Lately, I've been really making a huge effort to list as much crap (sorry, stuff) as possible on Ebay. And it seems to be paying off - I've had some hearteningly good sales. Most of the really good sellers in the last few weeks have been from this summer's haul of vintage Christmas bits and bobs.
This aluminium Christmas tree which I found for £1.00 at the car boot sale when my sister and nephew were staying sold on Sunday for £22.50. Woohoo, nice result. And, amazingly enough, I'd pretty much got the postage right for it too. I do struggle a bit with working out unusual size / weight postage rates and have been known to be wildly inaccurate at times. If I've over-charged waaaay too much I refund the difference to the buyer via Paypal. Sometimes though I've wildly under charged, like the £9.00 postage for a book to the US for which I'd only charged £5.00 P&P. Luckily for me the book had cost pennies to buy and had fetched a really good price on Ebay so I still made a good profit. But it was a salutory lesson for me.
Still on the vintage Christmas decorations theme - these paper chains, in very good condition, sold for £15.07, a fabulous result.
And the vintage Christmas fairy sold for £12.00 too. Both of these items, along with quite a few others, were picked up months ago at the 'Coffee and Jumble' for something crazy like £1.00 for the lot. (You can see more of the original 'haul' here.)
In previous years I've held on until mid-November before listing any vintage Christmas bits for sale but, having checked the 'completed listings' prices for similar items recently, I decided to try selling much earlier in the autumn. It seemed to be the right tactic which was good as last year I did woefully badly with my vintage decoration sales. I've pretty much come to the bottom of the bag of the Christmas stuff now so I'll have to concentrate on the other crap (sorry, stuff) that is still lurking around the house. Yesterday I found a rather spiffy 'Boden' linen and silk cardigan at the 'Coffee and Jumble', it was 50p and will definitely be being listed on Ebay this Thursday.
Oh, and even better, I sold one of my wool-felt Waldorf-type birthday crowns as a buy-it-now. That was the best Ebay sale of the lot - I always feel really chuffed when someone wants to buy something I've made.
Great successes with selling your things. I love the crown, I started making birthday crowns for my kiddos last year.
Posted by: Jennifer | 10/06/2009 at 02:31 PM
You did great with those sales. I used to sell on Ebay but got tired of it. Maybe I'll go back and have a go again after reading this. Well done you. Best wishes,,,Pam
Posted by: white o'morn cottage | 10/06/2009 at 08:09 PM
Well done ... good profit there and obviously you have a good eye for what will sell!
Posted by: Sandie | 10/06/2009 at 08:40 PM
Well done, Elizabeth - sounds like you're having some good sales.
I've had a good couple of weeks, too - sales have been very buoyant - and some great prices.
I know what you mean about postage - so annoying when you get it wrong, isn't it. Very difficult with bigger items.
Posted by: Caroline | 10/07/2009 at 08:26 AM
I can't believe how much you made on the vintage Christmas decorations. You've obviously got a knack for knowing what people want.
Posted by: Teresa | 10/08/2009 at 04:18 PM
I recently came across your blog and have been reading about ebay stores. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often...
Posted by: Drop Ship Supplier | 11/11/2009 at 11:17 AM