all together separate and my phone will “cha-ching” with a sale at any time of the day or night. I was painting some thrift store furniture the other day for our room and our daughter’s room – SAVING money by buying inexpensive thrift store furniture and giving the pieces a “makeover” – and EARNING $100 in profit with 3 sales while I was painting. I call that win-win multitasking! All in all it has been a great way for our family to earn and save money.
– Heather from Texas
If you would like to have your Personal Savings Story featured on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I would love to feature it on the blog. Just answer 5-7 {or all if you really want to} of the questions listed in the original Personal Savings Story post and submit 3-5 QUALITY photos to go along with them.
Send submissions via email to onehundreddollarsamonth @ gmail.com {remove the spaces} and be sure and put Personal Saving Stories in the subject line.
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Lisa L says
Wow Heather! You are fabulous. Thanks for sharing your story.
Ashley says
I sell on eBay as a hobby as well. Although, I’m not nearly as successful at flipping. I consider 5-10 dollars of profit per sale to be great, haha! Keep up the great work! Thrifting is awesome!
Diana says
Reading about the cha ching on your phone is too funny! I have an eBay store where I sell pillows that I sew. I owned a decorating business for over 20 years, and after retiring from that I work almost full time making pillows. My husband and I love to hear the cha ching on our phones during the day. It is the best music!
Heather says
Yes! my kids love the cha-ching sound! they always say “you sold something!” Kind of funny when it happens in a store though! 🙂
Veronica says
Fabulous and interesting story! I have a few questions. Do you find that you’re generally selling new or used items? Also, are there certain items that you sell more of? I know you have been doing this for a while now, but when you first started, what types of items were you finding at thrift stores and then selling?
Heather says
Hi Veronica! I generally sell pre-owned or collectible things on eBay (with some exceptions). I find amazon is really easy to list & sell new things. But these days I mostly stick to eBay. Our eBay store is called “Mugs and Mo” because when we started out we found mugs were easy to find at thrift stores cheap and also many can go for a good price on eBay (especially starbucks mugs!) However, mugs do cost a lot to ship, so that has to be factored in. I’ve had good success with clothes and even certain brands of shoes. I also tend to sell lots of toys, both vintage and current, I find stuff that I had as a kid in thrift stores now (like rainbow brite dolls!) and my kids are into all kinds of toys, so I know what is “hard to find” at the moment. When my daughter was really small, she had a sesame street playset. Some of the figures were impossible to find, so when I came across a discount store selling them, I was able to make a good profit – essentially enough to pay for her whole set. Some items are easy to list, they don’t need much explanation or measurements (like mugs), but other items are easy to ship, like clothes or books. Bottom line – personally I don’t stick to one type of item, I sell a little bit of everything!
Sharon says
Heather how do you ship mugs? I have some I wanted to sell bit worried about how to pack them safely and shipping cost.
Heather says
I order free shipping supplies from the US post office website. There is a free priority mail box, I think it is 7″x7″x6″ – that is the perfect size for most mugs. Most mugs are over the 13 ounce weight limit for the cheaper first class postage, so I ship priority mail. It usually costs at least $7 to ship a mug…depending on where it is going. If you are a “top rated seller” with eBay, you do get a postage discount when you buy your postage through eBay. Also, for mugs I just use lots of bubble wrap and recycled air cushions! My whole extended family knows not to throw away their boxes, bubble wrap and air cushions from amazon and other online orders! I use them all – and thats more money in my pocket – not having to pay for shipping supplies! (Mavis, you’ll be so proud, *wink*!)
Kellianne says
Love the cross stitch kit story! WOW!! I do this, too but not on your level. Think I need to! I usually wind up selling on Craigslist and things move FAST! One of my best sales was a VitaMix I scored at an estate sale for $20. It was an older model but in perfect condition and had all original paperwork (including the receipt from Costco) and accessories. I listed it that afternoon on CL for $180 and it sold within hours. My husband was shocked but I sure wasn’t. People are ALWAYS looking for those blenders! The lady who bought it couldn’t believe I was practically giving it away. Haha! My email was overflowing with responses and someone even offered more (after it was sold, of course).
Thanks for sharing! I need to look into the FB groups you mentioned.
Heather says
Wow – great story – I would have wanted to keep the Vitamin if I had found it! I’ve had a few items sell on craigslist – things that I didn’t want to ship. Definitely a great place to buy and sell 🙂
Heather says
*Vitamix
Gwenn says
Heather – How do you calculate shipping for larger pieces…like furniture? I’ve thought about selling some of furniture that I’ve found (often left out for the trash guys) and painted but I wasn’t sure how to get the piece shipped? Like how to pack it and how much to pay for shipping since the cost of shipping could be more than the cost of the item.
Thanks so much for sharing. Like many people I’m looking for ways to make extra $$ and getting a low paying part time job somewhere isn’t something that I really want to do if I can avoid it. I need to look into some FB groups, thanks for the tip. 🙂
Heather says
Hi Gwenn, I would personally use Craigslist or Facebook to sell larger pieces. I haven’t bought too many bigger items with the intention of selling them on Facebook, but a couple of times when we have moved, I have had good success getting rid of unwanted furniture this way. Shipping the big items is pretty tough. eBay does have a “local pickup” option as well, I haven’t tired it, but if you wanted to sell big items on eBay and you live in a bigger city that might be a good option!
Jillian says
Thanks for your story Heather!!
Shelley says
Heather — do you have FB groups you could recommend? I’ve sold a few things on eBay with limited success…. but ALOT of fun! I looked and there are TONS of groups….
Shelley
Emma B says
Love this post. My daughter sells a lot of the local Offer up and we were just talking about doing more, I haven’t been on Ebay for a long time and wasn’t sure if people still used Ebay. glad to know they do. Going to check out Amazon Mom. those Mickey ice cream dishes in your store are calling my name!!