Oh how I love ebay…and craigslist…and the trillions of other sites devoted to reselling gently used items at a profit to the seller. While raising money for Ella’s adoption I became pretty savvy about the ins and outs of reselling. It is labor intensive, but the rewards can be great.

To get started reselling, be sure to train yourself on how to be a seller. There are many tutorials on ebay’s website for new sellers as well as message boards in the community section with plenty of people who can answer your questions. Familiarize yourself with the site that you will be selling on and you will be even more successful. Professional looking ebay templates can be found online for free and you can upload your photos to free services such as photobucket, so you will have little out of pocket costs.

In my experience, the best places to find items to sell are rummage/garage/estate sales. I prefer to sell clothing because of its ease to describe and ship, and have done quite well at such sales. On two occasions I have purchased jeans for under five dollars and they have sold for over sixty! It is extremely helpful to know what brands sell well, so check the message boards for items that are hot sellers so you will know what to look for while you’re out rummaging.

It is also a great idea to scour your house for items you no longer need or want. Unneeded gifts, used children’s clothing, jewelry and household items can all fetch a pretty penny online. It may seem strange, but one man’s trash actually can be another’s treasure.

In my “Fundraisers/Donations” post I wrote about letting it be known that you are raising money for your adoption. In many cases there are people wanting to help your family, but just don’t know how. It’s the same thing when it comes to reselling. Once you get the word out there that you are collecting items to sell for a profit to fund your adoption, people will be coming out of the woodwork to give you things. To be perfectly honest, you may end up with things that will not turn a profit. Just be gracious and quietly pass those items on to charity and you and your donator will feel great. The few quality pieces that you will likely receive will make it all worth it.

Another quick tip: in your listings, let your buyers know that you are selling to raise money for your adoption fund. Many buyers are drawn in to touching, human stories and may be more likely to bid on your item knowing that their money will be helping to build your family.


More Reading:
Adoption Fundraising: What Worked For Us
How Can I Afford to Adopt?
Adoption ABC’s – Money

photo credit

For information/instructions on how to subscribe FREE to your favorite AdoptionBlogs, please visit this link.