I can not remember a time when I didn’t go to auctions. Some of my earliest memories are hanging onto my daddy’s pant legs in dusty, red earth barn floors in Oklahoma, listening to auctioneers rattling off numbers. I was probably three or four at the time and recall stacks of stuff at the front of the barn – wooden trunks, old dishes, farm equipment, mixing bowls, oak furniture, metal toys, even animals! Needless to say, all of those things are some of my favorite stuff! The best part of the whole event was after it was over and Daddy gathered up his boxes – he would go through them and take out what he wanted and give me everything else. I still have some of the things from those boxes. It was great fun!
As an adult, I continued going to auctions with my sister; she collects Frankoma pottery and was always on the lookout for that rare piece. My husband even briefly worked as an auctioneer in Oklahoma and used to bring home all kinds of cool stuff. Mostly I was interested in obtaining things for the house at that time, quality furniture or items I needed for a growing family.
After we moved to Arizona, we still perused auctions for vehicles and needed items, but less so. Not so many auctions here! After Ebay started, I began buying and selling on Ebay, but mostly as a hobbyist. I bought things I wanted and sold things I didn’t need.
In 2008, with the downturn in the economy, and finding myself with substantial credit card debt as well as miscellaneous other bills as well as four children in college, I turned to Ebay and Amazon to do some serious selling to help knock down the debt. Since that time, I have paid off two credit cards and we have finished paying off our house. I still work full-time and use this extra income to primarily pay down debt and help our children who are attending college. If I can do it – so can you!
I have always made money every month I have been doing this since August 2008; I have never lost money. I think that is important to say. People see me spending money on “junk” and think I am just wasting my money. I am here to say it isn’t so even if it doesn’t sell the first time out.
This blog is going to be about how I do it, how I find the items to sell, and how I make money buying and selling. Another good point to make is that auction addiction is hard work! This is not easy but if it was, everyone would do it. I spend about 10 – 15 hours per week obtaining the items to sell and then listing and selling the items, and shipping. The great thing, though, is it can be done totally from your home if you need to. It is a perfect income for the disabled or stay-at-home mom. A person strapped for cash can get started immediately just by selling superfluous items from their own home! You will be surprised at how easy it is to get started making money.
The secret is to find your niche – what are you interested in? What do you like shopping for? What will sell? I sell the odd, the unusual, retro, vintage, and just plain weird. Pottery, dishes, and any type of ceramics interest me so I sell that as well. It is fun to research the items that I come up with.
I am currently selling off all of the things my kids have left in the house – paintball guns, inline skates, motocross helmets, fishing equipment – but I warned them what would happen if they didn’t remove all their stuff from the house! Anything is fair game in my house once the owner is warned to remove from the premises.
Recently my partner in crime (Scott, my son’s friend) and I have been going to storage unit auctions. These are great and sometimes only go for $1 – $3. The down side is that you have to remove all the stuff – hard, dirty work – so make sure you really want the stuff and that some of it will sell. Scott and I have an agreement whereby I take the stuff I want for Ebay and he sells the rest at his garage sales. Of course, some of the storage unit auctions go for $100, $200 and up if there is big furniture or vehicles in the unit. But some really great deals can be had for $5! Storage unit auctions are advertised in the classified ads in the local newspaper or you can get on a mailing/email list with the storage unit facility.
Of course, there are tons of auction sites online, not just Ebay anymore. I will be exploring the different sites on this blog as well as going to site auctions and checking those out.
If you are finding yourself unemployed or strapped for cash, read on and get ideas on the different ways to make money selling stuff. You have to start somewhere to turn your financial situation around and it can be here. If I can do it, so can YOU!
See anything you can't live without?
