The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Zarakava on April 04, 2017, 10:47:11 AM
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So after discovering Mustachianism, I've realized there's a lot of stuff I have, that frankly I don't need. Most of it is books that I like collecting, but won't ultimately read a second time (I do like having a collection of books that I read often though)
I don't think Craigslist will work out for me, so I think I need to look to Amazon or Ebay to sell a lot of these books (A lot of Manga, and misc anime collectibles).
But I don't really know how to start at this - most of my stuff is used, but in good condition. How do I price this, how do I even sell stuff? Shipping seems to be pretty hard to figure out.
I think I could get 1-2k off the things I should get rid of, which would be a good boost towards my car (yes, I have a silly car payment, but I'm keeping it)
Any good advice or articles to read?
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Ebay has worked for us
Search existing listings by ISBN or author/title. It's generally 'worth it' if you can get $10 shipped.
Fees take around 15%, shipping is $2-3.
We've sold a number of old schoolbooks, etc this way.
Good luck!
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Here's a starter's guide to Ebay:
- Open an account on Ebay and Paypal (they are basically the same company, but different websites)
- You will want to link your checking account to your paypal account. This lets you get paid!
- Research your item by searching for it. Filter the search to show sold listings. This will help you figure out what to write and how much to ask for.
- List your item - include as many pictures as possible - each listing can have up to 12.
- You can use auction or buy it now. I prefer buy it now as things will sell for a set price.
- Decide on the shipping cost (look ahead in this list if you want to be accurate), or ballpark it.
- You may want to offer free shipping and just increase the price of the item for simplicity. The fees will be the same either way.
- Only accept paypal as payment. Don't even consider another form of payment to start with.
- When your item sells, print a packing slip via ebay seller dashboard and include it in your package
- Package the item carefully so it doesn't get damaged in transit. Reuse Amazon boxes or whatever boxes you have sent to you from stuff you buy. Recycle!
- Don't use flimsy boxes like cereal or shoe boxes. Use cardboard boxes. Get yourself some clear packing tape to tape it closed.
- Use your kitchen scale to weigh the package and measure the dimensions with a ruler
- Enter this info in Ebay's shipping tool to get the shipping cost
- If it's under 1 pound, you can use first class mail! Even if it's a box package - this is a great inexpensive way to ship
- If it's a book, you can use media mail - very cheap for heavier packages.
- Pay for and print your shipping label using Ebay's built in tool. You get a discount over normal rates.
- Cut out the label and use shipping tape to tape it to the package. Don't cover the UPC codes with tape.
- Go to the post office and drop off the package at the counter - they will hand you a receipt.
- Ebay will charge you about 10% per item, payable via invoice at the end of the month. Paypal fees are taken out immediately.
- Transfer the remaining funds from paypal to your checking account.
- That's it!
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Thanks to both! I look forward to less stuff and more money!
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Just to re-iterate - if you have access to a printer, I do highly suggest buying postage online. Like bender said, buying through eBay's system will get you a discount. But you can also buy postage direct from USPS.com too. After paying for it, you just have to print out the postage and tape it to your box. This will save you time, as you can either just give the box to your local mail carrier when they deliver your mail or you can take it to the post office straight up to the counter. You don't have to wait in line when your box has pre-paid postage on it.
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Word of warning with Ebay. There are no realistic seller protections. If the buyer wants to screw you he can. Ebay will always side with the buyer. You just have to factor that into the cost of doing business on Ebay.
I do find Ebay much easier to deal with than Craigslist.
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You might want to try locally before going to Ebay and the like.
Comic shops will buy used stuff, but you have to haul it over and they'll want to get it for cheaper than you likely could sell it for online (they have to make a profit), but no shipping and no chance of theft/fraud crap either - they look through your collection and offer you a flat cash fee (or more if you take it "in trade" but cash is obviously better) for the items they want. Anything they don't want, we take to a company called Half Price Books (which buy things, but for way cheaper than we'd get from the comic shop), and get a much smaller amount but the items are mostly sold and done with in less than an hour or two.
I've had mixed success listing items on Nextdoor. You can make sure it's registered known people in your neighborhood (can't become a member of Nextdoor without basic verification), and you can list items for whatever and meet up wherever. So like Craigslist, but a little less scummy (?) but also with specialty items like comics/manga, you won't have much of an audience for it - had great success with household items, not a nibble with unique stuff like a Star Wars lunchbox or action figures.
The husband has been culling out his action figure and comic collection for a little while now, and has been happy to get rid of it for anything. Collections are not worth the money you paid any more because stuff isn't really rare or hard to come by, and you'd be damned lucky if you break even at this point.
I can't imagine it would be worth the amount of time taking and editing photos, writing descriptions, posting each one (even if you do it in lots) and then print out, package and drop off each package will make more sense than just taking a bunch over and selling it off in bulk, but it just depends if you do have anything truly valuable/rare enough to justify the amount of time and effort to sell off a large amount of items.
Honestly, you may need to do some basic research on what your items are actually selling for - what you paid is likely MUCH more than what someone is willing to offer, so the idea that you could get over 1k or better may be grossly overestimating. But if you know what an item is selling for (not listed, SOLD prices) then you have a better idea of what you should pull out of your collection and list on Ebay and the more common stuff could be sold in bulk to the local comic shop - basically capitalize on your time and efforts so the good stuff nets you the best profit and the other stuff doesn't waste your time.
And in future, check out the local library for your manga/comics fix. Ours actually has a huge variety and it means we can read without having to buy. Or check in with friends and see if you can borrow (and take very good care of the borrowed items so they'll continue to lend).
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I've sold on Amazon, eBay, Craigslist, and a couple of niche-specific websites (e.g. pricecharting.com). They all have their positives and drawbacks..
- eBay has high fees and you are at risk for charge backs (I've been pretty lucky myself)
- Amazon has SUPER HIGH fees, but you can list things forever at a price you want to get. It's probably the "easiest" to buy and sell on.
- Craigslist can be a bit scary and requires the ever intimidating meeting in person approach to sell stuff. You can get shady people for sure.
- Niche websites are often a nice combo of both worlds; you can sell stuff for good prices and typically lower fees. The drawback here is the smaller audience but also usually a more well informed audience.
You could also go to a retro game store or a used book store to sell old anime (lowest cash result with this option), but I also think it would sell just fine on craigslist which is typically your highest yield opportunity because of the lack of fees.
Good luck!
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We have been having tremendous success with local Facebook buy/sell/trade type groups. Much less flaky people when you can SEE exactly whom you are dealing with.
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Word of warning with Ebay. There are no realistic seller protections. If the buyer wants to screw you he can. Ebay will always side with the buyer. You just have to factor that into the cost of doing business on Ebay.
I do find Ebay much easier to deal with than Craigslist.
Came in just to say this, got bit a few times from unscrupulous buyers. Ebay is pretty horrible for sellers in my opinion, I now only use it as a last resort if I can't sell something locally.
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We have been having tremendous success with local Facebook buy/sell/trade type groups. Much less flaky people when you can SEE exactly whom you are dealing with.
Yes, FB would be my suggestion for a lot of things - no fees, and you can sell in local groups.
For books, you can sell on Amazon, AbeBooks.com or Alibris.com, just to name a few. If you have specialty books, find a site for those. Anything Stephen King related can be sold on Facebook, TheDarkTower,org or Cemeterydance.com with no problem (and no fees).
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Word of warning with Ebay. There are no realistic seller protections. If the buyer wants to screw you he can. Ebay will always side with the buyer. You just have to factor that into the cost of doing business on Ebay.
I do find Ebay much easier to deal with than Craigslist.
Came in just to say this, got bit a few times from unscrupulous buyers. Ebay is pretty horrible for sellers in my opinion, I now only use it as a last resort if I can't sell something locally.
If you have enough stuff to sell to open a "store" the customer service on Ebay is better imo. I used to run an Ebay store for a collectible card game & I never had any issues with them. They are rather inflexible, but if you follow whatever you posted, I never had any trouble getting them to side with me as the seller. You just really have to understand and follow Ebay's seller guidelines.
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We have been having tremendous success with local Facebook buy/sell/trade type groups. Much less flaky people when you can SEE exactly whom you are dealing with.
I forgot about FB... that's definitely another great option. It's really a less risky feeling alternative to CL.
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I've been using the app OfferUp and it's great! So much easier to use than Craigslist and very easy to post items and message with potential buyers right in the app (no need to email or exchange phone numbers). Each user has a visible rating (up to five stars) along with the number of times they have been rated, either for buying or selling. Before posting an item, I usually look for similar items for sale that others have posted, in order to get a better idea of what to price my item at. I look on Craigslist as well to help with pricing. If things aren't getting any interest on OfferUp then I'll post on Craigslist as well, as it could reach more people.
For books - try selling them online or taking them to a local bookstore. I live in Portland and taking books in person to sell to Powell's has resulted in some decent store credit (or cash if you prefer) for me! Powell's also buys books online. You put in the ISBN and it tells you if they are buying that book right now and for how much. The actual store bought more than what it said online though so if you have an option like this I'd try in person first. There are lots of other websites where you can enter the ISBN and see what different sites are buying for.
As others have said, I would definitely try local first (if you can) before attempting to mail things off to people out of your area. Good luck!
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I've had some success selling books on half.com as well as amazon. You can also plug in the ISBN into bookscouter.com and it'll search a bunch of buyback sites with current prices for you.