I was really surprised to see the total profit (from April - December) was just shy of $1,000. ($912.51 to be exact.) Keep in mind that I have been selling on eBay since 2003 and Amazon since 2008. I thought I was staying on top of selling everything "sellable" in my home. I was pleasantly surprised to see some of the things she successfully sold that I had overlooked. Sometimes it takes someone with a different perspective to uncover new and interesting information. After a few successful sales, this industrious young lady was looking through every drawer, cabinet, and closet in the house with iPhone in hand looking up values on the eBay app. Here is what she found and profit from each sale:
These totals may not seem impressive, but this is good money for a teenager. She pays her own car insurance, cell phone bill, buys her own gas, her own clothing, and pays for her own entertainment (eating out, movies, etc.). Those dollars and pennies add up over time! While some of her friends are complaining about not getting enough hours at their fast food and retail jobs, she is working as much as she can to save money and be independent.
I have also been teaching her how to purchase thrift store items for resale, and am proud to say she is making several hundred dollars a month, on her own, without my assistance. She is already selling on consignment for her friends and has built her eBay account to 100 feedbacks in just a few months. She has also learned to ship internationally, which is really pretty easy, and has shipped to over 2 dozen countries already. Shipping internationally is the #1 way to increase your eBay sales without any extra work or expense. Check out my eBay International Shipping Tutorial here.)
Selling on eBay is a skill, and I think a very valuable skill for our young people. We live in a world of abundance and our culture is all about "accumulating." What if we could teach more kids the skill of reselling? The could learn to be more self-reliant early in life and use the resources around them along with technology to be self-sufficient. Yeah, I'm pretty proud!
Related articles:
Thrift store items to sell on eBay
Sell It, Trade It, Get It Free - A Young Person's Guide to Making Money Online
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Great Article. I have been trying to convince my nieces and Nephews also High school age to go to Thrift stores and resell on the Bay. They don't take me seriously. I keep telling them that while most of their friends spend hours working at $9.50, they could spend about 2 hours in one afternoon and find enough items to make at least/or more what their friends are making in less time.
ReplyDeleteThat is really fantastic! I take along my 7 and 10 year old with me and they know more and more about how this works. Looking forward to them being able to do it on their own and stay away from flipping burgers!
ReplyDeleteGreat article. I am getting ready to start teaching my high school freshman son how to take pictures for me for all of my ebay auctions. He really likes photography & photo editing, so I figure that will be a good starting point for him. He can earn a little $ for helping me out & learn something in the process.
ReplyDeleteWish we would have had ebay when we were teenagers....I had to milk cows to earn money!!
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