I made $189.33 so far for April!

[BlackDiamond]

Between Ebay sales I had ending April 2 (which have all been paid already!) and my trip to Bullmoose (used media store) tonight, I have already made almost half of my April goal for selling my old stuff that is gathering dust. I'm excited about that.

[disneysteve]

That's great. I need to get off my butt and start back on ebay. I just need to work around the fact that I'll be out of town for 4 days mid-month so I can't leave things hanging though I can have auctions running while I'm gone. Thanks for the reminder.

[BlackDiamond]

DS, do you sell a lot of Disney stuff? I used to and I noticed lately it just doesn't sell as well. I have a curio full of snowglobes my mother bestowed upon me over the years (none of them were requested...my mom just likes to buy knick nacks... ) and I used to be able to sell them off pretty fast. But now, even with lower prices they just don't sell. I guess it's just the economy.
Disneyworld cds sell though. I really have better luck with books and dvds more than anything else.

[heidrek]

Hi blackdiamond,

Is the figure you quotes profit or turnover? what sort of stuff are you selling?

[BlackDiamond]

It's hard to answer that since in many of the cases, I didn't buy the stuff in the first place.

I sell random junk I've had gathering dust in my house for years. Virtually all of it was gifts I did not ask for (but received anyway) from my parents who just can't be happy unless they buy 40 knick nacks for everyone every Christmas. Most of these knick nacks are of the Disney variety. But also dragons, fairies etc. Two years ago, I got my mom to finally stop buying these things. *sigh of relief*

A lot of it is cds, books, video games and dvds I got as gifts (or bought) 4+ years ago. I no longer use cds as all of my music is stored in a harddrive (and backed up in a second harddrive). A lot of the books were freebies when I worked for a publisher. Mostly graphic novels and art books. I've had them for 10 years, sitting on shelves. Most of them I never even opened.

Some of it is stuff I find for cheap and sell for a profit. I sold a wine bottle stopper last week that I bought for $3 at a flea market. It sold for $10.50 on Ebay. As a rule I don't buy new stuff. I'm trying to declutter my life.

I make a run to the used cd/dvd/media store maybe twice a month. Tonight I brought in a box of cds (maybe 50 of them?) and got $76.88 in cash for them. These were cds that had been in a storage box in my basement for 7 years. Nothing special. Pop music and soundtracks mostly. A lot of them were purchased used when I got them.

I actually LOVE getting rid of this stuff. It feels good to see space in my room and storage area again.

I do wish the Disney stuff sold better though. There's a ton of it left and I have no desire to keep it. If I can't sell it soon, I might just start listing things for like $5 just to get rid of them.

[disneysteve]

DS, do you sell a lot of Disney stuff?

Some but not nearly as much as I used to. I actually started my collectibles business in 1986 selling exclusively Disney stuff. Back then, I sold through a mail order list I advertised in various collector publications. I also sold in person at toy and collectible shows on the east coast. In 1994, I got online and started advertising on newsgroups and set up my own website. Then in 1997, joined ebay and that was a game changer. The live shows gradually evaporated as almost all business moved online.

What I sell today is mostly stuff I've had in stock for years. I don't actively buy stuff to resell like I used to, though I will still grab a bargain here and there.

It's hard to answer that since in many of the cases, I didn't buy the stuff in the first place.

I sell random junk I've had gathering dust in my house for years. Virtually all of it was gifts

A lot of it is cds, books, video games and dvds I got as gifts (or bought) 4+ years ago.

A lot of the books were freebies when I worked for a publisher.

Some of it is stuff I find for cheap and sell for a profit.

I hate to complicate matters, but it sounds like most of the stuff you sell is being sold at a profit. Do you file taxes and report that income? Do you collect sales tax? Do you have a business license? If you are doing $400+/month in sales that you aren't reporting, you could run into a problem some day.

[BlackDiamond]

Some but not nearly as much as I used to. I actually started my collectibles business in 1986 selling exclusively Disney stuff. Back then, I sold through a mail order list I advertised in various collector publications. I also sold in person at toy and collectible shows on the east coast. In 1994, I got online and started advertising on newsgroups and set up my own website. Then in 1997, joined ebay and that was a game changer. The live shows gradually evaporated as almost all business moved online.

What I sell today is mostly stuff I've had in stock for years. I don't actively buy stuff to resell like I used to, though I will still grab a bargain here and there.

I hate to complicate matters, but it sounds like most of the stuff you sell is being sold at a profit. Do you file taxes and report that income? Do you collect sales tax? Do you have a business license? If you are doing $400+/month in sales that you aren't reporting, you could run into a problem some day.

No. And I have no plans to. I don't know anyone who is not a store owner that sells on Ebay and reports. I don't really profit off things because technically, I am just selling my old crap to someone else for around what it's worth. It just seems like profit to me because this stuff has been gathering dust for so long.