I’ve previously noted that Ebay is the perfect side hustle. I haven’t sold anything on it in ages. But I turned to it again this year and wanted to share why and some numbers.

One Way to Quickly Earn Cash

One impact of the pandemic is that credit markets began to tighten. Credit card balance transfers virtually evaporated for “Good” credit. For me, it means that the game of juggling debt on 0% interest cards that I’ve been playing for the past two years is about to come to a screeching halt to the tune of a 14.99% APR impact. I’m not OK with that. 

I’m desperately trying to quickly fill a cash shortage. 

The first thing I turned to as it is immediate to turn on and starts to see OK returns quickly is selling junk on Ebay. It’s a lot quicker to start up and see success than many other side hustles or second gigs.

How Much I Made In Ebay Sales Over Two Months Of Not Trying Very Hard

In January, I listed 77 things. I sold 15 which represented 19% of my available merchandise. I grossed $245.70 in sales, for an average item price of $16.38. 

It’s the end of February and my cumulative sale total is now $507.25 from a total of 20 items. 

I’m not retiring on it, but that’s still $500 more than I had at the start of the year! And all from things I absolutely will not miss. 

You Definitely Have Things in Your House You Can Sell on Ebay

You may think “I don’t have anything to sell” – look again. You’re not finding items you would buy. You’re looking for items lying around your house that others may find value in. The best way to test the market value of your junk is to search Ebay sold listings for similar. It’s easy in their app or on the website to turn on advanced filters to see “sold” listings only. 

That’s how I discovered a lot of used National Geographic magazines from 2010 were worth a trip to my recycling bin to me, but are valued at about $2/issue to someone else. 

Granted, this isn’t earth shattering erase my credit card debt money. But I don’t have a lot of nice things. I do have a fair pile of mediocre to “junk” things however that I can list. 

Old long johns. A ski jacket with velcro coming unstitched (disclose all blemishes and document conditions well!). Sea glass. Children’s books from the 1980s. These were some more of my hidden treasures lying around the house. If you actually have nicer and more expensive things, your results could be a lot better than mine. 

Scavenger Life also is an amazing motivational resource for things to sell, how well they sell, and how to get started yourself.

Happy hustling.