My Top eBay Moments This Week

This week made me happier than last week. My sales slowed a bit at the beginning of the week, but I didn't have nearly as many bumps in the road as I did last week. I do have two unpaid item cases open at the moment, and I'm not optimistic about either of them paying. But great news! One of my 3 negatives in the past 1 month just got moved to the "6 months" column! Yay!

I had 56 sales this week, only 9 of which were shoes. I'm really clearing out a lot of my odds and ends. I'm seeing some freed up shelf space and hanging space. I have mixed feelings about that - it's great that stuff is selling, but seeing empty shelf space means I don't have as much inventory as I probably should. Time for a road trip??

I didn't have a lot of high-dollar sales this week, but I have a few good stories.

I bought 14 pieces of brand-name maternity career wear at a yard sale this summer. The wife was in the house and the husband was desperate to get rid of it, so he sold it to me for $1 a piece. I'm sure she'd have thrown a fit if she knew, because this stuff was seriously in like new condition. But maybe she should have been supervising :)   I only sold this shirt for $7.49 + shipping, which on the surface doesn't seem like a great sale. But I looked over what I had already sold from that sale. Remember, I bought 14 pieces for $14. So far, I have sold 7 of them for a total of $79.44. Sometimes it's not the profit margin on one single piece that I'm after. Sometimes it's okay to buy a bundle of things and look at the overall profit. If I sell the rest of the pieces for that same profit margin, I'll end up with almost $160 out of that initial $14 investment.

My sister's boyfriend's mother died recently. She had an appallingly huge wardrobe. The vast majority of it got thrown away (stained or holes) or sent to Goodwill (missing size tags, faded, but otherwise perfectly wearable). I was left with 76 items that I offered to sell on eBay for them. I looked at this sweater the other day and almost didn't bother listing it. It's just a plain, boring black sweater vest cardigan (wow - just that phrase makes it sound so unappealing). On top of that, it's probably from the late 80's, a no-name brand, 100% acryllic. But for some reason, I decided to list it anyway. It actually sold 2 days later! Not for much, but for more than they'd have gotten by selling it at a yard sale or a local consignment store. It sold for $12.99 free shipping ($3.28).

Is this not the ugliest, most dated latch hook design you've ever seen? Who, when thinking about their Christmas decor, decides that they want to latch hook a duck with a wreath around its neck? Really now. But it was new in the package, so I bought it. I paid 50 cents for it at a yard sale this summer. It sold for $14.99 to the UK during my 25% off sale this week.

On the other side of the coin, this is quite possibly the most adorable little girl's outfit I've ever sold on eBay. I paid $1.99 for it at Goodwill in October. The retail value is over $60, so I listed it for $29.99 or best offer, with free shipping. I got an offer for $15, and I countered with $25, explaining that it's in excellent condition and a very expensive outfit new. She countered with $19, telling me that the exact same outfit sold for $11 the day before. I countered with $25 again, pointing out that mine is the only one currently listed that includes the sweater, and that just the dress (used) is listed for $25+. Then the next day, it ended up being a part of my 25% off sale, so she bought it for $22.49 free shipping ($3.11). So I guess we ended up with a decent compromise. I'm certainly happy with $20 for an outfit I paid $2 for.

I found 4 of these NWT woodland camo BDU jackets at Goodwill in September. I paid $3.99 each for them and was able to list them in a multi-variation listing (they were all different sizes). I sold my first one this week for $27.99 plus shipping.

This fleece vest was from the big yard sale I've mentioned several times now. I paid $6 for it and accepted an offer for $28 (free shipping) this morning. Shipping will cost me $3.09.

I was so excited to find this unopened plastic canvas kit at a yard sale this summer for only $1! I listed it immediately and have tried several different price points. I had several watchers, but never any offers. I had a UK buyer contact me to see if I would ship to the UK and to confirm that it was truly unopened. I told her yes I would and yes it is truly unopened. She bought it full price the next day for $39.99. I had free shipping on it, but because it was an international sale, she paid the shipping. And because I offered free shipping, I don't have to pay any final value fees on the shipping!

Last but not least, my mother-in-law had a set of 3 of these. They are furniture throw covers. She paid a LOT of money for them and quickly discovered that they are annoying. She was constantly having to rearrange them and redrape them and she got tired of it. She asked me to see if I could sell them as a full set. I didn't know anything about them, but I told her sure. And there they sat. I'm pretty sure they sat for at least 3 months before I got around to listing them. I enlisted the help of our eBay Underground members. I listed the full set on October 11 for $149.99 or best offer (plus shipping). I got an offer yesterday for the $100 that we were hoping for! She hasn't paid yet, though, so we'll see....

That's it. Just a short list today. What did you sell?