Garage Sale, Craigslist or Ebay...how do you decide??

[CW&M Mom]

I did really well with kids clothes and my "fat" clothes last year. But, people mostly shop the same way here. I tend to price just a little higher than I would want to pay, to account for that haggle factor. I kinda regret that I sold my Disney VHS to one guy who haggled me last year to $25 for the whole HUGE box. They were selling so well at $2 for Disney and $1 for everything else. Everybody who walked by was buying a couple. Afterwards, I was bummed. I guess live and learn. I'm not gonna let somebody do that for the Thomas or Geotrax. I will just say that I saw a lot sell for $100 on ebay; so I'll list them there if they don't sell today.

I sold a ton of my kids clothes that way. Someone offered $50 bucks for them all...and I said...sure. Just cause I wasn't going to have to deal with it later.

[aimeebee]

I hate doing yard sales because of the haggle factor. When I'm pricing Ann Taylor and such @ $.50-$1 I get real annoyed w/ those that want to pay $.25 for it… err…. Or the person who offered me $1 for a Coach handbag… We all want a bargain, but lets not be insulting!

Yeah, I really hate that too. Sometimes, I have a hard time saying no if they are nice. Now, if they are rude or pushy, I don't have that problem. I had another lady try to do the same with my son's Osk Kosh. I had a whole bunch in good condition and she really wanted to give me like a quarter a piece. Nope, sorry. I could just tell she was a re-seller, too. She KNEW they were marked reasonably, she just wanted to get em for nothing.

[aimeebee]

I sold a ton of my kids clothes that way. Someone offered $50 bucks for them all...and I said...sure. Just cause I wasn't going to have to deal with it later.

Yeah. I wanted to get rid of them which is probably why I agreed. I guess I was thinking it was better to have them all sell and not have to deal with the left overs. But, it was too early in the day...later I was wishing I hadn't done it.

[aimeebee]

The hard thing with shipping scrapbook stuff is that it often is odd, large things that dont' sell cheap. When you have to charge a lot of money for shipping because of it's shape/ weight (as in is too big for a flat rate PM box) people don't bid as high...if that makes sense.

I was selling scrap books from CM, bags, divider thingies ect...and none of that fit in a flat rate box.

I have sold big lots of punches and they are heavy and some are oddly shaped like the border punches. People sometimes won't bid when they see the high shipping cost. But, they are HEAVY and weirdly shaped. I totally get what you are saying. I have also been burned on shipping by not weighing the box and packing materials which eats into my profit.

The thing I really hate more than the shipping are all the fees for paypal, for listing, for selling, for not selling etc. It adds up quick and when it is all said and done, it just may be easier and/or more profitable to CL or GS.

[jen276here]

The hard thing with shipping scrapbook stuff is that it often is odd, large things that dont' sell cheap. When you have to charge a lot of money for shipping because of it's shape/ weight (as in is too big for a flat rate PM box) people don't bid as high...if that makes sense.

I was selling scrap books from CM, bags, divider thingies ect...and none of that fit in a flat rate box.

Oh I know how oddly shaped and heavy scrapbooking items are - I sell them too. I have yet to have a problem w/ shipping charges though. I just charge the actual rates and my ratings are 5's so ... I also am not seeing a problem w/ low bidding either - I have bidders paying almost retail plus the actual ship for EUC punches and tools I have.

[cecaic0609]

My general rule of thumb is:

eBay - Name brand or HOT items (ex. Name brand clothes, thomas trains)
Craigslist - Large items that I have a firm price on (ex. Bikes, crib, furniture)
Yard Sale - Non-name brand, large items
Donate - Stuff I know I won't make money on, non-name brand or stuff that doesn't sell in a yard sale

[~~Who,Me?~~]

Yard sale: My neighborhood only does a neighborhood yard sale every other year. I'm not motivated enough to do one on my own, nor do I care to pay for the advertising. So I do it when the whole neighborhood does it and I put out as much as I can, since my portion of the ads is only a few bucks.

Ebay: I'm so done with the hassles of shipping, so now the only method I will ship is the $5 and $10 flat rate priority mail boxes. That limits my choices to what will fit in those boxes. I still bring in a decent amount each month. I also use ebay for when I'm selling whole inserts, because on here you have to list every single coupon and you don't on there.

Half.com: If you haven't checked it out, do so. Especially for books. I do well on there, finding books at book sales then listing them on half.com.

craigslist: Only for bigger items that can't ship, like baby equipment.

consignment shop: When I'm cleaning out the boys' closet and I have clothes that neither will wear anymore, I make three piles--consign now, consign next season, and donate. Once you start consigning, you'll develop an eye for what will do well and what should be donated.

classifieds here: Don't forget the hcw has a classifieds board and an auctions board.

[~~Who,Me?~~]

I kinda regret that I sold my Disney VHS to one guy who haggled me last year to $25 for the whole HUGE box. They were selling so well at $2 for Disney and $1 for everything else.

Wow! You're lucky! I have a decent sized collection from the 90s myself, it's a good collection too, all the "collectors' editions" that would never be offered again................until the 2000s.

Anyway, our local book barn run by the Lions club is selling them for a quarter and the guys there said they can't sell them. I keep checking ebay and half.com and they're always listed for about $0.75. After paypal and ebay fees I'd be left with nothing. So I'm sitting on a big box of Disney VHS tapes.

[aimeebee]

Wow! You're lucky! I have a decent sized collection from the 90s myself, it's a good collection too, all the "collectors' editions" that would never be offered again................until the 2000s.

Anyway, our local book barn run by the Lions club is selling them for a quarter and the guys there said they can't sell them. I keep checking ebay and half.com and they're always listed for about $0.75. After paypal and ebay fees I'd be left with nothing. So I'm sitting on a big box of Disney VHS tapes.

LOL, yeah that happened at last year's garage sale. I have noticed that there are a whole bunch of videos at Goodwill these days. Last year I marked them $2 because that was the price at GW and I figured it would give me some wiggle room for haggling. This year they are .99 at my local GW which means 2/$1 if you buy the right color label. It probably is a good thing I sold them last year. We actually still have a smaller box of our all time faves because ds still has a working VHS in his room. He tries to talk me into buying more whenever I take him to GW, too