Easy Money: Amazon Seller Central

I hate having things I’m not using. I hate them cluttering up my space, and I hate when perfectly good things aren’t being appreciated. However, like most people, I find myself with things just like that from time to time.

But I don’t have the patience for Ebay, the free time for garage sales, or nice enough stuff for a consignment store. So I use Amazon Seller Central to get rid of stuff I don’t need anymore. And for me, it works brilliantly:

So far this year, I’ve made over $570 selling my used stuff!

For the record, that was for selling 12 books, 29 DVDs, one CD, and two toys gotten as jokes. It was stuff I was cleaning out and would otherwise have piled in the basement.

In case you’re curious, the books were mainly cookbooks. I faced up to several truths: 1. I do not cook often, 2. When I do, Pinterest is my cookbook, 3. While Jamie Oliver’s cookbooks are beautiful, the recipes do not turn out like the pictures, 4. And he never shows up so what’s the point? About half of the DVDs were single, and about half were box sets. Very few were purchased new/full price. And lastly, I bought an old Olly Murs CD and it was kind of crap.

But I still love you Olly. 

Anyway.

Donation, by the way, is a great option. There are so many charities that pick up from your doorstep now that it couldn’t be easier. Freecycle is awesome too.  I love donating – but when I can make a few dollars, I do like to try.

And this is so easy, it’s ridiculous.

Listing an item on Amazon takes under a minute. There’s no need to snap pictures or write up flowery descriptions: you just fill out a form that includes the UPC or ISBN – assuming that Amazon has it listed, and I’ve only had a few instances over the years where it wasn’t.

Considering one of those instances was an 1854 French book on German grammar I bought in Spain, I wasn’t surprised. 

…Hey, you buy your kind of travel souvenirs, I’ll buy mine, okay?

It even tells you what the item is currently selling for, so you know how to price it competitively. When it sells, you get an email notification.

Mailing it is easy as well: Amazon gives you a printable label and packing slip, and – this is new – even offers you the opportunity to buy the printable prepaid shipping label right there.

Amazon takes a percentage of the sale, but they pay you a credit to use toward shipping, and especially as the post office offers discounted “media mail” shipping for books, CDs and DVDs, it usually comes out about even: You make approximately your selling price.

Just sharing a great way to make extra $ with little effort!