Update

Hey Everyone!!!

I know I haven't posted much the last couple of weeks. That is because of the birth of my first child. A Boy!!! So eBay has been put on hold for a little bit.


Have a great Memorial Day weekend.

John Paul

Cell Phone Find of the Week #10

Lexmark Ink Cartridge
Purchased for $9.99
Sold for $104.40
Total profit after eBay fees: $84.25

Send me your interesting thrift store finds even if it was an item featured on my blog. I will post them and include a link to your eBay store. So, you will get a little free advertising.

Good Luck

John Paul

***Priority Mail Shipping Tip***

I discovered this money saving tip when shipping Priority Mail. So spread the word.

If you ship a lot of mid-sized items using the 12" x 12" x 8" Priority Mail Box O-BOX7, you should check first to see if the item will fit into the 7.5 X 5.125 X 14.375 Priority Mail Shoe Box .

The Shoe Box only weighs 5.8oz compared to the 12'x12"x8" which weighs 13oz unpacked.

It may not seem like a lot, but if it means the difference between an item that weighs 2 lbs in the 12"x12'x8' box that could of been less than 2 lbs in the Shoe Box, that will save you a few bucks when shipping coast to coast. And every little bit helps.

John Paul

Check out a couple of my eHow articles on shipping.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5837434_deal-2010-postal-rate-increase.html
http://www.ehow.com/video_5458102_ship-ebay-cheapest-way-possible.html
http://www.ehow.com/video_4933932_make-wrap-dispenser-ebay-shipping.html

Cell Phone Find of the Week # 9

Purchased for $1.99
Sold for $31.56
Profit after eBay fees $25.39 (2.5x my goal of $10.00 profit per item)

I love to find items other than clothing at thrift stores. Here are a few of my other non-clothing finds from the past that did really well..

http://vitaminebay.blogspot.com/2009/12/thrift-store-items-2-sell-christmas.html

http://vitaminebay.blogspot.com/2009/10/thrift-store-item-2-sell-french.html

http://vitaminebay.blogspot.com/2009/11/thrift-store-find-of-month-oct-2009.html

Good Luck

John Paul

If you look at eBay as your business or you own your own business, you might want to check out http://www.1saleaday.com/ deal of the day for 5/10/10. INC. magazine for $2.99 a year. You can't beat that deal and it's a good read to help find new ways to grow your business.

White Castle Candle Update

After originally purchasing 8 White Castle candles on Saturday afternoon, I picked up the last 7 that my local White Castle had today. I sold all 15 within 24 hours at a price of $28.99

Not bad for the amount of work put in so far, (the real work will be shipping them all on Monday) I made a profit of $11.25 on each candle x 15 = $168.75. Luckily I have a large supply of 6x4x3 boxes and the candles fit in perfectly and weigh 12oz. Perfect because I offered Free Shipping and can ship them First Class instead of Priority.

You need to take advantage of things like this in the future. This was perfect because not every state has a White Castle and once they sold out online of course people were going to turn to eBay to buy them.

Just like Championship editions of Newspapers. When the Yankees won the World Series last year, copies of NY newspapers were selling for $8-$10.00 each on eBay. Not a bad return on a paper that cost just .50 cents.

So keep an eye out for things specific to your local area that someone else might not be able to get in their own hometown.

Come back tomorrow for my Cell phone Find of the week and I am working on a possible new item that is coming out that might be a good seller on eBay, but not 100% sure yet. I will post on that during the week after a little more research.

Good Luck

John Paul

Item 2 Sell on eBay Now - White Castle Scented Candles

These White Castle scented candles sold out online within 48 hours. They retail for $10.00 each. So of course as soon as I heard the news, I checked to see how they are doing on eBay. They are going between $21.99 and $28.99 based on whether or not the seller offers free shipping.

This is going to be a hard one to read. I am not sure how many people who purchased them online are going to resell them on eBay or if White Castle is going to restock them online anytime soon.

So if you live in one of these states (IL, IN, KY, MI, MN, MO, NJ, NY, OH, TN, WI) and have a White Castle nearby you may want to run out and purchase a few to resell. Remember don't get greedy because eBay may be flooded with these soon. Set them at a reasonable price.

Here is my listing below.

Proceeds for the sale of these candles go to Autism Speaks, so you are also doing some good while making some money for yourself. It's a "win win" situation.

Good Luck,

John Paul

Cell Phone Find of the Week #8

Marlboro Classics Leather Belt

Purchased for $1.99
Sold for $23.48
Profit after eBay fees $$18.01 (almost doubled my goal of $10.00 profit per item)

I almost passed up on this one. I have never checked the belt display rack before and as I was leaving the thrift store the belt buckle caught my eye. I proceeded to checkout and when I got to my car, I decided to run a search on my cell phone for Marlboro Classic Belts.

I found that these belts were not big sellers in the U.S. but new ones are listed on the eBay U.K. site and they retail for £145. So I went back into the store and took a shot. And guess where the winning bidder lives? The United Kingdom.

If you are not shipping internationally, you are missing out on millions of potential buyers. 15-20% of my sales are overseas. People in Europe & Asia love vintage clothing and American brand jeans.

Good Luck,

John Paul

'A Pea in the Pod' Maternity Jeans

I was unaware of this until recently, so I know I have passed up on a few pairs in the past.

A Pea in the Pod Maternity Jeans.

I thought they only sold there own brand, but turns out they also sell all the high end brands (True Religion, 7 for all Mankind, etc.) and the top inside tag inside still will be A Pea in the Pod tag. Here is an example of the tag you will see.Here are a pair of 7 for all Mankind maternity jeans that I recently found from 'A Pea in the Pod'

So next time when you come across a pair of these jeans do some more searching. Look at the back pocket, or a deeper inside tag or the buttons to find out the exact brand. Even if they are A Pea in the Pod's own brand they still might be worth it.

The most common pair of maternity jeans that you will come across are Mimi Maternity, not worth the purchase to resell on eBay.

Good Luck

John Paul

Thrift Store Find of the Month - April 2010

Rock & Republic Men's Jeans
Purchased for $4.00
Sold for $78.00

The jeans rack is always my first stop when I enter a Thrift Store. In my experience the likelihood of finding a high end pair of jeans that will net you a big profit beats anything else you will typically find at a Thrift Store. Click here to view my highest thrift store find so far.

I was on a roll at the end of March beginning of April finding about 2-3 pairs of Rock & Republic Jeans a week. I had to re list this pair due to a non-paying bidder, but they sold for the exact same price when I re-listed.

***There are a lot of Rock & Republic fakes out there***

Familiarize yourself with what to look for before you head out thrifting next time, because counter fitters have done a good job for the untrained eye to tell the difference between real & fake. Once you know what to look for you will be confident that you purchased a 100% authentic pair. Here are a couple of good guides for R&R Jeans:

http://www.authenticforum.com/rock-republic-jeans/

http://reviews.ebay.com/Real-vs-Fake-Authenticating-Rock-amp-Republic-Jeans_W0QQugidZ10000000000914667


Good Luck

John Paul

Want to earn some extra cash??? Check out my Referal Program..