Sell Your Stuff on Ebay

I haven't mentioned it too much lately, but if you've been reading my blog a while, you know that I enjoy shopping at thrift stores.  I also donate my fair share of usable items to the thrift shops.

But what about really good stuff that's worth quite a bit of money?  Depending on the item, I will often attempt to sell it, either on craigslist or ebay.

A couple of weeks ago, I dug out all my old homeschooling stuff, going back as far as kindergarten.  I've listed a lot of it on ebay, and sold quite a bit.  Actually, so far I've sold $550 worth of homeschool books.  That includes last year's curriculum, a Sonlight Core package that I bought used for $330, and sold this year for $300.  That's pretty darn awesome!

So, what am I doing with this money?  It's going to help pay for this year's curriculum (BJU Online 8th grade), and that's pretty great too.  Next year I won't have so much homeschool stuff to sell, but I'm sure I'll sell other types of things throughout the year.

I'm not going to give you a tutorial on how go through the steps of listing an item on ebay;  I'm no expert and just know the basics.  However, I can give you a few tips for selling your stuff in general (this is all my opinion, not hard and fast rules).

1.  Large items, such as furniture, are best sold on craigslist, which is local pick-up only.  

2.  For items which are relatively easy to mail, ebay may be your best bet, as you will have a much larger "audience".

3.  However, you can sell anything (within their rules) on CL, too.  Last year I sold snowpants  on CL, which would have been easy to mail and would have been fine to list on ebay.  And if you want to sell furniture on ebay, you can.  I just don't want to bother with shipping on that kind of thing.

4.  Keep season in mind for either CL or ebay.  I sold the snowpants in October, when people are starting to gear up for winter.  You wouldn't have the same demand for snowpants in May.  Or homeschool books in March.

5.  When I sell or buy something on CL, I like to either make sure Craig is home if they are coming here, meet in a public place such as a busy parking lot, or even have Craig do the pick- up or drop-off.  Safety first.

6.  When you are listing an item, your title should be made up of searchable key words, more than just a description. Let's say you're selling a Pottery Barn slipcovered sofa.  Your title would need to be something like this:  

Pottery Barn PB Sofa Couch with Slip Cover Slipcover

It sounds kind of idiotic, but you won't miss someone who searches "couch" but not "sofa" or "PB" but not "Pottery Barn".

And be sure to spell everything correctly!!

7.  When you are listing on ebay, keep the cost of packing materials and postage in mind.  I use the USPS postage calculator, but for some reason I'm not very good at it and I have several times spent way more on postage than I charged, and that eats into my profit.

8.  When listing an item on ebay, do some research.  Are there twenty already listed, but no bids?  You might not want to bother.   Are items like yours selling?  If so, for how much?  Use the advanced search and click on "completed listings" to find out, and use that to help you figure out a starting price and what you might expect to ultimately sell it for.

Like I said, I'm no expert at this.  If you are, and have more tips, please share them in the comments.

Some previous posts you might find helpful:

Do You Craigslist?

Craigslist Tips

Tuesday's Tips and Tricks

So, last month I told you about rinsing your cooked ground beef to lower the fat.  But what about something like meatloaf, that can't be rinsed?


Well, I've got a trick for that too.


I do buy leaner (90/10) ground beef when I'm going to make meatloaf, but that's still 10% fat.  


I line the pan with foil, and then I scrunch up another piece of foil and set it in the bottom of the pan.

After I form the meatloaf, I set it on top of the scrunched foil.

As the meatloaf bakes, a lot of the fat drains off into the scrunched foil, while the meatloaf sits above it on top.

I then just lift off the meatloaf onto a serving plate, and discard the greasy foil.

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Partying at Homebody

Tuesday's Tips and Tricks: Donating to Thrift Stores

You all know that I love to hit the thrift stores, for everything from clothing to household goods to decorating stuff.  But when those clothes have been grown out of, or I decide to change my decorating, I also donate to the thrift stores.

Make donating easier by keeping a clean trash can or box in the garage, lined with a trash bag.  As you come across an item to donate, toss it in.  When the bag is getting full, transfer it to your car and drop it off at the nearest thrift store next time you're out.

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Tuesday’s Tips and Tricks

{The credit for today’s tip goes to my friend Dixie.}

 

It’s summertime!  Among other things, I love that there is an abundance of fresh, in-season fruit available at low prices.  We are blessed to live in a time and country where we can get fresh produce year-round, but in the winter the prices are higher and the flavor isn’t as good.

So buy lots while it’s cheap in the summer, and freeze it for winter!  No, this is not a new idea, and if you farm or garden or like to pick-your-own, you probably already do some version of this.  But I know it had never occurred to me to freeze produce I got at the grocery store.  I’m specifically talking about berries, because they are the easiest to freeze; other fruits like peaches and plums require peeling, slicing and a sugar syrup before you can freeze them (according to www.pickyourown.org).

For berries, just wash them (hull strawberries and slice if desired), then spread them in a single layer on a cookie sheet to freeze.  Once frozen, put them in labeled freezer bags, get out as much air as possible and put them back in the freezer.  Then in the winter when berries are $3-4 a pound, you can pull a bag out of the freezer.  Toss some on your cereal, make a smoothie, bake a pie or cobbler, or add them to pancakes.  Yum!

 

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Tuesday’s Tips and Tricks

Have you ever been sucked in by a “forward this” or other questionable email?  We probably all have been at one time or another.  Do any of these sound familiar?

• money will be donated toward the care of a sick child every time this message is forwarded
• wealthy foreigner needs to move his accounts and he’ll give you a percentage if you’ll help him by giving him your bank account number
• religious leaders plead for action; atheists are attempting to get religious broadcasting banned

Most of them are fairly harmless; the only real damage done is cluttering up somebody else’s inbox.  But some could have more unfortunate consequences.

So before you forward that message to your entire address book, verify the information.  Use a website like www.Snopes.com or www.TruthorFiction.com to search the information.  Occasionally there is some truth to the message, but most often it’s an urban legend kind of thing and you can save yourself from passing on false information.

 

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Tuesday’s Tips and Tricks: Easy Go-To Meal

 

You know those nights when you need to get something on the table quickly, but you didn’t plan ahead or just plain don’t feel like cooking?  One of my go-to meals for those kind of nights is taco meat.  It’s fast, easy, inexpensive, if necessary it can go from freezer to table in a matter of minutes, it’s kid friendly, and it’s very versatile.

Tacos aren’t the only way to use it.  If you have tortillas, make burritos or quesadillas.  If you’ve got tortilla chips, serve nachos.  If you’ve got lettuce, make taco salad.  If you have refrigerated biscuits, press each biscuit into a muffin tin, fill each with taco meat, top with cheese, and bake to make taco cups.  Use any combination of toppings you like for any of these options.

As I mentioned last week, I rinse my cooked ground beef to reduce the greasy factor.  Another trick I have when making taco meat is to use about 1/2 pound of beef and add a can of black beans; it reduces the fat further and costs less than using a full pound of beef.

I keep packets of McCormick taco seasoning on hand (contains no added MSG), but if you’re in a pinch you can look online for homemade taco seasoning, such as this one from allrecipes.  I personally haven’t found one that I like as well as the commercial packets, but they work when needed.

 

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Tuesday’s Tips and Tricks: Leaner Ground Beef

When I cook and crumble ground beef, I don’t like it to be swimming in fat.  I mean, I really don’t like it.  So years ago, I started rinsing my ground beef after it was cooked.  I thought I was the only one until I got looking online a few years ago and found that it’s actually a method suggested by The Journal of the American Dietetic Association  and the Canadian Beef Information Centre as a way of reducing the fat content.

Basically, my method is to brown the ground beef, place a colander over a bowl or empty can, and empty to beef into the colander to drain the majority of the fat.  Then I rinse the beef with hot water.

From a pdf from the Canadian Beef Information Centre:

 

Hillybilly Housewife also has a good article about rinsing cooked ground beef.

I usually buy lean ground beef and rinse it, but after reading this data, I think I’ll save some money by buying regular, since rinsing eliminates so much fat.  I’ll still get lean for things that can’t be rinsed, like meatloaf.

 

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Tuesday’s Tips and Tricks: Petunias

Despite what seemed like a winter that would never end, we are now safely into the planting season.  Annuals (plants that only live one year/season) are an easy way to give your yard quick, long-lasting color.  Petunias are one very popular annual, and for good reason:  they produce lots of blooms and come in many colors.

The only thing I don’t like about them is the dead-heading.  Some annuals, including petunias, require that you frequently pinch off spent blooms in order to prevent the plant from going to seed and to keep them blooming until the first frost.  While not difficult, it needs to be done almost every day, and personally, I don’t like the smell or the stickiness this chore leaves on my fingers.

Last year I tried Wave Petunias, a variety that needs no dead-heading, and they were awesome!  Virtually no maintenance required other than watering.  A few times I did need to trim the whole plant back to keep them from getting too leggy, but that’s all.

Wave Petunias come in many colors and several different varieties with various growing habits (for pots, or borders, for example).  If you’re looking for some easy color for your yard, give them a try!

(This is not a sponsored post.  Also, I couldn’t find any photos of my pots last year, so this photo is from the Wave website.)

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Tuesday’s Tips and Tricks: Google Calendar

 

A few months ago, I told you about Library Elf, and bemoaned the fact that our current library system does not participate.  Without the Library Elf email telling me I had books coming due, I was paying a lot of fines.

Craig has been trying for years to get me to use some kind of electronic organization system (i.e. a Palm Pilot, or nowadays an iPhone), but I have always resisted.  I prefer pen and paper.  For a year or so he has been telling me that he enters all of his and the kids’ activities in Google Calendar and I can just look there to see what’s going on, or add my own event.  I really never even bothered to look until recently.

So, admittedly I’m pretty much always the last person to jump on the technology bandwagon (well, other than my dad) and this is probably old news to you, but once I jumped on this one, I found Google Calendar to be very useful.  Back to the library thing, I can enter my multiple library due dates, and then set it to email me a day or two ahead so I can renew them, just like Library Elf would.  Even if that was its only function, I’d be happy with it.

It’s a secure website, and you can have separate calendars (personal, family, blog, etc) and either view them individually or all together.  As I said, you can have it email reminders to you.  Craig and I share access so we can keep up with each other.  And I’m sure there are tons of other things it can do that I’m not even aware of.

Just go to www.google.com , click on the drop-down menu labeled “more”, and scroll down to “calendar” to get started.

 

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Tuesday’s Tips and Tricks: Check the Unit Price!

I consider myself to be a pretty savvy shopper.  I’m not an extreme couponer and I don’t always buy the cheapest brand, but there are very few things that I am brand-loyal to.  The majority of my shopping is done at Aldi, and most of the rest at Walmart.  I virtually always buy generic or off-brand items unless I’ve already tried it and didn’t care for it. 

I re-learned a lesson this weekend, though.  For some time I have been buying the White Cloud brand of toilet tissue at Walmart, 12 double rolls for $5.69.  On this shopping trip I noticed that the 6-pack of double rolls of the exact same tp is only $2 (I even check sheet #/size).  I don’t know if they haven’t had the 6 roll pkg until now, or if I’ve just never looked.  That makes the 12 roll pkg 47¢/roll and the 6 roll pkg only 33¢/roll.

I always compare prices on occasional purchases, but you can bet I’m going to be giving a second look to unit price on my regular items from now on!

 

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Tuesday’s Tips and Tricks: Salvage Your Kids’ Holey Jeans

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My kids’ jeans and other pants often end up with holes in the knees.  Or sometimes they get too short before the waist gets too small.  When this happens, they aren’t fit either to donate (in the case of holes) or to wear in public, IMO.  Rather than turn them into rags, I get more use out of them by cutting the legs off and making shorts.

 

 

Sometimes I hem them, but most of the time I don’t bother.  The cut-offs then become play wear.  If the kids want to play outside in the creek, this is what they wear.  When they go to church camp for a week in the summer, this is what we pack.  They get to be kids, and I don’t care if the cut-offs get muddy, wet, or torn.  It keeps us all happy!

 

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Tuesday Tips and Tricks: Shopping at Children’s Place

 

It’s a good time to shop at The Children’s Place.  Stock up on summer t-shirts, such as this painted butterfly graphic tee for just $6, or the striped tee for $5.39.

 

 

A knit skort is a cute alternative to shorts for a girl ($6); these plaid shorts are spiffy for a boy ($15).

 

 

Every fashionable kid needs a pair of shades ($3 each)!

 

 

There’s also tons of cute baby stuff, and check out the novelties to stock up for birthday parties (especially the girls jewelry and hair accessories).  Always check the sale section for mostly last season stuff.  It’s pretty picked over by now, but I often start checking on it earlier and stock up for next year.  It’s always fun to open the kids’ out-of-season clothes bins and find a bunch of brand new stuff I forgot about!

And always search for a coupon code before you place your order; there are inevitably several available.  Here are a couple of codes for 15% off your entire order thru 4/17:  H3DVT2X93C or A6D2011.

Plus, if you access the website through Ebates, you will get 3% cash back, and you can still use the coupon code. (If you haven’t signed up for Ebates yet, I’d be tickled if you’d use my link to do it; we’ll both get $5 added to our accounts.)

 

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I’m also going to join the party at The Stories of A to Z.

Tuesday’s Tips and Tricks: Brow Gel

I am not blessed with shapely eyebrows.  Left to their own devices, they are somewhat thick and straight across.  Not unlike Brooke Shield’s famous brows, but I’m not getting any super model contracts. For years I didn’t even tweeze them; I found it too painful.  But I’m over that, and I do my best to keep them groomed now, although I’m still not brave enough to have them waxed or threaded. 

I can’t believe I’m showing you this, but here’s a side-by-side comparison, ten years ago on the left (scary!), and more recently on the right.  The one on the right isn’t perfect by any means, but certainly it’s an improvement.

 

However, even thinned out, they are archless.  Brushing them up gives them a more pleasing shape, but it doesn’t stay put.

Now I use Maybelline’s Clear Mascara to hold them in place.

Love this stuff!  It does a good job of keeping my brows tamed, shaped, and in place.  Plus it’s under $5, well within the budget.

Got any favorite products, gadgets, or other tips?  Link them up here!  The post can be old or new (just please add my link if it’s an old one).

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Tuesday’s Tips and Tricks: A Handy Little Tool

(I’ll try to get the button changed to reflect the new party day soon.)

 

 

You most likely have several of these in your house:  nail clippers!

 

 

Besides the obvious use, I have found it handy to keep a pair in my laundry area for snipping tags or loose threads off clothing.  The scissors I used to keep there kept “disappearing”, but nobody wants nail clippers, so they stay put!

I also keep a pair in my purse.  Picked up a new sweater or pair of shoes that you want to wear right away?  Snip the tags with the clippers.  Bought a bottle of pain reliever for your splitting headache but can’t get the shrink wrap off?  Clip the edge of the wrap to get it started.

One of the best reasons to keep a pair in your purse is for doing the kids’ nails.  When they were little and in car seats, I found it easier to trim their nails when they were strapped in and couldn’t squirm away (I would do it when we were waiting in the car for one reason or another, not when we were driving).  Now that they are older and are in the anti-personal hygiene stage, it’s easy to hand the clippers to them (again, while stopped) and say “do it now!” and they can’t say “later!”.  Just catch the clippings in a tissue or something.

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Tuesday’s Tips and Tricks: Make Your Own Breadcrumbs

I have decided to start a monthly “Best Tips” post  where I will highlight several of my favorite reader tips.  Every entry is eligible!

 

What do you do with the heels of a loaf of bread?  I’m sure it’s more a mental block than anything, but I don’t like them.  I used to just throw them away.  Now I use them to make breadcrumbs.

We have a personal-sized blender that we got for making smoothies, and it does a great job of making breadcrumbs.  I just tear up the piece of bread, toss it in, and blend away (I’m sure a regular blender would work fine, too).   I keep my breadcrumbs in a jar in the freezer, ready when I need them.

 

 

This is a good solution for me, because it’s free and healthful.  Most store-bought breadcrumbs are white bread and contain lots of unnecessary ingredients like partially hydrogenated oils.  I buy whole wheat bread with the fewest questionable ingredients possible, so I know what’s in the breadcrumbs too.  It’s a little thing, but so easy, so why not?

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Just discovered that The Stories of A2Z also has a Tuesday party!

Tuesday’s Tips and Tricks: Shopping at Dollar Tree

 

Welcome to the new Tuesday’s Tips and Tricks party.  Same rules, only the day is new.  This is your opportunity to share your great ideas.

We all know Dollar Tree is a great place to find craft supplies and seasonal décor, but what about everyday household items?  Is $1 really a good deal for these things?  I decided to do a little sleuthing and find out.  I used Walmart as my price comparison store, because in general, they have the lowest prices on pretty much everything.  Turns out there are some great deals at DT, and some that really aren’t so great.

One thing I usually buy at DT is Softsoap.  Obviously, the 11.25 oz refill is a better deal than the 6 oz pump, so I buy the refill.  As to how it compares to Walmart:  6 oz Softsoap is $1.47, so that’s a significant savings.  However, W. has a 56 oz refill bottle for $4.47, which works out to about 8¢ per ounce.  The 11.25 oz for $1 works out to about 9¢ per oz.  So in the long run it’s actually a little bit cheaper to buy the larger refill at Walmart.

 

Next item:  cotton balls.  One hundred “triple size” 100% cotton balls, $1 at DT.  One hundred jumbo size at W, $2.04.  DT is a better deal, unless you are really picky about your cotton balls.  I’ve noticed that DT’s tend to unroll a little bit, but they work fine for my facial toner and nail polish remover.

 

Movie candy is the same price at either store, but DT had a much larger selection than my Walmart.

 

 

After you eat all that candy, you’ll need to visit the dental care aisle, where you can get a package of 50 Plackers flossers for $1.  I find these make it easier for kids to floss, and I’ve started using them too most of the time (no more cutting off the blood flow to your fingers as with regular floss).  That’s 2¢ a piece.

At Walmart, 90 Plackers are $2.76, or 3¢ each, but another brand, Dentek, is 90 for $2.44.  That’s just over 2¢ each, and rounds up to 3¢ each.  Either way, DT is not a huge savings.

 

A 3 oz tube of original Colgate toothpaste is actually cheaper at Walmart at 97¢.  But on this trip to DT they had the 4.6 oz stand up tubes of whitening Colgate, which are $3.16 at Walmart, so that’s a great deal if that’s what you like to get.

 

I personally don’t care for any of the shampoo brands they have at DT, but I get the cheap stuff for the kids, who go through shampoo like crazy.  V05 is under $1 (84¢) at Walmart, and while my W didn’t have White Rain, a 22.5 oz bottle of basic Suave was $1.38 (6¢ per oz) as compared to 5¢ per oz for the White Rain at DT.  Negligible savings.

 

DT has some cute hair accessories,  but I’ve found that some of the elastics aren’t the best so it’s kind of hit or miss.  But here’s a pack of 27 Goody elastics for $1, which sells for $3.27 at Walmart, so that’s a good buy.  In fact, I’m not sure why I didn’t grab these.  You can never have too many hair elastics with a little girl in the house.

 

Dollar Tree has their own sock brand (Max Gray), which I don’t buy because they are usually synthetic, and I prefer cotton.  However, DT often has cotton socks that originally came from Walmart, usually in packs of 2, and lately I’ve also found Froot of the Loom cotton socks for Pinkerbelle, cotton with cute ruffled ankles.  Two pairs of nice socks for $1 is a pretty good deal.

 

Well, this certainly didn’t cover all the bases, but you can see that while it is possible to get a deal at Dollar Tree, not everything is a money-saver.  It’s always smart to comparison shop.

Your turn to link up!  The post can be old or new (just please add my link if it’s an old one).

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