Be a list-maker

Get in the habit of writing down what you need ahead of time.

Just ran out of milk.  Write it down.

Running low on peanut butter.  Write it down.

We're having hamburgers Saturday and we have no ketchup.  Write it down.

Did I say to write it down?  I did, didn't it?

Armed with your list, then charge out to the store and get what you need.

And no more.

It's official!

On April 4th, last week, I finally completed my first ebook.

It is titled Mr. Shoestring's 99 Ways to have a memorable wedding on a shoestring, which is available through Amazon in their Kindle Store.

I've learned a lot about self-publishing these past two months (a far cry from calling myself an expert though), yet there is still so much to learn.  I hope you enjoy it.

Connect with me and tell me what you think.

Know of anyone getting married?  I strongly urge you to tell them about it.  It's only $.99 and it's packed with a lot of tips on planning a wedding on a budget.

If you're selling on eBay, treat it like a business

Once you sell something on eBay and your customer paid for it, whatever you do, don't sit on the item for days on end before shipping.

Treat your eBay (or Craigslist) business like a business.

How would you like your items shipped?

Ship it right away.

Because if you don't, you'd be surprised at how quick someone is to comment on poor service.

I'm happy to say, even though it's been a few years since I've sold stuff on eBay, my rating is 100%.  Not that I haven't had a few hiccups, but those were all attributed to either a misunderstanding or a delay in shipping (with the shipper, not me), and I always corrected it.

Psst! You can buy stuff on eBay or Craigslist too!

In all the excitement about selling on eBay, I forgot the flipside to that: buying.

If you're in need of something, shop around and don't forget about eBay or Craigslist.

Be careful.

Not everyone on these websites are legit.  Review their online ratings, and make sure you understand all of the fees involved.  Years ago, I was looking at buying computers on eBay and I noticed someone was selling them for $.99.  Holy cow!  Here's the kicker: the shipping was around $200.  Ouch!

Read the fine print.

Shop around.

What could you sell on eBay?

Do you have any collections you wish to part with?  Or anything you don't need anymore and would like to turn it into cash?

If so, consider selling on eBay (or Craigslist--although, I admit, I've never sold anything on Craigslist so my knowledge of Craigslist is limited).

The first thing I'd do is find out what similar items are selling for.

Items you think will sell well may not.  I have plenty of stuff from when I was a kid that I thought would sell well but never did.

For example, growing up I had a rather large collection of National Geographic magazines, complete with the leather vinyl slipcases.

They didn't sell.

I take that back, I did sell one years worth, but the money I got wasn't worth it, in my opinion, so I turned my efforts elsewhere.

What else I sold in eBay

In the previous blog, I mentioned how I sold piles and piles of hard rock T-shirts.

I also had quite the collection of rock magazines from the late 80's and early 90's.

Those also sold quite well.  I even shipped some out to various countries, such as Japan, France, Germany, and even Canada.

What I sold in eBay

Growing up in the 80's, I loved the hard rock hair bands.

Poison, Guns N' Roses, Warrant, Skid Row, Tesla, Motley Crue, Cinderella, White Lion . . . the list goes on and on.

Needless to say, I also had a pile of rock T-shirts.

I sold them all, and made quite a bit of money doing so.

I once sold two Motley Crue shirts, from their Dr. Feelgood tour: one for $30 and the other for $60.  For a shirt!

I definitely found a niche.

Hmmm . . . thinking about it now makes me want to frequent a few garage sales . . . never know what I may find.