Can people still make money by selling used items on eBay?
By KizzyCatfish
@KizzyCatfish (426)
United States
October 3, 2011 12:02pm CST
I used to make a nice amount of money by going to yard sales and thrift stores then selling the items I purchased there on eBay. After some time, it seemed that my sales were slowing and then I stopped.
Can people still make money by selling used items on eBay? Or has it become too commercialized with a flooded market?
3 people like this
7 responses
@lctravenisk (483)
• Brazil
4 Oct 11
I don't think so. Nowadays the price is decreasing really fast, mainly for electronic devices. A few years ago you could find good used itens to buy, but nowadays the difference between an used item and a new item is so small that is better to get the new one.
I've never bought in Ebay, but I bought in Mercado Livre, the Brazilian version of Ebay. In this site, we have a lot of stores selling things with very low prices. I saw some things to buy at Ebay and most itens were selling by stores too. It is too difficult to compete with this stores, except if you are going to sell something specific. Happy mylotting.
1 person likes this
@KizzyCatfish (426)
• United States
4 Oct 11
It's starting to feel like I was right to quit back then. Nothing is the same as it used to be. Yes, I'm enjoying myLot as well!
@KizzyCatfish (426)
• United States
4 Oct 11
Thanks for the well-wishes! I do this myLotting thing as an extra couple of bucks, and haven't even made enough yet for the first deposit to PayPal. I wish I could make enough on the internet to survive, but that doesn't happen, so I do have to continue to work a full time job.
@lctravenisk (483)
• Brazil
4 Oct 11
Yeah. Nowadays there are a lot of scams, it is much more difficult to find legit sites with a good payout and the values that you can earn is much lower. I am very sad that I just started to use internet to earn money for a few time. Good luck and happy mylotting.
@zoey7879 (3092)
• United States
3 Oct 11
Of course!
A lot of people are kind of dirty in their dealings thought, and that is how they manage to make money. I often see people selling items worth, for example, $50. They kick a bid off around $4 knowing that someone won't pay close attention to the shipping costs... And then they'll set the shipping costs between $40-$60. It's nuts.
It seems to be most profitable with electronics and some collectibles. There are a LOT of companies producing very cheap products selling them for cheap, which also helps to flood the market per se.
I bought an AT&T cell phone for $60 a month ago and have been trying to sell it for $45. It works just fine and I still have all of the original stuff, plus a case and a purchased replacement plan to go with it. No such luck. In fact, I saw the same Smartphone on Ebay for $17 without a single bid.
It's insane :/
1 person likes this
@KizzyCatfish (426)
• United States
3 Oct 11
That seems more like the story that I was feeling when I quit selling there, as opposed to the previous person who responded. I also cannot believe that anybody would not notice the horrendous shipping cost! Matter of fact, I always check that first to make sure that it doesn't make the overall price cost prohibitive. I quit selling when I started to get the feeling that a lot of corporations were mass selling on eBay.
1 person likes this
@TheCatLady (4691)
• Israel
12 Oct 11
@zoey Over inflated shipping is common. I wanted to buy some pens once, but the guy wanted $40 for shipping. He wouldn't let people pick them up were he was. Good thing I looked at the shipping price before I bid.
I bought a Hello Kitty wallet today on eBay that had $9.99 shipping. I won the bid at 99 cents and with shipping the price is fair. They had a ton of for auction. Some people are bidding 5 and 10 dollars for the wallet. I'm sure they didn't look at shipping.
@magtibaygom (4858)
• Philippines
4 Oct 11
@zoey: Are those sales have Asians and Filipinos involved? I think, eBay is good only for people in America, and not with Asians who are not accustomed to buying items online. What do you think?
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
4 Oct 11
I think people are still doing this now more than ever. I do not use Ebay though.
@ravinskye (8237)
• United States
3 Oct 11
I think it's still possible to make money. My mom has started selling off a lot of her collectibles and is doing pretty well. She and my dad are also going to try going to auctions and stuff to get things and then resell them on ebay. She bought a little silver tray thing at a yard sale for a quarter and then sold it on ebay for a couple of dollars.
1 person likes this
@KizzyCatfish (426)
• United States
3 Oct 11
Over 5 years ago I did real well doing the same thing. I even became a "Power Seller". I may pick up a few things and see if they manage to get sold. I would have to do a pretty good amount of things at a decent profit to justify the traveling back and forth to the post office, as I live out in the country.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (71663)
• United States
5 Oct 11
I used to sell used things all the time. Everything was in like new condition but was not new. I used to pick things up at bag sales sometimes and then sell them on ebay. Now there are so many fees that unless I am going to get a large amount for the item its not worth selling. If I only sell the item for $3 I'm lucky to have $1 that I made off the item. Its just not worth it. I do have a few things that I need to sell but I just keep stalling it off as I just dont feel like spending the time to do it.
@KizzyCatfish (426)
• United States
5 Oct 11
I agree, then the time and trouble of packing it, then taking it to the post office to ship it. Nope - no thank you. You finally convinced me to not even try eBay anymore. Thanks for your comment.
@ReViewMeMedia (3785)
• United States
3 Oct 11
You can still make money on eBay, but you have to make sure you'll be able to get the price you want for your item. It's a lot harder to sell certain items on eBay, but you can still earn more.
@KizzyCatfish (426)
• United States
4 Oct 11
I should have known that! The big question is how does one know what to sell and what will make a profit. Sure tougher to do today than it was 5 or so years ago!
@starsailover (7829)
• Mexico
9 Oct 11
Hi Kizzy Cat Fish: I think it still is possible to earn some money on Ebay by selling the items you have used and don't need anymore. Actually I have seen a lot of very good offers on used cell phones or cameras there and I'm a good Ebay buyer so for me this is a good business option.
ALVARO
