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Financial Journey
Clean Out Your Clutter and Sell, Sell, Sell!
The new year has
arrived in all of its white glistening glory. AKA, we had quite the storm and I
was snowbound for several days! In the past, I would always think that now that
the new year had arrived, it would be a good year and better than the last one.
More...
The bad things that had happened in the previous year were behind me and I had a whole new frontier to explore ahead of me. I’ve since learned to realize that this is life and welcome to Life 101. So much of what happens is out of my control, but I do have the choice to make it the best year I can and that is what I am intending to do! In many of my recent articles, I have promised to share ways that I have been saving money and making money since my sweetheart, Bob, passed away in 2009. I would like to focus on ways I have made extra income in this article. I thought it might be timely since some of us are checking our pockets and digging in the bottom of purses or behind sofa cushions and car seats to find spare change after spending too much at Christmas! I am going to focus on a couple of areas that are available to all of us as a source of income. Clean out your clutter and sell, sell, sell!!! I have been a long time seller on Ebay, but have not sold on there for three years. Bob and I bought a Mazda MPV in 2003 and were able to finance it for five years at 0% interest! We committed to each other at the time of purchase that every payment would be made by sales on Ebay. We were diligent and made our goal! It was about that time that Bob’s health began to deteriorate and I haven’t sold anything since the summer of 2008. I felt rusty, and without Bob’s help, I wasn’t feeling very motivated. However, I forced myself to overcome my inertia and pull some things out of the closet that were taking up space and were absolutely useless. I had a box of supplements that we had purchased from Puritans Pride that promised to do a lot of different things. We used about three bottles and had 11 bottles remaining. I split them into 3 lots and they all sold and paid for the original purchase. Check the expiration date if you do sell supplements, and they should remain sealed. These still had about six months left before expiration. I had purchased a big bag of wine corks from a garage sale with the idea of making coasters or mounted wall boards for gifts. They were taking up space and after having them in the closet for a few years, I realized these projects were not going to happen. I counted over 300 wood corks and they sold for $30.00! I was getting going slowly, but the fact that things were selling continued to motivate me. I found some old Morgan silver dollar coins in a drawer. I didn’t know a thing about them, so I researched Google to find out what they were and when they were made and how to tell what type of coin it was. Two were mounted in bevels for necklaces and one was in a western belt buckle. I made $125 dollars on the three items. I listed a couple of more items and made about $200 on those items. I had a surgery scheduled in mid-December and didn’t want to list during that time. I never list items if I am going to be indisposed because interested buyers do email questions and you need to be prepared to respond quickly, as well as be ready to ship the item promptly after sale. You can make a lot of money on Ebay and you will never know that what seems like junk to you is another person’s treasure! I would recommend some tactics that will help you do your best on Ebay:
I recently discovered Craigslist as another forum to sell items. This is a fantastic resource because it allows you the opportunity to sell items too heavy to ship through ebay. I just started this route in the past couple of months and have sold a hydraulic jack, a heavy duty mixer, an elliptical trainer, and a juicer. I made over $400 on these items and it has cleared up space in the house and cabinets. I have spent time researching Craigslist to find what other items similar to mine are selling for, as well as learning all I can about how best to use the site to accomplish the results I desire. I have more items I want to sell on Craigslist that are bulky and heavy. The nice thing about this forum for selling is that it is entirely free! You can post up to four pictures. You need to be extremely careful about scams. There is a large section on the site that you should read about scams. If possible, you can arrange to meet the person some place locally if you are able to lift the item into the car. I wasn’t able to do that with the hydraulic jack or elliptical trainer. I did show the jack in the garage and the individual did not need to come into the house. If you can have somebody with you in the home when the prospective buyer comes to view the item, then that adds an extra safety measure. What I particularly like about selling on Craigslist (besides that it is free and local), is that I have been able to get at least half price for items I have had for years and years! I haven’t had to haggle. Usually a person that wants to haggle will do it by email, and I respond that I will keep their email in the event I don’t sell the item, but that I am not ready to come down in price at this early stage. I have sold the items on Craigslist within a week from my initial listing. I would recommend meeting in a local and public place when possible and not going alone. Be sensitive to taking appropriate precautions when selling in person. In your research, talk to others who have sold on Ebay and Craigslist to get their input and ideas. Another motivator for me is to have a goal for the items I am selling. I currently have set two goals. My home is about five years overdue to be repainted! I also want to build up my emergency fund so that when something breaks I don’t panic. I am still trying to fix things myself, but some things are beyond my capabilities. So I have set up two new funds and divide the proceeds from the sales into these funds. It is always more fun for me to work at something when I see the fruits of my labors blooming and growing! It continues to motivate me to add more items on Ebay and Craigslist. I will continue to keep you informed as to how sales are going and also discuss other ways I am bringing in extra income, as well as different savings techniques I am employing. I hope all of our readers are feeling optimistic about the future of 2011 and plan to do all you can to make it stand out as a banner year for you and your family!
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Copyright © 2011 by Karen Kuebler. All rights reserved. Want more money-saving tips? Get a FREE Subscription to our monthly newsletter!
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