@eBay's new site puts Green on steroids, plus enter to win $1,000 gc #spon

Last week, members of eBay's Parent Panel were granted a sneak peak into the new eBay Green site.  Let me tell you, it's way cool.

Whether you want to buy green, sell green or participate in an active green community, this site has it all.  I mean, if you think about it, eBay is inherently green to begin with.  They've pretty much mastered Reuse, don't you think? 

OK back to the site.  There's so much coolness, I cannot cover it all in one blog post.  It's like they took green and put it on steroids.  I'm just going to share with you my top 3 favorite features and you're going to have to go explore yourself to find the rest.

My faves:

Click to read more ...

#eBayParent Panel: Operation Disney on hold for a bit

Although I did use eBay's RedLaser app a ton while holiday shopping, as documented in the Boston Globe, I kind of put our Operation Disney on hold for the holidays.  Sure, it would have been fun and romantic to surprise the kids with a trip to Disney under the tree...but...

My father-in-law needed open heart surgery and he went in just before Christmas.  Things got busy and overwhelming for a bit, so we decided to look at a date in the future instead, possibly late winter or early spring.  Before softball, of course. 

We're hoping to start up our eBay selling journey after things settle down from the holidays.  There will be far less crazy people shipping at the post office. We can get the kids more involved, because OH MY GOD they have a lot of stuff we could easily sell.

Speaking of which, I was poking around eBay.com and found a fabulous Toy Selling Guide that offers tips and tricks on what's hot to sell and how to best list your items.  If your kids are like mine and are growing out of their toys as fast as their shoes, you should give it a read.  Very helpful.  Planning to make space for all of the new toys they received for Christmas by getting rid of those they no longer want/need.

Looking forward to a fabulous 2012 and will continue to share my eBay Parent Panel journey along with way :)  If there is anything you want to know about, be sure to leave me a comment.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Disclosure:

This post was created in connection with my appointment as a member of eBay's Parent Panel.  Thoughts are my own.

Sneak Peak: eBay's new MoneyMakers video series #ebaymoney

One of the perks of being a member of eBay's Parent Panel?  We sometimes get the insider scoop.

For instance, eBay is about to unveil their new MoneyMakers video series.  Each video will highlight a family’s story about how selling on eBay has impacted their lives.  I'm sure you will be able to relate to at least one of them.

Check out the premiere video before it officially gets released to the public tomorrow:

Not only do you get a sneak peak, but I have a giveaway for you as well.  Who loves you?

Giveaway:

One lucky Mommycosm reader will win a $25 gift card from eBay.

Mandatory Entry: Simply leave a comment on this post with your first name and state initials.  Tell me what you have sitting in your closets that you could sell on eBay and/or what's holding you back from listing.

One comment per person, please.  You must supply an email address in order for me to contact the winner.  (Note: I do NOT recommend putting email within the content of the comment itself.)

Submitting a comment constitutes agreeing to the terms of the Official Rules.

Deadline:

All comments must be received by Wednesday, December7, 2011 at 7am.  Mommycosm will use Random.org to choose the winner.  Any comments received after the deadline will not be considered for the giveaway.

Disclosure:

This post was created in connection with my appointment as a member of eBay's Parent Panel.  Giveaway supplied by eBay.  Thoughts are clearly my own.

Update on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 10:52AM by Mommycosm

And the winner is...

Which is this comment...

Congratulations, Melissa!  Please check your email for instructions on how to claim your prize.

Thank you, everyone, for participating!  Stay tuned for other great giveaways this month, including $100 bank gift cards from Ragu.

Mommycosm's eBay Operation Disney update

M-I-C-K-E-Y... e-B-A-Y!!

Operation Disney is ON, people.  We got off to a slow start - mainly because I was intimidated by the whole selling process.  Especially after my first sale blunder, ehem.  I almost felt guilty that I was being such a scardy cat. After all, I am on the eBay Parent Panel and should be fearlessly showing you all how to make money online.  Right?

Keeping it real. 

Selling can be intimidating.  But as with anything, education, skill building and practice are keys to success.

So, you may be asking, what was holding me back?

Shipping.

Totally should be a four letter word.  It was owning me.

Shipping is something you definitely need to understand before you can accurately price your items for sale on eBay.  If I have one bit of advice for newbies starting up, it would be to buy (or borrow) a scale and measuring stick before trying to estimate shipping costs.  Don't go into it blindly.  An ounce of education will save you post-sale stress.  Get to know the various methods of shipping, use the eBay tools to calculate and you will be good to go.

It's been taking about 30 minutes per item to list, including price and shipping research.  Here's my process right now:

1. look up item online - both on eBay and other sites to determine the going price and decide what I want to make on the item
2. measure and weigh box with item inside
3. take picture with iPhone and email to myself
4. on my computer, list via eBay.com
5. store item inside shipping box with sticky note indicating box dimensions and weight, the method of shipping promised and amount it should cost - this will save time post-sale
6. once items sells, print reciept from PayPal, insert in box and seal
7. ship
8. leave feedback for buyer once it arrives and funds are released

A little about setting the price.  We are not emotionally attached to the items we are selling, therefore, I am setting them on the low end of going price.  I don't feeling like playing around with the Auction right now.  I like to buy via Auction, but feel like people are just looking for steals and I'm not willing to just give these items away. 

I found myself paying fees to set a high reserve price within Auctions.  SO, now, we are simply setting a Buy it Now price that includes free economy shipping.  Seems to be working well for us.  Might revisit Auction later.  Would love to hear your thoughts about selling via Auction.

Also, I'm sure the process would be quicker if I used the mobile app to scan the bar codes and take the picture right from the iPhone.  Might move back to that method as my confidence grows.  I kinda like the regular site right now - it allows me to dot my i's and cross my t's on a larger screen.

Hoping to get close enough to our $4,000 goal to set our Disney plans in time to surprise the kids on Christmas Day.  How cool would that be?! 

The plan: In a perfect world, we would leave the next day and spend 4-5 days in sunny Orlando.  THAT might be a bit of a stretch.  We might be better off waiting until after the holidays because the prices (and long lines) will go down significantly.  We'll see.  The $4,000 is a ballpark figure for what the trip will cost.  We don't have the raise all the money before booking.  However, we'd like to know that we are funding the trip almost entirely outside of our normal budget, once all is said and done.

Here's our status so far:

Sold: $400+

Active Listings: $1,000+

We are 10% to our $4,000 goal. 

Taking advantage of the holiday shopping push over the next couple of weeks.  Even considering buying a few Black Friday items to re-sell on eBay.  Pretty sure we could turn a profit rather easily, but I'm a little nervous about the initial investment.  Right now, we are just selling things around the house and probably have enough to reach our goal without adding having to spend money to make money, you know.

Now that I have a few sales under my belt, I'm getting super excited and am no longer intimidated by the process.  We have a lot of stuff just kicking around that others are willing to buy.  The tree hugger in me loves the greenness of it all.  My husband is loving the greenness of the found $$.  The kids are simply going to bounce off the walls if we get to surprise them with a Disney trip.

eBay is pretty much rocking in Mommycosm.

So, will you be buying or selling via eBay this holiday season?  Would love to hear your story.  If not, what is holding you back?  Maybe I can help.

Disclosure:

This post was created in connection with my appointment as a member of eBay's Parent Panel.  Thoughts are clearly my own.

My first eBay sale - learn from my mistakes

I made my first official sale on eBay!!

Really glad I listened to my own advice and started off with just a book because... well... I made a couple of mistakes along the way. 

One of them was a BIGGIE.

ehem

Figured I'd share my experience to save you from doing the same.

So, here we go. 

There are a few boxes of books kicking around my house containing those I have already read.  I've considered donating to the library.  May still do that.  I traded a few with an online paperback swap site at one point but that didn't help the boxes go away. 

You see, swapping is clearly a one out, one in proposition.

There's a bunch of books just hanging out in boxes AND I needed to get started selling on eBay.

See where this is going?

So, to kick off my eBay selling journey, I picked out a hardcover Jodi Picoult book out of the box called House Rules.  Good book.  Enjoyed it.  It was in near new condition.  Researched the going price on eBay and decided to try out a 3 day auction. 

I was feeling pretty confident, armed with my newfound eBay knowledge from their On Location event.  Pulled out my iPhone and scanned the back of the book using my eBay mobile app.  Gotta tell you: the app is pretty slick.  It was quick and easy to grab the details and information.  I actually copied a similar listing and scrolled through the details quickly before listing my book.

Warning: Perhaps I scanned a bit too quickly.

What I didn't notice was that when I set the date for the posting to go live, I was setting myself up for a $0.10 charge. You can post a listing immediately for free, but there is an upcharge if you want to schedule a listing to go live at a future time.  Even if that is a mere 10 minutes away. 

Now, I'm sure there was a setting with a disclaimer, but I didn't notice until I was just about to finalize the listing.  Honestly, it looked a lot like the scheduling feature for my blog.  Whatever.  Not a huge mistake.  Live and learn.  I could have gone back and fixed it, but I figured it was just a dime.

So, 3 days later, I sold the book at auction for a whopping $4.25.  Lower than I would have liked, but not too bad for a first sale.

I finished my happy dance and sat down to figure out the whole shipping thing.  This is where the BIG mistake came in to play.  I'm almost too embarrassed to tell you...

Apparently, when I copied that other listing, the shipping was set at FREE Standard Overnight Delivery via Fedex.  I glanced it over.  Quickly.  Too quickly.  Should have changed that.

Some of you might be saying, so?  What's the big deal?  You gave us advice to offer free shipping because the eBay folks said listings with free shipping sell better.  Right?

Yeah... so... FREE Standard Overnight Delivery via Fedex would have cost me over $40 to ship to the buyer.  For a book that sold for $4.25.  Minus the $0.10 scheduling fee and eBay's cut of $0.38.

Feel my pain? 

I fretted for about 20 minutes and even looked up the legal definition of the word "fraud".  Once I determined that my actions would not be fraudulent if I refused to ship via Fedex because I did not willfully list the shipping incorrectly... I felt a smidgen better.

I then tucked my tail between my legs and reached out to the buyer through my account.  It was really easy to do.  I explained my mistake and offered free shipping via USPS OR to refund her money.  Luckily, she was a good sport and admitted she knew that the listed shipping was a mistake.  She recommended that I send via media mail because it is cheaper.

Phew.

I can tell you that I will NEVER make that mistake again.  May make others and will be sure to share them along the way;-)

Have you ever made a mistake selling on eBay?  Please say yes and tell me all about it.  Feeling kinda like a buffoon over here.

Disclosure:

This post was created in connection with my appointment as a member of eBay's Parent Panel.  Thoughts are my own.