Seemed so easy!

[Beachkid23]

One year ago this month I left my job to sell on eBay full-time. I have found great fines and I have found wonderful things! But selling on eBay full-time has not been as wonderful as I thought it would be! I have my own health insurance and that's $200 a month! I have all day long with my daughter which is wonderful but watching Barney is not as wonderful as I thought it would be! And when I came home from work and check my email account and saw that I sold $200 it was great. now I spend all day hoping I can find something worth buying or trying to sell something to make $200 to make up for the paycheck I don't have!

I was an electrician before the recession and part of me wants to go back to that because it paid well. I think I can still figure out what I need to do. But then again I have four kids so I may need to just go back to the school district so I have the summer off with them.

But I don't know everything seemed like it would be so easy to make so much money online but that weekly paycheck made a huge difference! Especially once health insurance was paid for as well. But maybe I'm just feeling depressed because I've gained probably 25 pounds since I left working!

I really don't have a point to this thread but your opinion is welcome.

 

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[releventchair]

Only opinion. Strive for balance. While hustling on E-Bay are you putting away funds for your future and your children? Nothing wrong with hustling on the side if you were knocking down a decent check again if you put it to good use as it's not what you earn as much as what you spend. If marketing is/was fun it has become work. Still a choice and it is good you know how.
You will turn around soon and those kids will be grown and you will want to be in a position to help sometimes.A day remembered of a purple yuk,yuk, dinosaur will be bittersweet. Time with kids should still factor whatever you do. Were I able to be an electrician in hind site I would have tore it up and banked it big time. What you really need to do is be happy. Not always, but about where you are headed down the road, and years from now where you have been when looking back. It is the personal choices and decisions we make for ourselves that get us there. Life happens too while we're at it and sometimes things change. Paying into S.S.I. well for many years allows me to survive fortunately but was not planned on for such. Had I been self employed I doubt a reserve would have been enough. That is a discipline though I hope is considered by those who are. Many parents took steady income working for others to keep things stable for their kids. Some happy in the end ,others maybe not. Easy? Hmmm.

 

[austin]

Plant aervices at any large school district is ALWAYS looking for qualified people. So you found out that full time ebay wasn't that great. It could have been worse. You could have been out prospecting. Go back to security and remember. You can always try again. Sorry prospectors, but I nearly didn't survive that nonsence...

 

[Justice70]

You have the knowledge to make some good SIDE money with ebay. Let me rephrase, you have the knowledge to make a living on ebay but it sounds like you miss getting that regular paycheck. Security is nice. Spending time with children is great but having a full time job is not detrimental imo. I believe children learn a level of responsibility by seeing mom and/or dad go to work everyday. I just started selling on ebay and love it. I do not ever plan on doing it full time and, unless ebay policies drive me away, I do not see myself getting tired of it. I believe that joy comes from moderation. I love to metal detect but, if I had to detect everyday I would get really sick of it after awhile.

That last sentence reminded me of the story of the man who loved to trout fish. After his death he found himself standing on a serene lake shore with rising trout everywhere and a flyrod in hand. A voice said "Cast to every rising trout". The man who loved to trout fish was ecstatic and happily obeyed the command.

After a long time of doing this though, he began to get weary and stopped. Once more the voice boomed "Cast to every rising trout".

After another long spell of doing this he was really tired of it and said he wanted to stop.

"Cast to every rising trout".

The man who loved to trout fish could not take it anymore and said "What kind of heaven is this"?

The voice said, "Whoever said this was heaven"?

 

[trdhrdr007]

I used to be a plumbing contractor & general contractor running a one man shop so I did it all. Busted butt February-October & was making great money. Started buying junk properties & rehabbing them for rentals on the side. When I hit 40 I realized if I kept going the way I was my knees/back were going to get a lot worse than they already were. Figured I had enough rentals to pay the bills so I quit working. A few years later I got burnt out on dealing with tenants so I sold out at a pretty good profit. Since then I live partially off my investments & the rest comes from ebay/antique mall. The upside is I don't answer to anyone else, I've got a pretty large investment stash, & I don't hate getting up in the morning.

Here's the downside. I'm not eligible for any sort of pension. If social security is available when I hit 62 my check will be tiny due to not working between 40-62. Health insurance for an individual is ridiculously expensive.....& if you have assets you have to have health insurance or else you can lose everything. Hindsight is 20/20, but I can see now that I probably would have been better off working at the state university & then doing the side hustle afterwards. In my area the work is a lot less demanding than in the private sector, you are eligible for a pretty generous pension after 20 years, social security would be higher, & health insurance is available for less than an individual pays.

 

[clovis97]

I hear ya, Beach.

Many years ago, after starting and running a successful printing business, which I operated for years, I started selling on ebay. I was making more on ebay than I was killing myself working 50-60 hours a week in the printing business. I was making almost a stunning amount, all while I sat on my tail, and didn't have to leave the house, except to go to the post office once a day.

I also had a serious health issue, so making the transition from a full time printing business to ebay was a natural choice. I was also able to stay home with my daughter. My daughter couldn't be sat in front of a TV...she wanted to play and be entertained. I miss those days...

We did very well selling on ebay and at a local flea market. I now have 5 booths at an indoor FM, and 4 spots at antique malls, plus ebay. When the economy was good, we made money hand over fist, and did well until about 2011. It has been a tough road many months, and we still struggle with finding the right stuff to sell on ebay. Gone are the days of selling an antique wrench for $85, and a used Harley accessory for $200. In other words, the Midas touch factor is long gone.

A few thoughts, from someone older than you:

1. Enjoy your time with your kids, even if you are cleaning up a spilled bowl of cereal, changing a diaper, and trying to get ebay listed, all at the same time, while the Barbie Princess DVD is blaring out one song after another. You'll look back and miss those days.

2. Start saving 10% of your income into a retirement account. Personally, I wouldn't buy anything but a Vangard mutual fund because of the outrageous fees that most traditional mutual funds have. Your social security, if it is still there when you turn 70, will not be a big check. Then again, if you work for someone for the next 40 years, will it still be there when you are 70??

3. Even if you go back to work, will you enjoy it? How much will you be spending on gas, clothes, lunches, tools, a car, and insurance? How much will you spend on day care? How much drive time will you have?? Get out your pencil and really figure out your numbers.

4. You've got a better game going than I do. I watch your finds and posts, and thankfully, you aren't in my area. I don't know gold and silver, but you have a solid grasp on the market. Do you just need to step up the PM's a notch, to make more money? (That is a rhetorical question.)

Hope this helps...we are in the same boat...worrying about retirement and all, but it does make me want to vomit thinking about entering the work force again, LOL.