Since I've started eBay stories...

[Beachkid23]

I want to hear some of your since I started eBay stories. I know I'm not alone and I'm sure we have several of them. I'm kind of sitting here with nothing to do looking at my room so...

Since I've started eBay....

I've become a hoarder and probably an addict as well. I'm always looking for something to buy whenever I have free time. If it's either on my phone, and a yard sale looking for thrift store if I'm out of town or in a different city. Stopping by even if I have five minutes and sometimes even going three times a day!

I also feel like the smartest person in the world sometimes... And I try to continue my knowledge daily on new items. Which I tell myself it's OK to go to antique stores because I'm teaching myself what to look for. Until I find something a dealer has priced something for say $50 and I can sell it for 150. Then I buy it and it gets lost in my horde of stuff. Or when a friend of mine is having a yard sale, I try so hard to tell them they need to have me come over first thing or before the sale.

Oh and one other thing since I started eBay, I've paid off all of our credit card it. And I actually have a savings for the first time in my life!

Stories, I want stories! I don't want to feel alone anymore!! [emoji79][emoji204][emoji85][emoji86][emoji87]

 

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[2Minnesota]

Awesome BK on getting credit cards paid off and having a savings account.

I too am somewhat obsessed with the hunt. Once I sold my first big flip I kind of got addicted. I too have too much stuff. Lol. I spend a lot of time garage sale shopping in the summer and more listing in the fall/winter. There's only garage sales up here about 5-6 months of the year. I do spend a lot of time researching things to learn more about "stuff". I enjoy that a lot. Is there a support group for this? Lol

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I've watched you since you started posting. I remember times when things weren't going as well for you as they are now. The differences I see in you now show education and savvy.

You have a right to be proud.

 

[cyberdan]

I try to limit my buying to Saturday mornings. But yesterday my wife and I had to leave at 10:30 AM to go visit my sister on the other side of LA. Normally a 1.5 hour drive, it took 2.25 hours this time. My GPS took me off the freeway two times to avoid road blocks. When I was on city streets I started seeing yardsale signs. I kept yelling out to my wife look a yard sale. But we never stopped, we were already going to be an hour late. What I did notice people on the west side of los angeles do better signs than where I live. Bigger signs, brighter colors bolder words.

Since I am going to move to an area with very few yard sales I need to stock up on my inventory. I already have two recycle companies saving certain items for me that I have buyers waiting for me to get them.

 

[Beachkid23]

I've watched you since you started posting. I remember times when things weren't going as well for you as they are now. The differences I see in you now show education and savvy.

You have a right to be proud.

Thanks. To be honest I was probably an alcoholic at that time too. Spent a lot of time feeling like crap the next day. Found out though that I can make a living at this and cut out the booze. I can get up at 6 am and go all day on a Saturday. But Now it just makes me so sick, I'm good for like 1 beer a month and even then don't seem to care for it. Not to mention that it was affecting my family and my relationship with my kids. I'm 35 I want to see my kids grow up. And i want to be there with them. So there is a personal moment i haven't shared in forever!

 

[Beachkid23]

I try to limit my buying to Saturday mornings. But yesterday my wife and I had to leave at 10:30 AM to go visit my sister on the other side of LA. Normally a 1.5 hour drive, it took 2.25 hours this time. My GPS took me off the freeway two times to avoid road blocks. When I was on city streets I started seeing yardsale signs. I kept yelling out to my wife look a yard sale. But we never stopped, we were already going to be an hour late. What I did notice people on the west side of los angeles do better signs than where I live. Bigger signs, brighter colors bolder words.

Since I am going to move to an area with very few yard sales I need to stock up on my inventory. I already have two recycle companies saving certain items for me that I have buyers waiting for me to get them.

I try to limit my buying and then I go to put my daughter in daycare and the one we call only has part time available, from 1 o'clock until 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Who is that going to work for! So we call around everyone is full. The one we get, right next door to Salvation Army... Then I drive past the only other good store around on the way there and back... So I'm screwed... Always thinking what if I miss out on something? Oh I don't have to pick her up for another hour, I can stop in there for five minutes why not!!

 

[cyberdan]

Where I am moving has only 2-3 yardsales a week. Beachkid gave me the idea about thrift stores. Looked them up on yelp. Two thrift stores and both have mostly used clothes. Will still check them out. I do not know how they get their inventory yet. 20 miles away there are five. (bigger town in the next state that does not have sales tax)

 

[cyberdan]

Just found 5 more thrift stores. Two are within a 10 minute walk. Eight store in this small town? It is not a thriving town with only a 7000 population. But I am retired and not worried about income. But do like that extra that I make recycling and selling on the bay.

 

[leadnbrass]

Since I started Ebay:

My spare bedroom has become a mess, my garage isn't overly messy but has lots of product as well. My kitchen table is sometimes a staging area.

I'm definitely addicted to selling on Ebay...I have gotten better as far as what profit margin I need to buy an item.

I love small things that I can pick up for under a buck and sell quickly for $15-$20 and put in a small envelope with 1st class shipping. I still buy big things but need a big margin though I still buy things because they are cool and they usually end up in my storage room.

I started on Ebay about 12-13 years ago but went hard after my wife had lost her job...she has a very good job now but I still go heavy on Ebay.

I have not touched a dime of my "real job" paycheck in 5 years and all my disposable income is from selling stuff I buy.

I work 5 day's at my regular job and am off for 4, its a rotating schedule so I only get one Sunday and two Saturdays off a month which kill the yard sales but is great for thrift stores. I my god do I go to thrift stores.

And finally my biggest thrill is going into a thrift store and buying something that you know will kill on Ebay and everyone else just walked past looking for the obvious things.

 

[RustyGold]

Glad to read you cut out the drinking Beachkid! Congratulations!

 

[WhiteTornado]

I only sell every now and then on eBay, but I have been on there for 15 years. Since then:

* First started out as mostly a coin collector. Over time I found that what I like was getting more and more expensive, especially in higher grades and certified.

* Tried sports cards -- mostly just football -- for a while, but I got pretty bored with that. Ripping open the new stuff is like scratching off lottery tickets. You get a couple of cards worth keeping and a huge pile of mostly worthless stuff.

* The last few years, my main hobby has been metal detecting. I love finding old, interesting things.

Now that it's football season, I plan to go through all my football cards and decide which ones to keep long-term. Everything else will go up for sale. I'm mostly going to focus on coins and detecting for the long term.

 

[Beachkid23]

I only sell every now and then on eBay, but I have been on there for 15 years. Since then:

* First started out as mostly a coin collector. Over time I found that what I like was getting more and more expensive, especially in higher grades and certified.

* Tried sports cards -- mostly just football -- for a while, but I got pretty bored with that. Ripping open the new stuff is like scratching off lottery tickets. You get a couple of cards worth keeping and a huge pile of mostly worthless stuff.

* The last few years, my main hobby has been metal detecting. I love finding old, interesting things.

Now that it's football season, I plan to go through all my football cards and decide which ones to keep long-term. Everything else will go up for sale. I'm mostly going to focus on coins and detecting for the long term.

Kind of ironic I started with a baseball card. Haley Ramirez some one of three autographed signed bat jersey card or something. Paid my rent for 2 1/2 months off of that thing! And thought this is a good idea! ($300/mo moble home)

Then moved on to collecting coins. Started to get to where I couldn't afford the rest of the ones for the set. And moved to jewelry. I'm a hoarder now. Haha. I would like to sell off the coins I bought however I don't even have time to get to them let alone I'm not sure I can even find them right now!

 

[WhiteTornado]

Kind of ironic I started with a baseball card. Haley Ramirez some one of three autographed signed bat jersey card or something. Paid my rent for 2 1/2 months off of that thing! And thought this is a good idea! ($300/mo moble home)

Then moved on to collecting coins. Started to get to where I couldn't afford the rest of the ones for the set. And moved to jewelry. I'm a hoarder now. Haha. I would like to sell off the coins I bought however I don't even have time to get to them let alone I'm not sure I can even find them right now!

I still love coins but now I'm more interested in circulated examples and less into the uber-pristine uncirculated ones. Third-party grading, like PCGS, is one thing. But then when the whole CAC sticker craze hit, that is when I knew I needed to go in a different direction.

 

[tamrock]

Been a member since 1999. I like it, because it really brings to the surface what things are truly worth and what they could possibly sell for imo. It's so easy to pickup some extra cash also if you do things right offering your stuff to a worldwide market. I just sent my Dunhill lighter to a guy in China. Wished it would have made more, but still did good on it. What it sold for will defiantly take a bite out of a clutch job I what done on my truck.

 

[mugsisme]

I started eBay in 2001 making boutique children's clothes. It was so cut throat, you can't imagine. If you made it, you got into these select groups. They launched sets at the same time and coordinated with socks and bows. (Those were two different sellers.) The highest I got was usually around $75 an outfit. Some ladies were making $200-$300 an outfit. The economy went South and people stopped putting expensive stuff on two year old kids. And a lot of designers moved to Etsy.
I ran up a huge credit card debt buying fabric. My husband bailed me out on the condition that I stop selling.
Fast forward to 2013 when a friend started thrifting with me. Now I have a "sewing" room that you can't walk into, and a "jewelry" room that you also can't move in.
Not so sure if selling on eBay has really been to my advantage or not. Lol

 

[cyberdan]

Third-party grading, like PCGS, is one thing.

Whenever someone mentions PCGS it brings up memories of when I dealt with them. At the time I worked for a printing company and Collectors Universe was my customer. Basically same company as PCGS and David Hall would come by at times to proof check the magazine or coin calendar. I dealt mostly with their print buyer. When I heard she was leaving I immediately applied for her job. She and her boss interviewed me and I was offered the position as print buyer and I would also be in charge of building maintenance. Not bad, huge building, nice surroundings.

I said let me think and I will get back. The next day their print buyer called me to tell me what it was really like around there and why she was leaving. I can't go into all the details here but it was mostly because of the prima donna coin graders. The straw that broke the camel's back for her was when a "big name" coin grader called her and was screaming at her that his office was too hot. She went to his office, walked in and flipped on the air conditioning switch. She went back to her office and started looking for a new job.

P.S. I turned down that job.

 

[Beachkid23]

I started eBay in 2001 making boutique children's clothes. It was so cut throat, you can't imagine. If you made it, you got into these select groups. They launched sets at the same time and coordinated with socks and bows. (Those were two different sellers.) The highest I got was usually around $75 an outfit. Some ladies were making $200-$300 an outfit. The economy went South and people stopped putting expensive stuff on two year old kids. And a lot of designers moved to Etsy.
I ran up a huge credit card debt buying fabric. My husband bailed me out on the condition that I stop selling.
Fast forward to 2013 when a friend started thrifting with me. Now I have a "sewing" room that you can't walk into, and a "jewelry" room that you also can't move in.
Not so sure if selling on eBay has really been to my advantage or not. Lol

Ya don't say! I've heard stories of this infamous jewelry room... [emoji7]

 

[WhiteTornado]

cyberdan, that's a great story.

tamrock, very true, I do like how eBay will show you what an item is really worth in terms of the "sold for" prices. Better than any price guide, that's for sure.