Get Those Ugly Christmas Sweaters Ready

I write about this every year, so start planning now if you want to make some extra money for the Holidays. The best way to make money on eBay during Christmas time is to know what the hot products will be for shoppers. It is usually a few new items every year. In 2008 it was the Nintendo Wii or the Snuggie Blanket. In 2009 it was the Zhu Zhu Pets. But there is one item that is searched for year after year on eBay and that is Ugly Christmas Sweaters.

The term ugly Christmas sweater is always one of the most popular on search engines during the Holiday season. Likewise those searches will lead people to eBay, to find the tackiest sweaters out there. Colorful green and red sweaters with Christmas themes like snowmen, reindeer and elf's will bring in top dollar on eBay. Why are these items so hot?

The main reason people buy these sweaters is to wear them to Holiday office parties. A lot of companies give prizes to the employee who shows up in the ugliest Christmas sweater.

So now is the time to look for them at thrift stores and gargae sales. Or even make them yourself. The uglier the better. Just find some gently used sweaters (cardigans are popular at thrift stores and red or green would be perfect) and add christmas items to the sweater. The sweaters that typically do the best have ornaments hanging off them, or light up. If you are creative and have the time you can make some good money. It's best to start listing these in November because Holiday parties can start in early December and if you wait longer then list them as Buy It Now.

Good Luck
John Paul

Past Christmas Related Blog Posts
What to sell on eBay at Christmas Time

Win a Zhu Zhu Pet - Pipsqueak

Here is your chance to win the Hottest Toy of the 2009 Holiday season. I know I am in the business of selling on eBay and this is one of the hottest items selling on eBay, but I decided to give away my last Zhu Zhu Pet. The hamster is New In Box. Hopefully it will find a good home and make that little one in your life happy. But if you win and decide to sell it on eBay you will receive it in time to do that.

To enter, just leave your e-mail address in the comment section below.

***For extra entries do any of the following:***

• Follow my blog (1 extra entry)
• Post about the Giveaway on your blog (1 extra entry)
• Post On Twitter (1 extra entry)
• Subscribe to my mailing list to the right of the page (3 extra entries)
  (e-mails are only sent out 1 or 2 times a month so don't worry about it filling up your inbox)

So that's a total of up to 7 entries. Contest closes on Sunday Dec. 6th @ 11pm pacific time. Winner will be choosen by Random.org and posted to this blog on Mon. Dec. 7th. Be sure to leave a comment for each extra that you do. Open to residents in the USA only. Don't forget to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win!

If you want to earn some real money and you live in the New York City area or know of somebody who does visit our Referral Program.

Good Luck

John Paul

Hold on to your Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters

OK, if you are lucky enough to have some Zhu Zhu Hamsters HOLD ON TO THEM. Last week you could use the Buy It Now feature on eBay for a set of 4 for $79.99. Now the cheapest one listed is for $123.99 and they are selling fast at that price. Here is another reason you might want to wait to list them on eBay.

Starting Nov. 16th most of the Zhu Zhu pets sold on Amazon will not be up there which will drive the demand up and turn more buyers to eBay. Here is the part of the e-mail that I received from Amazon where I sold most of the Zhu Zhu hamsters that I had. I bet most people selling the Zhu Zhu hamsters are small sellers and do not meet these requirements.

• Merchant’s first sale on Amazon.com must be prior to 09/16/2009 (sale does not need to be Toy-specific)
  
• Merchant must have processed and shipped at least 25 orders (do not need to be Toy-specific) during the 60 consecutive days preceding 11/1/2009
  
• No greater than 1% short term defect rate as of 11/1/2009
  
• No greater than 2.5% pre-fulfillment cancel rate for the trailing 30-days preceding 11/1/200(
  
• No greater than 5% late shipment rate for the trailing 30-days preceding 11/1/2009:

Last Friday my local Toys R Us store was stacked with them and all the accessories, then they were told to take them down and only sell 1 hamster per person to the first 50 people on Saturday. I don't get it, they change up every week and each store is different with there policies. But if you can find them now, you might want to wait a while before you list them on eBay.

Here is a helpful article about what to sell on eBay around Christmas time.

Good Luck
John Paul

Find Out What eBay Buyers Really Want