So far so good….

Well, it’s been 4 months since I quit my job to do online sales full-time.  I have to say, I’m liking it a lot!  Even with the hard parts this feels so right.   I love the personal freedom and space that I have gained.  It’s also made focusing on school a lot easier.  I will say though, I don’t think it could have been this easy without 6 years of Ebay experience before jumping in.  That experience has meant so much in making my business a success ~ being profitable for the first 4 months of business isn’t bad right!?!?

I think that if you have a dream you want to work on, you should put everything you have into it now!  Don’t wait until you have “the time” to work on it. Find the time, make the time. There are other things in your life that are so much less important than following what your true purpose is.  First, you have to stop flying around this world so much.  You don’t have to do it all, you don’t have to be it all.  What you do need is to know what you want ~ what your purpose is.  Meditation, self growth books and yoga are great ways to quiet the world and focus inside yourself.

One of the most beneficial things I’ve found to help me was to take TV out of my life. We still Netflix but having cable TV gone has made things so much simpler. There is a lot more time in a day!  TV had been such a fixture in my life that I never thought I’d be able to remove it.  Now that I have, it’s amazing the things I can do in a day.  Getting up early is also a great way to find more tim

Image by emdot via Flickr

e in the day, of course that means going to sleep early too!

Find something that is wasting time in your life today ~ remove it and replace it with what you always wanted to do.  If you want to read more, exercise more, work on a skill or craft….those are the things you need to focus on.  Your mind is incredibly attuned to your life purpose.  Listen to it and take the distractions out of your life.

I wish everyone could feel the enjoyment I have of working at home or just simply doing what they love. We were born to be free creatures loving, sharing the wonders of this amazing world.

Related articles

• Living for a Purpose (socyberty.com)
• So busy with life that I didn’t have the time or energy to blog this week (unfinishedperson.com)

Resale Heaven

There is a place that we all want to visit ~ where prices are cheap and there is no limit

There is a land for us all ~ value is priced fairly and you never have to make a call

Many say eBay, others write etsy and for some the amazon giant if you may

Resale is this magical land that I refer to ~ it’s a place of magic, of wonder and new

You’ll be amazed by the things you find, by the value that items have after they are left behind

Won’t you join me in the crusade to recycle our earth? Can you try, if just once, to wear something that hasn’t just been birthed?

Open your heart to resale, cut out the retail

Related articles

• A new word for the #consignment, resale, thrift industry. (auntiekate.wordpress.com)
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The glory of resale ~ how it helps us

Ever since I was young, my parents instilled a respect of all things pre-owned.  We lived on garage sales, thrift stores and hand-me-downs.  Though I wasn’t too happy about this when I was young, I am very appreciative now.  I have a good understanding of used items and the potential value that they hold.

Resale is not only fun, it helps our communities and encourages recycling of goods.  I am proud to say that my business is both community oriented and environmentally conscious. Not to mention in line with my personal goals of living “green”.

My products have no packaging other than the tissue paper wrapped around them.   The tissue and paper mailers I use are both recyclable.  There usually is no waste since all items can easily be donated or sold in bulk without losing a significant profit due to their low-cost already.  There is no need for a warehouse since inventory is revolving and never held more than a few months.

In addition to the benefits for the world, resale helps people find joy in someone else’s junk (we all know the old saying).  Items made over 20 years ago tend to be of higher manufacturing quality which provides them with a longer life.  There is no need for people to be purchasing new items every year just so they have something new.  Much of what we need/want has already been created for us.  We just need to change our mindset on needing something that is new as opposed to “new to you”.  In fact, some of those items are better for us than the new items in that they carry positive emotion from the previous owner who loved it.

Say yes to resale!

• It encourages recycling and reuse.
• It cuts down on waste in manufacturing activities as well as packaging.
• You wouldn’t believe the positive emotion you can receive from an item that has traveled the years.

My dream, is for a country of ebayers.  We don’t need as many retail stores as we now have, they are polluting our beautiful nation and minds.

Simplify, buy pre-owned!

Garage Sale Mania ~ How to do your best!

Image via Wikipedia

It’s spring!

We all know that means clearing out and de-cluttering.

I’ve sold a lot on Ebay the past few months but nothing beats a good old garage sale.  We had one this past Saturday so I decided to take notes and share with you beautiful people all that I learned.

It was such a blast!

Tip #1

Start higher than the lowest you will accept for something! 

People are almost always going to bargain with you. They almost never want to pay the asking price so starting 1/3 to 1/2 higher than the price you want is usually a great tactic. This doesn’t work so well on larger items though.  If you have a bike, dryer, furniture, etc you will want to start the prices closer to what you expect to get.  Pricing is tricky but after one garage sale you’ll be able to see what type of buyers are in your neighborhood. It will vary by city and community.

Tip #2

Bargain, and bargain well

People are going to want a deal, they are going to want a steal in fact.  You must be prepared to bargain if you plan on selling anything.  The best part about bargaining is, once they see you are negotiable on price buyers will typically start buying more. I had one shopper this weekend who bought everything in pieces, a dollar here and two dollars there. She loved all the deals she was getting that she couldn’t leave!  I felt great with all she took home and she was happy about all the deals she made.  It’s a win-win!

Tip #3

Prepare to give something away

You started this garage sale to make money, but also to de-clutter right?!? Let’s face it, not everything is going to sell. But with the right mindset giving things away feels amazing.  My favorite thing to do is to see a child that loves all the stuffed animals but his parents can’t spend money on. I had one this weekend and I gave him a choice of 3 different ones, he could have one. It felt so great seeing the joy in his face and I got to find a new home for something I’ll never use again.  Giving feels amazing….try it at your sale.  At the least, put items out for free or call a donation truck after you’re done.  Unloading all that junk clears your mind and fills your heart.

Tip #4

Be patient

To make any money at a garage sale, you must be patient.  Don’t hound the buyers, let them browse and take their time. Don’t get upset if sales are too slow or far between.  Every day is going to be different as will each sale.  We were open for 6 hours for our sale, I had planned on 4 but when the buyers kept coming it made perfect sense to be open until they stopped.  You will have people after noon and they will buy.   Patience is the best asset to have when trying your own garage sale.

I think that’s all I have for today. Don’t forget to read my article about craigslist. After pulling out stuff for a garage sale you may find some things sell better on craigslist.

Hope this works for you & your sale is a big hit!

It’s a great way to meet neighbors too!

Good luck!

Related articles

• Hold a Profitable Garage Sale this Memorial Day Weekend [Weekend Project] (lifehacker.com)
• Garage Sale Tips to Get Rid of that Clutter (1-2-3getorganized.blogspot.com)
• Home Organization: Is it Time for a Garage Sale? (hbculifestyle.com)

Etsy ~ Have you heard of it yet?

How many of you have heard about Etsy.com?

Etsy is a fabulous new website that is for crafty people and lovers of everything vintage.  It is like eBay but with more of a community feel. I started using Etsy at the beginning of this year. I’m quite amazed at all the opportunities it provides, especially the community feeling that they like to cultivate.

As mentioned in earlier posts, Etsy is for selling vintage, handmade or craft goods.  Vintage goods have to be at least 20 years old.  Handmade goods have to be made by you or someone in a coop with you.  And craft supplies will be just about anything!  It’s a great way to sell items that are hit and miss on eBay.  I’ve made a few sales so far and am hopeful they will keep coming!

Listing fees are only 20 cents per item and you get longer exposure than eBay, a couple of months instead of 7 days.  This also means you can start your item at any price!  Etsy will take a percentage of your commission but the low listing fees mean that putting a lot of volume up is cheaper than Ebay.

My favorite part of Etsy so far is their new feature, the treasury.  In this section people can create a theme and showcase items from other people’s shops.  This helps get the other seller exposure and people will come to your shop just to see who made such a cool list!  You may get a sale out of it as well as the other sellers you are showcasing! It’s a win-win plus a great way to promote the community.

Another cool thing is that you have circles, which are like Facebook friends, where you see all their activity and what they have shopped for. People can favorite your items or your shop so they get updated when you list new stuff!  It’s really a cool idea.  Artists needed a way to get their goods to market and Etsy does all that plus more.

If you haven’t checked out Etsy or if you want to learn more check out my shop here:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/JsssikaRabbit

Come shop the Etsy way!  You’ll be amazed what you find…

A quick overview of the ways you can start making money now

Here are some of my favorite ways for working with reselling goods and just clearing out stuff while getting something in return.  They all have certain nuances and eventually I will be writing detailed articles on each. 

Clearing out stuff never felt so good

To begin I wanted to introduce each venue so you can understand what they are.

Ebay

Ebay is my favorite way to get rid of almost anything for a decent market value.  Sometimes it’s hard to start so usually selling higher value items is a great way to build up a good reputation.  There is also the aspect of dealing with buyer questions, shipping and after sales concerns. It’s a lot of work but a lot of payback too.  You can always find a person who sells full-time to sell your items for a certain percentage too.  I find that many things hold good value, you just have to describe your items well and take awesome pictures to show off every aspect.

Etsy

Etsy is an awesome new community where people can sell vintage, handmade or craft supplies. There are some truly unique items on its website.  In addition to the awesome goods, it provides people who are crafty with a way to market their goods.  Again, customer service and shipping will be things you need to consider. Etsy also says that the seller has to make the good, so if you want to sell your handmade items you have to do this on your own. Though I’d imagine you could still find someone to sell the vintage goods you have if you wanted to do that.

Craigslist

Craigslist is perfect for selling large, bulky items or items that won’t sell online.  It might surprise you how interested people are in things you think are junk. And if you aren’t worried about profit, you’ll find everyone loves to haggle.  Usually the buyer can pick up at your house but beware because there are scams on this site.  Use your intelligence and think through things that seem too good to be true.  A lot of people don’t know there is a free section on Craigslist where people give freely and curb-alerts are found daily (giveaways at people’s curbs).

Freecycle

Maybe you tried selling goods and learned that there isn’t really a market on any site for your items. Freecycle is a great community resource usually found in large cities. It provides people who need things with people who can offer them, and it also works like the free section of Craigslist.    Check to see if your city has one.  You’d be amazed what people are looking for and giving away.

Makeup alley

Are you a girly girl with tons of makeup, purses and bath goods.  If you want more stuff instead of money for your items, you should really give Makeup alley a try.  On this site people freely trade with one another.  You arrange for a trade of goods with someone and if you both agree to the trade, you ship items to one another. Tokens are given to keep the community honest.  Be wary and only swap with people who have established records when first beginning, you’ll get the hang of it!

Abundatrade

I recently stumbled upon this awesome site that lets you make money by trading in books, cds and movies.  They give awesome prices, comparable to what you’d see on Amazon’s used sections. Send in your items and they’ll send you money straight to your paypal account.  You can even trade for other goods if you want.

I think that’s all I have for now – I hope this is enough for you to experiment and learn from.  I’ll be adding more detail about each service as I use them more.  I’ll also let you know if I find out about more great ways you can make money off things you no longer need!  When you simplify your home, your aura has more room to grow.

Resale Chick ~ What it is and who it’s for

Welcome everyone to my new blog!  I’m officially dubbing myself the “Resale Chick”.

I am creating this blog to help fellow resellers who love finding value in items that others think little of.  I am also creating it for those of you that don’t know yet the power of online resale.

The purpose of this blog is for people to learn from one another and from my experiences. I will share the various resources available for reselling goods.  I will offer my tips for using Craigslist, eBay, etsy and various other online sites that you may not know about yet. I hope to give insight and enlightenment on these subjects.  My goal is to help you sell things you didn’t think had any value.  I’ve been selling on eBay for over 6 years. I thoroughly enjoy selling and welcome you to my world.

Through my experiences I hope you are able to learn a lot. I want the online community to grow and the only way to do that is to involve YOU.  You are what makes the online resale effort so wonderful.  If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t have been able to sell on eBay for 6 years.

Let’s have some fun selling!!