[Chicagoan]

Over the last few months I have gotten rid of quite a bit of junk that I never used and made a considerable profit. This enabled me to buy stuff that will definately come in handy in the years ahead. I got a new bike, installed extra insulation for the house, and installed a south-facing skylite to take advantage of passive solar energy. I put up a home-made windmill that just squeaked by local ordinances.

Anyone who has junk that you never use, try selling it on Ebay or some other online auction service. Time may be running out. You need to have a feel for the market, but you would not believe what some people are willing to pay for junk. For example, I sold a Scooby-doo lunchbox for $50. I wish I had bought more of those!

[Ebyss]

Yeah I'm going to be doing this soon. I'm going to sell a heap of stuff at car boot sales aswell. It's all just "stuff", I don't even look at it, let alone use it. It's all packed away in boxes in the attic. Hopefully I'll clear out as much as possible, and make a bit of money.

[Raxozanne]

Im buying all my planning for the future stuff on ebay (apart from the heavy garden tools). You can even buy bulk seeds on ebay its a god send.

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

How can you sell big items like computers without getting killed by the shipping on ebay? I have a chocolate business to sell... but I don't know that I could get it to anyone at a decent price. Its just two big boxes.

[k_semler]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('uNkNowN ElEmEnt', 'H')ow can you sell big items like computers without getting killed by the shipping on ebay? I have a chocolate business to sell... but I don't know that I could get it to anyone at a decent price. Its just two big boxes.

[Raxozanne]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Raxozanne', 'I')m buying all my planning for the future stuff on ebay (apart from the heavy garden tools). You can even buy bulk seeds on ebay its a god send.

[Claudia]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') sold a Scooby-doo lunchbox for $50.

[Raxozanne]

You can sell anything on Ebay apart from people and animals (although they seem to be auctioning duck and chicken hatching eggs even)

Big item such as sofas and beds you can sell as 'buyer collects only' so they know they have to come and pick it up in the car.

Ebay is good to get some of those vintage tools that they don't make anymore like hand augers (good for tapping trees for sap/resin/syrup)

[Leanan]

I've sold a ton of stuff on eBay. Not really to make money, but just to get rid of it. I don't have a lot of space, and I'm thinking I might want to be free to move, when TSHTF. That means not too much stuff.

One thing I've found that sells well are old toys. Star Wars stuff is pretty hot now. Even stuff that's been played with goes for hundreds. Old stuffed animals also sell pretty well, even if they're not in great shape.

Movie and film memorabilia goes pretty well, too, especially if autographed. I sold an autographed photo of Gillian Anderson once, for $300. (Though that was when X-Files was hotter than it is today.)

Most unexpected: a bunch of old movie buttons. You know, the kind you pin on your shirt. Mostly very small (less than 1" diameter), given away free to promote a movie. All less than 15 years old. Someone bought a batch of a dozen or so, for $20.

BTW, if you don't want to deal with eBay yourself, you can get an "associate" to do the selling for you. One of my friends does that. Give her the stuff, and she'll photograph it, run the auctions, mail the stuff, and give you a check (taking a small cut for herself).

[DomusAlbion]

There are now eBay consignment stores that will take your items and place them for sale on eBay, ship and collect the money. This is the first instance of a virtual store regressing to brick and mortar that I've heard of.

[Claudia]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')TW, if you don't want to deal with eBay yourself, you can get an "associate" to do the selling for you. One of my friends does that.

[whirljack]

I've been doing the same thing, myself. It's a bit hard, sometimes... slowly getting rid of all the bits of childhood I've dragged with me into adulthood. But, what the hell do I need with He-Man action figures, anyway? PO or no.

[Leanan]

Having photos is definitely worth it. A lot of people won't even click on an item if there are no images of it. It's weird, even stuff you'd think wouldn't matter - like sticks of RAM - they want to see photos.

Perhaps you could borrow a cheap digital camera? For web images, it doesn't need to be high-quality. A scanner will often work for smaller items.

If you're not sure if an item is likely to sell, search eBay for it. You can search on completed items, to see what actually sold, and at what price.

If getting rid of the stuff is more important than making big bucks, put a low minimum bid on it. Like, $1. That will reduce the fees you have to pay eBay. And if it's worth more than that, it will be bid up, anyway.

Don't put stuff up around holidays, like the 4th of July. A lot of people will be traveling, or too busy to surf the web then.

OTOH, holiday weeks are a great time to shop on eBay. You may be able to pick up things at much lower prices than usual.

Some other stuff I've sold on eBay: computer parts and software, videotapes (legal, not bootleg), photos of celebrities that I took myself, old magazines, books, NASA photos, patches, and other memorabilia, trading cards, playbills/programs, sports memorabilia (vintage is hot right now), old costume jewelry.

[oowolf]

I sold an old highway 101 sign that I found in a barn around here for $1534!!!!!! 3 bids over 1500!! Don't know how the sign came to be in MT. Sold several old brass and glass "steam engine inline-lubricators" for $70-145. I didn't even know what they were-just listed them-before 'long someone will let you know. (people collect everything). Bought an old kinetic planetarium (orrery) at a farm auction for $90-sold for $760.

On the other hand, just last Monday, I bought a like-new Arcade grain mill from the 1930's for $31 (just as good as a $300 Country Living mill). ebay is a great place to find 19th century farm tools and homesteading equipment--just make sure you're not getting junk--ask questions.

[Claudia]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') sold an old highway 101 sign that I found in a barn around here for $1534!!!!!!

[oowolf]

A fool and his money are soon parted-now even sooner thanks to the internet.

[emersonbiggins]

No, seriously. Shortages of XBOX 360s on the market are pushing prices way up towards $1,000 in many cases, over $700 higher than Microsoft's suggested MSRP.

No sign of peak idiocy from here... XBOX 360 - $1,700 with 1 bid!

Current ending listings for XBOX 360, ranging from $500-$1000+...

[UIUCstudent01]

Alot of the starting line-up games are really, really good...

Also, there are quite a few gamers who do nothing but game in their free time off work (whatever they do). These aren't the ones who would go for this just to tell you.

Probably culprit: VERY VERY rich kids (with indulgent parents or kid-like adults)...

Some people just generally have no concept beyond their self, their money, and their desires. They generallly buy their happiness. If they spend more money on something to get something - they don't think of it as a loss. Generally, people with too much money.

The next console that comes out, I'm going to buy one and put it on E-bay. If I sell it for more than I bought it for: yay for me. If not, yay, I got a Playstation 3 or whatever.

[emersonbiggins]

I figured rich kids were most likely behind all this. I just can't recall any gaming console commanding these premiums, but then ebay wasn't as popular back in the day either. Geez, being 20-something feels old now.

[Falconoffury]

Microsoft is losing $126 per unit in manufacturing costs. The xbox portion was 4 billion dollars in the hole even before they released the 360. Maybe Microsoft knows that civilization won't last much longer, so they decided to go out with a bang with a final gaming machine before the collapse.

I personally get all the gaming enjoyment I need out of my PC, so I nevered had a reason to buy a console.