MY EBAY ADVENTURES

Choose Your Own Adventure Books

2010-09-04T18:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some paperback books you probably didn't know could be worth some good money. Choose Your Own Adventure books are very popular when you sell them in lots. This particular collection took me over 6 months to collect, but it was worth the wait. The books cost me between 10 to 50 cents each.

Selling books in lots is what I do best and enjoy the most. Although I have learned other niches.

So, next time your at a garage sale be sure to look carefully in that box of paperbacks.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY LISTING

QUESTION... PLEASE ANSWER

2010-05-26T17:23:00.000-07:00

Hello readers. I want to make this blog better or create a website that can serve as a place for answers.

Can you tell me what your biggest problem is with selling on Ebay?

Leave me a comment with your answer and I'll post a solution.

Thanks so much!

HERE COME THE BROWNIES

2010-05-21T07:10:00.000-07:00

Keep your eyes out for a set of these books!

HERE COME THE BROWNIES

This listing is from a friend of mine who flipped them for $21.49. She got them at a garage sale for very little.

TIP: Based on eBay's "completed listings" these books sell the best in big lots (like my friend did). If you can only find one or two, I wouldn't buy them. They are not that common to find and would make it hard to collect them for a later sale.

Scooby Doo Books

2010-04-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine got these at a garage sale for $3. She then resold them on Ebay for $25.99! The cardboard van is probably what drove the price up.

You can see the actual listing here or CLICK HERE to read her blog post.

NINTENDO CEREAL SYSTEM

2010-04-10T05:54:00.000-07:00

Okay... check this out. This is a BOX OF CEREAL that just sold on ebay for $207.50. Do people buy these and just save them for opportunities like this? Who buys something like this?

RARE ATARI GAME

2010-04-08T15:27:00.000-07:00

Check out this auction!!! If only I could find one of these at my local thrift store.

RARE VIDEO GAMES

2010-04-08T15:24:00.000-07:00

You may want to print this article out and keep it handy when you are garage sale shopping or visiting your local thrift store.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE WITH PICTURES.

Another Richard Scarry Book To Look For

2010-04-05T05:13:00.000-07:00

The 1965 Richard Scarry Book "Busy Busy World" is worth the $1 or $2 you may have to pay at a thrift store. It easily brings in $20 or more. I have sold this book in the past for as much as $40.

Here's a recent listing. CLICK HERE.

What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry

2010-04-05T05:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a book I bought for $1.00 at a local thrift store. I then resold it on ebay for $24.99. I sometimes price things to sell quickly in order to meet my "pay off the debt monthly goal". Now, if you don't have to hurry you can get much more for this book.

Check out this past listing - CLICK HERE. This one sold for $57.97.

If you were a buyer looking for this book then you go could to Amazon and buy it. That is, if you are willing to pay over $700 for this book. Crazy!

HOUSTON PHOTOGRAPHY RAFFLE

2010-03-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

Okay... this has nothing to do with eBay, but here's a great chance to help a family who is desiring to adopt AND get a great deal for your family.

Check it out by clicking here!

Value Tales

2010-03-25T06:50:00.000-07:00

If you ever find someone selling their set at a garage sale... BUY IT!!!! These books easily sell for $2-$4 each when in a group of 20 or more. Of course, if you have some of the more rare ones then you can even get more!

I list these rare ones and exactly how many Value Tales were produced in my ebook "How To Sell Children's Books on Ebay".

Click here to see my most recent Value Tale listing.

MORE BREAD AND BUTTER TO MY SALES

2010-03-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

Slowly but surely, I gathered these books to resell on eBay. These books go with the Five In A Row curriculum. You can easily get $2-3 per book and sometimes $5 per book when you sell them together. You don't even have to have ALL the books in the curriculum.

Check it out here: Five in a Row Listing

MATH-IT by Elmer Brooks

2010-03-18T19:30:00.000-07:00

I recently sold this on eBay and made a fast $34.99. Of course, as you will see I paid for the shipping, but it wasn't much.

There is also PRE MATH-IT that comes with dominoes and it sells well too.

So.. keep your eye out for Math-It.

THE BREAD AND BUTTER OF MY SALES

2010-03-16T06:24:00.000-07:00

I recently listed 3 things and made a quick $198.98. All of them were Buy-It-Now and 3-day listings. I have a sewing machine I want to pay off before interest starts, so that is why I did it this way.

These listings are the type I do over and over and over again to make money. I wrote an ebook about this. You can download the ebook by clicking here. I have the ebook on CD and will send it to you for just $7. Just contact me via a comment and I'll send you a link where you can pay via Paypal.

Listings:

- Children's Picture Books

- Dr. Seuss Books

- Berenstain Bear Books

NOTE: I usually make the buyer pay for shipping, but I really wanted to flip these fast. And, since my cost to buy these books was soooo low, I still made a very nice profit.

MACHINE DESIGN TEXTBOOK

2010-03-02T06:43:00.000-08:00

I always find textbooks at garage sales and thrift stores, but rarely buy them. However, when I do the payoff is usually VERY GOOD!

Here's my FOUR RULES for buying a textbook when I don't know if it will pay off:

1) Copyright date cannot be older than 2008. Obviously, 2009 or 2010 would be better.

2) Very good condition. Book can't be falling apart or have torn pages. Highlighting is okay.

3) Has to be less than $2.

4) SPECIALIZED SUBJECT. (NOT accounting, math, biology, general science, or literature.)

Let me try and explain more about TIP #4. Textbooks that are for a particular field of study are usually expensive to buy new or used AND they don't get revised very often. Almost every year the basic accounting textbook will issue a new edition.

For example, the textbook above caught my eye at a garage sale one day. First, I noticed the condition was excellent and the CD in the back had never been opened. Second, I flipped through the pages and realized that this was a "specialized" field of study. I actually had never seen this textbook before or come across this subject. BUT... it's copyright date was 2007. Uh-oh! That doesn't fit my "rules to follow". Lucky, for me my home was just around the corner, so I was able to check the market and value. I went back and bought it for $1 and resold it for $39.99. Click here to see the listing.

So next time you see that box of old textbooks you may want to see if one of them is "specialized". And, if you can negotiate a super low price, like 25 cents.... then why not?

I once sold one of my husbands old engineering textbooks on Amazon for $100. It was about a very particular engineering subject and it was just sitting on his shelf. I'm not sure if the price was too low since it sold in 30 mintues! There wasn't any information on the interent ANYWHERE to tell me the value. Oh, well! Not bad for a book that had been sitting on a shelf for years.

DOMINO RALLY PARTS!

2010-02-26T08:19:00.000-08:00

I was at my favorite thrift store the other day and notice these plastic dominoes in their toy section. I bought them for $3.00 and sold them for $25.99. Click here to see the listing.

The only reason I would recognize them is because of the board game DOMINO RALLY that I had just sold. Seeing that the game is all about knocking dominoes down I figured folks may want MORE dominoes to knock down.

Click on the picture you can see what they look like.

DOMINO RALLY GAME

2010-02-26T08:04:00.000-08:00

I stopped by a church garage sale a few weeks ago and it was getting ready to close. They were passing out huge black trash bags and saying "fill it up for $1". I immediately went to the board game section and took a few that I knew nothing about. I also grabbed some childrens books that I could use in selling large lots on Ebay.

One game in the bag paid off in both money and learning.

It was Domino Rallly. Lucky for me the game was complete! The game sold for $20.50.

Not bad for less than a $1 since my books will pay off and my son was able to add some military history books to his collection.

Check out ALL the Domino Rally games that have sold on eBay in the last two weeks and just the parts! Not bad.

CHECK OUT THESE CHILDREN'S BOOKS?

2009-11-08T17:28:00.000-08:00

Just about every person that sells on Amazon or Ebay for a living tell me that they never buy children's books.

What a missed opportunity!!!

For instance... I sold 34 children's books in one auction on ebay and made $76.51. The books hardly cost me anything, so my profit was huge!

Here's how you can do it too. Go to the FIVE IN A ROW WEBSITE and copy and past their book list. You will want the "Before Five in a Row" list as well as "Five in a Row Books 1 - 4" list which you can find here.

The curriculum is useless without these books. The website sells some of the books brand new, but at a premium price. Homeschool families and teachers LOVE these books. Some of the books are harder to find or out of print. If you find one of those then make sure your listing says that. Even better, put at least one of those books titles in your title and watch the bidding go up and up.

Here are some of the more hard to find "Five in a Row" books:
- Yellow Ball by Molly Bang
- Jenny's Surprise Summer by Eugenie
- Babar: To Duet or Not to Duet
- The Giraffe that Walked to Paris by Nancy Milton
- The Red Carpet by Rex Parkin

Yellow Ball is usually just a thin softcover book and I have found it several times in used book stores for $1. Jenny's Surprise Summer is a Little Golden book and I have found that a few times at used books stores for $1 as well. I found Babar at Half-Priced bookstore and paid $3.00 for it, but I had traded in some books that weren't worth anything on eBay so the book was free.

TIP: Wait until you have at least 20 books before listing them. You'll experience a better return on your investment.

If you want to learn more about selling childrens books in groups then download my ebook here.

Mystery Date Board Game

2009-10-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

Surprisingly, I found this it at Half-Priced Bookstore. It was originally priced at $14.99, but when I counted the cards inside I discovered that the game was missing 1 card. So, I asked the manager to reduce the price. She reduced it to $9.99.

I went ahead and sold the game on Ebay and clearly explained in the listing that ONE CARD WAS MISSING!

It still sold for $103.50. Cha-Ching!

I had heard that this game sells well on eBay, so that's why I spent the $10 to buy it. When this happened, I decided to spend several days creating a list of board games that were worth between $30 - $200+.

Would you like my list? I'm only asking $5.00. Click here to download it.

SELLING BOARD GAMES ON EBAY

2009-10-21T20:49:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon this niche one day at my favorite thrift store. It caused me to go home and research it. I was amazed at the market! Wow! So... I spent several days compiling a list of games to keep my eye out for.

You can get this ebook/list by CLICKING HERE. It's only $5.00 which is way cheap if you knew the amount of hours it took me to go through eBay and make this list. I don't leave home without it now.

GREAT SELLING BOARD GAMES EBOOK/LIST

HOW TO FIND THOSE HOT SELLING TOYS FOR 2009

2009-10-15T06:52:00.000-07:00

Here's another FREE REPORT about How To Research Toys That Are Selling This Holiday Season.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN!

FREE!!!!

2009-10-14T07:45:00.000-07:00

With the economy and finances down across the US, Ebay is going to be the place folks use for shopping in order to find a good deal and reduce their cost.

FREE REPORT ON WHAT IS HOT THIS YEAR!

Good luck!

EBOOK TESTIMONIALS

2009-02-14T21:50:00.000-08:00

WOW! My ebook is off to a great start! Here are what two readers said about it:

It is fabulous!

What a thorough work and I can't see how anyone who buys it won't get at least a four fold return on their money. It's succinct and full of tips over and beyond telling us exactly what sells and how many of each book we should have collected before bothering to list the lot. What a thorough instructive book."

--Julia Anna Schultz
Homeschool mom of 11 kids, eBay Biz Coach & Bookseller
www.familybusinessideas.com

I have read the first chapter and am feeling very inspired! There is a lot of helpful information. Lynn really knows her stuff and can save a lot of time for anyone who wants to try their hand at ebay-ing.

-- Julie Malott
Mom of 5, homemaker

GRAB YOUR COPY NOW!

Selling Children's Books on Ebay EBOOK

2009-01-26T22:39:00.000-08:00

Fresh off the press!

After much encouragement from family and friends, I finally wrote an ebook explaining how I buy lots of children's book and then resell them for big profits!

This ebook tells you what books to buy, how to group them and which ones sell the best. I even tell you how many books you'll need in the group/lot BEFORE you put them out on eBay. I've been doing this for years and it works great!!

Most folks don't even bother looking at that box of children's books sitting on the ground at garage sales. At first glance, the box looks like a mess... BUT... if you know which ones to scoop up then there is GREAT MONEY TO BE MADE!

Here just a few of my recent listings where I used this technique of grouping books in lots:

117 Children's Books

11 Bill Peet Books

Series of Unfortunate Events

I cover fiction, non-fiction, books in series and a short list of valuable books that are very possible to find at garage sales today! And, it gets better... there's a bonus section covering profitable homeschooling books along with a resource section.

I will also tell you why my auctions do better than most folks. What do I write, why do my listings stand out from others and get folks to bid.

So... feel free to tell your friends. This ebook is all about low cost and big profits!

Just click on this "buy now" link below and you will be able to download it immediately.

To Your Continued Success....

Series of Unfortunate Events

2008-12-12T21:06:00.000-08:00

Here's a fast and easy way to make some money. Collect all 13 books in this series and cha-ching! If they are all hardback then you can easily make $60+.

I just recently bought all 13 books for $15 and resold them for $74.99 (Buy-It-Now). The only reason I did a buy-it-now auction was because I needed money for Christmas.

Happy hunting!

EBAY TIP: Fast Cash for Christmas

2008-11-20T15:07:00.000-08:00

This is for those of you that know how to sell on Ebay.

If you need to make some quick money for the upcoming holiday season try the "buy-it-now" feature. I just recently did this and made a $100 fast!

Here's how to make sure your item sells:

1) Research how much your item has been selling on Ebay.

2) Take about 20% off what you should get and make that your "buy-it-now" offer.

3) Do a three day auction starting on Thursday.

Wha-la! Money deposited in your Paypal account!

I recently used this technique with 13 softcover Franklin the Turtle books by Paulette Bourgeois & Brenda Clark. I found the books at a local thrift store. I paid 25 cents for each one and sold them for a "buy-it-now" price of $24.99.

Cha-Ching!

My researched showed that with an auction-style listing I could of probably got closer to $30 - $35. However, since I lowered the price I sold my auction quickly and still made a nice return on my investment.

You can see my listing while it's still in Ebay's database here.

Don't forget to leave a comment, if you would like a 50% off discount on my new ebook coming out soon about how to sell children's books on Ebay.

Easy Money with Children's Books

2008-11-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

Have you ever walked by a box at a garage sale full of softcover children's books? You know the ones.... Clifford the Big Red Dog, Little Critter, Berenstain Bears, Franklin the Turtle, authors you've never heard of.... well... you get the idea.

You probably thought there isn't any money to by made in those mass produced books. Right?

Well, I just listed 250 of them on Ebay and sold them for $249.00! I bought ALL those books for approximately 30 cents each. Some titles I spent more on because my researched told me which ones were highly wanted by teachers. (TIP: Having those books in my listing brought more lookers.) Others that were not so well known, I spent closer to a dime.

I've done this sort of selling a few times now and the profit margin is good!

Here's some past sales of mine:

185 books - sold for $225
195 books - sold for $180
106 books - sold for $100
91 books - sold for $115
163 books - sold for $165
166 books - sold for $150

I've seen other sellers do even better with this same niche.

So... if you're curious on what books work well selling in lots/groups, leave me a comment. I'm working on an ebook explaining this niche and if you leave me a comment with your email address, I'll notify you as soon as it's available. You will also receive 50% off the price for leaving me a comment!

It's almost ready and knowing this niche would be a great way for you to make some money for Christmas.

Good luck!

Valuable Childrens's Books - What are they?

2008-10-20T18:09:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, but there are children's books worth $30, $50 and even over $100! The key to finding these is to know which ones are valuable.

I used to think that if it was old, it was probably worth at least $20. However, after spending a small fortune buying "old" books, this proved not to be the case.

So, I asked myself: "How can I find out which books are worth alot of money?"I started to research Ebay, but this was VERY time consuming!

I needed a list or cheat sheet to tell me what books to buy.

For example, what if you found these books tucked away at a thrift store? They are all old and interesting, but which one is worth "a lot of money"? Can you guess?

ANSWER:

- The Sugar Mouse Cake by Gene Zion - worth over $100

- White Stallion of Lipizza - $6.00 - $10.00 (not worth your time)

- Thornton Burgess Animal Stories - maybe $10.00

- The Sweet Smell of Christmas (scratch and sniff book) - $5.00 if you're lucky!

- Mother Goose - $1.00

- Santa Clause and His Works - $10 - $30 (information difficult to verify)

- The Baby's Bouquet - $20 - $70

- The Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher - $350 - $500!

If you failed this little test, don't worry the Schultz family have created a great system that teaches you what books to look for and teaches you where you will remember! Read all about it here!

WHAT TOYS TO FIND AND SELL ON EBAY IN 2008

2008-09-30T06:12:00.000-07:00

What was popular last year on Ebay isn't necessarily a hot seller on Ebay today. If you want to get more money for the things you buy and resell on Ebay, it's good to look at those who have made it a career in selling toys on Ebay.

With Christmas time fast approaching, there is a VERY VALUABLE EBOOK called My Toy Guide by Jenni Hunt.

Everyone knows that toys are the big seller at this time of year. This guide is worth every penny when you look at the time you would have to spend researching this extremely large market.

And it gets even better.... sign up for the GOLD MEMBERSHIP and get all this:

- emails alerting you to bargains and deals
- alerts to NEW hot toys that emerge in the season
- and lots more.... click here to see all you get!

Remember when Tickle Me Elmo was selling out on toy shelves across the nation! What if you were told before Elmo sold out and you were able to grab one and then resell it for a nice profit? Priceless!

Click here for the Holiday Toy Guide and get ready to make some money this year!

Technorati Profile

PLEASANT TO THE EYES

2008-08-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

Selling on Ebay for over 7 years, I have come to believe that the auctions that look more professional and "pleasant to the eyes" ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS outsell others. When someone is shopping around for a particular item, and they land on your listing, you only have a few seconds to "wow" them or "grab their attention". This is why I firmly believe in professional looking templates for your auctions. You will definitely see an increase in your sales, if you make this change.

You've heard the saying "A picture is worth a 1000 words"? This is VERY true when it comes to Ebay. Since the customer can't hold and touch what you are selling, pictures are crucial to getting more bids for your auctions.

I subscribe to The Seller Sourcebook for 2 reasons:

1) I can make my pictures HUGE and that sets me apart from my competition, and gives the potential customer a really, really good look at what I'm selling. Here's an example showing you how large you can make a picture from one of my current listings - Henry's Wagon.

2) I can have a 10, 20 or 30 pictures WITHOUT paying any extra Ebay fees!

Seller Sourcebook has over 1,600 templates to choose from!

So... if you haven't ever used something like this, you should give it a try for at least one month and see if it doesn't make a difference in your sales.

What do you buy when you go garage sale shopping?

2008-07-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

I get asked all the time, "How do you know what to buy?". Well... that is sort of a long story, but what really sped up my Ebay success is this ebook. It's not long, so print if off and keep it in your car.

Excellent resource!

Garage Sale Strategy Ebook

DR. SEUSS STRIKES "GOLD" AGAIN

2008-02-28T15:28:00.000-08:00

For those of you who read my last post, I decided to put out a bigger Dr. Seuss lot (Bright and Early Beginner Readers) to see if it would result in more money. You know, sometimes, bigger is not necessarily better. I have observed that some book lots, regardless of size, do well because there is a particular rare or highly popular book in the lot that buyers are seeking. This can throw off one's research, if you're just looking at numbers.

Anyway... just the other day I sold 32 Dr. Seuss books in a lot and made $81.00! Yippee! However, please know that this particular lot cost me the most I had ever invested - $28.60. Why did I spend so much collecting? This being my fourth time to sell these types of children's books, I knew I should get at least $2 - 3 per book in the end. My research and past experience gave me the confidence to take this risk.

So, next time you see "Green Eggs and Ham" or "The Foot Book", you might stop and consider starting a collection. It could really pay off big in the future. I've already started my next collection.

Happy hunting!

Dr. Suess

2008-01-18T10:31:00.000-08:00

How many times have you seen The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss at a garage sale? I don't think a weekend garage sale shopping or trip to the thrift store goes by without me seeing at least one of them. Did you ever think how much a lot of Dr. Seuss books would sell for on Ebay?

What I mean is a lot of those Beginner Books or Bright & Early Books with the Cat in the Hat Logo on the spine. If you have at least 25 of them, you can do well on Ebay. Based on my research 25+ books in a lot sell the best.

So here are my tips regarding this type of listing:

1) You need at least 25 books to get a good return on your time and investment.

2) Take a picture of them showing the spine, so the Ebayer can easily see what titles you are selling.

3) Make sure you quote a media mail postal rate. This will help your listing stand out from others quoting the more expensive parcel post or priority mail rates. You can get an idea of how much it will cost to mail your books by using the USPS website's "calculate postage" page.

I have done this type of listing a few times. The first time, I listed 22 books and made $27.08. My investment cost for that particular auction was $1.00! Sorry, but I can't remember how I got them all so cheaply. It may have been when one of my favorite thrift stores had "bag of books for $1.00". You can cram a lot of books in a bag.

The second time I listed 25 books and made $35.03. My investment cost was $3.00.

The third time I listed 30 books and made $55.00. My investment cost was $5.00.

So, pick them up when you see them. Be patient and wait till you have at least 25 of them. In the meantime, if your kids are gentle with books they will enjoy reading or looking at them.

UNDER $5

2007-11-17T04:37:00.000-08:00

Wow! I haven't written in a long time! My Ebay world has been very busy. So... I'm going to cut to the chase and have you check out some of my recently sales. The dollar amount you see on the left is what I paid. Next, you'll see where I found it (GS - garage sale or TS - thrift store). And finally, the link to see the actual Ebay listing and selling price (Sorry, the Ebay listing has expired). Enjoy!

.50 cents - GS - Gusher Game - $57.00
$4.00 - GS - Vase - $35.00
$1.00 - GS - Creamer - $28.57
.25 cents - TS - A First Little Golden Book - $16.49
$5.00 - GS - Longberger Notepad Basket - $27.55
$5.00 - GS - Longberger Christmas Basket - $24.00
$5.00 - GS - Suede Coat - $39.99
$1.00 - TS - Richard Scarry Book - $41.00
$2.00 - TS - 4 Richard Scarry Books - $27.05
$3.00 - GS - Vintage Scuba Diving Weights - $28.51
$1.00 - TS - Chemistry Text Book - $40.00
$3.00 - GS/TS - 25 Dr. Seuss Books - $35.03
$2.00 - GS - 17 Saddle Club Books - $27.95
$3.00 - GS - 15 Harvard Classic Books - $48.00
$5.00 - GS - Star Wars Lego Set - $28.09
.10 cents - GS - Stellarscope - $25.00
$3.50 - GS/TS - 33 American Girl Books - $27.00

SELLING LP's ON EBAY

2007-09-17T05:44:00.000-07:00

As I last wrote, the lot of seven Jimmy Buffett albums brought in a good chunk of change. Awesome! However, I promised to write again and tell you how all of the LP's did in the world of Ebay auctions. Instead of me describing each one, you can view them by clicking on the link.

19 Vintage Rock LP Collection - $51.00

12 Classic Rock LP Collection - $12.50

15 Classic Rock LP Collection - $20.50

10 Reggae LP Collection - $31.50

16 Classic Folk Rock LP Collection - $2.47

So, there you have it! Those old albums (NOT including Jimmy Buffett) brought in $117.97! Ka-Ching! If you add the Jimmy Buffett ablums, then it's a grand total of $200.50! Ka-Ching, Ka-Ching!

Unfortunately, I have no idea why some of the groups sold for so much. If you know, please tell me.

Rock on!

MARGARITAVILLE

2007-09-05T21:04:00.000-07:00

My husband, Mark told me months ago to Ebay his old LP's. I laughed! Who is going to buy those? Who still has a turn table? HA! Well, it seems there is a market for old LP's. I don't know why I should be surprised since I've sold a doll with the head off and live Koi fish on Ebay. Ebay is like something out of a fiction book. Things of seemingly no value here on planet earth, have value in Ebay's world.

Since there were so many LP's, my husband grouped them by music style. The first group listed, happened to be all by the same artist: Seven Jimmy Buffett albums. Most of them were not in the best condtion. Meaning, many of them had a faded ring imprint on the cover from where the album was pressing from years and years of storage. All the covers had some form of rubbing to the edges and corners. They did though have their original jackets, but most of the jackets were just plain without any type of song lyrics or graphics. All the records looked in perfect condition, so I believe they could of been played without any problems.

Within 24 hours we had received a bid of $2.50. Not too exciting, huh? However, shortly after that bid, this auction entered the Ebay Twilight Zone. The bidding went up and up and ended at $82.53! Of course, I screamed "What!". Who would buy these when they could buy the CD?? Mark reminded me that one of those albums was made before he was famous. However, when we saw how well the auction did, we decided to do some Googling research. We found you could buy it in CD form. So what gives? If you look closely at the songs on both the LP and the CD, you see that there are 3 songs that were not recorded on the CD. I'm sure this is what drove the bidding.

So, next time you pass up that box of LP's at a garage sale or Goodwill, you might want to flip through them and see if you can find "Before the Salt".

Later this week, I will let you know what happened to the rest of my husband's old LP's.

Rock on...

FINDING THE MARKET VALUE OF A BOOK

2007-08-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

One way to know the value of a book is to use the website www.addall.com. It will list what the book is selling for on Amazon, Half.com, Alibris, Abebooks and others. This is a considerable time saver from going to each company's website to check value. It's also a great way to see at a glance if there are a lot of copies of the book in the used market.

When I bring home a book that I'm not sure of, I first check Ebay. This lets me see if there is any demand for the book. If there aren't any auctions for it or just a few, I then check addall. This will help me decide if I should sell the book through a different venue. Sometimes Ebay is not the best place to sell a book.

Hope this tip will help you save time when deciding to sell books online.

BALLET BOOKS

2007-07-13T15:23:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I have found successful selling on Ebay are books. However, not just a variety of books, but books with a theme. Selling one book at a time has not paid off for me. The time it takes to list it, photograph it, and then ship it eats away my profit margin. Unless the book is rare, hard to find or out of print, then its just not worth my time.

Selling books in groups with something in common has been much more rewarding for my time. The books can either be by the same author, from a series, or for a certain target market. For example, children's book author and illustrated Jan Brett sell very well in groups/lots. Magic Tree House books or the Left Behind series sell well when you have all the books in the series. Books that have received the Caldecott or Newbery award sell well together too, as I've shown in past blog posts.

Keeping this in my mind, I was at a garage sale and noticed this person was selling all these ballet/dance books. All of them were in excellent condition, and there was a sign that said "everything half off". It was obviously the last day for their garage sale, and they wanted to get rid of all their "stuff". Counting the books and realizing the cost would be $1.50, I decided to take a chance and see what would happen on Ebay. I had never thought of doing this, but since I figured there are people out there who have children taking ballet, then perhaps there would be some interest or demand for books such as these.

I bought 7 books that day with half of them written for the little child in mind, and the other for someone who might be studying dance at the college level. When I got home I researched each one individually and found that none of them were rare with a high dollar value. Many of them were out of print, but there were enough used copies available to keep the price too low for me to make a return on my investment. So, I gathered them all together on the floor, took a picture and listed them on Ebay. My lot of ballet books brought in $36.01! Now, that's a fair return on my time.

Since this auction, I have kept my eyes open for books with a theme. I'm sure if you found a bunch of books about button collecting or trains or scrapbooking, there would be a market on Ebay for them. You may want to try searching on Ebay with that in mind, and see what you find.

If you have had success in doing the same thing I did with my ballet books, leave me a comment and tell me about it.

Next time I'll share with you how I determine if a book is rare enough to list alone. Checking Amazon.com is not sufficient enough to make this kind of decision. So, tune in next week.

ZOJIRUSHI

2007-07-03T15:16:00.000-07:00

Okay... you've been reading my blog from time to time, and now you're starting to keep your eyes open when you go out. Here's something else you may want to consider buying if you see it. However, you probably won't pay a dime or dollar like I've done with some of my other stuff.

Zojirushi is a japanese company that started back in 1918. They make small appliances for the kitchen (i.e. coffee makers, bread machines, rice cookers, etc.). A good friend of mine, who is also an Ebay nut, told me about this brand name. Since people who shop on Ebay like to search by brand name this information was helpful. I'm not sure how long this company has been in the US market, but if you type in "Zojirushi Bread Machine" in Ebay, then check "completed listings" you will see green, green, green. This proves there is a demand for this product. Zojirushi brand-new is pricey, so finding one on Ebay is a great deal for a shopper.

I found one at a garage sale that had barely been used. It was an older model, but looked great! I paid $15 for it and sold it for $50. The newer the model, the more money you can make. People that get rid of their bread machines usually do for two reasons. One, they just never used it, and two, they're tired of it taking up space in their kitchen. The one I bought was a gift, and the people just never used it because they really never wanted a bread machine. Perfect! They were anxious to get rid of it and it had barely been used.

If you find one and decide to sell it on Ebay you'll need to do a few things in order to make buyers feel comfortable buying a "used" machine.

(1) Test it out at home and make sure it works.
(2) If it doesn't come with a manual, print one out from the Zojirushi website and include it in the auction
(3) Make sure you get a strong box to ship it in and pack it well. Don't forget to charge around $25 - $30 to ship it. It's heavy. (I would also insure it if the bidding goes over $50)

If you search Ebay by the words "bread machine", you will see all sorts of brands. However, Zojurishi seems to be the most popular.

So, keep your eyes open. I have even seen them at thrift stores.

"Experiencing" VHS Success

2007-06-20T06:53:00.000-07:00

Hello! Does anyone remember the Experiencing God bible study by Henry T. Blackaby that came out about ten years ago? If you did this bible study at your church, you probably watched these videos after going over your homework. Today, if a church wanted to conduct the same bible study they would have a hard time finding a DVD for it. Why? The publisher did not release the videos in DVD format.

I found these videos at a garage sale and got them for free! I was buying a more recent bible study by Blackaby at the same garage sale to sell on Ebay, and the owners said I could have them for free. Again, I really thought they weren’t worth anything since they where VHS and VHS’s are everywhere at garage sales as people are converting to DVD’s.

When I got home and checked Ebay, I found nothing. There wasn’t any past sales for these videos nor anyone currently selling them. “Good thing I got them for free!” I thought.

Before throwing them in the Goodwill pile, I decided to see if Christian Book Distributors was selling them on DVD. If they were, then that would explain why no one was trying to sell a VHS version of this study. CBD had the videos on their website, but not in DVD. They were in VHS! I was stunned for a nano second when I then saw “NO LONGER AVAILABLE”. When these videos were available they sold for $169.99 brand new. That’s a pretty high price!

Well, you better believe it! Ebay would be the place to sell these videos. Even if I got $25 for them, it would be worth my time. I started the bidding at $25 and up, up, up it went. The final bid at the end of the auction was $151.99. Yippee! I think it may have gone higher, but I had gone to bed early that night and a question about the videos was sent to me that I didn’t get a chance to answer. It was a from a lady asking if I would ship to Canada. She said “She would pay anything to get these videos!” Wow! This auction may have gone higher.

Keep you eyes open. I’m sure they would sell great even if they were missing their jackets.

Here’s my actual listing: Experiencing God

UNBELIEVABLE!!!

2007-06-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

“Unbelievable” is what I kept saying when the bidding for this particular garage sale find just kept going up!

I picked up a binder at a garage sale that I thought was full of baseball or football trading cards, but it was American Girl trading cards. I didn’t even know American Girl made trading cards. I asked, “How much?”. The lady said “twenty-five cents”. I bought it. I know American Girl “stuff” does fairly well on Ebay but I really had no idea if these trading cards would be the same. I figured for 25 cents I could take a chance.

When I got home and researched the cards, I was right. They have, at times, done well. Well, a month went by and I thought about giving them to my daughter, Allison, who has recently started reading the series. However, before I did that, I looked one more time on Ebay to see the potential profit. This time I wasn’t seeing buyers paying that much for them. Would it really be worth my time to list them? I would have to list them by each individual character. Well… that night, I decided to give the Ebay wheel-of-chance a spin..

Listing them by character here are the sales:

Addy (22 cards) - $11.49
Samantha (18 cards) - $22.49
Josefina (17 cards) - $6.57
Kaya (15 cards) - 99 cents
Molly (21 cards) - 99 cents
Kirsten (21 cards) - 99 cents
Felicity (19 cards) - 99 cents

Not bad for a 25 cent investment, huh? So, why would I say this Ebay auction was “Unbelievable”?

Well… there was one more set a cards that I didn’t mention.

Kit (14 cards) - $113.50

Yep! $113.50 for 14 little cards!!!

Those trading cards brought $158.01 total. Remember, my investment was only 25 cents! Now, do you see why I say “unbelievable”!

Well, if you read my early blog about the Madame Alexander doll you saw that I asked the winning bidder why my doll sold for such a high price. One of the other trading card buyers had e-mailed me a question, and she seemed friendly. I asked her if she knew about the value of my Kit trading cards. Here is what she wrote me back:

Lynn, to answer you question, you really hit the jackpot. The 1994 300 box set cards are worth something, but 1998 thru 2001 cards are starting to get really expensive. 1998 card box sets were 360, but they were laced with leftover 1994 cards. This was the year they came out with Josefina, her cards are the 3rd hardest to find but stilI can be found, but Samantha and Addy got new different 60 card sets then, and due to the mixing they are the 2nd hardest to find. I couldn't believe your Kit cards brought way over $100, for a few loose cards!!! But, here is the deal, Kit cards were made in two batches, 2000 Kit cards 1-30, were only made a couple of years, but 2001 Kit cards 31-60 were only made about a year, or less!! This makes them very hard to find, to complete ones set, that's why yours brought so much. I hope this info helped explain, God bless, PJ. I couldn't afford them so I am still looking for some of Kit's!!!

So, keep your eyes open at those garage sales or thrift stores because you never know what little gold mine you may find.

Until next time… happy hunting.

A LESSON TO LEARN

2007-05-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

Last time I wrote, I shared with you how I collected Caldecott Award books and turned them into a good profit. My technique was looking for that gold or silver seal. So, could this same “seal” technique work for Newbery books?

I collected 29 Newbery books and listed them in one auction. I paid $12.50 and the auction ended at $26.00. According to my research prior to listing these books, I should have sold them for more. Well… what happened?

Timing!

As marketers say when selling a product, “Timing is everything”. My listing ended the day before Good Friday. This is not a good time to have an auction end. Most people are getting ready to go out of town for the Easter holiday and are not online.

So, will I collect Newbery books again and list them? Absolutely! There is plenty of research to say that lots of Newbery books do sell well on Ebay.

I already have another Newbery and Caldecott lot growing and feel confident they will provide a good return on my investment in the future.

LESSON OF THE WEEK:
Always, always, always check when your listing will be ending.

Look what just a little "pocket change" can do!

2007-04-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

Over about a 3 month period, I collected 23 picture books with one thing in common. They all had won a Caldecott award. I paid a dime here, and a quarter there, and sometimes $1. The final total for all 23 Caldecotts’ was $7.15.

When I couldn’t fit anymore in the little shelf space I had claimed for this lot, I decided to list them all together in one auction on Ebay. Who would the lucky winner be? A teacher? A parent? A collector?

I don’t know who won this bid, but I do know they paid $63.09! Not bad for just keeping my eye out for that silver or gold seal on the front cover. These types of books are the easiest to spot because of that seal. I could flip through a few boxes at a garage sale quickly just keeping my eye out for that shiny circle. Even my youngest son Nathan, who can’t read yet, could help me find these books by just looking for that seal.

I used this same “seal technique” for Newbery books. So, check back next week, and I’ll tell you how well that lot did.

Until next week….

Looking for answers. Can you help me?

2007-04-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

I don’t know about you, but when new technology makes a big splash it seems to me the old technology becomes worthless. Take, for instance, digital cameras. It’s no secret that sales for 35mm cameras are down, and digital cameras are up.

So, after my wonderful husband bought me a new digital camera, I figured my 35mm would probably need to be either thrown in the trash or packed away to become an antique that my grand children will laugh at one day.

Well, not so fast…

Since I’ve become such an Ebay “nut”, I figured I should check out Ebay and see if there was any demand for my camera. I was surprised to see many 35 mm cameras being bought for $20, $30 and even $80! Could my camera really get that much? This is too strange? Who would want it? Isn’t everyone wanting digital?

So, I took a chance. Sure enough my camera sold for $46! Wow!

Why??

Do you know why someone would buy a 5 year old camera? My guess is they bought it for the lens. I would have kept the camera if the lens had fit my new camera, but that wasn’t the case.

However, I’m keeping my eye out for old 35 mm cameras that have been cared for well because I’m sure someone will dump their's off at a garage sale thinking the same thing. “This camera is a money pit! Who wants to develop pictures BEFORE previewing!”

Do you know? I would love to hear your theory.

Throw the doll away... keep the clothes!

2007-03-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

This particular Ebay sale was the most exciting to watch and most profitable to date. However, it wasn't something I picked up at a garage sale or thrift store. Although you could possibly find one at a garage sale, since I was about to try and get rid of mine for $10 bucks.

When I was young (elementary years), my grandmother gave me a Madame Alexander "Cissy" doll with clothes. I played with it some, but I was more of a tomboy. At some point I put the doll and all the clothes in a big bag, and later, my parents put it up in their attic. And, there it sat for about 30 years. Luckily, moths and bugs did not do much damage except for a pair of her high heel shoes.

Well... I started the bidding at $20 with a buy-it-now for $100. (Am I glad no one jumped at that "buy-it-now" offer!) I really didn't think the doll was worth anything but my wise husband told me to give it a try. Within the first few hours a bid for $20 came in and then this is how the bidding went: $30 - $50 - $69.99 - $79.99 - $100 - $115.79 - $127 - $165.99 - $311 - $336.99 - $436.99 - $499.01 - $525.99 - $555.55 - $565.55.

Unbelievable! That's what I kept saying. Everytime I turned on my computer to check my e-mail, I would go over to Ebay and see how the doll was doing. Unbelievable!! It just kept going up and up!

You have to understand, the dolls head was broken off!!! Her hair was a mess!! The eyelashes where half missing. And, her leg had a crack in it! I just couldn't understand why someone would want this doll! The only thing I could logically think of was the person who won the bid was going to use her for parts. I had heard from another Ebayer that doll collectors will do that in order to make a perfect "antique" doll. Her face didn't have any scratches and the face paint was in perfect condition so I thought that's why it sold for so much. Someone was going to replace the hair/wig, put the head on a perfect body and then resell it for more. Nope!! That was not why the person bought my doll.

How do I know why they bought my doll? I e-mailed them and asked. IT WAS THE CLOTHES!

Here is what they wrote me when I asked:

"The three tagged dresses were rare and there is a group of Vintage Cissy collectors who collect the dolls and clothing. The three dresses were what people were most interested in. I have an extra body with legs and no splits so I can repair her and reattach her head and fix her hair. Madame Alexander was known for having the most beautiful clothing of any doll manufacturer. In the 50s she received the clothing designer award several times that was usually given to Fashion designers such as Dior, Chanel. If the doll had not had a split in the leg she would have gone for more. I'm happy I have the ability to fix her. Merrisue"

So... what one man considers junk another considers it a treasure. I really didn't think there was any value to that doll. All the other "Cissy" dolls on Ebay were in such perfect condition, and mine was far from it! However, looking back after the bidding, not many people were selling "Cissy" clothing. You could buy a Cissy doll on Ebay that would come with one dress, but my auction had three "Cissy" outfits! (The rest of the outfits you see in the picture were hand made by my grandmother.)

Tip of the day: If you see a doll like this, look for the name "Madame Alexander Cissy" on the back of her neck near her hair line. Also, the clothing must have the tag "Madame Alexander Cissy" on it to be worth anything.

Happy hunting!

Where's Goldie? "Where the adventure began"

2007-03-07T14:01:00.000-08:00

Hello! Welcome to my blog about my Ebay adventures. Hopefully you will find this interesting or amusing as you read and see some of the unusual and sometimes crazy things I have sold on Ebay for $$$. Most everything I found at either a garage sale or thrift store.

The adventure began one night when I was linked to an ebook about children's books that sell well on Ebay. I LOVE children's books! Children's book always have such great illustrations and the good ones are always a joy to read aloud.

Well... after reading this ebook, I did some research on Ebay and stumbled upon a small book called "Where's Goldie?". Perhaps you've heard of it. I had never heard of it but I copied the picture into a file along with other pictures of children's books (old and not so old) that sell well on Ebay. I then turned all these pictures into a screen saver slide show and throughout the next few days my computer would flash these pictures of children's books and I would see them from time to time as I walked by and went about my day. I did this in hope that my brain would remember them if I ever came across one. It could mean some nice $$$.

A few days later, there was a church garage sale. While browsing through the children's books I stumbled upon this little golden book called "Where's Goldie?" I froze! And, then I threw it back in the pile of books and continued looking at others. Then I froze again. Why was I still thinking about that little golden book? I picked it up again. I held in my hand for several minutes wondering what to do with it. I really didn't know why I was thinking about it. It didn't even register that it was one of my screen saver pictures. Luckily, I saw the sign saying books 10 cents. "10 cents! Well... I think I can chance it even if it turns out to be worthless... looks like a cute little story to read to the kids". So, I walked out with a few other books and went home after spending just a couple of dollars.

When I got home, I checked Ebay's "sold" history and... sure enough! This particular book sold on Ebay for $50! I almost fell off my chair!

I listed my book and it sold for $20! Not bad for a 10 cent investment.

Later, my son found one at a garage sale and bought it for 25 cents. His sold for $30!

And, then a few months later, I found one at a thrift store. I paid $1 for it and it sold for $20.

So... this little tiny book started my adventure with a bang. With such little investment and a decent return (even after Ebay and Paypal fees), I figured it all would add up to some fun mad money.

So... for those of you who are reading this, I hope you are inspired to keep your eyes open for little gems like "Where's Goldie?".

Be sure to check back from time to time and I'll continue to share with you the things I find and sell on Ebay.