EBay is Like a Virtual Yard Sale

by John
(Los Angeles)

I have been selling items on eBay for about ten years now. I usually sell odds and ends, things you would typically find at a yard sale, and you usually get a higher price for them this way.

I also sell promotional giveaway items from Santa Anita racetrack. I find that the best selling items are probably the Santa Anita giveaway items, which include T-shirts, mugs, binoculars, bobbleheads, and items like that.

Another great seller on eBay are any kind of items which have a professional sports franchise decorating it. Some things that I have had trouble selling before have been record albums and VHS tapes of movies. Although there are some rare albums that do bring good money (I once sold an album for $51 that I bought for 50 cents), I have had many that I have listed over and over again with no bids. The trick is to make the price reasonable, and hope to sell your item cheap at worst and have a bidding war at best!

It is a good idea to try to sell things that will be fairly easy to ship. Watch out for shorting yourself on the shipping costs – make sure you charge enough for shipping, or at least make sure you price the item accordingly if you will eat some of the shipping cost. The smaller the item, the easier it is to ship.