New Podcast - Selling Coffee Related Items on eBay

Another episode of "You sold WHAT on eBay?" is live. This episode focuses on used coffee related items (other than the obvious mugs) that you can find used and cheap, then resell on eBay for profit. Did you know you can flip parts from used or broken coffee makers for a pretty nice profit? Some of these parts sell for up to $30. You might be able to buy a broken coffee maker at a garage sale and sell the parts and accessories for 3-4 times your investment.

Learn about other coffee related garage sale, estate sale, and thrift store finds that can be good sellers including thermal carafes, grinders, sugar and creamer sets, storage containers, and vintage items. Let's face it - eBay is already over-saturated enough with the obvious. Learn to find profitable items, hiding in plain sight, that other resellers might be passing by because they don't "look" valuable. Opportunities are everywhere - it just takes some education to learn what they are!

Listen to the podcast here.

Related articles:

Selling obsolete office and technology products on eBay

My Kindle book - What to Buy at Thrift Stores to Resell on eBay

Vintage Items to Sell on eBay

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Yard Sale Meltdown!

Ever wish yard sales were open 24/7 so you could shop til you drop? Jamie from my Facebook group is an avid eBay seller and yard sale enthusiast. She shared this video of her daughter who is visibly upset that yard sales aren't at night! Bless her little heart. Thanks for sharing, Jamie, I hope she got to go to some sales this weekend!

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New FREE eBay Calculator Reflects 2013 Fee Chages

Ina Steiner over on eCommerce Bytes shared a new eBay Fee Calculator which reflects the Spring 2013 fee changes. Bookmark this on your computer and mobile phone for accurate calculations when estimating fees on an item for resale. (Calculator for purposes of estimating, actual fees may be slightly different.)

eBay Fee Calculator - Beta

(provided by eCommerce Bytes)

More useful FREE eBay business tools:

Yard Sale Treasure Map - scope out yard sales before making your trip to use your time most effectively.

Garage Sale Rover - free app for mobile phones - uses GPS to find garage sales, estate sales, and yard sales near your location. No matter where you are, this app shows you sales nearby. You can even sort by day.

FotoFuze - enhance photos and create solid backgrounds for professional looking photos.

Typohound - find misspelled eBay listings. Search for items with no bids, or very low BIN prices - due to misspellings they aren't coming up in search results. Tou can flip on eBay or Amazon. 

Gixen - free auction sniper to help you win auctions on eBay. Use to buy personal items, or merchandise to flip back on eBay or on Amazon.

Know of any other free cool eBay tools? Share them in the comment section below.

Happy Selling!

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eBay International Shipping Tutorial

I'm excited to announce another Lesson on Demand. If you are not shipping internationally on eBay, there is no time like the present to get started. The number one action eBay sellers can take to increase sales is to offer international shipping. If you are not shipping internationally, you are leaving money on the table, and not a little bit of money but a lot of money! eBay has 98 million registered users and 49% of them are outside of the USA. These global customers have money to spend on American products and you can be one of the people who provides the items they want to buy.

This is a comprehensive multi-media lesson that contains the following:

30 minute MP3 audio lesson explains:

Advantages of international shipping
Insurance options
Flat rate vs calculated shipping
Disclaimers for your listings

19 minute video tutorial explains:

How to set up eBay shipping preferences
How to fill out customs form
How to print labels after a sale

29 page PDF file explains:

10 reasons eBay sellers should offer international shipping
Restricted items that cannot be shipped internationally
How to set up international shipping costs for eBay buyers
International shipping services and options
Printing international shipping labels after a sale
Insurance options
Packaging materials and restrictions
Country specific restrictions (what can and can't be shipped where)
Suggestions for problematic countries to exclude

Every problem you may encounter is both preventable and solvable

When done correctly, international shipping does not cost the seller any extra fees, the buyer pays the shipping fees, there are no additional eBay fees or charges, and the end result is more sales for the seller. Risks are minimized by adding insurance to shipments and excluding countries that are problematic to work with.

This course is designed for sellers who have some experience selling on eBay and wish to offer international shipping. Instant download once Paypal payment is received. Cost of this lesson is $19.95.

Click here to purchase your copy and start selling globally today! What are you waiting for?

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April Garage Sale Finds - Sold!

My daughter and I have been hitting garage sales hard for the last 3 weeks and I wanted to share some of our finds and sales with readers out there who may want to improve their "radar" at garage sales, yard sales, church rummage sales, and thrift stores. We do not usually find these items at thrift stores - books are usually priced much higher and are in pretty bad condition. Board games are usually taped up by thrift store employees so it is hard to see exactly what is inside - the condition and number of pieces. Other items don't even make it to the sales floor. I wanted to show you these items specifically because they are sourced at garage sales, and the choices are different than in thrift stores. Pricing is also different - you never know what you will find and how it will be priced. So, good finds are actually a "cocktail" of all the right ingredients including condition and the price you as the buyer must pay for the item.

Let me add this disclaimer that I don't know everything, and there are items I choose not to sell because either they are a pain to ship, have a high return rate, or are frequently counterfeited. Everyone in this business has different items on their radar and we can all learn from each other by sharing our successes.

This Donna Karan lotion was $25 at a garage sale held by a DKNY rep. It sold for $154.97. This size bottle of lotion is only sold at select department stores once a year on a DKNY promotion. I found 2 of them. The irony: this was shipped to a buyer 30 miles from me, 6.5 miles from the store that sells this item once a year.

Found this men's cologne set at a church rummage sale for $3. It sold on eBay for $44.97 in less than a week. I've never found fragrances new in the package in a thrift store - garage sales are great for finding things like this.

This Scrabble Onyx Limited Edition Game was $5 at a church rummage sale. It sold on auction on eBay for $34.97 in a week.

My daughter found this used iPhone rubber case cover for $2.50 at a garage sale, it sold for $12.50 on eBay within 2 weeks. Cell phone accessories are great sellers, even if used. Look for adapters, cords, cases, and belt clips. This is an area where someone else's trash is profitable treasure.

Found this book at a garage sale for $1 on April 5. It sold on Amazon (FBA) for $49.97 in about 3 weeks.I usually source text books at garage or church sales because, in my experience, they are cheaper and in better condition than in thrift stores or at library sales. I find a lot of brand new books at garage sales for 25 cents - $1.

This Abroad Travel Journal was $4, new in the package at a yard sale. Sold it for $25 on Amazon (FBA) in less than a week.

This Burt Bacharach sheet music was $1 at an estate sale. It sold for $12.50 on Amazon (FBA) in less than a week.

This book was 50 cents at a garage sale. Sold for $12.50 within a week on Amazon (FBA).


If you are not a member of my Facebook Group, I encourage you to join and read the following weekly threads, which can be very educational:


Money Making Mondays - members share their sales, posting links to items that actually sold so others can see the listings and selling prices.

Fabulous Finds Fridays - members post their weekly finds. Also a great way to learn about items that other sellers look for that have value.

After selling online since 2003, I still love this business! Every day is an adventure and I am always learning something new. If you want to take your eBay or Amazon business to the next level, here are some resources I have put together to help you enjoy the world of online selling, and enjoy the freedom of working at home on your own schedule:

Amazon 90 Day Experiment - Build an Amazon Book Business in 3 Months (free download)

Hot Brands to Sell on eBay - comprehensive list of brands that sell well on eBay (free download)

What to Buy at Thrift Stores to Resell on eBay - eBook $19.95, or Kindle Book $9.97.

How to Make Money on Amazon Selling Toys - multimedia course, $29.97

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Specialty Monopoly Games and Pieces Hot Sellers on eBay

Thanks to the members of my Facebook Group, now 4,400 members strong, I have learned a lot about selling used board games on eBay. I always assumed the games had to be complete sets and in mint condition, but this is definitely not the case. I have been finding games at garage sales and thrift stores for less than $5, so hopefully you can find them at those prices, too.

The games themselves are good sellers, and the pieces and boards can be sold on their own either as replacement parts or as craft or decorative items. So if the game is cheap enough, but doesn't have all the parts, go ahead and buy it and start stockpiling the pieces to sell in a lot when you accumulate enough pieces. (Crafters buy the game tokens to make jewelry, clocks, and other cool items.) The game tokens sell on their own, but prices range from $2 - $5, so it may not be worth your time to list them individually, unless it is a rare or discontinued piece.

When it comes to board games, think special edition, collector's edition, or anniversary edition. The fewer there is of something, the more it will be worth in the eBay marketplace.

Here are a few examples of some completed listings of different Monopoly games to give you an idea of what to look for when you are out shopping at thrift stores, garage sales, or church rummage sales:

Garfield 25th Anniversary Monopoly game sold for $34.99 on April 29.

Pokemon Collector's Edition Monopoly sold for $34.95 on April 23.

Simpson's Monopoly game sold for $28.99 on March 14.

47 Monopoly game tokens sold for $41.00 on February 6.

Lord of the Rings Monopoly game board only sold for $12.99 on April 24.

So don't walk away from a special or collector's edition Monopoly game just because it isn't in pristine condition with all the parts. You can dissect it and sell the components if necessary. Make sure you are shipping these internationally! Collectible are wanted all around the world. (Not sure how to ship internationally? Check out my eBay International Shipping Tutorial.)

On a side note, I am always interested in hearing from guest bloggers. If you would like to contribute a guest post, just drop me an email at ebaycoach @ yahoo and share your idea. If published, your post will include a back link to your site or eBay store.

More Resources:

What to Buy at Thrift Stores to Sell on eBay (Kindle Book)

eBay Coach Podcasts - free on iTunes

Free eBook for Moms Starting to Sell on eBay

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eBay Consignment Selling Can Really Pay Off!

Lydia, one of my former coaching clients, sent in her amazing sale. She sold this item on consignment for one of her clients, who was a DJ and received several music sales awards during previous years. Lydia arranged to do a 50/50 split after expenses for this client. The item sold for $960, and total time invested in listing and shipping the item was 1 hour. So Lydia's commission on this sale was a whopping $480 for 1 hour worth of work!

Selling on consignment has several advantages. You get to learn about items that you never would have found on your own, such as the example above. As long as you choose carefully and focus on high dollar items, your hourly earning rate can be significant. Inventory comes to you, so you save time with your sourcing efforts. Also, selling items for others can help build your eBay feedback and sales numbers to help you reach Top Rated Seller.

There are a few downsides to consignment selling. The most frustrating is that people usually think their items are worth more than the market will bear. It can often be awkward to have to explain to a family member or friend that just because they bought that purple widget in 1970 for $400, it is only worth $25 on eBay today. Also, you can end up doing the work of listing the item and it doesn't sell.

After many years of selling on eBay, I will only sell items on consignment if their value is over $500 and I feel sure they will sell. Otherwise, I try to buy the item outright from the person and take full responsibility for reselling it on my own. This can eliminate a lot of drama and hurt feelings.

Visit eBay here for more information on becoming an eBay Trading Assistant and earn money selling items for other people.

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How Local Attorneys Can Help You Make Money on eBay

How to Promote Your eBay Trading Assistant Business

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