"Although I speak from my own experience, I feel that no one has the right to impose his or her beliefs on another person. I will not propose to you that my way is best. The decision is up to you. If you find some point which may be suitable for you, then you can carry out experiments for yourself. If you find that it is off no use, then you can discard it." Dalai Lama...

Friday 30 December 2011

Foray into Ebay....

So two years ago, we began a massive reorganisation and de-clutter exercise!
It went well - slowly-  but well ;-))
We have rooms that are more functional with less dead areas and furniture that has better storage and - more importantly - what is stored is more accessible.

We -  the royal we here as it was in fact not we  - just Alan:-) even cleared out the lofts and now have new insulation so the house is toasty and warm.
So all the rooms and roof space is clear and clutter free.
 All done except for one room.. The spare room...
It is full to the brim with all the bits that have been left from various car boots sales Alan has done and bags upon bags of clothing from when Milly was younger. I have been saying for the last two years that I will get on EBay and try to sell things but have always been put off...
One thing is just the logistics of finding stuff in the room. Two, the hassle of washing, ironing, listing it all on EBay. Then three, dealing with any awkward people who challenge that the goods aren't as described or that they never received them. I could do without it.

However over the two years the stuff has - strangely - not sold itself ;-))  Some of it has been taken to charity shops but the bulk of it still remains. So after a conversation with my Hairdresser - and a couple of others who sell on EBay  - who said how easy it is and to just start with a couple of items, I decided it was time to strike!

Operation EBay has begun and so far it has taken up a great deal of time and energy. However this is just the learning curve and research stage so each item listed is taking time and the whole procedure is being refined so that we have a working model to follow that will make all the other ( hundreds of  ) listings a much smoother process. Files will be made and records will be kept so we know exactly how much we make ( fees for selling on EBay and fees for using Pay pal to take into account! ) and there will be a sheet of instructions so that Alan is able to do it if need be - if I am having a bad day, week or month as sometimes happens ;-))

We have decided that at the moment we are going to trust that there are more good people than bad out there and just send things by second class post, obtaining a proof of postage certificate so it keeps postage costs down for buyers and makes items more appealing to purchase as they are such low value items. We may have to reassess that at a later date but we will have to see as time goes on.

I listed four items yesterday and have sold one item via buy it now on EBay and one item to a friend on facebook . Can't tell you how exciting it is to see people watching and bidding on items - can you tell I don't get out much ;-)))
I have listed a couple more things tonight and we have sorted all the bags out into winter/spring and summer clothing and washed and hung some jackets to list tomorrow.

So onward and upward. Washing, ironing, listing and storing the items and with any luck we will have a spare room back again sometime soon :-)

7 comments:

Emma Wigginton said...

go you! really inspired as our house is sadly in need of a big sort out which is coming very soon(!)...I'm sure you will do really well on eBay and as you gain experience it will soon be a doddle...and who knows what will follow...what a good way to start a wonderful New Year! xx

Big mamma frog said...

go for it!
I started with just selling a few small items on ebay, learnt the pluses and pitfalls fairly early on, and now try to shift some stuff on Ebay every few months.

It's not going to pay the mortgage, but it does bring in a few pennies every now and then :) Good luck!

Katie Pybus said...

We too did an epic ebay 4 or so years ago now. Shifted all of our CDs and DVDs as we went totally digital and heaps of other stuff. It was very interesting seeing what did and didn't sell well and how much the postage varied at different post offices. I have a pretty firm one in one out rule (or principle if I'm being unschooling ;-)) now and have kept on top of the clutter. I found it very liberating clearing out and opening my eyes to being defined by more than the stuff you own. I haven't commented on your blog before but I found it via Lisa at Ordinary Life and the versatile blogger awards. Happy New Year to you and Happy ebaying.

Lynn said...

Hi guys, I have now got a system worked out and intend to have a rolling listing process :-)IT WILL BE CLEARED :-)) KP I have read and enjoyed your blog for a while now. I found you via facebook I think. We are friends on there now:-)

Michelle said...

Am mightily impressed, we have bags of things too good for charity shops but just sitting there not doing anything. Must get sorted1

stefndawniy said...

mmmmmm , that's a must do here too !! we've got rid of much of our clutter or grown out of things on freecycle.

Lily said...

Wow, you sound like you're really getting on top of it - after a few months of ebaying I got exasperated at the speed of it all and I ended up giving it to charity shops or putting it on freecycle. I do have more to shift though so may have another Ebay push.

We've recently decided to gift some of Cupcake's old books and DVDs to the playgroups we used to visit and to the children's department at our local hospital (we went there regularly in her first year and they always seemed to have the same one or two DVDs playing!)