I've been an eBay customer for year, but I've never sold anything. I've wanted to learn how to sell things on eBay for a long time, but didn't really know how to begin. In fact, my husband even got me the book, "eBay Business All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies" by Marsha Collier as a gift about two years ago.
The book is very comprehensive... but instead of instilling confidence in me, it intimidated me. So I procrastinated. Then my friend Marta started selling stuff, and encouraged me to try it. Still didn't do it.
I finally put "Learn to sell on eBay" on my list of monthly goals for April. And wouldn't ya know it? My local community college listed a continuing ed course entitled "Buying and Selling Online" in an advertisement the very same day.
I decided to sign up for the 6-hour course. While I didn't learn anything I couldn't figure out on my own, I'm still glad I took the class. First of all, it gave me the nudge I needed. Our homework was to actually list an item for auction. And it was a much-needed mom's night out for a few weeks. I finished the class feeling much more confident and inspired to use eBay to clear out my clutter.
The item I listed in class didn't sell. But I re-listed it and it sold the second time. I didn't break any sales records, but it was still good to know I cleared at least one thing out of my cabinets.
I plan to list more things - particularly some baby stuff - when I get more time. It's all part of my plan to reduce the amount of clutter in my house and raise a little spending cash.
My eBay experience taught me a valuable lesson: Be willing to try new things. They may not be as difficult as you thought they would be.
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