Guest post by Jen Wise from Yard Sale Mommy
From the flurry of comments made on the recent on the clothing stockpile posts, one thing is clear: we’re all looking for ways to save money when it comes to our kids. In our family, just like in many of yours, we buy 95% of our children’s items at yard sales in order to keep our costs down. This easily saves us 90% when it comes to buying things for our girls.
But what about when your little ones outgrow their clothes and toys? What do you do with them?
Many of you expressed frustration with your own yard sales and the insulting prices offered for your high-quality, well-cared for items. Of course, as yard sale buyers we want everything to cost $0.50, but when we are sellers we don’t want rock bottom — we want top dollar!
If you aren’t planning on passing down your outgrown kid stuff to friends or family, consider selling your used goods on eBay. Not only can you recoup your initial costs, but often you can make a profit by selling your gear for more than you paid (since you bought it 90% off at yard sales in the first place). Then you can take your profits and buy next year’s clothes, shoes, and gifts and essentially never pay out of pocket for your children’s things again.
Why not try it? It’s easier than you think.
Do your research.
Search completed listings of the items that you wish to sell on eBay, and sort the search by those with the highest final selling price first. Make sure that the price you’ll likely get for them is worth your time and effort. Write down the titles of the listings which made the most money.
Time it right.
Sell your Spring/Summer items in February/March, and sell Fall/Winter things in July/August. List your toys when moms are shopping for Christmas or other holiday gifts.
Seven-day auctions are best unless your item is time sensitive or the holiday is a week away. Have your auction end in the evening, on a weeknight, after most kid bedtimes. This is when parents have time to browse and bid.
Your title is everything.
Think of every possible word that might be typed into the search box someone might use to find your item. Use similar titles as those who sold their similar item for the most money as discovered in your research.
Set a reasonable auction start price.
Don’t set your opening auction price too high or too low. I rarely start anything over $9.99, even if I expect it to sell for $100. A good rule of thumb is to list something for a price you would be happy getting for it at a consignment sale.
Get your shipping supplies ready.
Order priority mail boxes and tape for free from www.usps.com, or ask local stores for boxes before they are recycled. Box and weigh your item before you list it.
Take good, clear pictures.
If your picture looks terrible, your item looks terrible. Take it against a solid background, like a hardwood floor or a white sheet. Make sure your flash is good or there is enough lighting where a flash isn’t necessary.
Describe your item accurately.
If there are minor stains or flaws in your merchandise, be up front and give a detailed explanation. Take a picture if necessary.
Let your eBay listing calculate shipping costs automatically for your buyer.
If you box and weigh your items before you list, this will be super easy. Additionally, you can ensure you won’t lose money on the shipping.
Be available to answer questions.
Buyers ask questions when they are serious, so answer them in a timely fashion.
Ship your items in a timely manner from your home.
Building good feedback is important. Try to ship your items as soon as possible, and definitely within the time you promised on your listing. Use free USPS carrier pick up so that you don’t have to bring the kids to the post office.
Why not get your feet wet and pick out one toy or outfit that you would like to sell and give it a try? Who knows, you might be able to take that $0.50 yard sale purchase your child has already used and turn a $50 profit!
Jen Wise is a SAHM of three sweet girls and the wife of one handsome engineer! Every Saturday morning she can be found hitting the sales in Raleigh, North Carolina. You can follow her yard-saleing, eBaying adventures at her blog, Yard Sale Mommy.
photo credit: WordShore
Great post ! It depends on how much you’re willing to spend. For the less expensive side, I found that Old Navy had really cute stuff for my baby boy. A little more expensive is Janie and Jack, which I love, but if you go online they have more on sale than in their stores! Also Baby Gap is good – same thing, on line has more sale product than some of the stores.
Thanks:)
My basement looks like wal mart w/ clothes. im not kidding. alot has tags on them because the twins grew too fast at one time…i would love to sell all these on ebay. i did sell one item for 3.00, paid out the butt for shipping because im still not understanding the shipping. the item was listed for 3.00, put it in one of the priority mail envelope, listed the shipping for 4.95 (which i thought was the price to ship these envelopes) went to post office b/c i wasnt sure again of the shipping, it shipped out as 5.25??? my understanding of these free boxes, envelopes were shipped for free if under 70lbs? ” if it fits it ships?” now i didnt have time to ask the post office because i had the twins with me and we all know how that goes when u are standing in line for 20 mins. also i dont understand how to ship for free. should i have listed the outfit for 12.00 3.00for the outfit, 9 dollers for the shipping? please explain.
Thank you so much for posting this! I’ve really been meaning to put some clothes on ebay, but have struggled with how to get started. I have tons of baby boy clothes (all name brand!) that I need to get rid of. Thanks for the info! 🙂
I have a Paypal account but would have no idea how to set it up so people pay me. 🙂
Don’t even own a postal scale, either.
I think I’ll stick to Craigslist.
What kind of scale do you use?
I just have to thank you for the great chuckle that came in my email today. In Yahoo, the subject line was truncated and all I could see before I clicked on the link was “How to Make Money Reselling Your Children.” 🙂
Too funny!
I like to sell coupons on Ebay. I start the price at $0.99 and I charge enough shipping to cover the postage and envelope.
Last week I made over $15 after all the fees from selling just two sets of coupons on Ebay. Look into selling the coupons you get in the mail or newspaper (especially those that you will not be using).
Baby formula coupons, Store coupons, and more sell well! Check the completed auction to see if it will be worth your time and effort to sell them.
i did a youtube video on how to list on ebay here is the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHvwPQmo1EY
I’m surprised that this article didn’t mention the eBay and PayPal fees. PayPal takes about 3 percent and eBay takes around 9 percent. Make sure your minimum price covers those fees!
You stated:
“Order priority mail boxes and tape for free from http://www.usps.com, or ask local stores for boxes before they are recycled. Box and weigh your item before you list it.”
FREE TAPE??? I was excited but couldn’t find any free tape on their website.
I just wanted to say to anyone who wants to start selling on ebay to not let buyers abuse the feedback system. My mom sells on ebay as a business and she actually had a neutral feedback left for her because “The item smelled to much like a dryer sheet”. Report people who abuse the feedback system to ebay.
Also I have had absolutely no luck selling my daughters old clothing even things with the tags still on them. My mom also swears that the best way to make money on ebay is plus size clothing.
I love these tips and have started selling non-clothing items on ebay again BUT I feel that for children’s clothing, the place to make the absolute most money is at children’s seasonal consignment sales. Hands down! I make hundreds sometimes thousands of $$$ each year doing this. It’s work but very profitable.
Hi Jen, how can I contact you? I tried to post a comment on your blog but I think it was going to make me sign up for Blogger, which I didn’t want. I just wanted to shoot you an email and ask a few questions. My email is raleighmommyblog(at)gmail(dot)com.
Thanks! 🙂
While USPS services gives out free boxes/envelopes, you have to send the items either by priority mail or flat rate. Sometimes it is cheaper to ship items parcel post, which means you have to provide the box or envelope. One of my little money saying tips is to SAVE all your padded envelopes and boxes from all the samples you receive. I sign up for tons of samples and a lot of them come in bubble envelopes which are great to reuse for EBay items.
Good suggestion. Like I said in my post, I raid my neighbors’ recycle bins for their boxes for when I need to send something first class or parcel post.
Also, check freecycle, I have tons of these around that I save, but I get rid of some too as I review lots of books and get more than I ever can use.
It’s been a while since I have sold children’s clothing on ebay (between the higher shipping prices and the outrageous fees both ebay and Pay Pal charge you once the item is sold) but once-upon-a-time, I kept a Power Seller for about four years in a row.
I found that when my children were younger, I could purchase very high end clothing off season that was deeply discounted at Nordstrom Rack, Off Fifth (Saks outlet) Last Call Neiman Marcus, and department stores. My children would wear these gorgeous clothing and sometimes I would remember to take a picture of them in their cute outfits. When it was time to sell those outfits on ebay, I would pull the pictures and sell the clothing for a lot more then what I paid. I would use that money to purchase more clothing 0ff season for my children. I never had to pay for their clothing for several years and I was able to save money into their college accounts. My children were being paid to wear the clothing. That was nice when they were younger (not possible as they grew older and started to destory their clothing LOL) Now I realize that no every one would be comfortable posting a picture of your child in the outfit and I’m not certain that the places I shopped continue to offer such deep discounts anymore.
For big lots of clothing that were in nice condition, I found it to my advantage to sell it as a Featured Auction in one giant lot. I don’t know what they charge anymore for that feature – it was $20.00 way back when but the exposure and bids were well worth the price. I sold some featured auction lots for $200 to $400 and I could also throw in a few things that were not in the nicest condition as a “bonus” when I shipped it and people were always thrilled with the bonus items.
That is awesome!
Don’t forget about selling your used Maternity Clothing!! Six years ago I started my eBay business by selling my kids’ clothing at eBay auctions. I found used maternity clothing to be more profitable because the competition is less fierce. Especially if you have a special dress you only wore a couple of times and it is still in great shape!! Jeans sell at a premium as well. Even daily wear clothing sells well if sold in lots of 3 or more. And cute outfits that mix-and-match well with each other to form many more outfits sell well. Pictures are super important and I can’t emphasize research, research, research enough! I no longer sell used maternity clothing, only new. But I know there is a market for trendy, previously owned maternity clothing is great condition! momplusbaby
That is a great idea and you are right–maternity clothes are expensive and people search ebay to try and find some for less than retail! Good suggestion!
Thank you Jennifer!
Many of the comments on the post last week inspired me to clean out my younger son’s drawers and Freecycle his smaller size shirts and onesies. I had two sizes out for him because he’s on the verge of outgrowing size 2T but I didn’t see a need to keep them around any longer when there are others who need them more than we do. I do sell some children’s items on Craig’s list (for very low prices) but most of the time I donate to Salvation Army/Goodwill or Freecycle stuff. It bothers me to see those who sell their children’s used things disparaged but since I don’t need the extra cash to survive I prefer to give away things we no longer need. And I’m too lazy to have a yard sale, ha ha. 🙂
I’ve been a power seller on ebay for over 6 years and have sold over 25,000 items. I have seen lots of changes on ebay over the years and while it can be a good place to unload items it is not nearly as profitable as it used to be. I cannot stress the importance of knowing what your fees will be before you list. This can make or break the deal. one point of contention is that ebay is now going to start charging the seller a commission on the shipping fees too, so don’t forgery to add that in to your expense. You can also go to many current groups our discussion forums on ebay to get alot of good help and advice. Best of luck to you if you decide to stay selling there.
@ Marisol https://www.prioritymail.com/freesupplies.asp
Ebay has changed and it always seems they are changing something to hurt the sellers. HOWEVER, I can confirm first hand that we did and still continue to make a living from eBay. At one time my husband was a Power Platinum Seller the top 1% of eBay sellers in the world earning over six figures. It was/is just the two of us running the show. Many circumstances have changed but 11 years later we still manage to make some money from eBay.
For us, eBay was a life saver when my husband changed jobs in 2005. Pilots go to the bottom of the pay scale at a new company. Experience doesn’t matter.
Also, I know other who just sell items from thrift shops and do very well!
The key to eBay: cheap; authentic; name brand items. Also, like anything, eBay needs to be researched and thought out!
Kidz Klozet is a twice a year consignment sale event in Mobile, Alabama that I use. I have found that I make much more than holding my own yard sell. ( I have made as much as $435.00 at one sale!) The great thing is that any clothes that don’t sell can be either picked up by me or will be sold at a later date for a cancer fundraiser yard sale. The two sisters that do this are wonderful…I have been selling my children’s clothing with them for the past 11 years. Check out their website if you live within driving distance to Mobile at mykidzkloset.com
Be careful with the calculated shipping. I have done that in the past and have weighed the items and the price eBay gives for shipping is always lower. I have entered everything properly, they just calculate it wrong. So I add a little weight to make sure they pay what shipping will be.
If you add a “handling fee” to your listing it will help with the lower calculated shipping. I add a 0.50 handling fee to my shipping charges and it usually comes out to the exact shipping cost. There are some sellers that add a higher handling fee or charge a flat rate shipping that is WAY more than the actual cost of shipping. For example, a 2T dress shouldn’t cost more than $3.50 to ship in a legal size envelope domestically. If the shipping is higher than $5.00 for one outfit, I usually will not buy it since they are making money off shipping not the actual product.
Great post! I used to sell on eBay, but haven’t in awhile.
Mary Ellen
The Working Home Keeper
There are fees that you have to pay when selling on eBay. Do your homework to find out what it will cost you to sell your items, plus paypal fees. Paypal is the only accepted form of payment on eBay now so you must also pay the 3% + $0.30 for each item you sell. Final Value Fees on eBay are about 12% of your sale price PLUS shipping. Shipping charges are no longer exempt from the final value fee.
Thank you for detailing it out.
While I agree that ebay is making a mint in fees, particularly with the paypal connection, I actually think including shipping in the final value is not horrible (well, perhaps the percentage should be lower if shipping is included), only because I have seen numerous auctions with INSANE shipping costs to counter their low starting bid. Sellers might list an item at $5 starting, with shipping for $50 to $100 (when you know it might cost $15 max to ship), building overpriced shipping into the auction to escape paying a higher value fee to ebay (and it probably catches some people by mistake in bidding). So, it’s a way to keep the auctions more fair and reduce the shipping value problem.
I give away a bunch of my daughter’s items, but I actually run a business on Ebay. I have actually made more this year on Ebay that I was able to quit my part-time job and spend more time with my family. Yes, it’s not easy and you need to put in a lot of work to make it happen, but it is possible. It’s not being selfish, it’s making ends meet.
Amen, sister!
I have had great success selling on Ebay. I mostly sell my daughter’s clothing, but have now started to look around my house for things we don’t use anymore. My daughter was given a gaming system, but it couldn’t read games, so I looked on Ebay and people actually buy broken gaming systems! I ended up selling her broken DS for $47.00!! I was able to turn around and buy a brand new DS Lite for $51.00! I’ve also found that old books sell very well too. Especially cookbooks. I also find many deals for myself on Ebay.
How do you get free priority mail envelopes? :/ Sorry, new at this!:)
Either go to the Post Office or you can go to the USPS website and request free boxes.
Thanks for this information! Do you find that it’s better to sell individual items/outfits, or to list a “lot” of items in the same size? Does it depend on the brand?
For clothes, I tend to put things together in outfits. I find the names of the lines I am selling to include that in the title. I put the whole outfit together, sometimes with a hairbow, and make sure it looks really nice!
do you use paypal to accept payments? they seem to charge a fee when someone pays you..
Ebay requires you to accept paypal when you sell there.
And that’s exactly why I stopped selling on eBay. I made quite a bit of money selling maternity clothes, small electronics, new baby items (Robeez shoes, for example) and other items, but eBay and PayPal have become extremely greedy, in my opinion. eBay owns PayPal, so by requiring you to accept PayPal they are steering buyers towards using PayPal, and then they get paid twice. Add to that my last experience when I sold something to a Mom in Canada who declined insurance (that I recommended)…….when her package was delivered to someone else in Canada, she contested the purchase and PayPal took her money back out of my account, even though she had declined insurance and I really didn’t see why I should lose both the money and the items that were lost. I only list things on Craigslist now…….no fees, no PayPal, local buyers (no scams)……..I really dislike eBay and PayPal’s business practices.
that is what it felt like to me, can’t seem to make much on a small item when the fees from paypal and ebay seem to take it all
If you’re looking to buy on eBay, I just posted a great buying tip regarding searches and getting e-mails from eBay with updates as items are listed.
http://savviestgirl.com/2011/06/20/ebay-buying-tip-1/
I would add that if you are selling lightweight items, try to ship first class to save on shipping. While the Priority Mail boxes/envelopes are free from the USPS, shipping starts around $5 for Priority. People may not want to pay $5 shipping for a single item, even if they can win it for $1. I hold on to every bubble mailer I get (free samples, anyone?) since they can be pricey. You could even put your clothes in a ziplock bag inside a large envelope (to keep the items waterproof).
I’ve had good results offering free shipping and adjusting the start price to include shipping – instead of starting at $.99 and listing shipping at $2, I’ll start at $2.99 and offer free shipping! It’s totally a mental thing, but people love to get free shipping!
I also had good results selling my maternity items on Ebay. Took a tub to a consignment sale and sold hardly anything. Everything sold on Ebay… many items for much more than I’d asked at the sale!
Thanks for posting this! I have been selling my daughters clothing (and my own amongst other things) for a few years now. I just noticed that on my 7 day auctions I am being charged a final value fee and then an additional final value fee on shipping. I never charge more than the flat rate price for shipping so I am actually losing money now on shipping – have any other sellers noticed this new fee pop up? Anyone get them reimbursed? I feel like it’s double fees and not fair to sellers….
Ebay just rolled out that extra fee on shipping. Sadly, it’s part of doing business on Ebay these days.
People on the discussion boards are saying offer free shipping (roll ship price into auction) and then you don’t have the extra fee. BUT, then your item sells for a higher price which may change your FVF. Sellers are caught between a rock and a hard place, it seems.
Yeah I feel like it’s just not too fair! I noticed that on my buy it now auctions that I don’t get that fee but you also pay a higher FVF – oh well. I have changed my selling a lot, mostly now I only sell the items I know will be a huge profit, otherwise it’s just not worth the effort!! 🙂
I LOVE reading your blog and I love your sense of humor! Thanks for taking the time to write how to be a successful ebayer and what to look for to turn a profit.
You are sweet, thank you! Please visit again soon! I do a giveaway each week and always try to have something fun going on!
Wonderful tips. I’ve sold on Ebay for years but need to get back into the habit and make some money. Thanks for sharing! BTW, the link to Yard Sale Mommy is not working. It has a period after ‘.com’ which makes it not work. Works if you remove that.
It’s fixed now. Thanks!
Clicking link takes me to error-
The blog you were looking for was not found. If you are the owner of this blog, please sign in.
Am I doing something wrong?
The link was wrong. It’s fixed now — sorry about that!
Jen, I love your blog and I’m so happy to see you over here at Money Saving Mom 🙂
You are so sweet. I haven’t seen you comment lately, I was just thinking about you!!
I’ve wanted to try selling on eBay but my biggest question is what kind of cut to you pay to eBay per auction? Is it percentage-based or a flat fee?
It’s percentage based, and based upon the final price of your item. They also now take a cut for shipping and since you must use paypal, they take a cut too (even though PP is owned by Ebay).
They do run specials where you can list so many for free but still pay final listing fees.
http://contact.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?CustomerSupport
Go to ebay.com and under community, look for answer center. type in a keyword and start searching! I’ve gotten great tips and assistance on the discussion boards too!
It’s percentage based and figured on the final selling price of your item. You will also pay a fee on shipping (above shipping cost) and paypal fees too.
go to ebay.com
http://contact.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?CustomerSupport and you can dig around the answer center as well as the discussion boards. Lots of helpful advice!
sorry about my double post!
You have to pay an insertion fee, a final value fee, and a new shipping final value fee plus the PayPal fees. All of the eBay fees are percentages while the PayPal fee is 30 cents plus 2.3 % (in the US)
I don’t sell anything on EBAY (yet) but I did not know you could get free supplies like tape and mailers from USPS. Is this true?
I don’t think you get the tape anymore but yes, you can get free boxes at the USPS. I think these are just the flat rate boxes.
Actually, you CAN get priority mail boxes, not just flat rate boxes. And I am able to get tape too, priority mail tape. If you don’t feel like ordering it online, which is so easy, ask your post office when you are there and they will give it to you.
I couldn’t find Free Priority Mail Tape but I did find the free priority Mail Stickers. I think these could work. What do you think ? I’m going to try to sell a few items on Ebay but this shipping thing has me confused. I need a little help understanding everything…LOL !!!
Thanks for the tips! I have a huge load of baby clothes from Newborn (my son was only 5lbs) to 12 months. Beside shirts, his pants are too small; I am going to start going thru his things and putting it together.
Great post! Thanks for sharing.
Remember “brands sell”. If you are sell a “lot” (a group of clothing) try to add a brand name or two in the title. In my experience, unless it is in very good to excellent condition and a brand name it is not worth the time and effort!
Anyone know if there is a smartphone app for looking up the value of items, or what they sell for? I’m so desperate to make a little money, I’d love to get back into ebay selling. I’ve cut as much as I can when it comes to saving at home :/
What kind of smartphone do you have?
One that uses the Android system
I haven’t seen anything like it on android, but i can try and find out for out.
I just searched the android marketplace from my phone, and am downloading the ebay app now. So it appears to be available even to those of us who don’t have the iphone.
I have the ebay app on my iphone and use it when I am out at yard sales and thrift stores to see if an item I am thinking of buying will resell well enough to make my purchase worth it!
I carry my iphone with me when out yard sailing, and so if I question anything I might be considering buying, I quick look it up on the eBay app which has a search engine. This has been so helpful so I don’t make “mistakes”.
This is the very reason I now really really want an iphone… trying to convince the husband?!
Android phones also have an eBay application and you can find an Android phone with a cheaper monthly plan, if you do a little digging. I pay $25 a month with Virgin Mobile. Bad phone call reception, but all I do is text and use apps so it doesn’t really matter to me.
As far as brands, it varies. I have done well with Gap, Naartjie, some Gymboree (if you go to Gymbohaven.com you can find the line name under the year, sometimes it is off a year from what the tag says, it helps a lot to have in your listing), specialty outfits like 1st Birthday, Easter, Christmas dresses, Mini Boden, or summer/spring/winter/fall lots in lesser brands if you take the time to photograph & show how items can be put together as outfits. Also, bigger sizes tend to do better than baby sizes. What works for one person, however, does not always work for someone else!
Great advice!
HUGE THANKS!! I am a buyer of Gymbo and have desperately needed a website like that!! YOU are the reason I learned something new today!! HUGE THANKS!!!
Anyone know where to get the best price on poly bags for shipping?
I use upaknship.com. There are also some companies that sell on ebay.
Amazon has some good prices, I got 100 for $26
I just tried researching some clothes that are being bid on and there are hardly any kids clothes that have bids on them. Its weird. Its like ebay is dead at the moment. Maybe my search was incorrect but I used the term “kids clothing” in the search bar.
Be specific in your searches, and make sure to search completed listings and not current auctions to get a good sense on final selling price. And keep in mind that name brands will sell better than non-name brands, so search Gymboree, Janie and Jack, Crazy 8, Ralph Lauren, etc. Hope that helps!
I’m not an e-bay seller by any means (I’ve sold a grand total of 3 items!! 🙂 ), and two of them were outfits that were gifts to my daughter before she was born. They were Mud Pie brand that she only wore once. I sold one outfit for $17 and one for $26!! I struggled with feeling guilty about selling things that were gifts, but the alternative was to have them sit in a rubbermaid tote in the garage getting no use. I decided to make a little cash and justified it with the fact that the money earned will go towards other items she needs.
I totally reiterate the part about checking your shipping costs beforehand. I underestimated my shipping costs and ended up paying a little of my profits to cover it. Oops! Lesson learned 🙂
My ebay store is addysclosetandmore.com. I have had more success with non-clothing items & have never had luck auctioning them off, but I am doing this as a business, so I need to make more than just enough to clothe my kids. Gymboree is not as profitable as it used to be, as ebay seems to be swamped with it. But, if you spend $0.25-$0.50 on items at yard sales you don’t have to make a huge amount in order to profit. Like the article says, start at a price that you’d be happy with & remember that approximately 20% will go to fees (at least that is how I figure it for my store). If the item doesn’t sell after the second time, you are still responsible for all the fees you incur, so also be realistic. Once you sell one item for more than you paid, you will be hooked 🙂 Have fun! p.s. great article!
For the time being, all auctions are free listings and that even includes a buy-it-now price. Also, new sellers need to know that ebay now collects a final-value-fee on the shipping price. A lot of sellers have now instituted a small handling charge to help off-set the fees because if you charge only the exact shipping charge, you will end up losing money! But don’t let that stop you from trying. I still enjoy being a small, part-time hobby seller and still get a thrill when I actually sell something!
Hi! This is such a timely read for me, as I was just getting ready to sort through clothes to eBay. But I was wondering… can you elaborate a bit on “Use free USPS carrier pick up so that you don’t have to bring the kids to the post office.” For some reason I can’t wrap my head about how to print paid shipping labels from home…
If you use Paypal, you can use paypal shipping thru ebay. It just takes the postal fee directly from your paypal balance. You can also use stamps.com or other various shipping services.
You need a printer, of course and tape to tape the labels on.
For carrier pickup, you must have at least 1 priority package to be mailed.
Ditto everything you just wrote! I want to add that when you look at your completed listing after the auction is finished, there is a simple “print shipping label” icon that you click on, and then you are taken directly to a label you can enter info in and print. Actually, the info should already be entered into the label, all you need to do is click and print! It really is super easy.
Or if you talk with your local delivery man they might just pick them up without the priority mail. Mine has told me in the past that he will gladly take them if I hang them in a bag from the mailbox (as long as the weather is decent).
My postman said the same thing. I sell on eBay (although not children’s clothes, usually), and he insisted that he take my packages for me – I don’t usually have more than 1 or 2 per week, though, and I try not to sell big heavy items anyway. I also made sure that I gave him a tip at Christmas since he is so nice and saves me a lot of trouble.
Ok, so here’s a totally dummy question: what kind of scale do you get to weigh your packages?
… and how would you put delivery confirmation on that?
There is also a link on usps.com to request carrier pick-up. (don’t know if you can do this if you use a PO Box, though) You’ll put in your address, what type of packages you have, how many of each type, and total weight. Depending on the time of your request, the mail carrier will stop by in the next few days to pick up your packages.
… and you won’t have to stand in line with a baby, a wild toddler, a dancing preschooler and a hyper first grader. I love carrier pick-up!
I would love to hear from people who have had success doing this!
What brands seem to get the most money back when resold?
Thank you 🙂
If you check my blog, I have a weekly post called “What to sell Wednesday” that highlights specific things that resell GREAT on ebay from my yard sale purchases. I also post each week what I purchased at the yard sales, so you can see what I buy to resell. Hope that helps!
Good luck!
I just found your site and love it.
I have had the most luck with Gymboree, Crazy 8, Gap. I make up lots of clothes from various, cheaper store like Target, Old Navy, etc.. I have always had luck selling children’s clothes. Just be honest, and consider anything over what you would make at a yard sale a bonus!
I think it’s better to give away used children’s clothes to charity or to friends. In my community free children’s clothes go super fast. There is such a need out there. Many people are really struggling and charities can never get enough kid’s clothes. In this economy we need to remember to still help each other even if we aren’t doing great ourselves. Kid’s clothes don’t last very long anyways, so there isn’t much point in reselling them!
It’s better if you can afford to, but many people NEED to make money any way they can! For me getting a regular job wouldn’t make any sense, because child care is so expensive, but selling items is one way I can try to make some money while staying at home with my daughter.
I watch my daughter during the day and work for a few hours during the evening when my hubby comes home. Then I work all weekend long while he watches her. There are ways to make it work.
My husband and I are both full-time students, so he works whenever he’s not in class or doing schoolwork. There are other ways to be generous, and no one should feel guilty about selling whatever they want to sell to help make ends meet.
I have to agree that things don’t always work for some people. Day care would be too expensive for us, and my husband often works out of town. There just aren’t any jobs out there that would be that flexible! Selling online is what works best with our schedules.
What may work for you may not work for third famiy. I know my hubby would rather bust his rump than for me to work at night and on the weekends.
I totally agree with you!
Ya i agree with Kristen – there are other ways to be generous and who says that you have to donate brand name clothes to charities there are plenty of other brands that they would be happy to get. I think reselling higher end brands is a great way to make money. I have done it myself and it is great !
I agree. I think it is uncouth to shop yard sales with the intent of reselling at a large markup, no matter what the product is. Especially for clothing, which is a need, as you mention (as opposed to something collectible or decorative).