Jobs for Migraineurs---Ebay?

I figured that some others here may be in the same situation as me: Chronic CONSTANT migraine pain and unable to WORK. NOT a good situation. I'm feeling pretty desperate.

Has anyone here ever sold anything on Ebay? Is it difficult and/or stress-inducing?

I have some items that would be worth trying to sell, however, my computer skills are not that great. I'm smart; I'm a college graduate----I just never got very far with computer skills.

I DO have a digital camera, but I DON'T know how to post photos. I suppose I could always hire someone who knows computers to show me how to do this. It can't be that difficult. Plus I'd need to learn how to set up an auction site and how to deal with Paypal.

RE: Ebay: I've only bought things on Ebay, never sold anything on there. The myriad of rules is actually pretty overwhelming. You have to try to figure out a price, "Buy it Now" vs. Auction, decide whether to ONLY sell within the USA, sales tax?, figure out postage and figure out Paypal. Whether to accept returns or not. Plus deal with buyer's questions, pay listing fees, get packing supplies, and WORST----stand in line at the post office!

I know the US Postal sytem is advertizing flat rate boxes that one's postal carrier will supposedly pick up at one's house for free. But I live in a town house with just a mail slot through the garage. NO mailbox or front porch on the lower level. IF I have a package to be DELIVERED to me, the postman will climb my one flight of stairs and leave my package on front stoop. But the postman NEVER climbs the stairs UNLESS there is a package to be delivered. There's no place for the postal carrier to "pick up" any packages to go.

Anyway, it probably wouldn't be too smart to just leave packages to go out on one's front porch, UNLESS you live in a super-secure area.

My local post office ALWAYS has a line practically stretching out the door! Waiting in that line with my constant migraine has just about driven me crazy in the past, so it is NOT an experience that I want to go through very often. There is also a UPS store near me, but most people say it's better and cheaper to deal with the US post office. (I have asked about this on the Ebay forum).

The ALTERNATIVE to selling items yourself on Ebay is to hire a "trading assistant". Ebay gives you a list of sellers near you and you have to try to find one who is HONEST and who SPECIALIZES in whatever it is you are selling. This alone would be a very daunting task. I don't know how thrilled I am about inviting total strangers into my house OR going alone to their house. I think I'd rather have them come to my house because I'm ill and can't drive around much, but I do worry about inviting thieves.

The downside of hiring a "trading assistant" is that they ALL take at least 40% of the final sale price of the item. AND sometimes you have to pay their listing fees, even if something doesn't sell.

I was really surprised to see that ALL of the "trading assistants" charge such a high percentage fee. Maybe selling on Ebay is more work than I ever imagined and that's why the seller's commisions are so high?

I wanted to ask about this here, because I'm sure that SOME migraineurs sell things on Ebay.

Any advice is GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks,
Brenda

Hi Brenda,
no, I've not tried selling on Ebay yet either, tho I plan to give it a try (some day, soon! )

I think it's a really good idea!

Why not just give it a go, to test the waters... You could just sell a couple of jumpers that you don't wear anymore, or some books you don't need.

Perhaps Ebay even has an advice section for people wanting to set up an Ebay "Shop".

And I'm sure some other Ebay sellers (Power Sellers?) might give you some advice, if you email them and ask nicely.

I have one (distant) acquaintance who has run an Ebay Shop here in Europe, where I live... I don't see him very often tho, so it might be a while before I can ask...

But really, I think you should pioneer the idea

Maybe your post office or postal carrier can give you some advice re your question about parcel pickups...

SR

Hi Brenda,
I had to leave my career a few months ago due to daily headaches and migraine. I just can't sit in front of a computer for 10 hours a day anymore.

I make glass beads and sell them on Etsy.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/LepoppetLampwork

Are you an Arts & Crafts person? Do you handmake anything that you think others might like? I would encourage you to look around Etsy and see what people are selling. Maybe you could find something that would start off as a hobby and turn into a home business. I love it! I make my beads at home in my garage when I feel good enough to work. Taking photos and posting on the computer is very easy. Maybe you could have someone show you how to do it the first time and help you get comfortable.

Check out YouTube
* How to Start an Etsy Shop (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI0poTpkjB8)
*How to List a Product (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr2mdN3gt6M)

There are a ton of tutorials on YouTube that may be interesting for you. Etsy also has a ton of tutorials. Check out the one on taking photos (http://www.etsy.com/community/online-labs).

With regards to shipping. I would recommend setting up an account with UPS, Fed-Ex, US Postal Service. You can actually weigh you box at home (on a bathroom scale) and print a shipping label with postage prepaid. Then it's just a matter of taking you box to UPS/Fed-Ex/USPS and dropping it off. No standing in line and waiting. You can even ask you carrier if you can leave the boxes at you garage door for pickup. Since the postage has already been paid online, they should be willing to pick it up.

I don't sell on Ebay anymore. A lot of people have switched over from "Fee-Bay" to Etsy. It's cheaper and your listing stays online for a month for 20 cents. Ebay's listings are only for a week.

good luck. I hope you find a new passion and turn it into a million bucks!

Wow, that's great advice... and I agree that Etsy is a good idea....!

I was thinking yesterday, that it would be so cool if you had a section of your Ebay shop where you sold all Migraine related items that we migraineurs would ever need... really good ice packs, eye masks, etc etc...

Then you'd have a good customer base to start with here

Hi brenda have you tried craigslist? I've sold a few items on craigslist and its easy, just take a picture n a description. I recently sold my grand daughters swing I just took a picture with my iphone, put my asking price n phone number n sent it to craigslist, it sold within 12 hours. No shipping, postage or post office lines!!! Just a thought!

Angela

I can sure help you out here, I have been selling on eBay for years since 2001 and have been doing mail order all the way back to 1995. I had to stop doing any of it because of my migraines and the stress it was causing. Everyone's experience with eBay will be different. It depends on what products you sell, how many packages you need to ship out everyday, how you acquire your products, and your level of customer service. eBay demands you provide the best customer service, the customer is always right no matter what and this is not negotiable, you will lose some of your profits to fraudulent buyers it's just part of the cost of doing business on eBay, but it's not overwhelming.

As you have noticed there are a lot of rules. To really make the most money you need to be what is called a Top-Rated Seller. It will take three months until you are eligible to be accepted in that program. Once you are you will receive a 20% discount on fees and nearly 20-30% on shipping, it was saving me thousands a month, you have to be in the program or you may as well not sell on eBay. But, getting and staying in the program is very hard work. EVERY customer must be 100% satisfied and this is no easy task. All packages must be shipped within 24 hours and all emails answered politely in that period as well. It does not sound too hard but I was getting to the point where I was shipping over 100 packages a day. That was taking me several hours alone before even getting to the customer service stuff.

In the end I was working 80 hour weeks, making great money. Now, a lot of my time was spend acquiring products I had to run around to stores all around my half of the state to find hot products to list on eBay. I also spent a great deal of time doing research online so I knew when to find these products and where to go. I also recommend not leaving the packages on the doorstep and making daily post office runs. You have to get your packages to customers as fast as possible. You can do thousands of transactions and even if 10 of them are less than satisfied it will cost you your Top-Rated Seller status and that is thousands of dollars, that alone is an insane amount of stress. I also recommend not using the flat-rate boxes, they are only cheaper if you are sending something very heavy to a zone that is far away from where you live. Also your customers rate you on your shipping fees and if its higher than your competitors you'll have a lower rating and less profits. Be sure to post back and ask any questions you can think of and I'll do my best to help! It can be a great job it just varies so greatly on the person and what you are selling, every situation is different.