Food & Finances Friday--Ebay

Oh My! What have I gotten myself into? What was I thinking?

I've been questioning my sanity a lot lately. I have been busy beyond belief (hence, very few blog posts this month). I have been battling a big monster---EBAY!

We decided to pursue selling a bunch of excess stuff from our house, in order to bring in more income to put towards credit card debt. We were off to a fantastic start. We purged the house and held a big yard sale. We purged the house and sold stuff through Craig's List. And, we started listing items for auction on Ebay. So far, so good....

AND THEN.....

I got the notion to list a hoop of my excess scrapbooking stuff on Ebay. My husband got the notion to list his collection of Star Wars action figures (the ones still in the boxes). So, one Friday evening, I guzzled Coke and listed items on Ebay all evening, and into the night. Then, I continued my listing adventure the following morning, for half of that Saturday. Wow!

It was amazing! I had 80 items listed on Ebay at the same time! I was so proud of my accomplishment. Bidding started within that first hour, and one-by-one things were selling. It was exciting. We checked the listings periodically through the weekend, and grew excited about how well things were selling. It was working---we were going to bring in extra funds to pay on debt. Wahoo!

Seven days later, the auction listings ended, and 76 items had sold.

Within the first hour of auction close, the payments started arriving. When the items are paid for, Ebay lists the reminder for us to ship the item, within 3 business days of payment clearing. It is a really nice, organized system.

The problem was that we had over 50 items waiting to be shipped at the exact same time!

What was I thinking? What was I thinking listing that many items at the same time?

I bought bubble mailing envelopes, brown paper, and tape. Then, I spent a few days straight wrapping, packing, and preparing those 76 items to be mailed. After researching the earliest post office opening time in town....as well as the latest closing time in town, I sent my husband on a series of package mailing adventures before and after work for days.

Our house is emptier. Our bank account is fuller. We know where to find the friendliest post office workers in town.

...And, I have finally recovered enough to blog about it!