I admit that I'm an Ebay Addict.  I spend too much time and money buying on Ebay.  Worse, I spend far too much money trying to SELL on Ebay.  I have to be Ebay's WORST seller. I can tell you what NOT to do.
 

 

For example, last summer we had a wonderful three week trip to Alaska.  I loved the beauty of the mountains, the exquisite landscape of lakes and brooks and I was mesmerized by the wildlife.  I had never seen a caribou before.  Before we left, I insisted that we take home something to remind us of the wonderful trip.  Here it is:

You can imagine my dismay when it arrived and I laid it on my all-tile Florida floor in my yellow-chiffon engulfed bedroom.  It looked like a dead animal (it was the skin of a dead animal). My friends got quite a kick out of it - "that isn't you!", they said, referring to my St. John Knit Suits and my Salvatore Ferragamo shoes!  I was horrified and kept asking my husband why he let me buy it.  "Sell it on Ebay", he said. I checked the rules and it was not endangered so I was able to list it.

I listed it twice (didn't sell it the first time) and I sold it for $149.99.  Not bad, huh?  Of course, I paid $189.99 for it, plus shipping, plus listing fees.  I felt like I had come out ahead, though; my puppy was no longer afraid to come into our bedroom again.

Here's one for you:  this year, I bought a Jones suit on Ebay.  The size was marked correctly but the jacket was too small.  It's actually a lovely suit.  Here it is:

Pretty, isn't it?  I wore it a couple of times and couldn't button the jacket - the most recent diet failed again - so I put it on Ebay.  I had LOTS of watchers and a great deal of interest in it and, lo and behold!, I SOLD it.  I sold it for $26.01.  Just for kicks, I went back into PayPal to see what I had paid for it a couple of months ago:  $75.00.  Oh, well, it didn't look good on me anyway.

How about this one:  I put up my treasured computer-generated, oil on canvas, painting reproductions of the Master artists, Claude Monet and Auguste Pierre Renoir.  I  still have them hanging on my walls but I wanted to get newer and larger ones for my new home.  They are too beautiful to store so I thought if I sold them, I could replace them.  Have a look:

This one is The Poplars reproduction of a Monet.

This is the reproduction of Monet's, The Artist's Garden at Giverny.

This is the reproduction of Monet's, The Girl with a Parasol.

This last is the Renoir reproduction of The Girl on the Swing.

I put these all up on Ebay at what I thought was quite a reasonable price ($750 each).  You cannot imagine my delight the day I awakened and ran to my computer to see that one of them had been bought with a "Buy It Now".  I was absolutely ecstatic.  I was ready to place my order for the four new ones when my husband stopped me.  "Wait until you have the money in hand", he advised.  Then, it occurred to me:  people are supposed to pay right away for buy it now.  No payment.

My mistake must have been in writing the buyer to enquire about payment and letting him (or her, I guess, possibly) see my email address.  Within hours, my Ebay account had been HIJACKED!

If you are interested in that story, please see my guide on Ebay Account Hijacking. It's quite a story!
 

Now, what do you think are the chances of having something like that happen? 

I still have the paintings in my Ebay store, continue to reduce the price and have not yet ordered the replacements.

Last year, I decided to offer my house on Ebay.  That was, by far, my very best ad.  I had literally THOUSANDS of people visit the listing.  I even had people fly down from "up north" to look at the house.  People begged me not to sell it until they had a chance to come see it. 

I think that was my tip off.  I decided to consult a real estate agent.  Sure enough, I had it listed for $200,000 less than it was worth.  I quickly removed the listing and placed the sale in professional hands.

So, there you are.  My husband and I have agreed that when my monthly payments to Ebay for selling attempts surpass our mortgage payment, I will close my store.  For now, I keep trying.

By the way, even though I am the worst seller, I am really excited about this Ebay contest for guides.  I would just love to win this contest and spend my prize on Ebay.

A special thank you to the many Ebayers who have emailed me about this guide and who have voted on it.  I was very pleasantly surprised to win one of the contests. But I'm even happier to see the reviewer rank rise!  I had never expected to be in the top 100 and it only happened because of YOU!!