When Someone Says They Don't Know What to Sell on eBay!

So many times I have heard this statement. "I need money and don't have anything to sell". The first suggestion always is to clean out all the unwanteds from the house. Next is to re-evaluate the collections and accumulated craft things.

I know I have tried almost every craft known to man and have all the supplies to go along with them. I will need 2 more lifetimes to use them all, so it is time to start decluttering.

So many times it is as easy as just looking around. When we lived in my childhood home in Franklin Square, NY 2001 - 2005 there were Lily of the Valley growing all over in one part of the yard. Actually even tho' I love them, they were quite invasive.

Being the eBayers we are, http://tinyurl.com/den8g9, we listed them for $9.99 plus priority shipping. Gene dug 25 pips (roots) at a time, only after they were sold and paid for. With a damp paper towel and wrapped in plastic, they arrived in great condition.

We moved before we dug them, all but I suspect we sold over 1000 of them. Many people bought 100 at a time.

Last fall I had this very conversation with a gal in the mid west who has Bittersweet growing like a weeds in her yard. At the time the only Bittersweet that was listed, were plants which I was not interested in purchasing but was very interested in cuttings for fall arrangements. I never got those cuttings, which is unfortunate because that could have been a recurring, annual sale.

There are so many things that one part of the country has that others don't, like the bittersweet, pussy willows, sheet moss from the forest/wood, holly, etc.

We thought of the Spanish moss, when we were in FL, but it is buggy and to debug it, the moss really needs to be dried, which takes away some of the beauty of it. The soft fresh Spanish moss is so much nicer.

Scrapbookers use pressed flowers all the time and there are so many different ones that bloom all summer long, including weeds, fruit trees and wild flowers. They are no big deal to press, take no room to store and light to ship.

None of these ideas are going to bring huge amounts of money but think of it this way - they all are free, so the bottom $$ line may even be higher than purchased goods. And the best is that they generate sales, keeps the account active, accumulates feedback and makes a few bucks too, with very little effort and no fear of the item getting broken, on its way to its destination!

We know a teenager who had some sort of critter that ate a certain kind of bug. Turns out the bug was easy to procreate and raise. He sold batches on eBay and did fairly well doing it.

But with any live creature or plant one has to be careful of the laws in different states. We refused to ship the Lily of Valley internationally.

I have been told repeatedly that I could sell a snowball to an Eskimo but really the trick is look at everything and put a dollar sign in the picture. Ask yourself if anyone else is selling this thing and if no, why not? If no, then why not try one listing and see what happens.

In these hard times, being creative will save a lot of sellers, rather than going down the path thousands of other sellers are strolling down too!

The bottom line is that any new listing line is a gamble but as the saying goes List More; Sell More; Hire a Cleaning Lady!!!