Dear eBay Queen:

I homeschooled my four children for eleven years and acquired a ton of curricula and materials over that time.  We are no longer homeschooling and I simply must clear things out, both for financial and organizational reasons. I am a nervous wreck and don’t know where to start in the organizing and selling of this stuff!  If it goes well, I would love to sell other merchandise to supplement our income…and maybe even to quit my job! Help?!

Thanks,

Gina

Dear Gina:

This is definitely the time of year to sell homeschooling or educational books. The early bird homeschoolers buy their books between April and June.  The homeschoolers that put things off to the last minute usually buy their books August –September.

Before you start, think about how you’d want to buy these.  Most homeschoolers want to buy them in a set, Teacher’s Edition, Student edition and workbook.  If you only have the teacher and student edition without the workbook, sometimes (if it doesn’t cost too much) you can buy the workbook off of Amazon or Half.com to make it a complete set.  Make sure you use the item specifics for the books and put the ISBN number in the description.

When shipping the books, you can use Media Mail. Media Mail is the cheapest way to send books, CDs and other media related items.  https://www.usps.com/send/media-mail.htm

Don’t be nervous, just close your eyes and jump!  Make it your goal to put two things on by the end of the week.  You can do it!

Dear eBay Queen:

I saw you a couple of weeks ago when I was in your eBay class in Olathe, KS.  I asked if you knew anything about eBay’s Instant Sale Program. I did some checking and actually used the program too. I thought I would tell you about my experience with it.

I have a Blackberry 9700 that is in fine working and cosmetic condition but I just wanted a new iPhone.  I went to the website http://instantsale.ebay.com/  I answered a couple of questions about my phone:

• Was I sending accessories (yes or no – No for me)
• What is the condition (they gave 4 descriptions, I chose good, which is something like no screen cracks, but some scratches/dings)
• Does it work (y/n – yes for me).

They sent me a prepaid FedEx label that I could actually drop off at USPS, if there was not FedEx around me. The company emailed me that they received the phone late Wednesday or early Thursday. They had told me they’d respond in 2 days with payment or counteroffer if the unit didn’t match my description.

Last night I got an email from them that they felt the item was as described and were giving me the $70. I accepted the offer, and a few seconds later I received an email from PayPal saying that they had deposited the money!  Woo Hoo! Happy Seller!

I’m wondering if I can watch for electronics at garage sales and sell them for a profit. Of course, I’ll need to have the people show me they work before I buy it.  I think I’m going to play around with the instant sale page and see what other offers I get for items (you don’t have to accept them).

Just a thought!

J. Hayes Olathe, Kansas

Dear J:

That is pretty cool.  I have heard of the program, but I’ve never known anyone that used it. Thank you for sharing your experience!

I think it’s a great program for someone that doesn’t like to list items on eBay.   Using this program would make me wonder if I am leaving money on the table. I would definitely take the time to look up a couple of the electronics you want to sell, to see if you are making the most out of the sale.  For more information on eBay’s Instant Sale Program, You can read about it here -

http://instantsale.ebay.com/?utm_source=eBayGarden\;utm_medium=link\;utm_campaign=eBayGardenPromo

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 160725217003  What holds the papers down on your desk? Maybe it’s a vintage paperweight?  Large Antique Baccarat Millefiori on Lace Ten Gridels Paperweight. SOLD $2484.00 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&hash=item256bf82eeb&item=160725217003

Suzie Eads is a nationally known eBay marketer and eBay trained Education Specialist. She lives in Rantoul, Kansas.