I can’t talk about getting rid of stuff and not talk about eBay.
The on-line auction site eBay is used by many to get rid of unwanted stuff. There are countless websites with hints on how to get the most for your items. The site itself will walk you through the steps of both buying and selling.
However here are some of my tips…
I always list with a photo. Photos add another thirty-five cents to costs but they increase the selling price by 11%. Well worth it for me. Photos can be snapped with any digital camera. The better the photo, the more likely I am to get a good price for my item.
I take the time to find the right category to list under. If I list baby clothes in the eBay motors category, I won’t get many (if any) bidders (and those bidders, I have to wonder about – shopping for a Corvette Stingray and yes, a onesie).
I spell the item correctly. Don’t laugh. Do a search right now on laptop but spell it labtop. You’ll see items selling for much lower than their spelled correctly counterparts.
I share as much information about the item as possible. Auctioneers will tell you that the story sells (watch Antique Roadshow for illustrations of that). I don’t make anything up (that would eat up my hard won karma points) but I do my research on the item.
Remember the seller pays shipping or postage. I like to have estimates ready for when bidders ask.
If the bid is half decent, I usually throw in a low priced bonus feature. I had a woman bid on a frog item. I noticed that she collected frogs (based on her other bids and her website) so I threw in a set of froggie stickers I found. The woman was thrilled and referred other buyers to me (and yes, I got some good karma points).
