I have discovered eBay and am really pleased with how well it has served me thus far. I actually began using Half.com (eBay's bookselling site) a couple years ago. Imagine my surprise when some textbooks that I could not give away were sold and I made a few hundred dollars! That should have been my first clue that I was on to something. Now I've decided it's time to unload homeschooling materials we are no longer using.
I'm not sure if you've picked up on this but I have an affection for books. Our home is full of them. My dear husband even included a library in the plans when we built our home and now I've got a lovely library FULL of books. Get that? After having shelf space to spare for five wonderful years, the shelves are full. I knew it would happen someday, but hoped it wouldn't be so soon.
If I'm going to be completely honest here I've got to confess that we have bookshelves in other places in our home as well and part of the deal for the library was that our home would not be littered with books in every nook and cranny. While the rest of us are readers, dear husband is not and he gets tired of being continually surrounded by books. What? You don't see the problem? Me either!
It's not as bad as it sounds. We have a lot of books up in the bonus room where we homeschool which is to be expected and then we also have three bookshelves along a wall in the family on our lower level that has the majority of our children's fiction. I love children's picture books but the sad fact is, as my children grow, I need to go through these books and part with some to make room for new reading interests. It isn't as if I'm selling first edition, signed copies. Most of our books have come from used book sales and I've usually paid a buck or less per book.
So, the culling begins. This is where Half.com and eBay come in. I've been listing books and homeschooling materials and selling them to families across the U.S. What a great tool to buy and sell items! While most of my inventory is homeschool related, I just listed a used Green Bay Packer football costume online tonight and have already gotten 20 views. No offers yet. I wasn't sure if anyone would even be willing to wear it because it's a #4 jersey. That's Brett Favre's old number for those of you who don't follow football. He used to be our star quarterback until he jumped ship for the Minnesota Vikings across the river. For those of us who reside close to the Minnesota border it was a painful season, seeing #4 on a purple jersey. Ugh! Anyway, we'll see if any Packer fans will even let their child wear a #4 Packer jersey. I mentioned that they might want to cover up #4 with first aid tape and make a different number or their child could be subject to verbal abuse!
So far I've managed to sell eight items in the last week or two and I've got another eight or nine items listed. I'm trying to plug at it bit by bit and list a few new items each week. My sister has been eBaying for a lot longer than I have and she's been showing me the ropes. If you're looking to clean house and get rid of some things that are no longer needed, consider selling them on eBay. You might not only declutter but get paid in the process!
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