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Let’s Start This!
Filed under Getting Started, Life with eBayIf you're reading this, you're probably interested in learning how to make some money online. I'll tell you right up front that I'm not a "guru" and I'm not going to promise you a million dollars by the end of the month. My name is Mike. My wife and I both work full time and we've got three great kids. I suppose we're your "average" middle class family and I'm thrilled with all we've got.
I'm here writing this blog because I think we are also typical of many American families in that we are feeling the pinch of rising prices everywhere we turn. A trip to the gas station and the grocery store can easily top $200. That stinks. Knowing how to sell things on eBay for a nice profit is a big help.
Perhaps some history would be a good thing to add at this point. Back on February 5, 2006, my wife and I were pretty excited about watching our favorite football team (the Pittsburgh Steelers) play in Super Bowl XL. I personally, had also been thinking about ways to make more money without getting a second job that would keep me away from my family. The Steelers won the big game that night and as I went to bed I was struck with the thought that someone in another part of the country might be interested in having the next day's local newspaper. I had never sold anything on eBay before, but the seed had been planted!
I set my alarm and woke up the next morning around 4:30. I drove to the local mini-mart and bought myself some coffee and 12 issues each of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and the Tribune Review. Both editions had huge headlines and photos celebrating the Steelers win. I hurried home with my papers and turned on the computer. I had no idea how to go about selling on eBay at that point. I had only used eBay to buy some toys for my kids, and half.com (related to eBay) to buy a couple of books. I think my feedback score at the time was four or five.
Looking back, I'm a bit surprised that I figured the whole thing out so quickly while getting ready to leave for work. I took a digital photo of one of the papers and followed the eBay selling instructions. I scheduled a three day auction to start around 8:30 that morning, clicked submit and left for work by 7:00. When I returned home that afternoon I hurried to turn on the computer to see if anything had happened with my auction. I was amazed to see that it had already received bids. I think it was up to about 10 dollars or so. When the auction ended, my 50 cent paper had sold for somewhere around $24. The other papers I listed after I got home from work were also picking up bids. I was hooked.
From that point on I was on a mission to make money using eBay. I made a lot of mistakes and spent a lot of money trying to figure out what to sell and how to sell it. I won't get into that in this post though. As I write this, my feedback is up over 1200 and I'm a Powerseller (although I don't advertise that in my auctions). So many people I've talked to lately have made comments about wanting to learn how to sell on eBay, that I thought this might be a nice way to help them out. If you have helpful comments or experiences to share, that would be great too!
Thanks for reading!
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2 Responses to “Let’s Start This!”
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donbuc said on August 2nd, 2008 at 8:03 pm
What a great site! Useful information and very helpful tips. Something for everyone who is interested in selling on ebay.
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Mike said on August 2nd, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Thanks. I hope it helps you out. Stop back often!
