eBay
Last week, MC Milker (from the Not Quite Crunchy Parent) commented that one of the advantages of wooden play kitchens is that they’re sturdy enough to last through several kids, and can be sold on eBay when you’re done with them.
I certainly know people who use the high potential resale value as a justification (excuse?) for buying high end baby and kid stuff, from Bugaboo strollers to Hanna Andersson clothing. But I wonder how many of them actually wind up reselling things? The most cost-effective thing to do is probably to both buy things used and resell them.
I’ve sold some baby stuff, but I’ve given away far more. For t-shirts and the like, I just can’t be bothered to carefully wash, photograph, advertise, respond to questions, and then either schlepp to the post office or make arrangements to meet the buyers. I’m curious about the people who do find this worthwhile. Some people are clearly doing this on a semi-professional basis, buying things at end of season sales specifically in order to sell them online the next year. But others are just listing a few items, as their kids outgrow them. It’s a high tech yard sale.
I try to give things to friends or family, but if they’re not interested, or if I’m just desperate to get something out of the house, it goes to Value Village. We just gave our jog stroller to a friend who is expecting her first baby. Yes, we probably could have gotten some money for it, but the money isn’t make-or-break for us, so we decided to just give it to her. Things have to be pretty beat up before I just put them in the trash.
We buy the vast majority of the boys’ clothes on ebay. I refuse to spend $8 on a t-shirt. Some day maybe they’ll figure it out and protest, but as long as we can get away with it, we will. I focus on the large lots, since otherwise the shipping makes it less of a bargain. When I’m paying $2 each for pants, I don’t sweat it if one or two pieces don’t fit. I know it’s more expensive than the thrift store, but I’m willing to pay a few dollars for the convenience.
I happened to be looking at my eBay profile today, and discovered that I’ve been a member since June 1999. That surprises me — I wouldn’t have guessed that I’d been on it so long. I’ve got a feedback level of 71, but I’ve probably bought closer to a hundred things (not everyone gives feedback). Of all the things that I’ve bought on eBay, I’ve only really been disappointed once (by a used computer where the battery wouldn’t hold a charge). At this point, I’m surprised when I run into people who have never bought anything on eBay.
November 22nd, 2006 at 11:45 pm
I buy things on eBay seasonally, mostly before Christmas and birthdays, although occasionally for other items I know are no longer available in stores. I’ve only been a member since Jan 2000 but I have 105 feedback entries. I don’t buy clothes on eBay anymore because I find that the lots are not as successful a strategy for me and I had some disappointments re: quality when the kids were babies — probably random, and not rational, but there you go. And I have never felt the least inclination to sell stuff there, for the logistical reasons you outline.
In New England, I had a neighbor who made a nice supplemental household income doing garage sales on the weekends (tag sales there, I suppose I should say) and then re-listing the items on eBay.
I wouldn’t be the least bit tempted to list a wooden kitchen on eBay. Shipping large items is too much of a hassle.
November 23rd, 2006 at 3:05 am
I resell the Hannas there. (I buy them there, too. And buy myself Eileen Fisher there.) Also sold the Fuzzi Bunz, and have a stack of Stride Rites to clean up & photograph. Yes, I know, you’re not supposed to buy your kids used shoes, but I imagine A’s used XWs will come in very handy for some kid whose parents don’t have $40 for a pair of wide toddler sandals.
The money goes to the college fund. Stuff that’s not worth selling goes to Goodwill for the tax deduction.
November 23rd, 2006 at 8:14 am
*ahem*
I’ve never bought anything off eBay.
November 23rd, 2006 at 10:41 am
I thought that last line might flush a few commenters out.
Andrea, I’m curious, why not, since you’re obviously very tech savvy? Do you not buy used kid stuff, are you able to get what you want at tag sales, or something else?
November 23rd, 2006 at 10:55 am
OK – so now I have to admit that while I buy things on E-bay, I have never sold a thing. DH sells stuff all the time, but not me. That said, now that I have bought the wooden kitchen and I am on the spot on this blog ?, I will sell it, in a few years on E-bay or Craig’s list, or geez…who knows what options will be out there then.
Since, until the birth of my DS and the ensuing poverty, I blithely gave items to goodwill and friends with nary a thought, I don’t really have a lot of experience in selling my old stuff.
I have in the past few years, diligently and obsessively written down what I give to goodwill and the approximate cost/value for my taxes. I was inspired by reading back in the early 90s that the Clinton’s did this down to their long underwear.
So, I will now delve into reselling. Oh wait, I did sell the second day of our Legoland ticket last week on Craig’s list…does that count?
November 23rd, 2006 at 11:56 am
HOnestly, I couldn’t tell you why. I think I’m just old-fashioned in this way–I like to be able to pick something up if I’m going to buy it, hold it in my hands before I make a decision. But also, I don’t much like shopping, and eBay seems like a giant shopping mall in some ways. I just don’t enjoy spending time there.
But yeah, I’m definitely missing the tech-savvy boat on this one.
November 24th, 2006 at 9:17 pm
I LOVE ebay. Have both bought and sold. Selling can be a pain, but not too bad. Selling books on Ebay ROCKS. Put in the ISBN and they fill in the rest — including the weight so you can calculate shipping online too. Then you can buy the postage online and send from your house. LOVED that. I have a 229 rating and have only been burned one time, where I literally never got the item I had sent a money order for. This was probably 4 years ago and it was like a $15 item, so no biggie. Great for kids stuff, hard to find stuff, and high-end clothes. Really, I’ve bought all kinds of things there. Collectibles that mean nothing to you are also great to sell there. When my father-in-law died, he was a member of Ducks, Unlimited. Neither we nor my m-i-l cared a lick, and we sold a bunch of pins and other collectibles on Ebay for about $500 bucks. Definately worth it, and most shipped in a plain envelope for (then) 32 cents!
November 25th, 2006 at 10:12 am
Funnily enough, even though I ran an online auction site for a local dog rescue for years, I have never once bid, bought, or sold on eBay or any other auction site. I *think* I’m embarrassed to admit it, but it’s just not my style. I’m much more on the anti-consumerism bandwagon altogether. I figure if we don’t have it, we’ve gotten along fine without it, and we don’t need it. We end up shuffling less stuff in and out of the house this way too. Kids clothes come from Target or the Carter’s outlets, and almost all of them have been saved for the second one to wear later. My clothes, well, lately they’ve come from the big box o’ maternity clothes in the closet, and other than that, I just buy basics when I need them. Toys … now there’s my downfall. I love toys. But we try really hard not to buy the popular plastic toys and to go with natural materials that really meet our kid’s needs. I spent yesterday researching toys on the net, actually, including some links from The Not Quite Crunchy Parent (thanks, MC!), and writing a post about it, and I had just a ton of tun doing so. Not sure what we’ll buy exactly, but we’ll try to keep it to a minimum.
November 26th, 2006 at 2:20 pm
I’ve bought on eBay, but not sold. Definitely seems like too much trouble, and I give the kid clothes away to my younger siblings. But I’ve never bought kids clothes on ebay . . . I used it mostly for maternity suits. Now that my mother-in-law has slowed down on buying the kids entire wardrobes every season — yes, she has a shopping issue, but as my husband said, who are we to stage the intervention? 🙂 — I think I’ll start eBay shopping again.
November 27th, 2006 at 8:37 am
I’ve had great luck buying large boxes of children’s books from eBay. I’m OK with another kid’s name written in the front of the book, which is usually why they’re so cheap. (The ones about manners invariably say, “From Grandma, with love.”) When we’re done with the books they are sent on to the church nursery or the local library.
I also sold my breast pump on eBay! Made back 80% of its original price. Amazing — I never would have thought that would go.
November 27th, 2006 at 9:07 am
I used ebay to stock up on clothes for DD for the first 2.5 years of her life, and bought several large lots of pants for DS, too.
I’m always hearing people saying that they buy things — Hanna Anderson often is the example — because they know they can resell them on eBay for almost as much as they paid.
When I got started, buying old Gymboree stuff for DD because the old stuff was shaped like a real baby – swing tops and leggings were perfect for my tubby toddler — I hoped that I, too, would be the one making back almost as much as I paid for things.
But I wonder – how the heck do people keep all these kids clothes stain free? How do theirs not get thin spots at the knees where their children crawl around on the floor playing trains? Both my children can put on a shirt and have it permanently stained within minutes; almost any item of clothing worn during a meal somehow gets sullied in a way that would make it unsaleable on eBay. Do these peple have magic laundry machines? Are there soaps you can buy at secret markets if you know the right handshake? Or do their kids not eat. Or eat naked? And where and how do they play that their knees are so clean and smooth?
So I haven’t done any reselling. I’ve given things away, and I have a box of stuff that I saved from goodwill just because I thought they might do okay on ebay….
November 27th, 2006 at 11:20 am
I’ve never bought or sold anything on eBay. I’m a toucher. I like to look at things up close and feel them. My husband jokes that when we go to the grocery store, I have to squish every bag of frozen vegetables before I put them in the cart.
I will order things online from Gymboree (um, actually I have sort of a Gymboree problem because I love how cute their clothes are, and I think they wash/wear very well) and other stores, partly because I know I can take them back/send them back if I don’t like them – no other reason needed. And I have sold some of Petunia’s nicer outfits (some purchased, some gifts) at garage sales because I like to see the face of the pregnant woman who buys them and walks away very satisfied.
November 27th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
i’ve bought a few items from ebay over the years, but no baby clothes. we have a baby clothes consignment shop here in town, which i think is the best thing ever.
i don’t end up spending much on baby clothes as a result. he’s still small enough that we have been given a lot of clothes for him. between that & the credits i’ve built up at the consignment shop, he is a regular little clotheshorse. i’ve heard that there are good deals on baby clothes on ebay but in all honesty i don’t really “shop” much on ebay and can’t imagine going to the trouble.
i look for things on ebay that i can’t find anywhere else, to be honest. unusual or specialty items. not that i have anything against ebay, it’s just not a habit that i’ve gotten into.
and i’ve never sold anything on ebay. again, doesn’t seem worth the trouble. any of DS’s outgrown clothes that the consignment shop won’t take go straight to goodwill.
November 27th, 2006 at 2:41 pm
I’ve never bought or sold anything on eBay, and neither has my ulta-geek husband. We’re in a low acquisition phase of life: our little apartment is fully furnished and we don’t have kids, so we don’t need to buy much. Both of us are so tall that we rarely find used clothing that fits, so I shop at the Leesburg Outlets, Ross Dress for Less, Old Navy, and the like.
I do need a tree stand today because we bought our first-ever Christmas tree over the weekend. I’ll stop at the Salvation Army on my way home from work to look, and if I don’t find something, I’ll get a $15 stand at Target. I could probably score one for $3+ shipping on eBay, but the multi-day wait isn’t worth the minimal savings to me.
November 27th, 2006 at 8:50 pm
I got hooked buying and selling books on half.com (which was taken over by eBay and is now their fixed price site for media stuff). Books are easy to mail (especially paperbacks less than a pound), easy to list, and I would have loads of them whether eBay etc. existed or not…now, I just make more of a profit than I used to when I took my bags to the used book store. And my rating is well up in the triple digits now, about equally buy/sell.
March 17th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
I bought a RHW Swing about a month ago. My wife’s sex drive was down to nothing. I mean she was there for me. But that just made life miserable for both of us.
RockHer World swings SAVED my marrage. I am not saying sex is all there is in a relationship. It is just so much better when both parterners feel the same way.
This swing allows for positions that cannot be achived other wise. I was able to hit the right spot. And it was her first time for the big “O”.
Now I have the pride of being her first in that area.
It changed our life.
The hole family is much happier now.
The girls at RHW really know what they are doing.