Starting An Ebay Business Stay At Home Mom

by Linda Brooks

My name is Linda, and I recently retired after working for 35 years as a paralegal. This was a very steady and fairly high paying field, but after doing it for so many years, I was ready to stay at home.

Unfortunately, I had no retirement benefits, but I took early Social Security, which, while pretty generous, was certainly not enough to live on, even with my husband’s part-time salary. He had taken a part-time job at a thrift store after retiring from the construction industry.

We became very interested in the items people donated to the thrift store, and began buying those that seemed to be exceptional values. We regularly bought things we needed on ebay, and I decided to try my hand as an ebay seller.

I opened an ebay store, which is very easy to do, and started with several small but interesting houseware items. I was surprised at how quickly they sold. I then began buying thrift store items in earnest, as well as going to garage sales. In the beginning, all my earnings were used to buy more inventory.

As I began to accumulate quite a few items, I learned that I would have to do considerable research on the merchandise, both as to value and description.

I had to extensively research in the fields of silver, china, collectibles, jewelry, etc., and actually this is one of the most interesting parts of the work, although fairly time consuming.

Once I research an item, I have to take a good photograph to post on ebay, and then write a description interesting and detailed enough to attract buyers. I also have to be sure to remain competitive in my prices with other ebay sellers.

It’s very exciting when the sales start to come in. Then the only remaining work is to package the items carefully to avoid breakage and ship them out.

This type of work does not require much start-up money. You do need to have fairly good computer and internet skills to do the research and run the online store, as well as a dependable computer and digital camera.

I have been able to successfully make enough money to cover the loss of income from retirement, and I have also gained considerable and interesting knowledge about all types of merchandise, old and new.Why not find out more about Ebay and see if can work for you!