Keep More Income

I’ve written plenty about selling your stuff on craigslist, and I’ve even discussed how to get a cheaper gym membership. Put both together and you have today’s tip — sell your old gym membership on craigslist (or eBay, I guess!).

I recently decided to switch gyms because I was unhappy with mine. I got a great deal, but of course I still had three months of prepaid time left on my current membership. Kind of ruins what would otherwise be a great deal, wasting three months like that.

Luckily, though, my membership is one that works at any of my gym’s chains across the country. What I realized is that I don’t care if someone takes over my gym membership for three months under my name — I could make my money back by selling that out.

Make sure there’s no credit card tied to your account before doing this, though! My account is simply a prepaid business plan that I signed up for with just my name, so I have no sensitive information available on my account.

I had never even thought of selling something like this, but the truth is that you can sell anything on sites like craigslist or eBay.

Another thing to take out of this: consider looking on craigslist or eBay for gym memberships — and other services — being sold. But that will be saved for another day!

My first post on this site was a recommendation to sell dead electronics on craigslist. I’d like to expound on that topic now, specifically with the example of iPods.

iPods are a ubiquitous part of American culture now. As such, many people are going to end up with broken iPods in their possession. It’s just the way electronics are — there is no way 100% of all electronics will always work.

I work in tech support and I know how that iPods die, and because of the sheer number of iPods sold, there are a lot of non-functional iPods out in the wild. But what most people don’t realize is that there is a healthy market for broken iPods.

I know that I don’t necessarily recommend selling goods on eBay, but broken iPods are one of the exceptions I make to this rule. Doing a quick eBay search for “broken ipods” will show that you will get back a large amount of your initial iPod investment.

In fact, there are a number of online stores that will buy your broken iPod. Check out this web site for a good list:
http://www.wallstreetfighter.com/2006/12/where-to-do-with-you-broken-ipod.html

Basically what I’m trying to get at is: sell your broken electronics on eBay or craigslist!

Sometimes you have to spend a little money to save a little money.  This tip isn’t really a necessity, but it has come in handy big-time for me.

I like to keep a clean apartment.  But an apartment with white carpets can dirty up, and quickly.  The only way to efficiently clean a dirty white carpet is to rent a steam vac, which in my area is about $60.

I found one day searching on Amazon that many consumer-level steam vacs (many of which technically don’t incorporate steam, but work just as well) run from $100 to $200.  I picked one up and had my investment paid back with just two cleanings.

The added bonus of the steam vac, though, is that it can clean upholstery beautifully.  I actually now make a small side income by picking up couches and chairs off the street that are in perfect condition except for dirty upholstery, and simply spend twenty minutes cleaning them with my steam vac.  They come out looking good as new, and make me a small profit.

So not only was my steam vac paid for within two cleanings, but it has ended up making me even more money.

After selling my first textbook on half.com, I panicked: how am I supposed to ship this out?!

I was suddenly realizing that boxes and shipping supplies were going to rob me of all my profits.

But a light bulb went off, calm settled in, and my dreams of profit soared right back.

Most of us have free shipping supplies all around our house.  If you’re like me, in fact, you have a closet full of free wrapping for shipping that you didn’t know what to do with.  Combined with a little tape, you have everything you need.

Of course, what I discovered was that all you need to wrap up textbooks were paper shopping bags from the grocery store.  Simply cut the bags so they fold open, put the book in the middle of it, and tape the whole thing closed.  This will securely hold the book so it does not get damaged in shipping, and it will be nearly free for you to prepare.

Take advantage of the paper shopping bags you get at the grocery store — they are some of the best packing and shipping material you’ll find!

I graduated college a couple years ago, but for some reason held onto all my textbooks.

In trying to declutter my apartment, I discovered the textbooks and realized that they had to go. But before tossing them out, I thought I’d maybe try listing them online.

Many of my books were about three to five years old, editions behind the latest copies. But I didn’t let that stop me.

After a bit of research, I saw half.com as my best bet and set forth listing my books. The advantage of half.com is that, if you have an eBay account, you have a half.com account.

(That’s right, although I do not recommend selling your stuff through eBay in most cases, I highly recommend using eBay’s half.com service for selling textbooks. Aside from using your same eBay account, it is almost completed unrelated to eBay.)

Within a half hour, I had my collection listed online. Each book took roughly two minutes to put up for sale.

Within three weeks, I had sold four of the books. My net profit, after half.com fees: $70.47. And I’m still expecting more book sales soon.

Even if you’re not anywhere near college-aged, see if you know anyone who is and help them sell their textbooks online. Take a small cut of their profits.

Stayed tuned tomorrow for how I saved on shipping my books

I’m a nerd.  Being a nerd, I brag about things that I know are dumb.

One of my most common nerdy bragging rights?  I first discovered and used eBay back before it was called “eBay.”  Back then, it was “eBay’s Auction Web.”

Being an eBay veteran probably leaves me well-versed in its intricacies, you’d guess.  I probably know all the best eBay selling tips.

In fact, you’re right!  I’m feeling generous, so I’ll share with you the biggest, most important eBay selling tip I know:

Don’t use eBay to sell stuff!  Use local listings, like craigslist.org.

That’s the simple truth.  Don’t get me wrong — there are lots of people that benefit greatly from eBay.  It’s just that you likely are not one of those people.  (My apologies if you are — ignore this article and jump to any of my other money-generating tips.)

I’ll give you a very simple example.  A buddy of mine and I came across two identical computers.  They were being closed out at a super-low price by a local university.  We both bought them with the intention of just reselling them.  His route was eBay; mine was craigslist.org.

His $400 net profit was cut by about $60 when eBay and PayPal fees kicked in and his shipping rate turned out to be a little higher than expected.  He also had to wait in line to ship a big, heavy box, and worry about whether or not the shipment went through safely.

I, on the other hand, listed my machine on craigslist.org for a little more than his went for on eBay.  I had a response within the day and the guy came to me, paid in cash, and left pleased.  I ended up with roughly $160 more than my friend did, all for the exact same product.  I had less headache dealing with it and was done with it sooner.

In other words, avoiding eBay results in less stress, quick cash, and easy transactions.

For most items, don’t bother with eBay.  Use craigslist.org or any other local site

I work in the technical support field, and I have to tell you, I see so much money thrown away in the form of broken computers.

The average person has zero use for a computer that doesn’t work, no matter what the ailment is.  One of the most common questions I get when I diagnose a computer that’s dead and expensive to fix is, “How do I get rid of it?”

A lot of people automatically opt for recycling programs.  I, on the other hand, get paid to recycle my dead electronics on craigslist.org.

There is a huge market for broken computers on craigslist simply because, when a computer dies, usually it is only one or two components that are bad.  All the other parts are just fine.  This includes any kind of casing on computer or any other small parts internally.  People with computer repair businesses can easily pull parts and make lots of money back on their investment in repair costs.

I am a Mac enthusiast.  I had two dead computers laying around in my closet.  One was a completely dead iBook laptop from 2001.  It hadn’t been touched in about four years and I had dropped it.  It didn’t turn on at all and had a few dead components.  But, because the screen, keyboard, and more were salvageable on it, I was able to sell it for $80.

A dead iMac of mine from 2002 went for $100.  Same deal — wouldn’t boot up, but had plenty of salvageable parts that dealers could use for other repairs.

Both of these were sold in the same one week period.  $180 and I cleared up some space in my closets.

Next time you have a dead computer, don’t let it sit around in your closet.  Try listing it on craigslist.org and get some money for it.