Taking a chance in Nashville...

Took the family into Nashville for the weekend for some family stuff, so when I found some free time of course I had to go junkin'. First up was a very big Goodwill (much larger than the one in my town). Had a decent amount of records, and I had a lot of time on Saturday so I picked out about 20 or so I was interested in, and checked what I could on ebay on my old cell phone. This is slow and tedious, but I whittled them down to about 8 I was interested in. A few gospel, and some Disney LP's I couldn't find on ebay. Hopefully at least one is a winner.

Then the next day I took the wife to her sister's house to prepare for a birthday party later in the day. I stopped at a thrift store where I had some good luck about 6 months ago - scored an obscure Nashville goth/electronic music record for .99 cents that later sold for about $50. They have a TON of records, and I had limited time. I picked out about 45 that held promise - but I had no time to check on my cell phone for duds! I ended up buying about 30 (for a buck a piece). Hopefully I have quite a few winners and fast sellers (though I doubt any of this will sell fast as it is a lot of obscure gospel) - but we shall see! Normally I wouldn't have splurged $30 but I had already spent 45 minutes in the place and needed to be back. I will update if I find any winners.

PS - I am actually substitute teaching now, and actually posting this from an assignment! The class is taking a test.

A big sale - but also a mistake!

Here is another quick tale of a big sale, but also a big mistake on my part. I partner with someone I met online to list a lot of his vinyl records on eBay, and we split the profits three ways after fees. I found this old gospel record by The Revelaires in the stacks (these are all old radio station inventory from a defunct local AM station). I couldn't find any history of it, so I listed it starting at $15, and instantly got a few bids and a lot of watchers. However it wasn't until it started creeping up that I went to the auction and noticed I had put a totally different LP pic up for this listing! Yet this auction was already up to $40 or so in spite of this mistake. I couldn't change the pic because there were already bids, so I could either cancel the bids and start over, or just add some text stating I made a mistake.

I added text that said "PLEASE NOTE THIS AUCTION IS FOR THE REVELAIRES - the picture in the auction is incorrect but all listing info IS CORRECT". The LP ended up selling for $104! I have still never seen another for sale.

If I had to guess I would say I probably made at least a $100 mistake on this one - it went for $104 without even a picture of the LP. Some collector got a real deal on this one. What could have been!

My biggest $$$ on a LP (vinyl record)

To kick things off, how about a big success story? Here is the tale of my biggest sale of a single vinyl record on eBay. This was a real surprise!

I browse my local Goodwill a few times a week. Usually I head straight to the music section (if there isn't a weirdo already browsing there). On this day I don't remember how many LP's I bought, probably 5-10 (records at my Goodwill are usually 99 cents each). They usually have at least 100-200 LP's at any one time, and usually 99% of them are either worthless or in horrible condition. You really have to have a feel for vinyl to pick out the gems, otherwise even at 99 cents each you are going to be losing money (and wasting time)!

I bought a few LP's that I had never heard of (I usually don't look up each one on my phone to see if there are others on eBay, takes too long on my old junk phone). This caught my eye because it was in good shape, I had never heard of the group, and it was on an obscure label I had never heard of. I usually look for those things, but then again you can buy 20 like that and never sell a one.

I started the auction at $25 (which is strange for me, usually I only start at 9.99 or less). Didn't get much action early on, but during the week got a few bids and had a lot of people watching the auction. So the night it ends I check my email on my phone (it was actually my birthday and I was out partying!) - and guess what? It ended at $159!!!!!

By far my best money maker on a record ever. Easily cleared over $125 profit after fees and everything else. And here is the kicker - the buyer was in South Korea! You never know what you might find at Goodwill, but be careful - most of the gems are buried under junk.

Let's try this...

digging for treasure (not me in pic)

Hello world! I have tried to blog before, with little success in keeping at it. This time though I am going to make a real go at it. I want to document my adventures in selling on eBay (and craigslist, and wherever) - as right now this is my ONLY source of income for a family of three. I am a licensed teacher, but I just have not been able to find a teaching job since graduating with a M.A. in 2009. So really what I buy and sell is my only way to put food on the table (and diapers on the baby)!

 I hope you follow along, as I will try to make multiple posts per week. Also, as inspiration (and a source of great reading material) I suggest this blog - Money In The Garage - updated frequently, and very interesting to follow a similar minded seller!

I have been making income online since around 1997 or so - yes that long! I just became an eBay powerseller for the first time this year. I also sell on Amazon, and sell larger items on Craigslist (and a similar local service to me). I mainly sell vinyl records (hence the blog title) and CD's/DVD's as the bulk of my stuff, but honestly you never know what I will come across.

So bookmark if you dare, and follow along as I share some of the many ups and downs in selling online!