eBay, Baby!

I'm unemployed, but not totally without income. I'm an eBay seller.

I've been selling stuff on eBay since 2003. I started out selling only on half.com, but soon started selling on eBay as well. Since then, I've made more than 800 transactions (at least 90% of them sales) and have a 100% feedback rating that I work hard to keep.

I sell anything and everything. The first thing I listed, and sold, was a Star Wars toy with a couple of pieces missing. I was pretty much hooked after that. I've sold clothing, shoes, china, knick-knacks, lots of book, lots of compact discs, some Playstation games, some gaming systems, Tupperware, Corelle dishes and a lot of other things I can't even begin to remember. Some of these items were new, but most were used. Some were from our own household and others were bought cheap with the intent to sell them on eBay.

I've had some surprising successes. A set of 6 juice glasses in a specific pattern that I bought for a dollar and sold for $27. An airtight, watertight, dust-tight case for photo equipment that we bought (not knowing what it was exactly) for $5 and sold for more than $200. The CD from my own collection that I didn't realize was a rare import; I didn't like it so I sold it for $25 dollars. The dozen or so pieces of Harley-Davidson women's clothing that I bought for 25¢ each then sold, down to the last piece, for at least $7 each. A digital carpenter's level Shane bought for $20, thinking he'd make a few bucks on it; it ended up selling for around $180.

Naturally, there have been just as many items that didn't sell for us even when we were SURE they would. No problem. We never pay much for anything, and if it won't sell on eBay, it might sell in a garage sale. If not, then it can be given away to someone who needs/wants it, or donated to a thrift store.

On a good month, I can do $200-$300 in sales. That's before eBay and PayPal fees. At this point, that's not nearly enough to consider it anything more than a profitable hobby. But everywhere you look, you see "Power Sellers" who ARE making a living this way. It may be an avenue for me to pursue, although it will require some money to get it going: for at least one more computer; a source of merchandise that is larger than what I'm able to get on my own, such as auctions or freight salvage; a place to store large quantities of merchandise; and possibly even hiring someone to help me with packaging and shipping.

My parents were retailers, so maybe this kind of thing is in my blood. It's something for me to think about, anyway.

Anyone else selling on eBay?