Selling Stuff Online: My First Month

I may not have worked on many crafty or house related projects lately, but I've been doing a lot of two things: wedding preparation, and getting rid of things! I've recently started an attempt to get rid of old clothes and items that are just laying around the house. An early spring cleaning, if you will. I've put some of my nicer, brand name clothing on a site called Threadflip, and I've been putting pretty much anything and everything on eBay. Not a whole lot, but maybe 8-10 or so items at a time, during a 5 day period. I could have just taken everything to Goodwill, but I figure, why not try to make a few bucks on things that are just lying around the house? I've never sold anything online before, so I thought it would be fun to try.

I decided against Craigslist or local swaps, since I'd rather not meet strangers in person to exchange items..I know a lot of people use those methods, but ya never know what shady stuff can happen out there! So I just decided to put things up for sale online and ship it out. I started at the beginning of February. I put clothes on both Threadflip and eBay. The verdict? I have yet to make a sale on Threadflip, but I've sold 6 items on eBay so far! I've netted almost $100 on just 6 items, and with shipping costs, I've profited about $50. Not too bad for items that were just laying around the house not being used!

I've found that I really like selling and shipping things on eBay! It's such an easy way to make some extra cash, and it takes a lot less time than I thought it would.

On the other hand, I was kind of bummed that I haven't been successful on Threadflip this first month. I've found myself taking things off of Threadflip and putting them on eBay instead. I really like the clean look of the website, so it's kind of disappointing, but eBay has been much more successful for me!

Here's a peek at my Threadflip closet - much cleaner than eBay, right? Super disappointing, but eBay just has such a larger market.

I'll admit it was a little challenging when I first started a few weeks ago, and it was a learning experience once I made my first sale. But, it was something I learned as I went, and I'm now beginning to get the hang of it. It was pretty exciting to see that first email come in saying that I got my first sale!

Trent's been a big help, taking all of my packages to the post office after I get the items all packaged up and ready to ship. I don't get home until 5:00, so the post office is closed by the time I'm off work. Nothing like that relief to let go of something that's just sitting around taking up space!

Still thinking about having a yard sale this summer, too. Of course the items that don't sell in the end, I will probably end up taking to the local Goodwill...no sense in holding onto them any longer. 

So, that's my latest hobby. Kind of fun finding things to sell, and even more exciting when they actually sell. I highly recommend it! It doesn't have to be intimidating. I've been wanting to do it for a long time, and all it took was just taking photos of the stuff and posting it. Maybe I'll have another update in a couple of months. We'll see what happens!